St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1901-09-28
BEGGING AS AN ART.
When Scientifically Conducted Men
delaney Is Profitable.
Newspaper Woman Makes q Success
a. n Professional Beggar-Why
Charity Should he Bestowed
JudiciOus1y.
Especial Washington letter.

Especial Washington letter.
ut CAN make living by begging, and
it will be very good living, too, :"
says a bright newspaper woman
from Baltimore, who has been playing
1T begging in this city.
81 came over here to find out for my
self, first, if urgent cases of suffering
are relieved; second, if the worthy are
given substantial aid; and, third, if
impostors can draw living from the
public bounty. Of course, I shall make
q newspaper story of my experiences.
A beggar could not succeed so well in
Baltimore or any other city as have
succeeded here.
"To begin with, this is the only city
in the country where 100000 are put
in circulation twice month. The gov
eminent employees are paid off on the
fifteenth and thirtieth days of the
month, and they are a prodigal people
as class. They are also good-hearted
and generous. Government money
comes easy and it usually goes easy.
That is not grammatical I know, but it
Is vernacular and true.
"Any respectable looking woman,
with clean face, clean hands, shabby
dress, patched and darned, can gather
in number of dollars on these pay
days by looking meek and whispering
a plea for help as the clerks come forth
to their luncheon at noon, or when
they leave the departments at the close
of Office hours in the afternoon. The
young men are easy marks, and so are
many of the young women; but men
give more freely than women do. It
may be that women might be disposed
to aid respectable looking male beg
gar, rather than to give aid to one of
their own sex; but that is only sur
mise.
"There are no policemen about the
state, war and navy department build
ings, nor are they always standing
around the interior department and
post office department. They are al
ways on duty at the treasury, and q
beggar should avoid working the game
when they are near by, because some
people are prone to call on policeman
to take charge of the case, and that
might ultimately lead to exposure or
term in the workhouse. On the 18th
of last month I managed to gather in
$40 at noon, and about SIT in the
evening. On the 3Oth of the month l
collected a little more than $14, but I
did not get in any work in the even
ing, because the policemen were
about and I was working the treas
ury clerks. By steering clear of the
bluecoats, am very sure that I could
raise not less than $50 each month,
and this could be kept up for an in-
definite time without discovery.
II have thus ascertained that inn
posters can draw living from the
public; and have also learned that
the worthy are given real help and
urgent cases are relieved. The asso-
ciated charities could not be better
organized. My story there was lis
tened to, and an agent went to my
dingy room to find that my story of
poverty was true. My rent was paid
for two weeks and work was found
for me. The pay was small, but it
was living. Begging, however, is
easier and brings four times the in
come of honest toll. The associated
charities, by system of visiting, en-
deavors to bring every poor family
into contact with some charitable
person who can visit the needy at
least once a week and exert some in