THE NIGHT THE GYPSIES CAME TO POMPANO |
|
The dictionary describes a Gypsy as a person belonging to a wandering group of people having dark skin and black hair of Hindu origin. This aptly describes the band of Gypsies that descended upon the little farming community of the Town Of Pompano some time in the early summer of the year either 1937 or 1938. My memory of the exact year is vague, although I know it was before we were engaged in World War II. The "Gypsies" as they were and still are called, made their camp on the north side of Pompano in an open field where the Pompano Air Park is now located. Before we go any further describing the Gypsies of those days, I don't want you to confuse them with the scam artists we call Gypsies today. There was and is a world of difference in their looks, dress, methods, and lifestyles. The Gypsies of today are not tall, dark, and swarthy and do not dress in faded, patched pants and shirts with a red bandanna or scarf around their necks and do not wear big felt or straw hats and sport handlebar mustaches as I remember those of the early years wearing. Getting back to the band of Gypsies we had on the outskirts of Pompano. They probably numbered a hundred or so people counting the women and children. We children were terrified of these people. Our parents would not let us venture out of their close proximity as it was a well known fact that everyone knew: THE GYPSIES STOLE CHILDREN!. Now if that didn't make us kids sit up , pay attention and stay close to home then nothing in the whole wide world would. Residents of Pompano back then had a menagarie of animals and fowls they kept, either for food, or for pets. Chickens, pigs, goats, turkeys, ducks, horses, cows, and mules. These were custom made pick-up items the Gypsies could not keep their hands off of. And that gets us to the "meat" of this story, (no pun intended). Having hardly any paved driveways in Pompano the Gypsies had to resort to other means of providing sustinance for their band. After dark the men and older boys descended upon the sleeping, or just resting, (no television or pizza deliveries, just a scratchy radio) Pompano and commenced their ant-like procession from back yards to the camp and back to someone else's back yard, and back again, and each trip the town of Pompano was short another domisticated animal, or fowl. I am not sure if any of the "Kids" in town were stolen or not, as best as I can remember none of my friends were missing when it was all over, although one of them Will,(DO-DO) Smith who had several weeks earlier, run away from home to join the French Foreign Legion and upon getting to the Hillsboro canal in Deerfield and not being able to find France, returned home and vowed to try again as soon as he could locate France. Well, he turned up missing several days after the 'Gypsy' incident was over. We figered he had located France and was now in the French Foreign Legion. The Gypsies continued their stealing of the animals and fowls and they were very busy practically all night. As I recall they were not discovered while doing this as they had a great love for dogs and I suppose that was the first thing they took. One, so they would not be barking and two, so they would not get dog-bit. Using todays logic, the operation was a complete success. Not until daylight came did the people of Pompano realize that all of their valuables, (guess they counted the kids first) were missing and it wasn't just a coincidence that the disappearance happened the day after the "Gypsies" set-up camp. I remember the great silence that descended upon the town as the people realized what had happened and I remember seeing people walking around with shot-guns and rifles on their shoulders and pistols in their belts. Something had to be done and I had the feeling something was getting ready to happen. Police Chief Tom Smith knew he had a big problem on his hands. It looked as if the townspeople, or at least some of them, were getting ready to take a ride out to the Gypsy camp to get back whatever was left of their belongings. There were only sand roads leading back into the woods where the Gypsies were camped, and a couple of cars from town were already stuck. The Gypsies knew people were coming their way, and not to pay a social call either. So Chief Smith (no relation to DO-DO mentioned earlier) called out the entire Police Force and the both of them decided the best route to take would be up Dixie Highway to where it narrowed to two lanes, cross the railroad tracks by the Blount Quarters, and come out into the Gypsy camp from the back side, which was the same way the Gypsies came in. When Chief Smith and his patrolman got close enough to the camp to see what they would be up against, they decided that it would be a good idea to get the Sheriff's Department in on this, they just might be camped outside the town limits and it would be a county problem. It was getting close to dark when the Sheriff's Deputies arrived, and they drove up to the camp from two different directions. The Gypsies were waiting for them. They were just sitting by their campfires and the women were busy cooking whatever it was that Gypsies eat. As the Deputies ran into the camp with their guns drawn, the Gypsies just stood and looked at them. A search of the camp turned up various articles and animals, but without any brands or marks, the ownership was in doubt. The Sheriff decided the best thing to do would be to arrest all the men and boys of age and take them to the county jail, the Pompano jail only had a couple of cells and would not hold all of them. After much yelling and pushing, they were all loaded into cars and transported to the jail in Ft. Lauderdale. After the men had been removed, mostly for their own protection, night came. Then it started. Even until this day I can still hear the sounds those Gypsy women and children made. It started as a kind of moan and chant, and as the night wore on the chanting turned into a wail. It was the most pitiful sound I have ever heard in my life. It continued on into the night, and the sound was not unlike an animal pack howling. All night long the wailing continued. I lay in my bed and heard this strange sound coming from human beings, and I was terrified. I know any other kids who heard it were also scared. We had always been told that GYPSIES STOLE CHILDREN and I felt that they would be dragging me away any time now. Daylight finally came and the wailing, although it didn't completely stop, began to slow and tone down. Looking back today I can almost understand the frustration these women and children must have felt, with their men folk all taken away. They didn't know where or for how long or anything, even though they brought this calamity upon themselves . The Gypsies probably thought they had reached their promised land of milk and honey, or in their minds, the land of pigs and chickens, when they first descended on the town of Pompano, and now it had turned into a disaster. The Sheriff decided to "plea bargain" with the Gypsies. He pleaded with them to pack up their trucks and hit the road, leave the county and never come back. If they would do that he would turn them loose and not press any charges. I suppose this was okay with the Gypsy men, because they got the Sheriff to take them back to their camp. Just about dark, they began pulling out of the woods onto Dixie Highway. They turned south and went on their way. No one that I know of recovered any of the animals that were stolen, but some chickens and a pig were seen in the woods on several occasions. This could have turned into a nasty situation, had it not been for the Sheriff taking the men to jail. One more night of stealing might have just been too much for the townspeople to take. I have concluded that the Gypsies we see today just might be the offspring of some of the children that the Gypsies stole years ago. All animals and humans have a homing instinct, and that is why they always come back to South Florida. And that is why they are not tall and dark and do not have long black hair. After World War II, several of us were sitting in the recreation hall (Pool hall ) when in walked DO-DO Smith. We were speechless! Here he was after all those years. DO-DO said he had just gotten out of the Marine Corps. We asked him about the French Foreign Legion, and he told us he had hopped a freight train going north and was caught in Delray. Someone got hold of his dad, who picked him up and drove him to Adel, Georgia to stay with his mom, his dad said he had had enough of him. He went to school in the winter and picked watermelons in the summer, and when he got old enough he joined the Marines. The is an old saying that: "ALLS WELL THAT ENDS WELL," and this story ended WELL. |