The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-11-29
PARIS BFGGERS
= an Organization With a

HlGI- COGA44A@4S -1AC-
-;.sr in Chambers Journal gives
;,tsresting particulars regarding an
o-' = and comparatively wealthy asso-
s'- Known by the high-sourding title
p. Paris Syndicate of Professional Mem
80 Every observer in Paris knows
81 80 mere is an incalculablo number who
- . ;,,nlore charity in the streets. Out
. zoo 900 residents it is calculated
lDe ~ in eighteen, or 10000, live on
nal Nth a tendency toward crime. In
laril. ~. me proportion is one in thirty.
ca1'I lsod6uarters Is a large wine shop.
lie La Cave" at 80 Rue Monitor
aoSp main sire t running almost due
Eslii' I'm the middle of the Central mar
ofID WTen we arrived the place was well
sse.4.g and presented a striking specta-
row. n This den, with damp, black walls,
.i+sred and overgrown with fungus
osoUds OF cobwebs. a black iroof of bare
tne many recesses filled with sticks
eaiI Esvss and broken furniture, was only
d. iD1r.r-a-1amed, smoking oil-lamp, which
dim light on a crowd of evll-look-
CIV and women. Here and there was
ng .sa,t51v-ropped, rotten table, rest
obliouelv on shaky legs, sur
Ds 80 by men, women aud children.
O-.I ~ them drunken, and all showing the
"a5s and stains of vice in its various
H. On the ground. the bare earth,
LEY sitting, lying. or huddled
o.bar scores more of women
"a children or men stretched in
lost stage Of helpless drunkenness. AS
.aon learned, it was not poverty, nor
IT crime or criminal tendencies. that
"a ha held to account for this accumula-
an If bestial creatures, but utter sloth and
esotted viciousness.
Win three of tueir leaders we sat in a
.rtirioned corner and let them become
TrsiusIy, not merely loquacious but AFRO
tsntly communicative. 1t was their day of
sonni5n. Every Wednesday from 10 o'clock
m. till 70 o'clock all the members of the
rndicste meet in La Cave for the distribu-
IAN If the weeks funds. Daily they hand
-ar N the appointed president and treas
Drsr their gatherings. They number sever
hundreds, and every man and woman's
rost has a fixed or approximated value
Tbcb must be realized. Should there be
nv falling off or any suspected discrepancy
hs post is given to a more capa-
person. There have been cases
What one informant called en-
azzel e It on the part of the collector, but
hey we're always found out aud punished.
would be difficult for any member of the
,Sociation with subYersive ideas to dispose
any sum re aineds If he squandsred it
an the road home it would be known at
nee and he would know what fate awaited
bin IN La Cave. II he were suspected of
scrstng any COINS he would be quickly
trppei searched, and, IL found guilty,
consigned to a more difficult station. He
might even be expelled, and thea woe
betile him if he went to any of the syndi-
Gates stations. He would have the treat
mentdealt to any oeher outsider who in
tulsl on the reserved hunting grounds.
Thesyndicate has a variety of systems in
dsalIg with the collection of its members
In several cases, especially for well-known
frequeaters Of particular site, it levies
cnribltions of a fixed sum per week, in
return for which the syndicate allows no
tya to interfere with the mendicant. The
rotege Of many regular patrons finds this
his advantage. In general sums collected
e divided in very equal proportion. few
Eceiving extra percentage, pro rata on their
rawlngs. A certain percentage is retained
r the general expense of the syndicate and
rtde reserve fuad. There is no sick or
lral fund-the sick being best able to
n and having the free hospitals at their
Tyice, and funerals of the poor being a
BE arrangement. The reserve fund has
part been applied to the purchase of
bus where any of the members who
sOa may lodge at the rate of franc a
Mi and the remainder-amountin we
mT led to believe, to a considerable sum
bhvested In the purchase of sharrs and
bids 1t is safe in the hands of a small
slmittee; but difficulty of the syndicate
all along been the inability to secure
BE flancers. The more reputable men,
srs, who had gone home Immediately after
be distribution, had, many of them, very
Endderable savings. Ali of these are
ige1 in the syndicate's funds. Any mem
er could withdraw bis money and retire
hen he had amassed sufficient for any
ley object. the usual desire of the eco
llmical mendicant, like that of all Paris
sTs, Is to get together enough to enable
i'm to buy small cottage in the country
nd live thereafter on an annuity; or, pref
Esby, rauk as RENTER or independent per-
Msretred on compe ency.
We were allowed no sight of the official
mES, but an accident enabled us to draw
~ some fuller details as to figures. While
q we're talking an old man whom we all
new by sight as habitual seeker of char
Won the Boulevard des Italiens in the
stnlngs and on the Place de la Bourse in
katternoons, came in and stood at the
&c counter, counting out some money to
s proprietor there. He then came over to
mere we were sitting, and received louis
~ some silver amounting to over another
AS-aoout G2 los in all-from one of our
Aapallons. That was his share for the
Vel, and be grumbled at 1t. He drank one
1.-TWO glasses of wine and left us. The man
10 mad paid him told us the old fellow was
payS ulscontented, though he was one of
[Icnest members of the association
from this we got into statistics regarding
Vaiue OF the best posts. They argued
~malI knowledge and experience of human
. ere as embodied in France. The alleys
a.aanps Elysees, it appears. are good for
snaresque-looking old men. On a good
- rom ten to dozen of these mendicants
TS'alu e3ch collect an average of 80 shillings.
sttI |ll, thin person, endowed with long,
r ,as mar or beard, really or artlficially
ss,.uS and starved-looking, who can
Ssr~~spaeuectiVely, yet with an air of departed
s srlueur, and smile pathetically a
On the Champs Elysees brings
10 thirty or forty 50-centime pieces
Gd a. pocketful lof coppers every day. One
~ gentleman, who was well-known for
~ hwy years and bore the reputed distinc-
dr. 5.% an =, effete marquisate-one of the
ss,, n. ~ y, france-we are assured, cleared
a t, i. %lO week. He had been a member
hin % aa syndlcate, which of course guarded
drs. dsalL 81 all competition; and out of his
han i a he received 60 plus go per cent,
bsyondS' 70 -, and so per cent. on all
Ills share amounted TO over 9S
RAJ, s "eek and nearly ali the year round.
n. now In honorable retirement.
h,sno. money losers" form a recognized
cbi d,u oI the profession. These are usually
cornt tou Or young female recruits from the
Ian, T. ~, VINO bemoan pitifully suppositi-
tnocka~da I sovereign which a big man