The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-11-28
A BEGGAR's CAREER.
Man of Genius Who Expended His Energy
in Soliciting Aims:
OMAR JAMES.

Man of Genius Who Expended His Energy
in Soliciting Aims:
Special to the indianapolis Journal.
NEW YORK, Nov. 27-William Breed is dead,
at Bellevue Hospital and will be buried in potters
field. He was one of those geniuses who expend
more mental energy and invention in making
few cents than should be required to make a
competency in the ordinary business ways. He
was professional beggar. The whole city was
his stamping ground. He worked the streets,
private houses stores and Offices His victims
were sympathetic ladies, ministers, merchants
and brokers, and, at last, himself Too lazy to
labor he spent vast amount of time in picking
up a scanty livelihood in way much more pain
full than hod carrying or stone breaking would
have been. Nature had not given him a stall
wart frame, and he took advantage of the fact
by feigning a stoop by drawing his shout
ders together as much as possible so
as to give the appearance of having
a wasted, narrow chest, ard then placing his
hand feebly over his mouth he coughed in AID ex-
ageerated, hacking style until he had attracted
the proper attention from his intended victim.
In the event that the victim failed to take the
cue, Breed was accustomed to make bold and ex-
plain himself. He was lin the last stages of
consum ption," unable to work and wishing sim
ply to end his days in as little distress as posi-
BILE. His funds were entirely exhausted long
ago in fruitless endeavors to stay his malady; he
had employed the best physicians, taken all sorts
of remedies, spent winters and years in Florida,
California and elsewhere in vain. He had re-
turned to his old home New York, expecting to
find relatives TO provide for his declining days.
but they, alas had died or gone away. and he
was alone and friendless in the city. All this,
with plentiful interjection of coughing, rarely
failed tc bring him some financial return if the
victim permitted him to go SO far as to
finish his story. But it took good
deal of industry to find each day one
or two gullible enough to listen to him, ard
hundred times he coughed and rasped his throat
for nothing to once for profit. One day Breed
felt great SILVER of dread. Insensibly his
coughing had become second nature to him; he
felt his throat tickle and his chest burn even
when he was not approaching dupe A cold
perspiration started from every unwashed pore.
Could it be possible that he was really in con-
sumptions Under the alarming stimulus of the
discovery he pursued his vocation with increased
zeal He ~coughed more than before, even
coughed softly to himself to test the effect upon
his throat In short time he became convinced
that he did indeed have consumption, and it
frightened him nearly to death at once. He
dared not devote his scanty savings to medical
relief, and in his miserly distress he worked
night and day with his coughing in order to gain
all the money possible while his strength lasted.
Pursuing thus his unhappy trade irritating his
bronchial organs and quaking before the grim
shadow of terrible disease he at last drifted
into actual consumption and eventually to Belle
vue, where he terminated his strange career.