The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-11-11

one of the most celebrated concert-hall
singers, who is besleged nightly by the
gay FOUNDERS of the worlds merriest city
with requests for lock of her hair. To
cut off and distribute her beautiful tresses
piecemeal would be to spoil one of her
chief charms, and so the fond admirers
are satisfied with a substitute-a lock
from the hair of our curly friend. She
pays him well for his rinGlets, and he is,
for the present at least, living on the fat
of the land When the deception is dis
covered the singer loses her popularity
he will probably find himself out of g
good occupation.
Criminal Occupations.
Then there are the criminal classes.
A United States census worker, while
going his rounds in Chicago, called at
the door of a rather gloomy house. and
was met by q nicely dressed, dapper lit
tie fellow who greeted him pleasantly.
He had a shifty eye, though, and seemed
uneasy all during the questioning pro
cess. Finally the question was reached,
What is your occupationT
Making money" promptly replied the
lad.
The census enumerator, If he is like
census enumerators that we have met,
probably replied, Quit your kidding now;
get wise to the question and tell me
what you work at Nix the comedy
now; what's your job
ION the dead level, my occupations
making money, replied the young man
at the door. I'm n counterfeiter.
You're too fresh whatever you are"
replied the census worker as he put down
in the occupation blank, Information re-
fused
That afternoon he got thinking things
over, however. and went to the police .
with the story. The house was raided
and all the officers found were evidences
of n hasty departure and part of coun-
terfeiter's outfit. Three weeks later when
the gang of spurious coinmakers were
rounded up, the young man who an
swered the door confessed that he thought
that the jig up and that the census
man merely n detective who was
after additional evidence before the house
was pinched.
Counterfeiting is n peculiar employment
if n shady one, and it requires nerve, skill
and ability to be a good artisan in this
line. Another unique occupation in the
same shady category is that of the pro-
fessional beggar, who makes a living by
asking people for things. There are men.
too, who make living by breaking into
houses, and there are other men who make
q living by getting them out of jail after
they have been caught. The former are
known as burglars and the latter as law
yers.
The professional tramp is. perhaps, the
strangest freak among all strange human
beings. Wandering, wandering, always
wandering-liying by begging. stealing.
robbing and sometimes even numbering
he poses Americas only real Idle class.
and yet he works harder to be idle than
most men do TO hold their jobs. He is
very like the professional beggar, only
worse and dirtier. In many ways a crook,
he is Yet in strong contrast TO the general
run of real crooks, such as forgers, bunco
men, bank robbers and defaulters, who
have In most instances refined tastes and
high ideals, with the daily bath and per-
sonal Weaknesses part of their creed
The various callings of the crooks how
ever, are not properly classed occupa-
ton. and so the great army of the other
side will be dismissed with this slight
reference.
Secondhand EmpIoymcnfs.
The cable dispatches recently carried
the story Of a young woman who. finding
other avenues of labor closed to her. went
on the streets of Loadon bootblack
and made a good living. Her occupation.
however, was not quite unique as that
of a man In the Old World who made
practice of buying old shoes and taking
the pegs and nails from the soIes and
selling them over again. This occupation
is somewhat akin TO that of the old
clothes man Of our American cities, who
cardsd garments and buying them for
song Those in fairly good condition are
fixed. cleaned up and put on sale in cheap
clothing stores. The others are cut ever
into suits for little boys and girls and as
such ind a ready market discarded
mans suit once followed on its course By