Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-18
WORK

none. Here also would congregate young
women Of eighteen to twenty. waiting for
their Apache lovers, who were out on
business.
son Gay. the headquarters of the commit
tee of the Beggars' Syndicate. Only the
ariStocracy gathered here. and La Mere
Gay kept good wine. and was famous
for her pOmmes frites Cried potatoes).
The walls were decorated with paintings
rivaling in horror those of the Chateau
Rouge: two women scratching each
others eyes out for the love of an Apache.
who stood looking on approvingly, two
Apaches assassinatinS a man while two
policemen smoked and chatted quietly
few yards away, and so
But the future visitor VIII seek in vain
for these haunts of the beEgar. New
streets have been opened up The Rue
Galande has been cut in half. and the
last stones OF the Chateau Rouge, the
Maison Parent. the Mason Gay and SIM
liar hotbeds of crime have just been
cleared away.
One only is left. That is the Pere
Lunette In the Rue des Anglais, adjacent
to Rue Galdnde.
Of Use to Police.
If you pass on into this street. or what
is left of Il. you will at once notice
six-story house, which is painted red up
to the first floor. At the door is a sign
v;ting legend "Entrons chez Lunette''
LET US go into Lunette'sD. 1t is here
that the street musicians house to house
singers. dancers, fire-eaters, etc. congre-
gate. Pere Lunette is the last survivor
among the night refugees of the beggars
which have attained to literary celebrity.
The police are by no means averse 10
the existence of such haunts. for the pro-
prietOrs are generally, if not in the pay
of. al least anxious to keep on good terms
with the prefecture of police and il $
in such places that the criminal will most
surely be found when wanted.
At o'clock all the beggars of the
Galande quarter are turned out and make
their way toward the Halles or Central
market. in the neighborhood of which
there are other low cabarets. where for
3 or cents they can find drink a
plate of soup or bread and cheese. and
finish the remainder of the night sleeping
on the floor or hudCled together around
the tables. One of these places. nick
named the Hotel Fin-de- Steele, is crammed
nightly from the cellar 10 the attic VITA
1,2G' beggars of all ages and sexes.
a volume could be filled with stories OF
Paris beggars. their ways and their
haunts. for the theme Is well-nigh mex
hauStible. One must pass on to consider
how NJ. Georges Berry proposes to dis
perse this formidable army of crime and
misery. That idleneSS alone begetS the
beggar the French deputy is convinced
But whether the vice is innate acci-
dental, the only means to combat and
suppress Ii is to devise a means of making
the man work who At present finds il
simpler and less irksome To hold out his
hand for charity. The present system
of Furnishing the begSar and vaSabond by
keeping him a few months In prison,
where ne is we'll fed and housed is worse
than useless, NJ Berry maintains
The fact of his having been once i'm
prisoned. cot his having d police record.
forces him into the ranks of the profess
sional beggar. for the workshop is hence
forth closed to him. However earnest
may be the accidental besgar's resolve
to raise himself he is doomed to failure in
the present condition of the law
M. Berry proposes to leave the police
court and police records To criminals and
offenders and to create work colonies for
all those who seek public charity. He
would keep the beggar out of the police
court altogether. He would treat him more
as patient. and thinks his case should be
dealt with by JUICE de paix, or magis-
trate. who would paternally mete out the
number of months of work necessary to
cure him.
Vagabondage and mendfcity are hence
forth to be considered offenses and
the JUICE de paix. or magistrate, is to
have the power to sentence the offender
from one week to five years. Colonies OF
repression are to be created by the state.
and vagabonds and beggars arrested on
the public highway are to be sent thft}ser
to work. Municipal and departmental
councils are to be empowered to vote
and departmental work shops. where UNI
employed citizens. dOmiciled or born In
the commune or department, will find
work.