The San Francisco call., 1908-08-02

man with the dog and the blinded
eyes going back TO Fillmore street.
For an hour / watched him as the dog
guided his faltering footsteps through
the crowd, with an occasional sympa-
thetic~ individual dropping a coin into
,the tin cup fastened at his waist. Here
was one of the beggars who was eaus-
ing the question, ITO whom should we
give?"
This man, L afterward learned was
according to the vernacular OF the pro-
fessional beggars, blink" All blind
or apparently blind beggars are char
acterized among the profession by this
name, just as the other forms of beg
ging have their titles among the class
who obtain living in that way. These
names are common throughout the beg
gar class in all the cities, so the para
lytic or cripple who sits quietly on the
sidewalk under the feet of the passers-
by and holds out his hat with be-
seeching expression is known as a
"fopper." The poverty stricken indi-
vidual who stops you as you emerge
from cafe or a theater is called a
strong arm" The man with his arm
in sling or hobbling along on crutches
TO give you card on which is printed
some peetical plea to your emotional
sympathy and his financial betterment
is called a throw out" The card
which he offers is technically known
among the profession as a docket"
These facts. easily acquired by judi
cious spending and questioning among
bar tenders of the tenderloin. seemed
to point directly to the existence of a
recognized class of professional beg
gars without such a class there
would hardly be this class language
which seems in 10 way related to the
ordinary SlQnQ eynraSSfOnS
With interest once turned to the sub
ject ft could be readily noticed that the
percentage of ordinary beggars was
much smaller than that OF those who
offered something in return for aims
received. A few cheap lead pencils in
the extended hat. string of shoe faces
over the arm or a tray of collar but
tons distinguished the majority of the
beggars
Many people insist that such as these
are not beggars and that they are try
ing to earn an honest living. This is
OF course. the idea which the beggar Is
continually striving to instill into the
hearts of possible benefactors A little
searching of the police records. how
ever, win convince even the most skep-
tical that the majority OF these petty
merchants or takers are in reality pro-
fessional beggars and panhandlers. II
strong arm of the law, and so is readily
seized upon by the mendicant. This
fact can be readily proved by investi-
cation of the police records showing
that many of the beggars who now op-
crate in San Francisco under the guise
of shoestring merchants have in the
past been arrested by the local police
and convicted of yagrancy and begging
This fear of the police and the grow
ing surveillance which is being exer-
cised over the beggars is plainly DEM
onstrated in their constantly increas-
ing cleverness. both in their appeal to
the public and in their evasion of ar
rest
The professional beggar, and there
are few others, both in San Francisco
and other cities, is an artist. He Is a
man of parts, capable of recognizing
the emotional qualities of the individ-
ual and of appealing to these qualities
in the proper way. Illustrations of this
fact are numerous.
Occasionally at night, when the