The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1915-11-27

| ment. He is more or less of a grub,
eating, sleeping, and, between times,
plying his crafty trade of trying to get
something for nothing from folk who
have worked honestly for their sub
stance.
The gypsy preserves the same liv-
ing traits which have characterized
| him for centuries 1t is commonly
thought the gypsy originated in Egypt
the country from which he gets his
modern name. Students Of the races
have proved in recent years beyond
any question Of doubt that the gypsy
is Of Hindu extraction, and that the
first gypsies came into Europe in the
| train of Bait Khan, when that follower
| of Alexander swamped Russia with
| his Tartar hordes. The gypsies bear
| physical resemblance to the low-caste
| Hindus, having dark eyes, bronzed
compilations. black hair and wiry
| bodies.
The tricks of the gypsies, who have
specialized in playing upon the weak
nesses of superstitious folk, have been
handed down for many generations.
and it takes little instruction on the
part of parents to teach their young
the gypsy tricks. Some OF the men
are handsome, and some of the young
girls are beautiful, although their
beauty does not last many years.
The gypsies are robust. their out
door life making them hardy. The
mothers give their babies fairly good
care, and the babies thrive as a gen.
eral rule. The compulsory education
laws in the different states do not
apply to the gypsies. for they do not
remain in one place long enough to
send their children to school. In
handwork, some of the gypsies are
well skilled the women with the
needle, and the men with tinkers'
tools, which they use in repairing
their movable homes. AS blacksmiths
some Of the gypsies are experts. shoe
ing their own horses and, occasional
ly, making a business of shoeing
farmers horses.
In Europe the gypsy has been per-
secuted somewhat, especially in Rou-
mania, where, for many years he was
held in S very. being forced to do the
hardest work and to live in almost
naked slovenlness. He has risen out
of that state now, but is still held
down more or less.
All gypsies are fortune tellers, and,
over the cards or over palms they rat
tie off the most arrant bunk"
The American gypsy, as the gyp-
sizes on the other side, has no par
ticu}lr tribal food. He is perfectly
willing to consume any sort of food
others produce He is not a particu-
lar feeder" and he eats as many
on the road. The women are experts |
ir roasting or broiling chickens over |
open fires, for the gypsy men are ex-
perts in picking up tempting fowls |
they meet along the road.
The gypsy is great bread eater,
and he'll stow away loaf. BUTTERFLIES, |
as he drives along the highway. Oc-
casionaly gypsy family which is
well-to-do and which winters in city |
tenement houses, will have on the
road at camp rather elaborate meals.
such as have been suggested to them
by their white neighbors in the tene-
ments.
1t will take many years to drive the
tkieving traits out Of the American
gypsies. who have been particularly
free from police interference. In
some sections of the country, gypsies
are still looked upon as kidnapers, and
they are feared by many mothers of
little children. There are cases on
record in which gypsies have been
caught with stolen children, but they
are more rare now than they used
to be- as the telephone in rural dis.
tricts has made the gypsies wary Of
fragrant crimes Being
nomads and travelling in the spring,
summer and fall in districts which are
not well polced, it will be years be-
fore the thieving traits are subdued
in the gypsies. Dealing with the
United States government in the mat
ter Of trading in young women, how
ever. is likely to prove serious for the
greedy gypsies, for Uncle Sam will
run down the swarthy violators of the
Mann act and not be afraid of the
threats Of the revengeful tribesmen