The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1874-10-20
PECULIAR PEOPLE.
VISIT TO THE GIPsIEs.


AVISIT TO THE GIPSIES.
THEY COMPLAIN OF THE PREJUDICE AGAINST
THEM-BETTER TREATED IN England
CASE OF RANK INJUSTICE.
The sorrows of tribe of gipsies tempo
rarilv stopping on Long Island are expressed
in the Sunday Mercury: A Mercury repre-
sentative called upon the gipsies yesterday.
They were not easy to find, having, during
the two weeks they have been IN the neigh
borhood of Richmond, removed their quar-
ters every TWO or three days. 1t was evident,
from conversations with the lnnapitants,
that the general impression caused by the
presence of the gipsies was anything put a
favorable one Mothers had kept close
watch on their children, and farmers on
their chickens. In the whole OF the county
the deepest prejudice was felt against them,
and il is said they did but little In the horse
business During their stay at Silver Lake,
however, the fortune-ielling went very well,
and succeeded, il would appear, past their
swn expectations. After calling at several
places along the Richmond railroad at which
the gipsies were said to be, and atWhlcn they
were not, the reporter of the Mercury hnally
found them about one mile beyond hlch-
mopd on the road toward Tottenville. They
were sadly diminished from their original
number, however, and of the band OF 90
which had been together only III remained.
There was an old man with iron white hair
and beard and sallow complexion, but bril-
IdnL NNCo hhO JO0NHf
who seemed TO be the chief, two
others of the same cast OF features. but
Younger, five women, four of them on the
edge of old age and another OF about twen-
ty-five, but not one of them even comely IN
appearance; three boys, averaging some
fifteen years Of eye, made up the number.
At the first sight of the party all the TO-
mantle visions which had entered the writ
er's mind in his weary search for the gipsles
banished, and all that remained was a crowd
of dirty, squalid beings to whom all earthly
bliss seemed to have forever vanished. IL
was a really pitiable sight. The whole
party was literally in rags. They had four
wagons with them, stained and time-worn,
and drawn by one horse each, the ribs OF
which appeared to be coming through their
skin, so wretchedly starved were they.
When the writer came up to
them the gipsies had stopped for
the day. The horses attached TO the carts
were gnawiDg little tufts of grass that grew
by the way side. and the elder of the tribe
was watering the best OF them in rivulet
that ran across the roadway. The women
had all entered store near by and wore bar
gaining for eggs. In the meantime the
writer approached the old man and entered
into conversation with him. He seemed to
be quite willing to talk, and when he was
offered cigar his eyes glistened with pleas
ure, and he smoked eagerly. He spoke with
a very strong English accent, and even
dropped his his in conversing. He learned
in few moments that the writer belonged
to the press, and said he was glad of it, as he
said it was only through the press that his
people
COULD HAVE ANY JUSTICE
done them. You must not take me-" he
said excitedly "for anything like the COM
mon estimate that Is given of the Gypsy.
My name is Emanuel Wright. / have trav-
eled the whole world over. and know what
it is to have money as well as what it is to
be without it. People don't understand us
and do US injustice. They abuse us and say
we are thieves and robbers, and that every
act of our lives is an unlawful one. The
idea is an absurd one, for we are amenable
to the same laws as other people, aud are
punishable in the same way. But if any
thing against the law is committed in a
neighborho0d where we happen to be every
body throws the blame on US, and you have
little idea of the trouble given us in this
way. In fact, there are thieves who always
take advantage of our presence to do their
work, knowing as they do that unless caught
in the act the crime will be blamed upon
us. 1t is like the ridiculous notion that
we steal children when God knows we have
how to take care of. Look at those boys" "
he said, pointing to the three playing on the
road few feet off, "do they look as if they
belonged to anybody but us? Can you
suppose that any one OF them was ever any
thing but what is known as gypsy? One
that have come out here and left my own
country-dear old England. They talk of
this being the land of liberty, but can say
that assfar have seen it, we enjoy much
less liberty than we do in any part of Eu-
rope. There they don't look upon us with
aversion which we suffer here.
But, you see, foolish people believe all that
is said about u.s. and, because it is our
nature to lead a wandering life, they won't
give us the privileges they give to the mean
est of their own people. "Then you do not
consider yourselves a people separate from
the general population" III we do not con-
slider it ourselves" said the gypsy chief, eve
should be made to by others. But we did
so consider ourselves, and we can honestly
claim longer lineage and can trace back to
more ancient times than any other people
on the face of the earth. 1 can speak several
languages, and in travelling in India some
twenty-five years i thought L discovered
traces of the same language that
we speak. 1t is derived from the
old Chaldaic and SaDscrit." "Do you all
speak it?' Eyes; we are brought up from
our earliest infancy 10 speak it, but we don't
even always use it among ourselves. Ii
is a religion almost with US to perpetuate
our tongue, and il is probably the principal
means of keeping our individuality as
people. You may think it strange, but liv.
ing as we do, differently from all other PEG
pie, we are proud of it and of ourselves. 1
for instance, who am old, and have but
short time to live on earth, would not chang.
this uncertain
EvER-CHANGING MANNER OF LIFE
for any other. We go from one place to an
other always roaming but we love it, anC
it has grown to be second nature with us
Not one of us would change for the best sit
uation in what you call civilized life.'
"Have you any queen in your tribe?" "Wt
had, yes, but by one of the
grossest examples of injustice
have ever known, we were deprived o
her. This was before my time, however
and it was because the tribe was deprived o
her that came out here from England. Hel
name was Maria Saux, and at one time
when the band had Travelled over from Ovs