Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-07-29
THE BECGARS OF LONDON.

Places Where Poverty Clings to the
Skirts of Wealth-Impostors.
In most Of the capitals of Europe the
poor live at the back door of the rich.
Wherever wealth makes an attempt to es-
cape from poverty by segregation or colon
ization poverty clings to its skirts as mo
teors follow in the trail of q comet 1t may
be said that 100, 900 persons in all stages Of
poverty live in the east end of London, be-
cause the rich earn their gold there An.
other 100, 600 live in the west end, because
the wealth of the well to do classes Is spent
there Within bow-shot of Buckingham
palace there are houses in which tie rooms
are rented and sub-rented to beggars,
thieves, seamstresses and q whole tribe of
seedy adventurers who earn q dubious liveli-
hood by preying on the credulity of their
philanthropic neighbour
For begging in London has been reduced
to fine art, and there are probably 10000
persons unworthy of any sort of charity
who make their living in this way exclu-
sively. Children are sent out whole droves
of them, in rags which scarce conserve the
vital heat in their tiny bodies with dis
tinct understanding that there is no bed,
breakfast, dinner or supper for them, except
what they can earn in the streets by steal
ing or begging, as the case may he. Woe
to the little wretch who returns penniless to
his parents in the evening The boys are
beaten; the girls are cuffed In the very
sewers themselses on the banks of the muddy
Thames these little urchins literally pick up
living, the extent Of which is measured by
the philanthropy or sense of justice Of the
;unk-shop keeper. Still AZ I have already
remarked, begging is the mainstay Of out
cast London. The street Arab of St James
and St Giles could teach many a lesson to
the rapacious Bedouins who exact back
sLeesh from the sight seer at the pyramids
or the lazZaroni who threateningly demand
aims in the streets of Naples and on the
slopes OF VesuviuS Compared with the
London street Arab, or the professional
mendicant Of the Strand and the Holborn
viaduct the importunate widow of Holy
Writ was an agreeable visitor.
The begging letter imposters of London,
like all vagabonds, live In tribes and spend
their money as freely as they earn it For
obvious reasons, they select domiciles which
shall give them the greatest readiness Of
access TO their intended victims, the nobility
and the large class who live in independent
circumstances, having accumulated fortunes
or retired on annuities Ex-oficers Of the
army and navy are particularly favored by
the begging letter writer, and a result
Westminster, Pimlico and Chelsea, because
Of their convenience to the horse guards
and Somerset house, are largely patronized
by the fraternity. The lodges OF the beg
ging letter writer are innumerable He
has the army and navy list at his fingers
ends and can take up the peerage and bar
onetage of Debrett and point out one after
the other the peculiarities and especially the
money giving or parsimonious tendencies
of each Members OF parliament are in
variably avoided, for these gentlemen as
lawmakers are great sticklers for the OBJ
servance of the laws and on the same prin-
ciple that they never give hack-irivsr
more than his legal fare, they pointedly re-
fer the logging letter writer to the reliev-
ing officer Of the work-house or to the near
est police magistrate-London cor. Bait.
more Herald
A Lot Of Married Folks Present
1t was remarke at the opera one night
what a lot OF srerried people there are
here to night 8, ow can you tell they
are married y was tas query. Don't you
sees7 was the answer. The men don't do
any talking, and there's hardly a corsage
bouquet among the women. Cincinnati
Enquirer.
Measured by the same Standard.
Were we dreaming, or did q little bird