Arizona republican., 1922-03-11

many OF them were arrested, others
were effectively warned, and the
practice has about been abolished.
The crippled peddlar OF pencils
wearing a uniform makes a silent
appeal. as a rule. or IL he "bally-
hoos" his wares, does not mention
any former fancied state as a soldier
OF the United States. he Is too clever
to get into that trouble. He counts
upon the association Of the old uni
form and the missing leg in the
minds OF passers-by without directly
proclaiming that he left the missing
member in France or Cuba. AS II
happens. usually he is right.
The men OF this kind, when ques-
toned by the local police, will con-
fess to having lost the leg because
OF a railroad accident or some other
way not in any way associated with
war. This is true OF nearly every
one of them.
Merchants object strongly To these
men parking themselves on the side
walk in front Of their places OF busi-
| ness, but often are helpless. The
same situation exists in regard TO
pushcart vendors OF fruit and celery,
and the sidewalk dispenser OF flow
ers. The police tried and failed to
force a negro TO give up selling flow
ers on busy corner In Washington,
at the very doors of one of the big
department stores. The Judge before
whom this man was hailed pointed
out that the could not under existing
law find his guilty or anything for
hidden. This man still occupies the
same public space. and does a rush
ing business.
To return 10 the fake war veterans,
once in a while one of them talks
himself into trouble. This happened
| a few months ago when man wear
ing a marine corps uniform invaded
a restaurant, selling bits OF red, white
and blue ribbon for Is cents each'
| He approached everybody systema :
tically. finally hating for several
| minutes beside q man In civilian
clothes who seemed deeply sympa-
| thetic. The pretended veteran. TO
supply local color and make his tale
| convincing. wore on one sleeve four
gold stripes. indicating O service OF
| two years overseas, a couple oi
wound stripes on the other sleeve
| and enough campaign badges on the
| breast Of his blouse to include every
| military expedition in which the
| United States has taken part since
| the War Of 1912
Talked Himself Into Trouble
The sympathetic civilian seemed
particularly interested in the service
| badges. The panhandler pointed out
to his ribbons supposedly represent
ing service in France. service on the
| Mexican border. the Vera Cruz ex-
! pedition, and several others. runnins
back more than a score OF years. ht
| said he was one Of the marines who
| landed at Vera Cruz from q certain
| battleship. The civilian gave him 8
quarter. and hurriedly left the cafe
A few minutes later he came baci
with a policeman and a warrant.
Unfortunately for the fake hero
the man to whom he he'd been pour
ing out ell of this misinformation--
he had the campaign ribbons al
wrong-vas marine corps maJo
and. as it happened, had been II
chqrge OF the marine contingent a
Vera cruz from the very shin select
ca hv the imposter as his own. Un'
dor nollce examination the fraudulen
soldier confessed that he had neve
beau outside OF the United states ant
had never been IN any branch or tn
service.