The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-06-12


lihood without rcsorting to mcndicancy
pure and simple, and l now desire to
make my readers acquainted with a few
representatives of a class commonly
known as beggars.
The bcggar i'll ninety-ninc eases out
of Il hundred is an importation. He is
rarely produced in the land of the brave
and the home of the free. lie comes
from Matia-riddcn Sicily or poetic Ma
pies, from the squalid villages in the
vicinity of Warsaw, from the cutters of
jolly Vienna, or, pcrchance, from one
of the far-famed valleys of struggling
Ireland America furnishes but few
members of the craft and most of these
arc the offspring OF forcign-born par
cnts.
The professional beggars are gov
crned by laws of their own making.
Each member of the calling has his or
her particular district, and woe to tho
interlopcr who has the tcincrity to in
terferc with the usagcs established by
the elan. His miserable carcass is
pounded into Jelly for the first offcnsc,
for the second he is marked for life and
for the third he suffers fortunes cruel
enough to cure him of any further dc
sire of playing the "scab." The beg
gar differs from the tramp. The latter
usually is an aggressive animal, bold
and courageous. The former is cow
ard who rcsents injuries in sncal5y
way. Between the two classes there is
but little love lost, and the average
tramp will Slug u mcndicant with as
little conjunction rs he would farm
er's dog
The American is generous by nature
He does not like to look upon misery, in
whatever form it may present itself.
The astutc leaders of professional men
dicarts were not slow in taking advan-
tagc of this national weakness, and when
they found that the field was simply in
cXhaustiblc they brought to this coun-
try thousands of bcggnrs from various
parts of Europe. The system employed
by the notorious ''six Chinese com
panics' in the manipulation of coolic
labor found favor in the eyes OF these
beggar monopolists. They pay the fares
of their hirclings from Europe to some
point in the United States and set them
to work. Each evening they have to
turn over the receipts to their master
until their bills are paid three and four
times; and not until they have settled
all claims in this way does the working
mcndicant become free from the bond
age of the Shareholder.
Comparatively few of the beggars to
be seen on the streets Of our large cities
are disabled. Some resort to tricks, cx-
posed many years ago, to produce %
crippled appearance; but the majority
simply play the blind dodge" or the
deaf and dumb racket" They cstab-
lish regular stands on prominent
street corners or near churches, and
gather in the pennies and nicl1cls of the
bcncvolently disposed. Others go from
house to house, asking for assistance
and stealing whatever may como within
their reach
The women are rs a rule more sue
cessful than their male colleagues,
They secure n choice location and n very
cheap hand-organ or organettc, "sinG"
few pathetic italian songs. and grow
wealthy enough to pay off their
,padronc within perhaps Il year after
their arrival. In five years they will
earn fifteen or sixteen hundred dollars
the interest of which * sufficient ~