Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-03-13

means OF making livelihood. per-
haps tho most lucrative thing you can
turn to IL panhandling. The stories
OF tho incomes nade by peddlers OF
pencils. chewing gum. useless Eew-
gawa generally. are by no means
fables.
Cities differ widely in tho ways OF
dealing with professional cripples. In
Soma cities they must Obtain licenses.
or suffer arrest. In this way tho po-
lice are given nm opportunity 10 In
vestigate each case and find out
whether the cripple who applies for /
tho privilege Of peddling on the streets, |
with his inflrmity or deformity as his |
main means OF attracting dimes,
nickels, and quarters. is really unable
10 make a living In some other way. |
Just at this time the city OF Wash
ington is haven for these men. The
Police Department has tried to keep |
them out OF the downtown district, |
which OF course In the ground they !
prefer. Unfortunately no law or po-
lice regulation directly prohibits these
men from Offering their wares for
sale. Only "A few days ago the po-
rests and see IL the courts would help
to remedy tho situation by imposing
fines or sentences IN tho workhouse.
Tho arrests were made, and when
the cases came before the police court,
Judge Eardison decided that the men
were not Migrants nor beggers. The
fact that they had wares offered for
sale. and that they were able to show
incomes sufficient to lift them out of
the class OF those having no visible
means OF support. in the opinion OF
tho court. protected these panhandlers
from police interference. The court
decided that pencils offered for sale.
even though they brought in 10 or
rs times their value, constituted legiti-
mate commerce.
Cure Now Being Sought
remedy for this situation In Wash
ington may come from drawing up
! police regulations directly prohibiting
street selling in the downtown sec
| ton. II IL believed that tho profess
( sional cripples. rather than haunt the
residence districts where tho pedes-
TRAN traffic Is negligible compared
with tho busy business part of the
city. would take their bandsful OF
: pencils and their woe-begone appear
I ances to some more lenient city. II
= Is understood that some such reguls-
ton f. in process OF drafting.
In tho recent arrests made in Wash
inKton az test cases, one OF the rner
. had in his pocket between $50 and
!, $50, another had more than ss5, and
I, the third a considerable sum OF money
F. One man arrested prior to this tim'
N for the same ofrense had in his poke
! nearly Ss5. In every case most o
" this money was IN small change, in
/ dicating TO the police that II was tn
income for not more than three day
- at the outside. and possibly OF onl.
!, one day and evening. Capt. Brown
II the police officer in charge of IN
- downtown district. conversins witt
"A one OF these men. said 70 him, "Yoi
!. probably make a lot more money thai
do" Tho crippled panhandler
NJ dressed in tho rags OF poverty
D. modastly admitted that this probabl
wan trus-
~ Here as elsewhere many OF thes
g. men, since the war, have taken
n wearing old, frayed uniforms OF III
- United States Army. usually. howeye
es taking great care that insignia Of a
sorts Is removed. Not even II
branch OF tho supposed service
q shown. Once in while some stral
ping. able-bodied tramp dons a I'm
a. form and goes out to take a livir
or away from the world. trying straigh
al out begging on the plea that hs is
10 former member Of the A e. Z. WI
+, lost his Job when he entered the Arm
or has been able to find nothing else
90 do, and Ii reduced to his present low
hi state because OF these facts.
no Few Real Veterans Begged.
Some cities swarmed with the
.. parasites for months after the armi
tice was signed. An investigation ma
". by the War Risk Insurance Bure:
m. disclosed the fact that there W
,er scarcely a single real ex-soldier amor
ira this army OF beggars. A great mai
II of them were arrested. others were {
wa fectively warned. and the practice h
* about been abolished.
70 The crippled peddler of pencils wes
ing a uniform makes silent appe
o.. as a rule, or II he "ballyhoos'
wares, does not mention any form
me- fancied state as a soldier OF
re- United States. He is too clever
or get into that trouble. He counts up
goo the association OF the old uniform a
re. the missing leg in the minds of pa.
,ut ers-by without directly proclaimi
that he left the missing member
! Aa A a ha
he is right.
red The men of this kind, when qu'
s. toned by the local police, Will CO
In fess to having lost the leg because
lav a railroad accident or some other v
not in any way associated with W
ur- This is true OF nearly every one
them.
hat Merchants object strongly TO tn
the men parking themselves on the 81
nth walk in front OF their places OF bu
ness. but often are helpless.
f. same situation exists in regard
,ilk pushcart vendors of fruit and cele
and the sidewalk dispenser of fiows
es? The police tried and failed to 70
a Negro TO give up selling flowers
are busy corner IN Washington, at
In very doors OF one OF the big depa
ment stores. The judge before VIII
aft- this man was hailed pointed out G
he could not under existing law
ure him guilty Of anything Forbid
DO This man still occupies the same y
,es- lie space. and does rushing busin'
|, To return 10 the fake war veters
( is once in while one OF them "a
,rts himself into trouble. This happe
few months ago when n man We
on ing a Marina Corps uniform inva