The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-18
BEGGARs OF new YORK.
They Number Fifty Thousand and
Nearly All Arc Mendicants
From Choice.
Professional Aims Asking Is an Art
and Gotham Has tho Stars
in the Line.
Fearful Tales Invented by lMpssters to
Coax coins From tho Pockets OF
Fearful Tales Invented by lmpssters to
Coax Coins From the Pockets OF
the Generous Public.


Coax Coins From the Pocket OF
the Generous Publac.
Theirs are $1,000 beesars in New York,
and 49, 900 Of them beg from choice rather
thar necessity. Once = man loses all self
respect and pride, once he 10 forced to ash
for aims, he finds it SO much less o~xertior
to beg than to work that he soon becomel
a professional mendlcant. The profes-
sional heggars of New York IRE stars ia
their line. and he is a splendid judge Of
y human nature who can toll when hs
meets = worthy object of charity. The less
deserving the applicant for aims, the more
ritifui his story and the more persistsntly
ia it told. A large majority Of the pro
feesional beagars are men, and many
off, them are strong and healthy young
fellows, we'll able to work. This class are
begeara or robbers, as opportunity offers.
The professional beggsr must be . man
of some ability and he requires years of
study and experience to make the occupa-
ton profitable. He must be a man of
come originality, for the American people
prefer variety even in the tales Of WOO
told by the street bsggars. The men who
achieve success in the business are proud
Of their profession and rather enjoy being
caught now and then. No part of the city
ia free from the frauds who are collecting
the living they claim the world owes
them. They visit every block and proba-
bly, every house from the Battery to tho
Harlem river. During the day they
work among the fashionable residences
uptown and tho Wholesale districts down
town. In the evening they swarm
along upper Broadway, mincling with
tho throng of well-dressed theatre goers
and promenaders. 1t is there they reap
their richest harvest from the out Of town
neople, who are seeing the sights and have
seen enough of them at that hour
70 feel as though they would be glad to re-
lie "a all the poverty and suffering in the
world. Between six and - O'Clock in the
evening it is impossible to walk half a block
anywhere on Broadway between Union
Square and Thirty-third street without be-
ing stopped by pitiful appeal for aims.
The less deserving the applicant, the more
pitiful the appeal. An old, but still a favor
lite trick with the professional beggars, is
to bind up an arm or = leg and pretend to
be crippled. Some of them are extremely
clever in making up and a careful examina-
tion would be necessary to detect the de
ception.
At the lower md of Madison Square a
few evenings ago I encountered a profess
sional who was evidently an old timer. He
was forty years old and = giant in stature.
There was six weeks growth of beard on
his face. his hair was long and matted and
-. 1---- -,,- - L~@-.~- -sk1 L.. A.
abiect poverty. His loft hand and fore
erni were wrapped in an immense bandaee
and carried in a sling. "Plsase, sir, my
esm was crushed in \ railroad accident and
! hsve not been able to work for two
months. My wife and five little ones are
starving; Yer, sir. actually starving. and
will give me = penny to buy them bread"
This was his appeal, and it yielded q dime,
for which he was profusely thankful. The
next evening I met the same man four
blocks higher up Broadway. While he was
repeating the appeal 1 noticed that it was
sling this time, while the left n was
sound and we'll. "Giving your other arm a
rest this evening?'' I asked.
"Yes, it gets tirod carrying it In a sling
all night" He had replied without think
ing of the admission he was making, but in
q moment he realized the blunder he had
MAUI NIL ~ ~ captain II blsuasAVA Ny
that he had been knocked down by q
heavy truck that day and had broken his
right arm. The next day l was passing
through Madison square and discovered my
friend of the injured arms sitting on q
bench smoking q pipe and evidently feeling
very much pleased with himself and all the
How are the injured arms?'I asked.
The sings and bandages had disappeared.
old man was not OF duty. Are your
wife and children starving YETI"
"Oh, it's you is it? What do you want to
go gettih' on to = man like that for? I amt
done you 40 harm. I'm tryin' to earn an
living" I promised not to expose
him to the police and he resumed his pipe.
A new mt rather clever trick which is
sc successfully done by a number of beggars
ia this city is to turn their sye-balls up IN
Ill they appear to be blind. With their
Eyes in this condition they grind a small,
wheezy hand-organ or stand on some prom
inent corner and hold a tin cup in their
hands, thus mutely appealing for charity.
A. few of them attempt to sing, bat they
realize that it is too much to ask OF
mankind to listen to their singing and then
give them money. To do this successfully
FOR any length of time is very straining on
the eyes, and may result in genuine blind
ness. But some of them have practiced it
until it is impossible to discover by looking
at them that they are not really blind.
One of the most successful of these bogus
bind mem IS = young fellow who works
along Sixth avenue In the vicinity of TWEEN
street. His outfit consists of a long
walking stick and d small tin can. He tries
to sing when business is dull, and his rep
ertory consists of "Comrades'' and where
Is My Wandering Boy o-Night?" One
evening he was standing at a prominent
Wandering Boy?" when q stranger ap-
preached with a coin in his hand. A news-
boy. who was standing near and who was on
the beg1xr's trick, suddenly rushed at
him and made a motion AZ if to snatch the
tin cup. Look ont there! What are Won
doin? I'll swips ys in de jaw if ye don't 90
long. Don't yer see de gents goin' to give
me u quarter?" The gent had seen and
heard, and he concluded that if the man
vas blind it WAS the most wonderful piece
Of mind reading no had ever Witnessed.
he passed On without giving the quar-
/ met an old mar one day who works on
lower Broadway and about the city hall
park during the day and in tho vicinity of
Madison square at night. He has been in
The business ten years, N is up to all the
;ricks of his trade. In consideration OF a
LIBERAL contribution he consented to talk
the business of professional begging.
he old man would not speak of his life be-
ne became a beggar, but he used good
Ieen better days. 1.-THE business is over
he said. "There are too many bog
ears now, and SO many of them are fresh
get caught at their tricks that folks are
suspicious Of all OF as. We suffer
rom this suspicion more than you suspect.
some people don't give anything any more,
those are not sure thew are hAino