The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-03-17
THE BEGGARs HAVE COME TO TOWN
Some In Rags, Some in Tags; None in Velvet
Gowns.


tache, his clothes threadbare, the bottom
of his pantaloons frayed, and his general
appearance betokening that his morals
were frayed also, stepped up to the kitchen
door Of North end residence and asked
for change of clothes. The woman whom
he accosted disappeared behind the door
and presently reappeared with pair OF
pretty good shoes. She handed these to
the aforesaid individual, and he ambled
OFT with them with a careless shuttle.
There is nothing about the one case par
ticularly peculiar or interesting But it
Is not this case nor another one like 1T that
attracts attention. but it is the generality
of the thing In word, the town Is full
OF tramps They are everywhere. They
make life a burden to the housewife,
strike her husband on the street for
| money, bore the merchants, carry on their
revels at night in some suburban vacant
house. and play hob generally in their
shittless, worthless, good-for-nothing way
| and haunt the sunny side of any building
where they can take their constitutional
! rest without being molested.
These are not all tramy s-some of them
| are beggars. The two classes are different.
the beggar differs from the tramp in the
fact which in these hard times is not
| paradox that begging is working But
| taking the two classes as one, they have
struck the town in full force. The tenn
| permanent of tramping emanates from
| habit, constitutional laziness and strong
propensity to peregrinate listlessly. There
are tramps who were born tramps-to
whom meal does not taste right If it Is
not handed out of the culinary department
into the open atmosphere direct-to whom
any kindness extended towards help to
permanent situation is regarded III the
| light Of an insult. There is no help for
tramp of this stripe. Occasionally some
good hearted old couple will take up such
a vagabond, dress him up, treat him nicely
and try to make him fill place in child
less home. Some fine morning they wake
up and their adopted protege has he'd with
his fine buds and probably few other
household articles which he has appropri-
ated carelessly in the excitement
of quick department.. The people
| who take up a tramp to make
a coachman or friedman out of him as
a measure of mercy to the tramp and
economy to themselves, meet with the
same success.
Then, there is the tramp who is natur-
ally lazy but has no great repugnance to
work. He is Of higher class than the
preceding one. But the spring sunshine
| is fatal to his energies He may be
getting along all right until these warm
rays dismiss his vitality and nod his head
in spasmodic maps and disseminate the
spring saparific throughout his system, to
which no one, tramp or no tramp, IS eX-
empt. This kind of tramp can be re-
deemed, but as he mixes indiscriminately
with his less worthy brothers, it is not safe
to make choice and become an agent Of
redemption. There is plenty of work just
at present, in the city and in the country
and it does seem that idleness is without
excuse. The spring blowing has begun in
the country and it is the season of yard
cleaning and gardening in the cities. But
the tramp must tramp and the beggar
beg They have no time for work. They
are particularly virulent just at present.
You can see them lounging around the
Gepots and the street corners, up and
down alleys, hanging around back
doors or strolling along munching
some charity bit they have just asked.
Just at dusk they are specially bold
Their mode of procedure is to walk up
to man and to accost him in a low mum
bling unintelligible tone OF course the
man has to ask the fellow what he said
and if he is quick and listens closely he
distinguishes something like this: will
YOU give me the loan of a diner" and
then an ensuing tale of hunger and pow
erty. One EAGLE representative. who Is
I not in the habit of carrying a national
bank about with him. was addressed four
times in this way, within a block, last
Saturday night. This is quite frequent
occurrence If you have a benevolent
countenance and a heart and pocket book
to back it, you can easily dispose of your
spare cash by walking down the dark
portions of the street about dusk, in the
evening, when the lunch counters have
their viands set forth on the oil-cloth COW
cred counters inviting array irresistible
to the well constituted tramp. There Is
nothing to do with these fellows but to let
them free with the hope that their weak
ness for travelling may direct their course
to some other part of the country. The
police would have their hands full and
it would be foolish to arrest them on the
charge of vagrancy, which of course could
he done As it is, after a man has been
struck" for money about a half-dozen
times, he learns to pick out the individual
and suspecting his onslaught, pushes by
him deaf to his opportunities and as un'
concerned as though there WAS not q
human being within 1000 miles. They
do not accost women and the average man
! is able to take care of himself
Why does the tramp tramp? Old people
say that there Were no tramps before the
war. 1t is said that the late fraticida
! strife epgendered a worthless set of mer
who on returning home were accorded nc
distinction, and really having no home
set out on a Journey from place TO place
depending on the charity of the people
Aud 1t is from this small beginning that
the present horde of dirty and demoralized
trsmps arose. OF course, there have been
bepgars in the cities of the old countries
and the new for that, for centuries, but
the worthless good fer nothing tramp is &
late acquisition. There were men who
Travelled from place to place overland be-
fore the war but they were JourneYmer
aud lad their trades and were willing K
turn an honest penny at moment:
notice.
The tramps do not wear all the garments
they secure. There are probably M
fences in Wichita-thst is places to dis
pose Of stolen goods, but it is said that The
tramps have formed a sort of a trust snd
dispose OF their goods TO second hand meI
at a good figure. Housewives and servau
girls have remarked that when TRAMP
asks for shoes his shoes are the wors
: norton of his apparel, If he asks for coat
the same garment that he wears is fa