The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-15
BEGGING As A BUSINESS.
4 Couple of Hundred or So of People
Live by IL i'm Savannah.

study OF the beggar element in sa-
vannah, their systematic tours. and their
various schemes. would be an interesting
one. The beggars seem 10 be on the y.
crease in the city rather than falling OH
IN numbers, but no doubt this is the nat
ural tendency Of the class.
There are perhaps 100 70 20 OF them who
have regular circuit which they make
once week. and they would make it
ofrener, but for lack Of a little encourage
ment 10 do so. An old colored man, for
instance. has regular place where once
week he Is furnished a plug Of tobacco,
al another place he gets some groceries
ana az another 3 or 10 cents and 50 on.
They have regular day for going 10 all
or these places, but the favorite days IS
SATURDAY, so a good supply Is usually
4ald IN Tor Sunday.
These beggars never miss single place
they nave on their list. OF course they
are NOT all supplied at the same places,
edcn Deggar has mis- own snap, and he
holds on to IL. Sometimes in an unguard-
ed moment he may give IL away and If
me crowd grows too large for any one
donor, he may be smut down on along
with the rest of them.
There IS one gentleman who has sys-
tematic way of distributing few nickels
every week. He has Est Of names or
several beggars, mostly old, decreplt WO-
men, and every Saturday they come 10
get their mite. Recently others learning OF
way TO mis- place of business and beseiged
him with their petitions He always tells
the new ones his list is full and they
must walt for one of the benedciaries 10
die before they can be placed upon IL.
This, Of course, is very unsatisfactory TO
the petitioners, for as a rule they never
die A short while ago one of the bene-
hciaries missed calling for her portion
one week, and the next Saturday she
wanted to draw two weeks allowances,
but this didn't go. Her excuse was she
had come In her place.
There are few, il any, beggars who
would not take all they can get. They
frequently manage to impose on people
by going from one to another with a SINH
lar plea, and secure twice as much as
perhaps they are entitled to, though the
question as to the amount of which they
are entitled is perhaps an open one. The
beggar may have four or five places for
getting tobacco or other articles, and then
they trade around among one another
until they get what suits their fancy
There are something like 200 to 225
benenciaries on the countys poor Est. OF
these about lis are given small sum Of
money monthly, from Sl.50 to 50; So Of
them get groceries every month, while
many others In each of the winter months
are given a quarter or cord OF wood.
On one occasion woman was caught
selling her load of wood for cash. Her
name went OF the list. Several instances
of this kind have since been reported.
one woman traded her groceries for shoes,
and sometimes one is found who uses
the donation from the county to secure
stimulants. Fortunately, however. these
cases are not very frequent, and the ma
jorlty of those who secure money from
the county are in actual need. Then, too
they know, by the examples
that have been made of several
of them, that any trading or selling Of
what is given them by the county means
they go off the list if they are caught
The commissioners make this rule to
guard against fraud, and IL is consid-
cred also that when groceries or wood are
given them, they are given to supply a di-
rect need.
Many of these beneiciaries of the county
are regularly helped by other charitable
institutions, though the county makes it
a general rule to help those principally
who do not receive regular aid from other
sources.
Some beggars, it Is said, are misery and
lay up quite a little sum from their scrap
ings, while others are ready to be In debt
If any one will let them. Queer charac-
ters of this class are continually spring.
ing up. A deaf and dumb boy, dressed in
a neat cap and white duck trousers was
selling a short sketch of his life on the
streets a few days ago at cents a copy,
and he was always ready to make the
change If he struck d purchaser who did
not have a scent piece. In most cases
the savannah beggar can vie with any of
them In ingenuity and versatility.