Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-27
JUVENILE MENDICANTS

II wonder why the police stand for this
taken day and night possession of the down
tosrn streets of Washington" was the
quirulous question of the man who walks
around town good deal.
They're the most whining, persistent and
wholly annoying bunch of youthful mendi-
cants ever met up with in any city. and
1t seems peculiar to me that Washington
should have to put up with such pest.
There's no such thing as walking on r
street during the daylight hours without
having these begging tads thrusting greasy,
grlmy cards at you every square or SO of
your progress, with the whine, Mister.
please gimme somethin' on me card II.
new TO the infection, you are foolish enough
10 stop and take a peek at one Of these
cards, you find that 1t has three or four
verses OF begging doggerel. badly printed
and misspelled. on 1t. The cards offer no
earthly reason why you should dig into
your nankeens and hand the holder OF 1t
Dacksheesh. The doggerel doesn't mention
anything about the holidays. It simply
says. in effect, Gimme and the tads who
stick the cards out to you only carry the
cards as bluff through the instrumental
lily Of which they think they're privileged
to ask anybody for money. This card gag
had its origin years ago in the New Year
cards which ones regular newsboy pushed
at him on the first day Of the year, or left
In ones basement I always responded to
the invitation to dig extended on the news
boys card. The newsboy who rendered
certain favors for me throughout the year
had, l felt. a sort of drag on me. and 4
willingly responded with the desired quar-
ter or four bits.
From being held by the newsboys during
the holidays. the cards gradually fell into
D oY1n11f Tr ~
ing the holidays. but during the holidays
only, used them frankly for begging pur-
poses II one happened to be in a benevo-
lent mood, incidental to the holidays. he'd
dig up to these youngsters saying to him
self that one can't be doing much harm by
distributing little silver. even when there's
no earthly apparent reason for giving 1t.
around the gladstone Yuletfde season.
But now, with the holidays we'll down on
the horizon of time. the downtown streets
are infested with these whining youngsters
who shove the cards at passers-by with no
possible excuse behind the begging. They
simply get possession of one of the mendi-
cant cards and station themselves along the
much frequented thoroughfares and pick
out their marks to shove the cards at ihey
annoy shopping women extremely. iney
follow along after the women, whining
their plaintive, mumbled appeals, and often
clutch the womens skirts or wraps. They
are impudently persistent, and often they
make out as If they're going to blubber II
thing They do this with the deliberate
purpose of Showing up the women to whom
they make these whimpering appeals Ihey
know that women folks don't like to APP
pear unknd or ungenerous before their
women friends and by means of this they
win their game quite as often as they
lose out. woman, just to shake the mis-
cradle little crafty ruffian off. will gener-
ally go into her purse and give the foxy
snib some pennies or bit of silver
1--WE noticed that there's something for
eignish in the looks and accent of most OF
these new street beggars or washington.
They look to me as if they might be the
children of immigrants newly settled IN
Washington It may be that they are sent
out by their people to beg in TINS fashloh.
But no matter how they are sent or VINO
sends them, or whether they are acting OF
their own initiative and on their own re-
sponsibility they've become powerful null
sance and I'm puzzled that the Wa hing-'
ton police haven't got after them long De-
fore this.
There's another kind of begging on the
part of crafty kids that ought to be cut out
here in Washington. This Is, the begging
of the youngsters who station themselves
outside or near the theaters. at letting-out
time and beg folks to buy their papes-
They've got that T'm-stick-wit' .ne-papes
whine down pat. and they are just as In
sistent and hard to shake OF as the tads
who beg on the downtown, streets by
means of the begging cards during the day
time. In fact. they're worse. for, on being
firmly refused, these youngsters with a
lot of phony papers to sell at the late hours
have been known to up and roundly curse
the men who have refused to fall for their
little game. I saw this happen outside a
vaudeville theater only the other evening
A man to whom one of the whining kids
with a bundle of papers under his arm
mace his appeal said to the youngster: NO,
7 say-on your way, now, and let me alone.
The boy backed away and deliberately
poured out the vilest imaginable stream
of profanity upon the man. consigning him
to one of the hottest marls in the lower re-
gions, and all that sort Of thing. The little
devil knew that he could do this with vfr-
tual fmpunity. for he was aware that no
man thus affronted would care to be seen
wildly chasing youngster by a throng of
people emerging from a theater.
1.-THE papers these theater-working kids
have to sell are seldom on the level.
know because fell for the game before
found out that it was regular frame-up.
I told the kid l wanted Star paper, and
handed him a nickel, telling him to keep
the change, for I thought he really might
be stuck wit his papes.' When I opened
the paper up upon arriving home l found
that It was three days old.
ut looks to me as If there's chance here
for the police of Washington to start some
thing. I've heard dozens of complaints
about these nuisanees of card beggars and
phony paper sellers and there's a lot OF
wonder in the minds of people who are
down town q good deal as to swhy the
thing has been allowed to go on as long as
Ior