Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-02-23
THE HOME OF SIMPLE SOULS
DESCRIBED BY HASkIN
Daily Letter by Frederic j. Haskin

an elevated waiting room with a
small monograph, and placed it on
The floor. In a few minutes the walt
ing passengers were listening to a
jazz record and at the same time to
an appeal for starving babies. The
solicitor was dressed in Spanish re-
gala, including a somewhat tattered
shawl and a cheap Spanish comb
which set eff q quantity of neatly
dressed black hair. This exotic APP
pearance pleased the public, and
they gave generously to save the
babies, so that the contribution box
contained very nearly $40 when a
policeman came along and gaZed at
the photograph and the Spanish vi
sion in some establishment. Then
he drew nearer and gave a playful
yank to the neatly dressed black.
hair. 1t came off.
Hello, John" said the policeman
calmly. II thought hat was you.
Got a new game, L see. Last time 1
ran you in you were playin' lame
down on Forty-second street. How
long have you been here-20 min
utes? Gosh, $9.45 in 20 minutes.
How the public does love a fraud"
Another beggar, recently arrested,
has been in the habit of earning a
very good living by throwing fits.
His technique is something like this:
Choosing a well populated corner
somewhere in the Bronx. he flops
carefully down on the pavement,
emitting a loud groan. This act i'm
mediately draws a crowd, because,
contrary to popular opinion, New
York pedestrians do o pass coldly
and indifferently on their way when
something unusual happens. They
stop still in their tracks and eagerly
investigate it, just as people do in
smaller and presumably less sophis-
ticated towns.
Fake Fit Nets So
For a few seconds, the mar lies
perfectly quiet before a sympa-
thetic audience; then he begins to
twitch convulsively. The crowd be-
comes alarmed. Someone suggests
sending for a doctor. But at that,
the man slowly RECEIVERS, opens his
eyes and sits up. A few of the by
ISLANDERS press forward to ask if
they a be of help. Slowly and
painfully, they drag forth the mans
sad story. lie is the father of six
children, who are starving. He can
not get work because he, alas is
subject to fits. He coughs grueSome-
ly. The crowd is touched-quite
literally. Someone picks up the
mans dilapidated hat and passes it
around. When returned it often
contains over SIS.
Just at this point the other after
noon, however, a fat and indignant
middle aged lady. accompanied by
a policeman. pressed through the
crowd and demanded to be heard.
THAT man is a fraud" she an
nounced distinctly. II saw him pull
the same trick day before yester-
day" and she named the time and
the place. Maybe 1 oughtn't to
interfere, but 1 don't like to stand
by and see a lot of kind hearted peo-
pie taken advantage Of"
Thus, it is plain that the New
Yorker is not the hard, fiinty-eyed.
suspicious individual he is repre-
scented to be throughout the prov
inces. Instead, he is a simple,
trustful soul who is easily deceived
by appearances and whose sympathy
is readily aroused by a hard luck
story. Every once in awhile, the leg
islature at Albany becomes much
concerned about him and promises to
pass a few laws for his protection.
But they never seem to materialize.
Perhaps the assembly finds it COM
Portable to have such a simple.
good natured constituency.