The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-08-03
nation than it's federation of swarms Of

nation than its liberation of swarms of
beggars.
The receipts from begging in China
are enormous. No one not acquainted
with the deliberations of the inner cir
cIes knows anything near the real sum
that is inveigled out of kind-hearted
people by these impostors every year.
But from talks 1 have had recently
with weIl-informed Chinese. and mis-
sionaries who have lived out here for
years, I am led to believe that the
amount cannot be much less than g.
100000 Mexican dollars annually.
There are any number of the beggars
who are not actual members of the
guild, being only employees, but in time
all are taken into full membership.
The method of distributing the "swag"
is a secret. Men who have been street
beggars in Shanghai, Picking, and Can
ton for years are known to be very
wealthy and in the city of TientSin one
OF the most valuable rows of modern
flats is in the name Of a beggar who
has solicited aims on the bund from
incoming and outgoing passengers for
May years. There are many other
similar cases throughout the empire.
The had officials of the Beggars'
Guild-nearly all of them men who
have spent much of their time attired
in rags, begging on the streets of var
icus cities-live in vice-regal style.
They own grand houses, which are
most EOTSeOuSiN 1uTLlS1oO, ana lu0y
are looked up to and respected on
every hand, in spite of the fact that
their calling is we'll known. No doubt
this sounds queer to weSternerS, but
least is east and west is west, and
never the twain shall meet" is as true
today as 1T was when Kipling first
said it.
My first experience with the Beg
CARS Guild-though 1 did not know it
at the time-was at Niuchwang during
the Russo-Japanese war. I, as well as
the rest of my brother war CORE
place, was greatly bothered by gang
of most persistent beggars. So agrees
sive did they become in their appeals
that we held a council of war and de-
bated some means of Kidding ourselves
OF the curse. We decided that we
would single out one man and make
a proposition to pay him one Mexican
dollar per diem on condition that he
would keep the rest of the bunch from
US. We sought out Jo-Jo as we had
devil who was badly bent and had
great difficulty in walking. Through |
one of the hotel servants we told him |
what we wanted. He agreed to the |
and it worked like charm |
until Jo-Jo demanded a raise of so |
cents day.
One morning iii August--it was the |
great Chinese holiday, the Festival of |
The DragOn-four of us CORRESPONDENTS |
were at breakfast. when a visitor was |
We repaired to the hotel |
sitting room to meet our guest, whom |
we thought might be a Russian gen. |
sral or at least colonel, who had |
come to tell us that we were to be al |
owed to depart for Mukden imme-
ilately. Our surprise may probably |
De surlniset1--thoughI doubt IT w hen |
say that the visitor was none other
han old Jo-Jo. But we did not recog-
1ise him at first. He was changed. |
His filthy rags had been discarded and
le was enwrapped in silks and satins.
His head had been looked after by a
barber. and his long queue was shiny
With OIL He was no longer bent, but
TODD as straight as an arrow. When
lie entered the room his face broke
nto smile and he held out his hand
o us. We did not ask for any ex-
but proceeded to hustle
Vim out into the street. Then we
ought our servant interpreter and
Isked him to inquire of Jo-Jo the ma
ure of his visit. We learned that the
elbow, who actually regarded himself
e a worthy and serviceable employe, L
lad merely come on this holiday L
rorning to pay his respects to his en-
,loyers. We did not know then that
We had had an opportunity to enter
ain an official of the Beggars' Guild,
If we might have handled him with
mere gentleness than We did.-Leslie's
Weekly.