Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-04-20
ARTISTIC IMPONIORS.
A HUNDRED THOUSAND BEGGARS IN
THE FRENCH CAPITAL.

THE FRENCH CAPl Al.
Territory of the Professional MendiCant-
The Thousand and One Trials of street
Impostor> HideOu, Sights and Pathetic
scenes Refinement of Infamy.
What. indeed, can he done with the
mendicants Of Paris Arrest them What
then can br done with them The drppt-
lie mendicite are full. the huepltaI- are
full, the prisons are too small for the as
~s.Ssins and VuhhrrS.
II must not he forgotten that among the
professional beggars there exists a species
Of tacit conventions They divide Paris
between themselves the ACCOMPLISHMENTS,
the quarters. and even the houses At
certain yard or court, for example, there
will CCme every Monday "A blind man.
every Tuesday paraly ytlc. every Thursday
a one logged man. II j. not chance that
regulareS that This particular place he
longs = them. and if AN Intruder Is found
in pos, essiOn the thr'r "pruprictOr@' join
forces and turn him away, with a warning
not To come back. Or. in some instances,
if he is humble and modest they may'au-
lllbTlLf MN ~ Slt'il iAA'l NV a-''''
cred the harvest \ heggar, location Is "A
pruperty-it is sole. il iS tra~irrrrd, 1t l.
left as an inheritance to his children.
do not know how many meudlcants
there are in Paris Statistics would give
You the exact figures. Ii would even de
compose the latter int" the number "f
men. women, boys, and girls What can
say is that mt the lowest r~timnt" there
L.. !,
ramasliqueurs tcourt OF yard hrGGrrSl. and
beggarS Of the street, or tendeurs de deml
aune. something like lopp1.
PROFESSIONAL "AEII>I,' or TIE STREET.
OF these there are more than one quar-
ter that are worthy Of sympathy the
aged, the manned. the INDECENT, the others
are artists will not stop Ia relate all
the stories about the false crlpples.' the
beggers that feign epilepsy by putting Il
piece of soap into their mouths. the false
one armed impnStnr~ who stretch their
arm down their body, hold the hand on the
hip, and leave the empty sleeve Tapping:
the humhugs on crutCheS. who carry Il lrg
as if it were paralyzed. There are hun
dred tricks. There are substances, plants,
that have a blistcrimg effect on the skin
and produce hidrous sores-everythinE
that can move the public these rasCals
never fail tn employ.
The arCaSincur who forms the elite OF
mendaCity in Paris resorts t0 the most in
gcniOus schemes He does not weep for a
sou He must do better than that. He
demands pardon, he accepts assistance.
II he does YOU the honor to apply To you it
is because he estecmS yuU. He does not
take everybody into his confidence in such
delicate matters 80 if ynU give him only
100 sous he puts on wry face.
My dear friend" said one of them 10
me. Il have splendid offer. y deputy
wants a man tO run newspaper. 1t Is a
place worth 800 or G.Ho francs, in the
country a fortune. But what am | TO
do, | must gu down there To see him:
that takes money. With louis | am
saved. but have no" louis. Oh, if some
friend would come to my aid
| give him the louis: the next day met
the same fellow, who imperturhdbly accOStS
me with: My dear fellow, missed the
train"
Those that the police are most occupied
with are the street beggars. Look at them
displaying their hidrous wounds in the
full gaze of everybody, Ugh,
And what is the saddest Of all. see ut the
corner of the square that woman with an
air Of suffering. a face on which are writ
ten the traces Of want and despair In
her arms is baby at the right lies Il little
girl. at the left is COuChed little boy
The whole form a group knowingly ar
ranged, and pathetically interesting
Well, all that is sham. The woman is a
fraud, the young ones on hand for the OC-
casiou. Frightful, is it not Yet it is
true They hire these children, the
wretChes They hire them to make vaga-
bonds and thieves of them.
The child is trained 10 assume a siCkly
and woe -begone air, To weep, To beg. Who
has not been moved to pity at the sight Of
a little boy or girl Of ) or &, who was weep
ing bitterly because as she said, she had
to take home ~ sous as she had not been
able IN make them" The child was ly-
ing: she was repeating her role Her pro-
prietor was near by laughing in his sleeve
at the young ones falsehOods and well
simulated distress.
THE REFINEMENTS OF GRIZZLY.
1t Is children that most move us to pity.
They know it, the wretches, and abuse it,
Would you believe they torture them in
order to excite the sympathy Of passers-
by? Recall the story of the little Mantle
LOllier. stolen from her mother. She fell
into the hands Of one of these professional
beggars. who used her to good profit. She
put bandage over one of the child'S eyes.
under the bandage the shell Of a walnut,
in the shell a spider-a great black spider,
the constant crawling of which over the
child's eye wrung from her the most
agonizing shrieks, and frequently threw
her into cOnvulsions.
Every heggar does not have these refine
ments, but ali Of them resort to pinching
their children and pricking them with
pins 10 make them cry aud attract atten-
ton. What is to be done with all these
impostorss How can these infamies be
suppressed: II you wish to see curious
sight GO for instance to the gate that
leads to the st. Quen cemetery. The
beggars calculate that the afflicted are the
most charitable You will see a
singular scene there. At the foot of
a post which bears the inscription
Begging forbidden in the city of Paris, :"
you will will see group of mendicants
one pointing at you n stump eaten away
by loathsome disease. another exhibiting
a cancer. third invoking sympathy for a
ubuilluI bllilAAIltSSs Nilt TN III uStlllE
ont two legs of wood Opposite are a
paralytiC. a man with no feet, and a hor-
ribly -deformed cripple. Further along are
epileptiCs and persons affected with the
St Nitus dance. The entire length Of the
avenue is a series of maladies of all sorts
one more repulsive than the other, a verit-
able display of the the human infirmities
All this abhorrent throng groans. weeps
cries out, laments and when the evening
comes they go away arm in arm, the blind
dragging the paralytic, the epileptic
dragging the St. Nitus dancers to drink at
at the wine shops Of the route de Revolte,
to count their receipts. that vary from ) 10
10 francs. and to 20 when drunk to sleep
pell nell men and women at the Petit
MaZns or the Femme en- CulOttes
This is what the prefect of police wishes
TO destrOy-the beggars of Paris-an army
of wickedness legion of infamy that
lives by imposing upon the purest senti-
ment of the human heart, charity.
OHrrible and Original.
Tha tinH