The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-29
PRINCE e PANHANLQERS
HAS FALLEN IN LOVE AND WILL
GIVE UP GRATING TO
REFORM
HAS HAD A VARIED CAREER
How He Lived fer Thirty Years
Without Labor by E'W0rk-
ing'' the Generous
Public.

Philadelphia Inquirer.
George Munro has for many years en-
joyed the proud distinction of having
been the greatest panhandIer the world
has ever seen. A panhandler is a graf
ter. A CRATER is a confidence man. A
confidence man is not a bunko steerer,
but a man who simply wins his way
in the world by getting into your conf
dence and making you believe that you
know him and know him quite we'll.
When you are confident that you have
known him for years the confidence man,
CRATER or panhandler proceeds to deity
touch you for as much as you will cough
up; a very inelegant but exceptional
mode of saying that he gets a few dol
lars from your pocket by his ShreWdneSS
and your dumbnesS.
But the point of the story is the fact
that George Munro, after spending thirty
years of life without ever having done
one stroke of work, has decided to re-
form, to earn his living by the sweat of
his brow rather than by means tride
precariouS And this almost miracle has
been worked by woman, a pretty girl
with whom the king of panhandlers has
fallen in love. 1t was she who first made
him believe he was doing wrong, and
it was she who influenced him to really
and truly start out to make an honest
living.
Mr.. Munro is well educated and comes
of good family, but he says he has
reached the age where he wants to live
so the police will not be after him all
the time, and SO he will put by enough
money to keep away from the alnshouse
in his later days
Several times during the last two or
three years this CRATER has dropped into
the Inquirer Office and tried one of the
many confidence games on the Sunday
editor. Any one who has ever met a
Sunday editor knows what he must have
struck, but just to test the ability of this
CRATER he was sent on a round of the
offices, being given a few facts about the
names and honorable part of the lives of
several members of the staff OF all the
men in a newspaper Office the society
editor Is the worst to handle when it
comes to making touch. By alleging
that he played on the same football team
at Princeton and that he was well ac-
quainted with the society EDITORS BROTH
er over in New York and his uncle here
and an aunt there the CRATER was finally
grasped by the hand, and later the So
ciety editor turned out his pockets and
gave up 80 cents. The managing editor
was a dead cineh, for he coughed I'D 80
cents on the strength of having travelled
all the way to Erie county in the same
car with him. He thought he remem-
bered Mr.. Munroe distinctly, but it has
dence man rode on the inside of pas
senger car.
WORKING HIS GRAFT.
The city editor happened to be young
and tender-hearted, although, as a rule.
city editors are old and tough When he
was finally made to recognize Mr. Munro
as an old reporter he not only gave him
a 81 for expenses, but hired him on the
spot and sent him out on an assignment
The CRATER went out one door, came
back another and interviewed the sport
ing editor 1t took Mr. Munro less than
two minutes to convince the sporting
editor that he was the hacker of a IA
nous prize fighter; that he had been up
against it, lost his pocketbook and need
ed money enough to get to New York
The old sport Immediately borrowed a
dollar from his assistant and placed it
in the hands of the CRATER, who had to
leave the office at once so he could go to
some lonely spot and kick himself for
never before having thought of touch
ing members of the newspaper profess
sion.
One of Munro's best confidence games
is known as the "ex-convict graft" He
has discovered that there are thousands
of persons full of philanthropy and al
ways anxious to assist man who has
seen worse days and is DESTROYS of lead
ing better life. No one wants to give
employment to a man Just out Of prison,
and these humane persons try to see
that when a man first leaves prison he
gets good treatment in order that he
may not fall back into evil ways. 1t is
a very simple matter TO get list Of
these persons, and it is still easier to
write to them and tell the stery OF