Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-11-30

in South France. on the Mediter.
ranean.
There they chose the gypsy king.
Why there? Because servant wom-
an of Judea, in the days of our Lord
Jesus lived the last years of her life
in this French fishing village-and be-
came the patron saint of all the gyp-
sizes.
Alone, among the lagoons, with the
antique village grown round it, rises
the venerable edifice which has exist
ed, in some form, since the dawn of
Christianity. Good old King Rene of
Provence gave it its present aspect in
144S:
History and legend tell how two of
| the Marys of the Gospels were cast on
this shore by tempest. The Gentiles
Of Antioch had put them in a boat with.
out sail or oars. They were women
who had wept at the foot of the cross
and visited the tomb and found the
Lord had risen. Mary Salome and
Mary the mother of James lived on this
spot with their Egyptian servant, who
was wrecked with them and whose
name was Sarah. Here they built the
church, died and were buried in it.
And because of Sarah (she who be-
came the gypsies' patron), these sands,
each year, and greatly every fifth year,
were strangely peopled.
Over the roads came professions Of
bizarre vehicles, prehistoric stage
coaches, prairie schooners, gypsy vans
and rich house wagons mounted and
surrounded by dusky people. Some
had dragged for months, and some for
yearsI
''Three times May has slipped round
since the war;" said a minor official,
"and no gypsies have appeared at the
SITS. Maries. In May, 1914, there were
three thousand in the German-Aus.
trian-Danubian camp, while the Ital
ian-Spanish-Greek Gitanos were less
numerous but richer. Without quar-
reling they met in not very good friend
ship, the Germanos being jealous Of
the Gitanos' newer, finer wagons"
''Was there any truth in the rumor,
L asked, "that the Gitanos had made g
find of some great treasure about
eight years ago, which all the gypsie:
had been seeking for three hundred
: yearsT'
The French official professed igno
rance.
> Did they really elect a king?
'They elect a queen" said M. Sc
I bile. Local opinion judges the elec
ton to be kind of play, as on Hol,
Innocents' Day or Twelfth Night i.
> but as no order was given to penetrat
to the crypt, of which the Romanich
els are very jealous, exactly what hap
pens is not known. .. There i
no complaint. The pilgrimage amuse
the peasants and brings sightseers an
l money. The crypt is turned over t
!, the gypsies on the night of May 24-25.
: What can we know? When tn
: chiefs go down the winding stairs t
4 the subterranean arched hall, wha
+ signs from Memphis and Thebes d
e they mark on the wall? What sudde
J, gleam of light (perhaps) joins the seal
d tered descendants of the magnifcen
g accursed race which pretends to kno1
). the future of the world?
/ "Not so united as all that
murmured an official.
: do not bring the controleur-g genera
: into this romantic part of it. But
: have come across queer mentions {
'"The Song of Pharaoh" which the
Il sing down in the crypt, the reading {
the gypsy gospel, and the "oldest ma!
), ician" who, each time, 'foretells til
r future of the world for the next f1y
/" years"
f did he foretell it in May, 1914
b I suggested.
IS One of the French officials equiv,
= Gated politely.
J. "They got away from the war;" /
7, said. ''The gypsies disappeared
s. Most people will tell you they went |
e Spain.