The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1902-05-20
GYPSIES IN WINTER.
Bare Legged and Bare Throated
Youngsters Like the Cold.
Nommds Exist Through the Cold Sea-
son I'm "a Manner That Would
Give an Esquinau the shiy-
ers-An Interview.

A bare-legged tot, scarcely more
than three or four years of age, with
hopelessly tangled mop Of hair and oig'
blue eyes, toddled out of tent IN
MaIott park one day in December mace
its uncertain way toward FAN creek,
and standing OH the snow-covered bank
gravely contemplated the cold water.
Then, with a judicial air, it tottered
back to the tent and disappeared
through the flap, says the Indianapolis
News.
There were others in the tent-al-
most enough to populate small town I
Just an ordinary Gypsy family. IN
one corner the father was sprawied
with comfortable abandon on pile OF
disreputabIe bedding, pulling at a pipe
that had probably been handed down
through many generations, and ne
was apparently without care IN the
world. He is an old patron of the camp
fairgrounds apout the city, Gus Stanley
by name, and as genial and hosp'tapls
a man as one would care to meet. The
mother, a plethoric creature, but with
traces still of a certain type OF gypsy
beauty. was busily engaged in an APP
parently interminable effort 10 wash
the dive out of bit of red cloth.
The odd corners of the establish
ment were filled in by a Heterogeneous
collection of camp odds and ends and
young Gypsies. No matter where the
eye turned it rested on member OF
the family, and an effort to count them
only ended in bewildern.ent. One, a
girl probably eight years of age, was
busy forming circular slabs Of dough
by The simple expedient of shaping
them between her hands, which, by
this time, were clean. and then cooking
them in a grease-flled skillet on the
stove.
1t was a glorious stove, humble
looking affair, made of sheet iron and
with a real fire in it-no driveling little
gas blaze, but a general configration OF
wood that threw out heat in joyous
wealth and made the tent as warm as
any home in the city and far warmer
! than the most of them. And yet there
are persons in the city, and many OF
1 them, who have thankfully huddled
{
I with the gas playing tag between the
coal and the mixer. and have thought
of those same Gypsies with compass
/ sioa-thought how they must be sur
/ fering from the cold. and not under
standing why they did not evade these
cold months by treking to the south.
"Cold?" echoed Stanley, adroitly
! ha
heritage in his pipe. well, guess not
Sit down and get warm. Not much
danger of getting cold as long as the
wood lasts, and the whole outside is
our woodpile," and he gave a compre-
hensive wave Of his hand toward the
woods that surround the camp.
eve tried going south several years
ago, but the women folks got sick, and
we've staid in the north for The last
three winters. No trouble about keep
ing the tent warm, and even if there
was, we're pretty web hardened, so we
wouldn't feel it much. Look at jim
there" Jim, an urchin, scarcely old
enough to attract the notice of the
truant officers, bashfully followed his
head into the tent and was duly in.
spected. Without gloves, overeoat or
''ear bobs," with thin shirt open al
the throat, one stocking halfway
down and shoes unlaced-James was a
spectacle to give an Eskimo siI-gers
but he seemed not in the least uncom
Portable himself. And the rest of the
children seemed equally lightly clad
all with their waists or shirts open a.
the throat and some even barefooted
"Now we spend our winters in the
north" continued Stanley, "either il
Ohio, Indiana or Illinois. InGlana i:
the best state, though" and a quicl
smile from his wife corroborated the
statement, partly on account of th'
better roads in the state and partl.
for business reasons" with porten
tous look, "cause peorle in the stat
seem to like to have their fortune
told, and that's where we make mos
of our money, especially in the white
I -nothin' doing in horse Trading then
I How many children have II"
Z The question seemed to be some
y thing of poser, for he turned to hi
4 wife with puzzled look. and, afte
some conversation in Hungarian, an
] swered: Twelve and two Marie,
sons. There are five families, each on
{ with tent, and &c people altogethe
Z in this crowd. The other people dow
4 there got here about month ago, tw
y or three days before we did. There ar
4 three families-one for each tent-an
Y is people. All the girls in the camp ar
y downtown now telling fortunes, an
y most of the men are out somewhere.
N An Auto Hothouse.
An automobile dollhouse is one Q