The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-07-28
BEGGARs VISITING CARDS.
How They Are Obtained and Used
 Profits of Mendicancy.

How They Are Obtained and Used Profits of Mendieancy.
 The modern beggar places a great deal of faith in the visiting card trick. To bring this trick to a successful issue ! the beggar must be a man of respec- table appearance and some address, for it is essential that he should gain ac- cess to your drawing room.
 | He may come in the disguise of a politician to solicit your vote for the next parliamentary or municipal cleo tion, or of a philanthropist to interest you in some charity; or he may come as a needy suppliant with plausible story for which he gains your ear by | mentioning the name of your friend, MT. -, whose acquaintance with you he has by some means alstertained. If he is fortunate enough to be admitted to the drawing room, he askes, before going, if you will oblyige him with a glass of water. Should you leave him for moment to comply with his re- quest, he takes the opportunity to pock- ct any visiting cards he may see lying about.
 Presently one of the cards comes back to you, It Is presented by another call CT, says Macmillan's Magazine, and on the back you read Bearer is a thoroughly deserving man, He is on his way to some distant town to obtain work. I have given him ten shillings. Can you help?" On receiving such a message you probably add your dona- ton, and are surprised when next you meet your friend to learn that he knows nothing whatever of your caller.
 Some of the other stolen cards will be similarly presented to other friends of the people whose names they bear. Thus the vicars card will be presented to one of his churchwardens, and so on.
 Visiting cards are recognized article of commerce in some of the common lodging houses frequented by the beg ging fraternity, where they are sold at prices ranging up to five shillings, ac- cording to the supposed value of the card as bait. Stamped letter paper is sometimes obtained in the same way; 1t comes in very handy for writing false testimonials.
 Begging pays sufficiently well to deter a good many people from joining the ranks of honest industry. It is a call ing in which some men remain for the whole of their lives and in which they even bring up their children. A good begging letter may be worth as much as 910 There is one practitioner of the art who has banking account and another who is an owner of house property. On the other hand many begging letters emanate from common lodging houses, which presumably are not the abodes of the, affluent. And there is a we'll known gang which has its headquarters in the workhouse, sending out patches of letters addressed from various shops in the neighbor- hood, When good luck rewards their efforts they take their discharge from the workhouse and live in luxurious ealse for while, returning when the money is spent.
 About. five shillings a day is estimated by the experts of the Mendicity Society tO pe IHS dNSfdBo SetAHlllBS Ol dH OTu- inarily successful street beggar in Lon don; the figure is arrived at by observ- ing the amount of money found on beg gars who have been arrested. Last year there were 3,019 convictions for begging in the London police courts alone, and of course those who are ar- rested are but a comparatively small proportion of the beggars in the streets It is estimated that in the London po- lice area the enormous sum of 9312,O ,OOC goes into the pockets of street beggars every year.