The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-09
CITY BEGGARS OF EASY LIVES.
RICH AND POOR ALIKE READY
TO HELP THEN.
From o. 10 SIS X IN by ekiifui
Panhandlers In . Day OF -Four ouv-
Working People mposed upon-Oid
women Miser-A Proposed Remedy.

Fhnnannicrt IN nDay OF fOur Hourv-
Working People Imposed upoU-Oid
Women Misers-A Proposed Remedy.
Every city has its beggars, but New
York Ia the Mecca OF all Of them, for In no
other place are the profits no large or so
easily acquired. On an average working
day Of four hours. a skillful mandloant
takes In from IS to SIS, according to his
powers Of persuasion and the extent OF
his real or assumed misfortunes.
By experts II is estimated that thou
sands OF dollars are given daily to the pro-
f~essional beggars alone. The principal
givers are the working mon and women.
the great middle class.
In the under world and among the police
the professional beggar L. known as the
~panhandler, a name gained by the custom
Of holding a tin cup for aims. ~Panhandlers
have a peculiar II unorganized union.
One OF them never monopolizes indoh-
nitely a good location. Whether or not
there is any exchange Of money for the
good will Of a stand, certain It Is that beg
CARS trade locations, thus keeping charity
from becoming stale. The value OF these
stands will be understood from the fact
that special officers and policemen on the
vagrancy squad have had offers OF CAS-
a month protection money for certain
good locations In New York.
The most successful and the most COM
mon ~panhandler Is the young man with
the intelligent. American face. who drifts
In from almost any point between Maine
and California. OF respectable percentage.
possessed OF a rudimentary education.
his dowufall begins with cigarettes,
dime novels and evil companions.
Unable to hold employment at home,
he takes to the road, mixing with tramps
and criminals. Before he goes beyond
the petty larceny stage, he makes a misstep
at the end Of a stolen ride or participates
In a fight on a train, and loses one or both
limbs. He enters the hospital a possible
criminal. lie leaves it n panhandler.
He begs OF steals q ride to the metropolis,
making Immediately for one OF the fur
nished room houses which exist solely
on the profits Of ~panhandlers. Here he
meets others Of his ilk who instruct him
in the best locations and graftsto be worked.
He pays 81 so or 81 a week for his room,
taking his meals wherever the hour may
find him. During the regular shopping
hours, the %panhandler suns himself in tn,
great retail district, but at @ o'clock h.
fAAtlAktN llEN iNNhAAtAAs - hAAo'o NahhN -,
Hebrew working girls are kind-heartei
and Of socialistic tendencies.
Dressed In o~veralls. 4 rough coat and
derby hat, and without a collar, he
waits for them in the heart Of some factory
district. If lie PLAYS well the role Of dis
abled workingman, he secures between
6 and I o'clock not less than $50, while on
pay days the amount runs TO 81,
Every possible scheme Is employed
to exaggerate deformities and excite pity.
Where the amputation has been made
below the knee and the man could walk
| easily with crutches, he straps on a long
shoe, fortified with sole leather and laced
in the back.
Sauatting on this gives him a horrible
appearance and n height Of four feet or
less. Trusting the arm through the lower
cross bar Of his crutch also lowers a man
TO n distressing position. Blind men aug
ment their deformity by constantly rolling
the eyes. which in time become bloodshot.
The old time methods Of cruelty, such as
~bandaging an arm To one side and showing
an empty sleeve. or using soap and acids
to cause horrible sores on the face, hand
or arm, have disappeared. Thu art OF
mendicancy is advancing.
Nor is the life 10 trying as the credulous
might think. The professional seldom
works during Indictment weather, and
though he may crouch on the damp ground
for hours. he uses an antidOte in the form
of liberal potstions Of rum.
Once a panhandler, always a~panhandIer'
seems To I've the rule. Among the notorious
beggars Of the Metropolis are an old man
and his wife who have been placed in chart
table institutions time and again by friends.
He Is blind and the wife feigns the same
affection. ,
funeral, they we're arrested. and a few
DAYS later jointly put up 1921 TO go free on
a legal technicality.
Al night the panhandler returns 10 his
| lodging house To squander the accumulation
of coppers, niCkels and dimes. One of
! the most notorious lodging houses for this
class of men is on Eldridge street.
The ~ounging room II reached through
a dark. iN-smelling passage way, con-
Meeting the front and rear houses. The
room Is well lighted and in winter warmed
by q redhot stove.
The panhandlers gather round the rough
table for card playing, and n young girl
or boy is kept busy rushing the can 10 the
nearest saloon. In the corner OF the room
are tossed the artificial legs, the strapped
boots, the clutches and even eyeshades
used to touch the hearts and incidentally
the purses of a thoughtless, hurrying punlic
during the day.
Occasionally the police run across pan
handlers known ms Alone wolves, that is,
they do not mix with others of their class.
A notable case il that Of a man named
Dean, who years ago lost both Of his legs
while working on the New Haven road.
The company cared loF MIN uilll ms IT,
covery and paid him literally for his afnic-
tion. On leaving the hospital Dean
promptly divorced his wife and started
down tho Connecticut Valley working
the population for pair Of artificial legs.
Eventually he reached New York, still
minus the legs. but with plenty Of cash
and a record as a most persistent beggar.
Later he appeared as applicant In two more
divorce suits.
The police no longer keep track Of the
number Of artificial leg for which he has
collected funds, but they do know that
his mother owns a fine Connecticut farm,
probably paid for 10y q credulous public,
and in New York she rum a good-sized
rooming house for her son.
The old Irish women who huddlc In door
WAYS or on curbings at night can generally
be classod with misers. They have seen
their sixty winters and properly belong
in the almshouse, but they prefer TO herd,
four or five, in a two-room fiat, kept by one
of their number. ,
sSupar-Bowl" Is n somewhat noted
character of this kind. and has five or six
old women In her boN-like apartment every
night. They paw 10 or Is cents Tor the
privilege of sleeping on her floors, and
their diet consists Of tea stale bread or
crackers and vhiskey, each jealousy