Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-10
HARD LUCK STORIES
NOT MANY OF THEM TOLD IN
THIS CITY.
Washington Not Good Place for Beg
gars Of Any Description
Police Pull Them.
I beg your pardon. sir, but"

1ue young man who uttered these polite
words to Washingtonian and visiting
trieno from New York a few nights ago on
Ith street near The Star office was COM
paratively well dressed and did not enter
the tramp class.
Nevertheless, the frozen face and icicle
eye he received chilled his eloquence and
what he was about to say as regards the
exact words will ever go down to posterity
as one Of the mysteries
HIS meaning, however, was OWNED by
ooth gentlemen, and the New Yorker said:
Ihat is the first installment of a hard
luck story which 1 have had hurled at me
In the week 1 have been in Washingt on,
while In New York We will get a dozen
uptown streets
In fact, l have been impressed by the
absence of beggars, hard luck hucksters,
mendicant cripples, buns, beats and tough
characters in general from the streets of
the capital. This young fellow was too well
dressed to be termed a beggar, as the word
is usually understood, and he falls under
the designation of a hard luck story teller,
or hard luck hucksters, as l call them.
"A hard luck huckster is a species of the
idle, lazy class of men who once were in
good position, but who have fallen by rea-
son of their own vices or failngs, and,
once down. find 1t easier to make a dollar
by singing hard luck song than by earn
ing 1t by the sweat of their brows. They
sympathy between men which is aroused
by good hard luck story, where the aver
age appeal for pecuniary aid will be met
with curt refusal
This Is especially true If the man ap-
pealed to happens to have several drinks
tucked under his waistband. He will then
be inclined to put himself in the other fell
lows place, and the necessary dime or
quarter is forthcoming. The hard luck
huckster, however, is every bit as much of
common beggar as the professional men
dicant N rags, and the same treatment
should be accorded him.
I'm the uptown streets in New York these
fellows became such a nuisance that a par
ticular society undertook their elimina ton
and suppression with a result which has
been astonishing. Hundreds have been ar
rested and sent to the Backwell's Island
workhouse, and it was proven in court that
many had bank accounts of various dimen-
sions, while one proved to be the owner of
large and well-paying ranch in South
Dakota, paid for by money begged on the
streets of New York.
"At first blush it seemed hard of US to
turn down such good-looking. nicely
dressed young fellow as we did tonight, be-
cause he aroused sympathy, which a
tramp could not, but if all men would act
likewise these street parasites would soon
be a honest work. Men make a mistake
in responding to their appeals and placing
any reliance in the same old story they al
ways tell about their being stranded In
town. etc.
Professional Mendicants Not Tolerated
yes" replied the resident, washington
Is comparatively free from the importuni-
ties Of the class Of hangers on-by- their-eye-
lids to which you refer, and therein Wash
ington is ahead of other cities We used to
have a lot of these chaps brace US with
more or less frequently. but our police some
time ago decided that begging on the
streets of the capital was to be conspicuous
by Its absence. New York police won't go
to the trouble to arrest these worthless
characters, and they thrive in the metropo-
lis, where, If the police chose, they could be
suppressed without the aid of private So
cieties.
"In Washington 1t is possible for a gen.
tleman to walk along our streets at night
to and from the theater or to enter or leave
a restaurant with a lady without being sub
jected to the petty but unspeakably annoy
ing importantly Of from one to half dozen
mendicants of the various grades you have
described for money aid. And, you sug-
gest, our streets are freer than any other
city in the country of its size, and larger,
probably, of the tough characters. mendi-
cants and human street eyesores which
make life burden elsewhere.
"Our system of organized charities will
give quick and substantial assistance to
any really deserving case who may re-
qulre help. We take good care of our poor
in the winter, and men who really wish
work placed in positions to better
themselves well as the circumstances
permit This fact, coupled with police
system which looks out for those worthless
In their usual habitats, largely accounts
for the favorable condition Of our streets
to which you refer The horror Of work in
the workhouse will max some men go to
honest work. and when they know that they
will go down on the farm in Washington
If caught begging tn the streets they go to
other cities where the practice Is permitted
and we are well and thankfully rid Of their
undesirable presence
washington Is an unhealthy place for
thieves and it is likewise an unhealthy
place for beggars. For persons who really
wish to get along the climate is saubrious
and the people kind