The Washington herald., 1920-09-11
New York City
The Gypsy Band.
BY o. o. Mcintyre.

New York. Sept 10.-Manhattan
has been .intrigued--as the novelists
say-the past week by a picturesque
gypsy camp far up on Riverside
Drive. Motor parties have been
hooking there from Broadway and
Joy-riders stop to have the fortune
tellers predict what will happen be-
fore dawn.
One of the features of the gypsy
encampment was a wedding-a boy
OF IL to a girl of 10. The boys
father. according to the gypsy Gus
tom, bargains with the girls father
for the bride to be- The price paid
was S3,5O0 and then the entire camp
! got tipsy on sacramental wine.
thereby thwarting the revenue
/ sleuthS
The prairie schooner and tagged
out ponies of an earlier period have
disappeared. The gypsy now traS-
els in gaudy colored fivvers, which
! they trade with the same abil-
ity that they displayed in "hoss
trading" This particular band Of
/ nOmads came from Spain.
Although there are twenty six
families with them. there are only
| four names, the Millers, the Costel-
: 'Df'' NiAt -NhdIlfS anu Nllt
| They adopt the Anglo-SaXon names.
talked to Nick Costello. the
king of the band. He wore red and
blue with yellow sash and pur-
pie cap and had a pink rose in his
/ button-hole. He had a fierce black
moustaChe and brass ring in his
! left ear. l expected him to speak
| in accents but he talked the Ian
I guage of RroadwaV
I asked him why. He Travelled
with his parents after being born
in gypsy camp in Egypt. At is
| he traevled through New York an
| decided to quit the rowing life. lie
! opened a shoe shining stand on
Sixth avenue. But he only remain
1 ed three years and he was off 10
| join his band in Rumania. 1T is
! the only life" he said. Some day
! people will go back to the care free
/ life of the gypsy. That will be the
| death blow of the city's lure"
Men. women and children smok e
! cigarettes. I saw a little boy of
/ seven inhalinE with the abandon
Of seasoned smoker. My friend
I Nick told ME that many of the
I band did not even know what coUn-
try they were in-nor did they care
The main thing was that they were
outri the open and had plenty to
! eat and smoke. And perhaps to
drink-said Nick with a wink
4 Walking Dynamo.
\ certain Broadwayite who
Graves attention was dining alone
in evening regalia after the theater
the other night 1t was a warm
/ evening and after the crowd had
| been seated, he took collapsible
! electric fan from his pocket and
attached 1t to a pocket battery. He
/ seemed to be full of electricity for
when this failed to excite attention
ii was noticed that his cuff links
were tiny bulbs that flashed on and
of
Hotels of Yesterday.
1t is remarkable how quickly the
gilded hotels of yesteryear fall n
to decay. I passed two the other
! afternoon. Ten years ago they
were flashing with gay patronage.
The lObbies are now filled with
girls from the burlesque chorus.
Some drivers off trucks at the curb
We're dining in the cafes in shirt
sleeves. There was a feeling thai
no questions were asked at the
desk. Once hotel is given a bad
name in Manhattan it reaches a
dow level quickly or is torn down.
Magic Art Declines.
Down at Martinkas queer little
magic shop on Sixth avenue a con-
/ tInuOus theater of magic has been
opened. Martinka has passed on
but his place is still the rendezvous
for magiCians off the road. Mar
tiuka cared little for the patronage
of the hOi-polloi. He always asked
I the curious to leave his plaCe-but
for the true artist there was d roy
al welcome. Harry Houdini is
head of the movement for the con-
tinuOus theatcr. The magic art has
fallen into decline, and an effort is
going to be made to revive its pop
ularity.