The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-20
BEGGARS IN CHINA.

From the Argonaut.
 H EGGING is in the nature of an n art in China and the various
 - sorts of supplicants have been cla ssified. until now it is known that there are at least 30 classes of traVeihhs mendicants. The passenger boats hno" them and do not attempt to collect pas sare money. for they sleep on the open deck. and. curiously enough, pay for
 whatever rice they require. Inis peins the case, rather than have any troupie
 with them and gain their enmlly, the boatmen allow them free passage. when they reach the city they put up at the hepear hotel near the Big Pagoda and let the beggar headman know or thelr arrival Soon the regular allowance Is forthcoming, and the men spend a few days in pursuit of pleasure and then move on to another place, to repeat the same proceeding.
 There Is one particularly obtrusive and disagreeable class. trained to bal ance various objects on the nose which usually selects a victim of means. These fellows may walk into a house and pick up chairs and balance them on their noses as they prance around the room. They then take these and place them just outside of the door, possibly on the street, much to the satisfaction of the large crowd which has followed them. as they have possibly just done the same thing down the street a bit
 If the money is immediately forth coming, the show may soon supp ana the things will be returned to their proper places. If, on the other hand, the residents refuse to comply with their demands, they pick up one article or furniture after another, skilfully bal ance each upon their noses and, amid the roar of satisfaction from the street rabble, they carry them outside to the street This may continue until the whole of the rooms contents have been piled upon the street, and then the beggars walk off amid the bursts of applause that follow their action, and leave the victim to move his belongings back into the house.
 Again there are others who are beg gars pure and simple. who walk in the middle of the street. beating the pave ment with a small bamboo stick. They turn neither to the right nor to the left to beg. but keep their eyes fixed ahead of them and take only what IS thrown to them. In quite another CLASS is the wretch who shams ailment or physical defect. and who Is clever actor, willing to go to consioeraple physical discomfort in his enorts 10 arouse sympathy. He makes a practice of cutting himself when his demands are refused. He will appear before a family and demand fee; if this is refused. he draws knife and cuts his forehead and the blood begins to flow, ,nuch to the horror and confusion of those in the house, especially if they are only women.
 The sight of blood quickly changes the matter, and the beggar begins tn veil in a most distressing way at the same time, attracting a crowd. It is now easy with so many witnesses to open negotiations for a much larger | fee and he is usually paid considerably more than was at first demanded. Hav- ] ing carried his point. the beggar now | tours the entire street. where the news of his actions has perceded him, and 1 he finds no trouble in collecting Q lhandsome little sum from his one cut
 for the blood. still fresh on his face