New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-06-22
American Gypsles.
[From simson,s Editlnn Of porrox. !

from simson's Edition of Borrowl
Perhaps the foundation of the American broom
manufacture was laid by the British gypsies by
whom it may be partly carried on at the present
DAY business they pretty much monopolize, in
sa rough way, in Great Britain, We will doubtless
hnd among the fraternity some of those whiting
meddling Sam Slick pedders so often described.
nave seen some of those ltlnerant yeHdeTs o.
knife-sharpeners, and such yankee notions,
with dark, glistening eyes, that would " pass tor
the artiele.' Some of them would live BY less
legitimate business. / entertain no doubt, what
from the general fitness Of things and the appear,
ance of some of the men, that We VIII nhe !
some ef the descendants of the OLD brush mixed
gypsies members of the various estaoilshnehts OF
Messrs. Peter Funk q Company, of the city
of New y ork as well as elsewhere. ANA enter |
tain as little doubt that many OF those American
women who tell fortunes, and engage In those
many curious bits of business that so often come
f1n At trials are descendants of the British panta-
gtion stock Of Gypsies But there are doubtless
many of these Gypsies in respectable spheres of
life It would be extremely unreasonable to say
that the descendants Of the colonial Gypsies do not
still exist as Gypsies, like their brethren in Great
Britain, and other parts of the old world. The
English Gypsies in America entertain no donbt of
1t; the more especially as they have encountered
such Gypsies of at least two descents. I have
myself met with such Gypsy following decid
edIy respectable calling whom found as much
one of the tribe barring the original habits as per-
aaps any one in Europe.
There are many Hungarian and German Gypses
in America some of them long settled in Penn.
sylEania and Maryland, where they own farms
Some of them leave their farms in charge of hired
hands during the summer and proceed south with
their tents In the State of Pennsylvania there is
o settlement of them on the J -- river, q little
way above H. where they have saw mills.
About the Allegheny mountains there are many
Of the tribe, following somewhat the original WAYS
of the race. In the United Stats, there are many
Gypsy peddlers, British well as continental some
of whom keep tin, crockerY and basket stores
but these are all mixed Gypsies, and many of
them of fair complexion. The tin-Ware which
they make is generally of plain coarse kind SO
much 50, that a Gypsy tin store is easily known.
They frequently exhibit their tin ware and baskets
on the streets and carry them about the city. Al
most all if not all, of those tinerant cutters and
thinkers to be met with in New York, and other
American cities, are Gypsies principally German
Hungarian and French.
There are a good many Gypsy musicians in
America. z What 2 said l 60 an English Gvpsy
:, those organ-grnders? i" Nothing so low as
that. Gypsies don't grind their music, sir: they
make it, But found in his house, which was &C.
cupied by other Gypsies, a hurdy -gurdy and tam
BOURNE; so that Gypsies sometimes grind music
as well as make it. ! know of a Hungailn
Gypsy, whe is leader of negro musical band in
the city of New York his brother drives one Of
the avenue cars There are number of Gypsy
musicians in Baltimore, who play at parties and
on other occasions. Some of the fOrtune-telling
Gypsy women about New York will make as much
SIS forty dollars week in that line of business
They generally live little way out of the city.
into which they ride, in the morning, to their
places Of business. know of one who resides
IN New Jersey, opposite New York, and who has |
place in the city, 70 which ladies, that is fe-
aaes 81 the highest classes, address their cards,
for her to call upon them. When she gets |
chance of young fellow with his female friend |
she puts the screws on I" for she knows well |
that he dare not g back out; (" SO she frequently
laanages to squeeze five dollars out of him.
| accidentally got into conversation with an
hishman, in the city of New York about secret
societies, when he mentioned that he was mem
Der of great many such, indeed, " all Of them !;
sal thara &c -
OF which he was not member, when he began to
en1merate them, and at last came to the Zincali.
what, said |, =" are you a member of this So
51ety ~ Eyes, y said he I" the Zneali or Cfypsv -
BE then told me that there are many members of
this society in the city Of New York not all mem-
Ders of it under that name, but of its outposts,
If may so express it. The principal or arch
Sypsey for the city, he said, was a merchant in I
$780, street, who had in his possession printed /
vocabulary, or dictionary Of the language which I
was open only to the most thoroughly initiated,
In kthe course of our conversation it fell out
that the native American Gypsy referred to at
page 40 was one of the thoroughly initiated
which circumstance explained question he had
put to me, and which, eVaded, BY saving that
was not in the habit of telling tales ont of school,
FATHER PR0UT. n-Rev. Francis Mahony better
known as Father Prout," whose death in Paris
was recently announced, was a remarkable char
acter-a scholar, a wit, " madeap priest" a
newspaper writer, an author, and rolicking
hard drinking Irishman. Born in Cork he was ed
-0eatou Lie JtsuIas fFdncey Dut cared less
religion than for letters. He became, in fact a
leading member of that curious body known as
Bohemians; his pungent wit and marvellous faei-
1ty ia writing giving him ready access to magazines
and public journals
For many years he lived in Paris, diligently per.
forming the duties of newspaper correspondent
described by an English biographer as q a little
elderly man, with an intellectual head whose keen
btnah eyes had queer way oflooking up sharply
over the rims of his spectaces," his peculiarities
made him notorious person in Partisan society
he was +" a clubbable man . as well as a skiledf
theologian song writer and a profound Latinist
2 gossiping old man, and a companion of wild
His pseudonym of 'fFather prout .
Father Prout,n begun in Frazer's Magazine in
1854, collected into volume in 1885, and reprinted
IN England in 1860 were characteristic series Of
which met with great success, He was also an
Lndefatigable traveller and inguist. He composed
verses IN various languages, wrote necessarily on
al sorts Of subjects, and died in newspaper har- /,
mess Paris the aoa nf II