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123
plaining of the Hungarian coppersmiths who settled in
the district a fortnight ago. The allegation against the
gipsies is that they are a nuisance from the sanitary point
of view. A representative of the " Morning Posit " went
to Ilford and spent an afternoon with the gipsies, taking
tea with the Chief, M. Maximoff, who conversed freely
about himself and his future projects. The gipsy colony
numbers about eighty persons. Of the 275,000 gipsies
in Hungary they belong to the 9,000 who are said to be
continually on the move. They are the Komodromoi
roamers or coppersmiths, and are known as the Caldarari,
who wander in almost every country, often remaining
seven years from Hungary. The Caldarari form a corporation
organised on strict lines. They have their
heirarchical chiefs, and invariably travel in groups which
are commanded by chiefs of different degrees. The work
is always done in common, and though the gipsies at
Ilford live in different parts of the town they work
together, the head chief at Temesvar usually supplying
all the wandering bands with the copper used by the
corporation."
From the first visit it was apparent that these people
would probably be a source of trouble and annoyance. This
soon proved to be the case, and within a few days the premises
were in a filthy condition. Their ideas of sanitation
did not extend beyond those peculiar to nomads. They had
no idea of the proper use of the sanitary arrangements, and
consequently the w.c.'s, bath and lavatory basin waste pipes,
etc., were continually blocked, and the stench arising therefrom
abominable. It was therefore necessary for frequent
visits to be made, and during the last three weeks the premises
were visited two and three times a day, excepting Sundays,
to endeavour to get the women to keep the rooms fairly
clean. This was a most difficult task, as they had no idea of
scrubbing, but merely throwing down a lot of cold water and
mopping it up again with rags. I do not think there was any