PENWOMEN'S CLUB.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 193, 15 August 1936, Page 14

PENWOMEN'S CLUB.

NEW FOREST GIPSIES,

An address on the gipsies in the New Forest was given by the Rev. H. Squires yesterday afternoon. gipsies' encampment, said the speaker, was in the centre-of the forest, and the visitor went by caravan. The gipsies' tents were made of willow wood and were shaped something like Indian wigwams. In the centre they always kept a fire burning, but the cooking was done outside at a community fire. The gipsies had A high moral standard and were not degenerates. The men made clothes pegs and holly Christmas wreaths. They usually ate one big meal a day, and the majority of them drank water. Tea was seldom taken, and beer or spirits was never seen in a gipsy encampment. The gipsies were not popular with the people who lived round the Forest, on account of their thieving and cadging habits. They had no desire for education, and the children loathed going to school. The gipsies were not at all like ordinary Britishers, and how they got into the New Forest was a mystery. One theory was that they originally came from Egypt.. Mrs. Carr Rollett: presided and thanked the Rev. Squires for his address. Miss Joan Ross gave an appropriate recitation, "Laughing Gipsy John," by j Gloria Rawlinson. j

A current events discussion was held earlier in the afternoon, when the following subjects were debated: —"Is Dram! Being Too Much Encouraged?" "Are Giant Flying Machines a Menace?'.' "The Robot Heart," "Maori Place Names;"