Page 203 - down-and-out-in-paris-and-london

The lodging-house was an Alsatia for types like these.
While I was with Bozo he taught me something about the
technique of London begging. There is more in it than one
might suppose. Beggars vary greatly, and there is a sharp
social line between those who merely cadge and those who
attempt to give some value for money. The amounts that one
can earn by the different ‘gags’ also vary. The stories in the
Sunday papers about beggars who die with two thousand
pounds sewn into their trousers are, of course, lies; but the
better-class beggars do have runs of luck, when they earn a
living wage for weeks at a time. The most prosperous beg-
gars are street acrobats and street photographers. On a good
pitch—a theatre queue, for instance—a street acrobat will
often earn five pounds a week. Street photographers can
earn about the same, but they are dependent on fine weath-
er. They have a cunning dodge to stimulate trade. When
they see a likely victim approaching one of them runs be-
hind the camera and pretends to take a photograph. Then as
the victim reaches them, they exclaim:
‘There y’are, sir, took yer photo lovely. That’ll be a bob.’
‘But I never asked you to take it,’ protests the victim.
‘What, you didn’t want it took? Why, we thought you sig-
nalled with your ‘and. Well, there’s a plate wasted! That’s
cost us sixpence, that ‘as.’
At this the victim usually takes pity and says he will have
the photo after all. The photographers examine the plate
and say that it is spoiled, and that they will take a fresh one
free of charge. Of course, they have not really taken the first
photo; and so, if the victim refuses, they waste nothing.

0 Down and Out in Paris and London