WEALTHY BEGGARS.

Hastings Standard, Volume XIII, Issue 4310, 13 November 1909, Page 1 (Supplement)

WEALTHY BEGGARS.

£IOO.OOO A YEAR GIVEN TO LONDON MENDICANTS London may wtdl bo described as the beggar's paradise. It is computed by those who are in a position to judge fairly accurately that £IOO,OOO given away in the .streets of the Metropolis every year to professional mendicants, who live by the casual charity of persons upon whose sympathies they play. The skilled beggar, m fact, can earn more than the ordinary industrious working man. If the London mendicant cannot mak<- 30s a, week, he is not con • sklercd proficient in his "art*' : but many highly ''skilled" beggars have even a larger income than that. It is the begging-letter impostor, however, as distinguished from the street beggar, who lias the highest "salary." BEGGI NO-LETTER WRITERS. The men who are adepts at- writing begging-letters are .as it were, the aristocracy of mendicancy, and frequently they cam as much as £5 or even £8 a week. The total number of begging-letters received by the London Mendicity Society last year' was 1,358, which, with those already in the possession of the officials of that organization, makes a total of 238,938. Nor is it surprising to be told that about 28 per cent, of the authors of these letters were utter impostors and that only about 13 i>"r cent, were deserving of help. The most successful begging-let-ter writers are undoubtedly jxnsons who have at one time or another been in the service of noble families. The street-beggars of London are an interesting study. Every year between 2 000 and 3,000 of the most incorrigible of these parasites in London pass through Marlborough Street Police Court. Most, of them are in possession of money when arrested. One man, who appeared to be in abject poverty when taken into custody recently, had £4 7s concealed in a belt, and had besides a sovereign, a shilling, and some

coppers in his pocket. His speciality for deceiving the- public was fits. He cheso a quiet suburban street, where the police were far apart and, with the aid of :■ piece of soap in his mouth, managed to throw himself into a condition closely resembling a fit. Another beggar who was caught by tho late Mr. Joseph Rosley— the Mendicity Society's champion officer, who was known to the professional begging fraternity as '-"Tlie Terror"—wasT found to be earning £3OO a year from his "Westend "practice." In the ccat-poeket of another £7 in gold, £4 16s in silver, and Is 3d in coppers was found. DEAF AND Dl'MB IMPOSTORS.

Most people are fajjjiliar with the stories of the supposed ueaf and dumb beggars who excite the sympathy and lieip of a credulous public. Not long ago a Church Army officer was accosted l)y an elderly man and woman. The man. bearing a card with the words ''totally Blind" printed on it. was being led by his companion, Tlie next day_ in another part of London, the official was again stopped by the same couple. This time the woman was "blind ' while her companion acted as guide. Tlie < best-paying role for the woman p'ofessional is begging with twins in arms. The ro-ealied twins are frequently of different- porents and of different ages, but such trifles are not worth The man whose sympathy is arons?d by her "forlorn" appearance does not stop to inquire the age and pedigree of the babies, and the "mother" is sure to have a good harvest at the end of the day. Of course, she has to deduct from her earnings the cost of hiring her babies, which in summer she can get for about 3s a day, but. i:i snowy weather there are often not enough babies procurable, and a very high price is charged. Even with these deductions tho woman who knows he:- business well will make for herself I >s to 20s a day. Ihe 'gentlefolk" beggars nre well known to the police and the officials of the Mendicity Society. There is the inan who sells matches and has the air of a thoroughly broken-clown military officer who has struck hard luck. His bearing i s perfect, his features are refined. he wears an ancient silk hat, cracked patent-leather boots, and the shabbiest black suit of We.-t-end cut. Pride and shame are mingled in his lace as he offers you a box of matches. He never begs—he would not think of doing so—but he excites the sympathy of passers-by, who slip silver coin into nis hand and refuse to take his matches £5 A WEEK FROM SHAM PARALYSIS. Three or four years ago the Mendicity Society investigated the case of a, man who excited public sympathy by his apparent paralysis. His disease turned cut to be entirely traudulent, but on the strength of 'his miserable appearance lie had been making as ninch as £5 a week from a svmpathetic public. Frequently a beggar makes quite a respectable income by trading on his infirmities. In a case which came before the magistrate at Old Street Police Court, the wife of a man who crawled into the 'dock on two crutches, and was said to be a well-known character in the West-end, stated that at the cleee of the evening's "work" they had a drink together, after which they uould drive home in a cab. That was the regular procedure after a "good day/' and sometimes the occasion was celebrated to such an extent that the man would arrive home drunk. ARMTES OF BEGGARS.

Tho statement made recently at the Thames Police Court by a Russian alien that lie belonged to the "International Society of Professional Beggars," which forbade him to work, shows that mendicity is by no means confined to London. In Paris there are thousands of men and. women who make their living by begging. But. in France the mendicants conduct their "business" on a, properly-organized system. The most remarkable trade union in existence was formed some time ago at Marseilles by beggars for the suppression of unqualified practitioners Statutes and by-laws v. f'i'e • drawn up, and it Mas decided that only French subjects with genuine malformations or sores could be admitted to membership. The town of Chalons-sur-Marne was recently invaded by an army of beggars, all 'of whom seemed to be afflicted by infirmities. The mendicants were largely of Spanish origin, and when the beggar-chief was arrested search was matte of his van, and was found to contain a large Quantity of appliances u:-ed in stimulating infirmities and -£*2o in money, collected by members of the gang during then" hogging expeditions. There was also evidence to show that the beggar-chief had Sent £-100 to various correspondents who. it was conjectured, were agents of a great international begging association.

Vienna seems t> be another paradise for beggars, for there it lias been proved that no fewer than 32,000 mendicants make a better living than ordinarv workmen.