The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-07-17
srREET FAkIRs on LoNDoN.
Beggars, Musicians, MinstreIs Who
Disturb the Quiet of Life.
From the New York News.

man either provided something is to be
gained by the racket. II must be a com
merclai din, not mere pastme. A gem
tleman and a magnum Of champagne lean
ing collectively against lamppost and
singing in concert would soon attract the
attention of a bobby" But do the gen
tieman up in ragged clothes, make a blind
beggar Of him, and ne can stand there and
sing till his voice is gone. Doubtless that
is not law, but it is fact, The makers 81
street noises move slowly on. very slowly,
when a constable is in sight; but the noise
continues. And that noise is hardly goGe
before another comes; and every noise
holds out an open hand to feel for coppers,
either in the way of charity OF IN the way
of barter.
1t is Of course, noises made purposely
by human beings, either with their lungs
or with instruments. that 1 refer to, not
the noises of the ordinary traffic. In its
routine traffic London is more quiet than
New York II would be a city of rolling
mills indeed that could Guido the rattle
of our elevated trains and the jingle Of
our cable car bells. In the busiest streets
here two persons can stand and talk with
some comfort, so far as the noise is con
cerned. Some of the most congested bus
mess streets. ike oxford street and Tot
tenham Court road, are paved with small
blocks of hard wood brought from India
and Australian, set up on end. In OK
ford street this pavement is said TO last
only three years, but the smoothness of
il is considered to be worth the increased
cost Many Of the residential streets are
paved with asphalt, which is quiet. but
dangerous for horses at the beginning Of
a rain. When dry it is not slippery. nor
when thoroughly wet; but when slightly
wet it is like glass under the horses iron
Shoes and they go down like rioters be-
fore Calling gun. / have seen four han
som horses down at once within sight of
my windows
To describe all the makers OF unneces-
sary street noises as "fakirs" is not alb
solutely correct, but it is near enough for
the purpose. Perhaps "nuisances" would
be a better word but It might be misun-
derstood, for some of the noisemakers
are not nuisances per Sc. but only in the
racket they make. These people who make
a noise simply as a preteNt for begging
are the worst of them. Begging in its sim
plest form is not allowed in the streets;
you may not go up TO a man and ask him
for a penny; but provide yourself with
two or three boxes of wax matches, or a
card of collar buttons, or a few pairs of
shoe laces. and put on a long face and
the regulation whine and you are within
the law and may take your chance of the
mans giving you a penny without both
ering to take your goods. Or, if you have
rusty wires in your throat instead of vocal
chords. you may regale the househOlders
with such sweet strains as you are capa-
BILE of and accept the pennies they throw
you without police Interference unless
the constable at the corner had bad
night or Is dyspeptic.
The noise makers are no fools. They
know when to make their racket and
when and what kind OF a racket to make
to produce the best results. II is only too
ct AMI d.
ject carefully. The religious noises COR
example, made by squeaky old women
who sing hymns in the street come out
only on Sunday afternoons. Last Sunday
afternoon, when was enjoying that holy
calm to be found nowhere i'm such per
lection a. in London, just after the early
Sunday dinner and when I was engaged
in writing something that might as cas-
ilV have been "A hymn or a tract as any
thing else, the mild south wind waited up
the street the sound Of a womans voice
1t was one Of those typical DAYS when a
ten-minute rainfall aiternates with five
minutes Of partial dryness, with fog and
murkiness all the time but warm and
close, and one of the windows was open
The voice sounded very well a a dis lance
but as II grew nearer its imperfectiens
became painfully apparent Presently the
woman appeared In front of my windows
the very incarnation Of the London beg
gar woman in Sunday clothes: humble
servile, hands clasped in front except when
she had to unclasp them TO look at the
little book that contained the words of the
hymn she was singing; chin drawn down
eyes rolled up, knees ready TO bend at the
least provocaton; all skillfully arranged
TO look like the resigned Christian mar
tyr. Every verse of her hymn was fol-
lowed by the refrain:
Take me as ami
On, take me as l ann
As the verses were very short. and the
refrain was gone over a dozen times in
every imaginable key the whole thing
resolved itself into an appeal to Take
me as am There We're at least twenty
verses in the hymn, and the sex of the
singer unfortunately prevented me from
wasting an ink bottle by taking her.
somewhere In the region of the head. But
sweet consolation came at length from
next door. People We're sitting out on the
upper balconies. and before long I heard
masculine voice respond TO the appeal:
Very well. There's a constable across
the square. You start another hymn and
I'll see that he takes you just as you are "
The constable must have heard a.. for
ne started our way at once. and the singer
moved on, with two or three pennies TO
soothe her feelings. But Il was not the
least use TO drive her away, for she was
hardly out OF the square before another
woman came leading her blind husband
and he stopped in front of every house
and sang hymns in a voice that was worth
listening to. II Is the good voice that
catches the Golfers. and pennies ratified
down on the asphalt pavement for him
IN grand style Then soon afterward
came more singers, blind and otherwise
with and without voices, all gathering In
the scanty crop OF pennies.
The neighborhood OF 1.-THE squares" In
bloomsbury is a faovrite haunt of organ
grinders. This square that the Duke OF
Bedford and have between u.s. ne own
Ing II and living In Il. IS particularly
blessed with them. The solitary organ
grinder as we know him In New York As
seldom or never seen here. They travel
In pairs, in triplets, IN quartets: "a man
and woman a man ana two women. "A
man ana two boys, sometimes "a man ana
two girls. They approach silently enough
but make up for IL before they 60 You sit
by the window writing, look up for n
moment, and there IS a yellow italian
woman grinning az you from the street
Inc man with her, who has hold OF tho
organ, Is also grinning and as soon ~
they catch your eye they smile harder
than ever, and bow and crImace u do.s