The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-12-04
A BEGGAR'S DIRECTORY.
One of the Tools of the Systematized
Trade of the Paris Mendicant.

| One of the Tools of the Systematized
Trade of the Paris Mendicant.
A toll, handsome man, with big
| brown beard and hair shot with gray;
dressed la mode Franchise; the rib
bon Of the Legion of Honor in his but
tonhole; a smile on his face, and a
stream of voluble welcome from his
tongue. This Is M. Louis Paulian as +
first saw him when ] entered his resi-
dence at Neuilly, near Paris. But in a
few minutes, what a change! His inn
naculate collar was gone, his frock
coat Though actually unalteredD had
by some magic assumed an out-at-el-
bows appearance; his silk hat, tilted on
one side and rubbed gently the wrong
way, was the perfection of genteel
shabbness. All signs of pleasure had
vanished from the laughing eyes and
mouth Instead, there was a look Of
skilfully combined misery and pride.
My affable host had for the moment
ceased to exist. In his place stood a
poverty stricken man, hunger in every
line of his melancholy countenance.
IF / went out like this on the boule-
ward close by / can guarantee that I'd
have the price of a good meal in my
pocket within an hour" said M. Pau
liam. what is more, | could succeed
without uttering a word of begging. I
should stink silently along, peering out
of the corners of my eyes at the other
pedestrians Every fourth or fifth rich
swell would turn back and slip few
int
word of thanks | should hurry on, as
though ashamed of having accepted the
aims. In actual fact, Tor rather the
individual of the type which L am imi-
tating for your benefit-am probably
better off than the donor from whom I
receive the gift!'
M. Louis Paulian received in 1871 the
much coveted though arduous post of
secretaire-redacteur to the chambres
des deputies and secretaire-a djoint Of
the conseil superleur des prisons. The
work connected with these offices
brought him in close contact with the
prison management commission of that
day. Now, he is man who does moth |
ing by halves Which being the case,
he decided that in order to understand
the prison questions properly they
should be viewed from the inmates
point of view as well as from that of |
the governor. He decided, in fact, to |
be incarcerated himself as a common |
Pelon and draw his own conclusions.
1t is not our business here to de-
scribe the various interesting adven-
lures through which M. Paulian
passed. Suffice it to say that he has
oeen in durance vile, for longer or
shorter periods, in many or all Of the
main jails of Italy and Holland, as well
rs those of Paris itself, and has con-
ributed priceless knowledge to COM
missions in his own and other coun-
ries On no occasion was his jailer
Iware that he was dealing with any
me more important than an ordinary
the result being that his
reatment was genuinely what was
neted out to his companions. 1t is
to note, by the by, that he
ound an extremely ingenious CONVEX
alton system in use by experienced
prisoners, which had totally escaped
discovery by the warders. NJ Paulin
himself learned to talk by it's means.
t consisted of kind of noiseless "dot
nd dash" method Of signalling, sent by
means of jerks applied to the broad
enches which passed through from
ne cell to another. M. Paulian, seat
d at one side of a wall, could chat
with pal" at the other
ven when the attendant was watching.
guileless swinging of a pair of
hacked legs was all that was visible !
D the unsuspecting eye. The result of
II this was that M. Paulian became
ne of the greatest authorities in Eu-
1pe on prison management; and it is ,
} him that is owed the present excel
mt system of control practised in the g.,
houses of detention in France :