The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-12-04

governments Of several countries have
conferred high decorations upon him
for his services in this line.
1t happened that in the course of his
frequent inearcerations NJ. Paulian
made very curious discoYery-viz.,
that one class of the community, and
one only, was unrepresented among the
criminals, He came across lawyers,
parsons, soldiers, sailors, doctors,
adespeople-every sort and condition
of men who had contraVened the laws
in one way or another. But there were
no ragpiclSers.
This fact was more curious than it
may seem at first sight. For the rag
picker population of Paris amounts to
many thousands And they are just
the kind of folk whom one would sup
pose most likely to commit petty Of
fences and consequently be sent to
prison.
NJ Paulian came to the conclusion
that the ragpiekerS were worth study
ing. He therefore became one himself.
But it is "Mendicant Paulian" that
the subject Of this article is best known
by his countrymen. For this remark
able man has not merely been a rag
picker but a professional beggar as
we'll His book Paris Qui Mendie' is
q fearful revelation with regard to the
evils of indiscriminate charity. The
scheme of reform which he has drawn
up, moreover, will shortly be an ac-
complished fact, which being the case,
Louis Paulian has done more for the
! pnDl1innlU on OF
any other man of his day.
| begging in Paris-as probably in all
| the other great cities--is a fine art. To
practise it successfully requires the
greatest skill and knowledge of the ms
and outs of the subject. M. Paulian
has, with years of training, made him
self past master in the system.
Name anything you like" he said
one day to deputy, name anything
you like-an armchair, a wooden leg, a
pair of spectacles, q cradle, a violin,
food in any shape or form, medicine
and L will procure it at once without
paying for it. There is nothing, abso-
lutely nothing, that is out of the reach
of the skilled and patient beggar."
M. Paullan repeatedly proved the
truth of his words He has won many
small bet from sceptical individuals
who were ignorant of the vast nature
of the charities of Paris. For ten years
on end he begged more or less contin-
uously, and at the end of that time he
was able to compute that upward of
four hundred thousand pounds per an
nun was distributed from private Pa
let oh ,it oil IN
persons, to say nothing of the enor-
NOUS sum expended by the Assistance
Publique. The total amount that falls
into the hands of swindler mendicants
in the French capital is little less than
one million pounds year! And yet
hundreds of genuinely poor people, too
proud to beg, are dying of hunger and
disease Further, 1t is actually illegal
to solicit money in any of the streets of
Paris. Organ grinders and others are
provided with d license, but the beggar
who asks for aims merely upon the
strength of his miserable appearance is
liable to be arrested by the police But
does this have any effect? Not a bit of .
it. The persistence of the professional /
beggar has outdone that of the police.
Arrested twenty, forty, q hundred
times, he still goes back to his calling
as soon as he is out of the prison gates
once more. What further proof is
needed to indicate that the following is
a lucrative one?
The romantic story of "Father An
pious hunchback who prayed
and begged on the cold hagstones at
the entrance to church doors-is an ex-
cellent case in point. When he died it
was found that the hump upon his back
was in reality strong box containing
his earnings. These amounted to no
less than nnety-six thousand francs.
M. Paulian knew Antoine whose real
name was Puciarelli, quite we'll, and
discovered that he had organized a
Corner" in church-door beggings. In
other words. no one could beg in safety
at the door Of church without paying
him a substantial rent This rent,
however, if paid regularly resulted in
/ monopoly Of the clay" and total I'M
munity from attacks from rival mendi-
,ants. Gather Antoine" was the Ma
ooleon of his profession.
Another remarkable rpgue-who is
alive at the present moments the ed
tor of the beggars' directory of Paris.
These volumes-they are manuscript
nay be obtained in a small or a large
,dition at three francs and six francs,
respectively. They are playfully known
is the Petit Jeu" and Grand Jeu," or :
little and big game. AS a matter of
act, the thing is nothing more nor less
han a bottin of charitable persons 6
Ipon whom it is worth while for the 7
eggar to call The big Game" which r
, an extraordinarily complete compen- c
ium, is a kind of "Whos who" as we'll =
Iere are two or three examples culled I
t random from it's papes !
"Mr. A-Rich proprietor; readily ;
ives a five-ftanc piece; pays the rent +
one is elected; is religious; favors 2
aptisms and first communions
"Mr. B.-Never gives money; ask for
lothes
Mrs. C.-Widow; only concerns her.
elf about children. Ask for baby lin Il
n. One can also obtain ticket for V
called milk by saying the baby is ill.,
Mr. D.-Protestant; dresses children Il
, send them to school; gives tickets !
n shoes and clothes; demands the $