The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-09-24
In New York
By PAUL HARRISON

New YOrk.-lnt0 one or the
 city's magistrates courts are brought four derelicts--a 1oath- some wreck in fantastic rags; a bleary-eyed woman with the gait of the confirmed alcoholic; a hard boiled fellow of the order
 known as "bums'';@a shifty, shabby
 boy.
 The judge now consults . sheaf | of reports from police physicians
 and welfare service interviewers and investigators. Sentences are passed swiftly. The broken old
 man took to drinking heavily after hospital. The penniless charwo- man took to lrinking heavily after she contracted rheumatism from sleeping on park benches. But she's still 2 proud one who cher- ishes her independence. So the judge commits her to the care of agency for "home relief and spe. cial care"
 The Bum's Rush
 The report on the boy shows that he left his home in the mid- dle west because he couldn't get a job and wouldn't share the relief food doled out to his younger brothers and sisters. The magis- trate announces that arrangements
 have been made to send him to a vocational school where he'll have | a new chance.
 The bum stands before the judge. His sly grin shows that [ he expects leniency from these new-fangled, reformcrs--some new
 clothes, perhaps a little cash. or
 maybe vacation in Florida. The judge quickly scans list of ar
 rests for disorderly conduct and vagrancy. then gives the prisoner an indeterminate sentence in the
 workhouse. This probably means two years. Exit bum. registering
 incredulity. sorrow and rage. That's affair cross-scction of the tatterdemalion parade which con- stantly is passing through the
 courts. Of every hundred. 75 are physically or mentally out of kill
 ter. and IS are actual menaces to public health. Thirty-three are than a grammar school education;
 two are college graduates.
 Penny.Wise
 Investigations are unmasking takers every day. A certain
 blind" man was found to be cut lting a swathe among the night clubs when he had finished tap tapping his way up and down
 Broadway with a cane A beg gar who worked" Times Square
 checked his expensive artificial leg
 while whining for coins to buy new one Police. brought in q
 distinguished looking old man, known to Broadway for his promi- nently displayed crucifix, whose bank books showed that he was adding $200 a week to accounts
 which totaled more than $20.00e. Several times I've noticed fell
 low who seemed to make a busi-
 ness of just standing around and looking discouraged. Investiga- tors, who earn $5 day, discov-
 cred that he averaged $20 a day. He told them proudly that he was an actor, and that he usualls changed his disguise and makeup every morning. After-theater strollers often are shocked at the sight of a gaunt fellow who scuttles across the sidewalk in front of them and snatches a bit of bread from the gutter. Pretends to eat 1t, but he doesn't. He puts it back and stages his act again when another group of generous looking people comes along And there are, of course, the professionals who stare I hungrily into the windows of bak- cries and cafes. One of these arr
 rested recently was found to own a tidy bit of real estate on Long Island.
 Gutter Glossary
 All of these forms of mute so- I licitation are called "doing a bendoyer"---a bit of Bowery slang first used by fake cripples. Most of the argot of panhandlers is less comprehensible. Thus, when one underwordling wants to warn an- other to get out of sight he'll say, "Grab your cabello." Panhandlers are ''sea guils" because they shustle'' a living along the
 '.beach"--and a man is lon the beach" (sailor slang) when he's broke and ashore without job. When beggar brass of having fifteen hundred" he possesses only Is cents. A front" is a suit of clothes. A ''line stiff'' is a I ldown-and-outer who knows the schedules and locations of all the breadlines. An .'open switch" is a
 drink of poison liquor. And any Salvation Army worker, male or |