, 1889-05-17
THE BEGGING BUSINESS.
A POLICEMAN COMMENTS UPON
THAT AND OTHER SUBJECTS.

San francisco mendicants VINO sell the
Food They ReceIve-It L. Used for Free
Lunoh-The omoer's Grief because he
Can't he President
What a policeman doesn't know is
oftentimes past finding out. He is a
travelling junk shop Of scrap informa-
ton; a peripatetic encyclopedia of mis-
cellaneous bits of knowledge. AS q rule
he isn't much up on theology or science,
cause he never had no show" In that
line, but on the hows and whens and
why's and wherefores of the life that rolls
On about him he has n pretty tight
grip" II you know how to go to him,
you can learn q great deal more than the
way to the pavilion or what time the last
car leaves the ferry. OF course, there
arc n few policemen and a regiment of
other policemen.
This is q pretty hard kind O. life" said
one who belongs to the first class, last
night Its killing. After q man has
been an officer for a while he's good for
nothing else. Hobbling about from one
corner to another, and keeping within
sound of the ~sergeant's whistle, is bad
for ambition. You never heard of q
policeman getting any high office. Tail
ORB, plowboys, rail splitters, canal boys
and printers devils have climbed to the
presidents chair, but nary q policeman.
/ once heard of an officer who became
president Of a literary society In Kansas,
but the meetings were held In his house;
his daughter was the secretary, his son
was the treasurer, his other son was the
sergeant-at-arms an his wife an baby.
made the audience. He was the first
officer i ever heard of who got a high
position, and perhaps he didn't count.
Some officers graduated TO the dash board
Of street cars, but they never appear to
go any higher. Although We are con-
stantly telling people to move on we
always stand still ourselves. We pick
up a good deal OF information on differ
ent subjects, but the only people that
seem 10 want it are the reporters. You
see that girl there with the bundle9'
The reporter took off his glasses and
saw her at ono She was q very dirty
slovenly dressed child, and had a bag in
her arms.
shes a beggar, and is loaded up with
bread, cake, meat, slices of pic and about
everything that's eatable."
"Why, she has enough to last n family
for n month" said the reporter. 81 sup
pose h a lay off. now, like the ant"
"Oh, no she can't or won't" returned
the officer. "Sho1l be out again to-mor-
row morning and will work another part
of town. Do you know what the beg
gars do with the bread and other stuff
the charitable people give them2 Mop
Well, they sell it to the saloons on the
Barbary coast and in other tough quar-
tiers. The meat an loaves that are put
into the dirty hands of mendicant pow
erty today furnish the free lunch coun-
tiers of the saloons tomorrow. That girl
will make from So to 50 a day begging.
She sells what eatables she gets and cleans
up quite n penny from tho sales. Then
some people give the beggars money, and
In a week the earnings amoun TO a good
deal"
THE WAYS OF PROFESSIONALS.
"Do all the beggars sell what is given
them7'
What would they do with it2 At
some houses they get enough to keep a
family for q week. They all have q dozen
or more pockets in their clothes. and be-
fore they mako their appearance at q
second house they have slowed away
what they got at the first"
do they eat of the contributions
"Oh, yes, indeed. People throw out
their back door better food than many
IN honest man has ever n chance of see
ing. The beggars keep tho choicest and
sell tho rest"
"What do they do with the clothing
they get?"
1.-THE boys and girls don't go for cloth
ing. The fathers and mothers work the
wardrobe racket. The old man is will
ing to do any kind o work for a coat or
n pair O pants, and the woman has three
ragged boys at homo who can't go to
school because they have no clothes.
The beggar Is as sagacious in working his
trade as tho %cleverest business man in
the city. He picks out tho houses with
tho well trimmed gardens and the clean
sidewalks and steps. The woman at
tends the places where well dressed boys
play about the door. All the clothing
they get is sold; some for rags, some to
the second hand dealers, and the pro-
ceeds go for drink. l have been travel
ing q beat for seven years, and 1 never
knew or heard of an honest man making
q door to door canvass for assistance.
No matter how near he was to starva-
ton, tho decent man won't do that"
do beggars get any food from restau-
rantsT'
Very little. A bit of meat is in q bad
way when it can't be used by a restau-
rant. And then the refused in all the cat
ing houses is sold to the diaries or pig
%raisers. Men go around every day with
wagons collecting tho refuse, and the
worth of the stuff is knocked off the milk
bill"
Here the sergeant's whistle sounded,
and when the officer responded he had
not breath enough > continue his re-
marks.-San Francisco Chronicle.
Too Rich for Diamonds
He was very fond of diamonds. Ev-
or-hnlu ~h1 lno,r liz - "