There are approximately 100 Russian beggars in Shanghai, but the difficulty is that the majority are drunkards and drug addicts, These two faults have closed the doors of hostels to them, Some of them have been known, however, to be "veterans, who refuse to go to hostels, preferring to earn their meagre living by begging.
Gipsy beggars originated locally in Wayside, where they were at first allowed to use a vacant garage. Gradually, however, they came into the Central district in large numbers. They have been rounded up by the police and none remain there now, Very many of the Russian beggars are young men who have come here from Manchoukuo in hope of finding work, A youngster was recently brought to the station and proved to be an old offender, Asked why he did not go to work, he said that he knew no one in the city and was too young for the Russian Detachment, Some of the beggars are violently inclined and there have been several cases when windows of downtown food shops and restaurants were broken by beggars, angered at being refused a meal, In all cases, the beggars said that they had done so because they were hungry. Jimmy's restaurant in Nanking Road had its window broken a while ago, but the presence of an Indian watchman has averted repetition of this, Beggars, who are riot shy of work, have found the Tongshan Road hostel a good place to live, They are, however, asked to do their bit and various jobs are taken on by the hostel, ranging from repairs of to; to plumbing, There are about 60 indig ents living at the hostel,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.