The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-03-22

iunlettered. pilgrims upon an eternal
twander-path. vet Forever true to the
I ties of racial blood and to customi.
whose origin and signih cance have
| been fully orgotten the gypsy is the
most mysterious Of all the strange
Elements or folk dom.
Whence they5cam has never been
| ofsfabless have been sprung to explain
their origin. Since they first an-i
Epeared upon the stage of Europe In
the middle ages. they have been
identified WI III tbe Lost Tribes of Isl
srael. the, mixed multitude that fol-
lowed Moses out OF Egypt, the Ca
tnaanites. the Anorites. he sSaracens
and the Egyptians. Some have held
the INTO the children Of Cain, and i
others have decided that they were
the children of the Wandering lew
and inherftors OF the restless curse
OF their father
i The gypsies, themselves. have
never professed to know who they
We're or where they came from, but
they have shown great readiness tot
accept the conclusions on this subject;
OF the people anne - whom they
lived. s1 It was not Until the growth
of comparative phi1ology and thes
schance investigation Of the erpsies'
tongue In the beginning of the last
century that scientists concluded thaB
4 ypslies TO be a wandering low caste
tribe from northern India Their
language nearly resembles Sanscrit.
The foundation tongue Of all our
western languages which has held \
itself Durest In Indian sources
4 This language they have wonder
fully preserved in the face OF over
mastering cultures and eternal wan
derlng. This has not been accom-
5plished by e litera ture or d close
corporation The gypsies have no
literature, and their language is am
selves, are scattered in small bands
over the whole face Of the earth
scattered even more EfCeiy than the
Jew. the gypsy calls himself rom.
meaning man. the man OF all men.
Ills wiSe is Tomi. his folk-life is
fromnipen and his language is 'ro-i
mani Every one not OF his racet
comes under the general term Of
GENTLE
.Gypsy-folE present the stransest
problems known to pbilology and
ethnograDhy an elementary. no
madic folk persisting 70: centuries in
the midst of com pick civilizations,
they have retained their physical;
characteristics, their tribal rules and
customs reminiscent Of their far-diz- i
1ant extra-EuTopean past, their
highly infected language, and their
thousand Years of fever for rowing.
They are absolutely singular and
without close parallel among the peo-5
pies of earth
Gypsy religion and gypsfe aspfrn-
ton may be summed I'D in two lines
from, the works Of the German poet
That the world was made SO wide
This folk entered Europe BIZ way
Of SConstantinople in the twelfth CEN
fury. and overftowed into The north t'
ern Balkans, Hungary. Central an.1 E5
western Europe. England and thence
to North and South America. The
English called them Egyptians. after
their supposed origin, whence the
name gypsy. They reached Ger
many in about 1417 and England
about 1900. At first they were
treated Kindly by the western ma
lions. but their stra1g enass. their IN
their light-fhgerad
ways. their proneness for fortune
telling. necromancy, black magic and
their unwillingness for work in all
forms soon called down upon them
bitter prosecutions In Germany, Eng
land. France and the Uetherlands.5
In the Balkans, Russia and Poland
they were we'll treated. and they are
found in these countries in great
numbers today. It is estimated that
Europe has more than 100000 gyp-
sizes