New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-05-10
SOME CLEVER IMPosToRs.

The first element If the heggar is his appeal for
sympathy To succeed the mendic&nt must chal-
lence the pity Of the passer- For years there was
p famous begEar who worked" Twenty-third-st.
sourd and able bodied. Chi Slim" he
known 10 the underworld. was the most perfect
artist off the stage His specially was paralysis
Throwing his head back as far as possible rolIing
his eyes and holding arm rigidy before him.
she other half raised. and both hands Hopping
selr1ess1y chi Slim collected from S TO 80 In
e round trip between Broadway and Sixth-aVe
60 exnausting was the strain Of the performance
,F,a- he could only do il once day, perhaps four
s-fu7es q week but his earnings frequently passed
So week He deluded the public but ne also
fooled the police. Says Officer Hayes. Mr. Forbess
experienced deputy
.Of them all Chi Slim the best; he was
The top notch Of the profession The first time l
caught him carried him in my aims 10 the patrol
-Vrsron At the station house the sergeant was
afraid ne would die his hands. so they sent him
10 rse hospital. Even the doctors there were
tYrzzIed BY his case. Then fixed it UP for him
% he got OF by promising to quit the city The
stories he told me wonderful The next time
he was caught he was sent TO the island When
he got there they detailed four men TO carry him
IN 10 the building. When he was transferred he
-ar rnerrily down to the boat-there's acting for
,-ou Mr. Chi Slim is now digging graves al
7Iart's Island. hut he fooled me perfectly"
Somewhere there is a beggar who always smiles
when he hears the name Of Charley SchWao
-be steel r1lagnate mentioned British, as this
saprar's mails know him. working the paralysis
came with adaptations from Chi Slim. IN Wall
= not 50 long ago. lettering along. a helpless
-54fable object. when SchNab spied him and
1lrustiug his hands into his pockets, gave MIN all
s1e loose bills had.
How British done Schwab'' is now a far famed
fable of the underworld, and rumor credits Brit
Ssh with a cooI sl5 for turning the trick
PITY ther, is the beggar's game First OF all
sbere are tee crippIes the men on crutches VINO are
Known Is SAP men: those with legs bound in stiff
master Of paris handages. who are called r +.
men for their bandages: those who are simply
lame and are dubbed good cane men; those VINO
have lost their legs and called pegs, in rec
s,enition Of the wooden limb Each Of these has a
story Of mis- own accounting for his misfortune
Tho number Of beggars working in American cites
on the strength limits lost in the Civil and Span
ssh-Americsn wars is simply appalling IN point
a. fact nine cut Of every ten beggars who nave
- +reir legs lost them beating the freights'-
that is stealing rides freight trains They start
81 Iife as tramps long before misfortune mace
sheYn cripples. They not as the enumerated
public fancies unfortunate victims of chance They
started out -jolly bad lot" The blindness OF
frears is largely for revenue only and yet soft
hearted public has for years poured coin into e1-
,e,5ed hats. while the grinning old fakirs SHOW
slled il out in debauch at night
GOOD MONEY IN BEGGING.
7, VAS q profitable business this begging The
rnost dreadfuIly deformed mend4cant the CITY ever
nd a man known in the underworld as Inc
a
rrder him and paralyzed, and who Wriggled along
living backward on his hands, owned a profitable
13oHerv lodging house, had wealthy relatives III
Jersey and finally. when the city became 100
hot for him. retired 10 New-Jersey, where he now
lives I'm afFiuence. Similarly the Human Dog, or
me Human Alligator his only rival cripple VINO
lad lost both his legs and propelled hInser on al
yours with shoes for his hands and knee s1umps'
owns 2 farm in Dickinson. n D., with TWO t4ou-
sand acres Of cultivated lands. and has been Known
If he
send as much as 8 go in single money oroer 10
his father who runs the farm. The Human Dog
works the United States. always attends Mardi
C-ae and is accompanied by a valet. TO whom ne
yzys So a week for looking after him
First shen 4 generous public ought TO understand
INT begging is a profitable business, just as IL
used 70 he = safe occupation. good beggar earned
SO day easily former times. He lived IN luxury
Wine women and song were his recreation
You think the beggar Is only a tramp SAID Olil-
Ger HAYES grimly Let tell you was stand
Ing in front Of the Metropolitan Opera House one
night few years ago, when a carriage uIo'e NP,
aud ] emerge, arrayed IN evening oress anu
carving an opera hat accompanied by a oTliiahuy
dressed woman Billy Smith Siebel, top notcher
emong the beggars.' That mendicant should rest
from collecting coppers and niceIs IN hat by tax
ing woman the opera is not a form OF fecfea-
zion ordinarily associated with the beggar-
BY far the greater fraction Of the beggars pelone
g. the generic class Of '-hoppers"-that is those
who squat in the streets and throw out their hats
for coin. Most OF these armed with Supply
of buckets" or --dockets'-that Is caFos on winch
ere rrinted in rambling doggerel appeal for
aims The buckets furnish an admirable muck
20 the beggar's character, and not less strihiis
testimony Of the quality Of the human nature o.,
which the beggar works. Religion patriotism anu
Ordinary compassion are the general points u q"
tsck Here IS q SAMPLE OF the religious appeal
taken from the card OF Of the most famous OF
the beggsr Wrists:
And ! going home