New-York tribune., 1912-12-04
WHISPERING SMITH"
IS HEADED FOR TOWN
Star of ''Panhandlers" Will
Soon Be "Working BoObS"
Along the "PIing."
OTHER BEGGARS ON WAY
Jim" Forbes, Discourager of
Mendicancy, Issues Yearly
Warning Against Giving
Money to Them.

In the near future If a gink with a
psir Of saps. having lost a peg and with
ragged strides. battered skypiece. dilap-
dated hrogans and looking thoroughly
like either yegg or a member of the
hard boiled set. should breeze along and
snap or possibly pull the dummy racket
with You as YOU walk along the Pling,
you would do a service to humanity IT,
instead of blinking him or humping him
on tho knob you directed him TO Jim
Forbo,. cf the National Association for
the Prevention of Mendicancy and Char
table Imposture. at No. 4S Charles street.
Jim Forbes knows all about buns.
founces, thugs, panhandlers and other
members OF the association that is posi-
lively "ag'in" hard work of any sort.
Yesterday Mr. Forbes told a few inter
esting facts about those particular men.
He told how, Just about now. there are
hundreds and hundreds Of beggar chaps
sliding into New York with the idea of
taking advantage of the city's good cheer
and Christmas spirit. Jim is ION TO
them" as it were.
Most persons think the proper manner
OF entering this empire city of the New
World is either by motor car or trolley
or train and steamship. Not SO. There
are hundreds of men coming into the city
hv way Of dusty roads, the trucks or in
sides Of freight cars, blind baggage" and
otherwise. Wakefield Fatty. Denver Hop,
Frisco Slas. the Buffalo Boob and others
are 10 be expected any moment. The po-
lice plan TO entertain them before Jim
Forbes sees them. There is one particu-
lar man-and a clever individual he Is.
too-who is known from one end OF the
country to the other.
Ware Hard Luck Stories.
lie Is Whispering Smith The young
man is slight, graceful. dapper and thor
oughly UP 10 date in dress. He is hand
some and has slight and elegant little
Inustache, whose ends turn mischievously
up He carries cane, sometimes
wears spats and is much admired by
his companions. Whispering Smith is a
classy" beggar and panhandler. lie
gets a dollar or so from almost every
person 20 whom he appeals. Whispering
Smith knows a whole lot of the most
plausible hard luck stories.
In the winter, when the canals are froz-
en- up, hundreds OF men employed on the
boats to load and unload freight are
thrown out OF employment. These men, by
the way. are rather scorneG by the regu-
lar beggars, because they are ''mushers
not professional tramps. YOU see. In the
West all the good" tramps are known
as "Johnjohnsons When they meet
they greet each other as such. Then there
is another set of men known as hard
boiled" chaps-those who are regular
guys" or more prosperous than the others.
Also when the summer ends hundreds of
men who have been working in the straw
berry, apple and hop fields are thrown
out Of their jobs. They also work their
way into New York.
All "Work" the Ping.
Aside from their picturesque "monick-
ers." these chaps have a little language
Of their own When they speak OF
strides" they refer TO trousers; sky
pieces" are hats. "brogans" are. OF
course shoes. "saps" are crutches, peg
is leg and a shine" takes place when
one Of them somehow gets shave.
Sometimes they cora. Ii;o the city In
"push"-a group. p'. ,Lusly their chlef
playground in New York is the "Pling,
or the main stem. Broadway. When they
pull the dummy racket they are hand
ing out cards that declare the beggar to be
deaf and dumb. In the summer the CLASSY
panhandlers" go into the Jungle coun-
try"-the suburban towns-and follow
fairs and circuses.
Jim Forbes is trying his best TO do
away with mendicancy. lie does not be-
lieve in having them arrested and sent
10 serve six months in some workhouse.
What he attempts TO do is 20 try to OBJ
tain work for them or to educate them.
one of his many ideas is to permit only
old and crippled men TO have news STANDS
in the streets. subways and elevated sta
tions, instead of young and healthy boys,
who ought he ays, 10 be doing real hard