Evening star., 1900-06-09
NEW YORK; BEGGARS
d.
They Have Come to Be a Big Nuisance
insThat City.
SCHEMES TO WORK TIE CHARITABLE
Opening of the Roof Gardens Was
a Bit Premature.
UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE
'pec,sl Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
NEW YORK, June Z, 1900.
That old problem, how to separate the
worthy from the unworthy, has caused
much agitation in the minds of numerous
anonymous charitable persons in New York
during the past week.
About a fortnight ago the agent of a
saualid tenement house on the East Side
dragged a thin, starved-looking lad of nine
teen to the police court and accused the boy
of violating the innkeepers' act, in that he
couple of weeks.
The boy had fine cOuntenance and the
manner of gentleman. He was sadly
emaciated. He was an art student from
one of the southern states. His pitiful al
lowance from home had suddenly ceased,
for some reason or other. 1t had only suf-
feed, at best, to enable him to pay his tut
ton fees, and to live in a garret, the rent
of which was 75 cents per week. What few
dimes he could scrape together by doing
odd Jobs when he could get them to do he
devoted to the purchase Of canvases and
materials for his work. He had fallen two
weeks in arrears in his garret rent, and the
tenement agent hauled him into an East
Side police court and manifested a de-
chap to Blackwell's Island.
The Tide Turned.
The magistrate was sufficiently humane
to postpone the case to permit of an inves-
tigation. Some of the police court reporters
went to the lads garret. It was sorry
little hole, with a three-legged washstand,
rickety chair, a pair of boxes answering
for a bed, and a homemade easel. Sus-
pended from the ceiling by piece Of rope
was half loaf of bread The young man
was compelled to hang his bread that Way
to keep the rats from getting at 1t. Some
of the drawings scattered around the room
struck the police court reporters as being
singularly good They dug up the art
critics of their papers, and had the experts
look the work over. The art critics pro-
nounced the young mans work not only
good, but excellent; they were unanimous
in declaring that the lad possessed positive
genius. The police court reporters wrote
the tragic little story up in a sympathetic
vein, and the next day the young art stu
dent was turned loose and taken in hand by
a rich citizen who keeps an eye out for
worthy cases of this sort. The expenses of
the boys art education and keep will be
provided for by this man for some years to
come, and the lad win not have to hang his
cr,sts from an attic ceiling. either A large
number of knd-hearted persons sent money
to the young man. His was a genuinely
deserving case. -
1t Looked All Right
Another case that seemed pretty sorrow
full came up last week. A young married
man, under twenty-five. wrote to the super
intendent of Bellevue Hospital, Offering to
sell a quantity Of his blood to any anaemic
patient who might be in need of the same
for SO or so fhe ybung mans letter was.
couched in straightforward, simple terms.
Ii was the letter of man Of education.
He said that he found himself and his
young wife ip a desperate plight, because
he couldn't find 'ahiy work to do; that he
had been promised a Job couple of weeks
SONIC money t& tide himself and his wife
over until he 1ssH4 His fob He was robust
man, in prime health. he said, and he was
willing to sacrifice as much of his blood as
he could stand the loss of In order to get
money for his absolute needs.
This letter seemed such an unusual,
square, pitiful document that the superin-
tendent of the hospital couldn't refrain
from turning it over to the newspaper men.
The newspaper men went up to the address
given by the writer of the letter and looked
the young man and his plant over. The
young mans hard luck story seemed to
have proper basis. He had frank, open
countenance. He had served before the
mast and in the British and United States
armies, he said. and had been wounded in
Cuba. He talked like a man of excellent
education. His wife was pretty young
woman of eighteen. They lived in very
bare, miserable quarters. The newspaper
men printed the story as they got nold OF
it.
But 1t Wasn't.
Money began to flow toward the young
man on the day the newspapers printed his
letter to the superintendent Of the hos
pital and the story behind the letter. The
young mans mail was cluttered with let
ters containing money.
A few days ago two detectives got In
here from Boston. Within an hour after
they arrived they nabbed the young man
on criminal charge.
Now the charitably disposed persons who
sent the forger money are marveling over
the wickedness In the world.
Street Begsars.
The beggars Of New York are incredibly
persistent and vicious. They are virtually
highwaymen and highwaywomen and high
waychildren, in fact. The police do not ap-
pear to pay much attention to them
Hordes of filthy male beggars work both
sides of Broadway in broad daylight with
out any molestation at the hands OF the
huge cops Of the Broadway squad.
The male beggar on Broadway VIII fall
into step with you and young feller' you
for some blocks. and end by referring dis
respectfully to Your ancestors If you decline
to .'perduce." He comes alongside OF you.
takes step for step with you. but does not
look at you. He looks straight ahead,
while he tells you that he IS up agln II
I r de price or a meal o VlttieS. ne red-
son he looks ahead is that his attitude does
not then appear to be a begging one, and,
while he may feel that he is immune from
the claws of the policemen. he prefers to
take chances. 1t is difficult to shake
him off. He refuses to be shaken off. You
may say NO emphatically dozen times.
but he continues to keep step with you and
to tell you that you look like young feller
that knowed a case O hard luck wen he
seen it." When you finally stop short and
face him and tell him to drill away from
you real quick. he cofsigns you to region
where the ice trust doesn't operate applies
irreverent epitfHts' 10 your most remote pro-
genitors. and takes VI, his stand for another
'easy-lookin' maFk.'t
Female Nuisance.
The old woman with the faded shawl
and the weird Bonnet and the gin breath is
also very numerousifon the most crowded
thoroughfares '{p: tie city. The shopping
district Is herr fav9yite stamping ground,
and shopping women are her victims for
the most partA She stackles shy-looking
woman and waRs along with her. uttering
a dismal string OF gFbberish about her two
sons unjustly tonfifad on the island, her
invalid husband and that sort Of thing.
If the shy Woman she tackles gets a whiff
Of the old crOna'a breath. and therefore