The Lamar register., 1902-07-02
GYPsIEs IN WINTER.
Bare Legged and BAfs- fhsoatsd
Youngsters Like ths coad
NomAAs Exist Through the ooiA 49,
son IN . Manner TAA4 WoNAd
ave an EsQuiaAu SAs 1AAv-
srs-An lAAeFvASW.

A bars-legged tot. scarcely more
than three or four years OF age, WIN
hopelessly tangled mop of hair and big
blue eyes, toddled out of tent in
Malott park one day in December, mane
it's uncertain way toward Fall creek'
and standing on the snow-coversd bank
gravely contemplated the cold water.
Then, with judicial air. IL tottered
back to the tent and Disappeared
through the flap. says the Indianapolis
News.
There were others In the tent-ai-
most enough to populate . small town
just an ordinary Gypsy family. In
one corner the father was sprhwiso
with comfortable abandon on pile OF
disreputable bedding. pulling at pipe
that had probably been handed down
through many generations. and ne
WAS apparently without u care in the
world. He is an old patron of the camp
inRgrounds about the city. Gus staniey
by name, and as genial and hospitabie
a man AS one would care to meet. The
mother, a plethoric creature. but with
traces still of u certain type OF 6ypsy
beauty, was busily engaged In an ap-
parently interminable effort to wash
the dye out of a bit of red cloth.
The odd corner. of the establish
msnt were filled in by Heterogeneous
collection of camp odds and ends and
young Gypsies. No matter where the
eve turned il rested on a member OF
the family, and an effort to count them
only ended in bewilderment. One. .
girl probably eight years OF age. was
busy forming circular slabs of dough
by the simple expsdient of slapping
them between her hands. which. by
this time, were clean. and then cooking
them in q gresss-nlIed skillet on the
stove.
II was a glorious stove, a humble
looking affair, made of sheet iron and
with a real Are in it-no driveling little
gns blaze, but a genera1eonfgration OF
wood that threw out heat in joyous
wealth and made the tent as warm -
any home In the city and far warmer
than the most of them. And yet there
are persons In the city. and many Of
them, who have thankfully huddled
about their wretchedly cold stovss.
with the gas playing tag between the
coal and the mixer, and have thought
of those same Gypsies with compas-
sion-thought how they must be SUI
fering from the cold. and not under
standing why they did not evade these
cold months by treking to the south.
"Cold2" echoed Stanley, sdroitly
balancing a coal on the apex of the
herbage 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 10
our woodpile." and he gave Q comprs-
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 fhe last
three winters. No trouble about keep
ing the tent warm. and even IL there
was. we're pretty well 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 Rloves. overeoat or
"ear bobs," with thin shirt open ut
the throat, one stocking halfway
down and shoes unlaced-James was a
spectacle to give an Eskimo sRivers.
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 at
the throat and some even barefooted.
"Now we spend our winters in the
north" continued Stanley. "either in
Ohio, Indiana or Illinois. Indiana Is
the best state, though" and quick
statement, partly on account of the
better roads in the state and partly
for business reasons" with n porten-
tous look, cause people in the state
seem to like to have their fortunes
told, and that's where we make most
of our money, especially in the winter
-nothin' doing in horse Trading then.
How many children have II"
The question seemed to be some
thing OF n poser, for he turned to his
wife with a puzzled look. and. after
some conversation in Hungarian. an
swered: Twelve and two married
sons. There nre five families. each one
with n tent, and 26 people altogether
in this crowd. The other people down
there got here about month ago, two
or three days before we did. There are
three families-one for each tent-nnd
is people. All the girls in the camp are
dow ntown now telling fortunes. and
most of the men are out somewhere.
An Auto HothousS.
An automobile hothouss. IL one of