Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1894-10-13
HISTORY OF THE eYPsIEs.
'.!ic Suprosition is That 1i"y Came Gri:-
inaIly From Ind ~.

'.hc SUPERSTITION is That 1h"y Came ORR
inauy From Ind -.
historians and philologiSts have set
| tied IL among themselves, to their own
| satisfaction. that the GypS:eS came
Originally from india. The supposi-
tion is that this strange race belonged
| - the lowest orders of India. from
Which country they We're gradually
dr ven by their own wandering sp;r.t
tII by conquest and oppression. But
hat the Gypsy had no other history
| .hll the h story of the slave. the
renegade and the vagrant in the land
OF h.S nativity, | do not believe. His
| fa!ihtulncSS to his racc-:nStinct be-
| speaks nnbler and more ancient or
-.n than is allowed by the theory
that he is the offspring of a mixed
community recruited from the various
ranks of Ind:ar society. < few hun
dred years would not suffice to weld to-
Srthcr such a Heterogeneous mass into
| 4 people whose traditions and spirit
| should survive 1000 years undimmed.
and promise to live on for as many
more. Only the remnant of Il vastly
ancient race would be able to scatter
| over the world, to separate into small
groups. to live in every land and
| line. to experience the sway of every
form of government of which history
has account, or which exists to-day.
to know the influence of every form
of rel gion and yet to be at the close
Of the nineteenth century what they
were in the days of their expulsion
from India, what they were in the
Middle Ages. in no wise changed or
changing. always the same, in all
lands tcllcrs of fortunes. traders of
horses. dealers in mystery. Though
separated for hundreds of years and
by leagues of space they all speak the
same language and live the same life,
alike faithful by the sands of Sahara
and by the shores Of the Arctic Sea,
by the flow of the Ganges and by our
own Mississippi. That they passed
through Persia and Greece Their Ian
guage testities. as it also testitics to
their vast antiquity, by being closely
allied to Sanscrit. That Immediately
prior to their entrance into Europe Il
large body of them spent some tine
in Egypt, is matter of history. From
this fact comes their name, Egyptians.
egyptians. Gypsies.
They first appeared in Europe be-
fore the twelfth century. and in the
fourteenth century their numbers
were largely augmented. The first
notice of them in European literature
occurs IN the writings of an Austrian
monk about 1922, who describes them
as 'lShmaelitcS." In 1417 a band of
300 wanderers. black as Tartars and
calling themselves Secani. appeared at
the gates of the German cites. They
bore letters of safe conduct from the
Emperor Sigismund. In his they ap-
ocarcd to the number of 1000 at the
tn of Iurinh laH hx-s N,,l-D nbo,
of Little Egypt" In 1422. according
TO the chronicle of Stumpf, the old
Swss historian. 1900 of these
"rogucS and vagabonds" presented
themselves at Basel. On the 18th of
August. 1427. band of them coming
from Bohemia approached the gates
of Paris which they were not permit
red to enter, the authorities appoint
n- La Chapelle Saint Denis as their
p!lrH of lodgment. so the GypSieS
swept over Europe. Their favorite
account of themselves was that they
came originally from Egypt and that
thcr Wanderings We're Il Self-mpOSed
p"nance for a temporary abandon
mrnt of the Christian faith But per-
srcution soon began against them. and
once afoot it followed them swiftly
and ruthlcssly down the centuries.
Francis |. ordered them to quit France
on pa of being sent to the galleys
without trail whenever caught. In
1850 they We're condemned to perpetual
Punishment. DEGREES We're issued
against them in England by Henry
VIII. and by Elizabeth. Even as late
is 1T4S Frederick the Great renewed
The law that every Gypsy beyond the
age of eighteen found in his states
should be hanged forthwith. In Scot
land they We're more kindly received.
Bat III 1541 an act was passed that
the "Egyptians pass forth of the
realm under pain of death. More
recently measures less brutal have
been adopted by the governments of
Europe toward these nomads. Maria
Theresa interested herself in the
education of their children and in the
gradual settlement Of the race as til
crs of the soil. No other countries
have succeeded in winning them from
their wandering habits. and it cannot
be said that to compel them to inhabit
one spot results in any benefit to the
race itself. To be convinced that the
Gypsy is worthy of attention. it is
only necessary to give ii few statistics
not very accurate, | fear. but as near
~ exact as can lie obtained at this
tIllit. ~ SlloW HuW StHcIdllN anu III
what numbers they are scattered over
the world. In Hungary, where they
are known as Czijanyok and Pharan-
onerek-Pharaoh' people-there are
100000; IN Pennsylvania and the
Prime. palities. $1,000; in Spain, where
they are called Zincali and GitanoS,
there are 10000; in England and Scot
land. $4,000; in Poland, 1000; in Rus
sa. 10000; N Germany. France and
Italy combined. 10000; in Norway, l.
800: and so on till the total number
of GypsicS in the world is computed
10 be about 1000 0OO.-Paul Kester in
Kate Fields Washington.
Carrier Pigeons from Mid-Ocean.
Something new is the idea of TAX
| ING carrier niGeOn with Nou Whnn