Los Angeles herald., 1907-05-05

eral good meals, nights lodging, some
serYiceable cast-off clothes and chance
to work-whlch latter he usually ducks.
Closely allied with the great begging
profession are the men who may be
termed "purveyors to the fakers." They
make a business of supplying beggars
with the articles needed to ply their
trade, such as artificial sores to counter
felt injury or disease, bandages that will
give the appearance of any desired de-
formity, crutches, canes, ETC., etc. There
Is In London at least one individual who
makes good living renting out appli-
ances A pair of green goggles, tin cup
and a sign II am blind" for instance,
will be loaned to enterprising individuals
who desire to enter the trade for small
percentage of the daily receipts. 1t
would seem that the owner of these chat
tells had little security. for their return,
and no assurances that he would get his
proper portion of the proceeds. Such Is
not the case. however. In big cities-and
In London especially-the various locali-
ties are divided up into beats, and no
man Is allowed to trespass on his BROTH
ers territory. When the new individual
some certain corner or territory, and If he
once played false the great freemasonry
of beggardom would see that he never
begged again. To such science has the
business been reduced that one Of these
purveyors can tell, almost to hapenny,
how much any corner will bring at
certain hour of the day for certain kind
of begging. Panhandling, for instance,
generally yields 20 per cent. more than
"blind" begging, but then, too, 1t Is much
harder work and requires more skill and
activity.
Instructors in begging, too, are known
to exist, though, to my knowledge, the
police of no big city have ever knowingly
run down and held one of these danger
Gus citizens. For stated sum they will
supply the "panhandler" with a tale
suited to his peculiar physical makeup,
and will tell him just where to put the
whine to make his plea successful. In
justice to the majority of this class, how
ever, 1t must be said that the man who
has to learn his story never makes
hrst-class beggar Those who excel are
those who originate their own yarns and
tell them themselves.
Everybody, perhaps, is familiar with
the great 'boier explosion" swindle that
swept the country recently. A degenerate
German painter in New York ground out
lurid and weird pictures of bursting
boiler, with legend underneath asking
aid for the bearer who had lost his eye
sight In the explosion at a chemical works
in a place sufficiently distant to make
investigation difficult. An italian sold the
pictures to professional beggars for $40
each, and thousands were placed on the
market. Not a city in the country but
that was visited by two or three of these
signbearers, and both the German paint
er and his italian partner waxed rich, it
is said, Not long ago the police of
Western city unearthed a similar scheme,
probably a revival of the old one, and
killed in the bud what would have proven
an equally profitable business based on
the San Francisco earthquake,
Perhaps some readers with a fondness
for splitting hairs will take exception to
chasing of professional beggars with
paupers. But there is no reason why they
should; both classes are supported by the
public. In the case of the beggar, the in
diyidual contributes direct, while in the
case Of the pauper he does 1t indirectly
through the taxes he pays the state.
once heard of beggar who did his work