OCR Text |
Show Grass Knots Convey Massage to Gypsies (.'lose observers may have noticed In Ihe neighborhood of country cross roads, or where roads diverge, a tuft of grass which has beeu tied Into a knot at (lie top. and probably con sidered It the casual act ot some idler but such was not the case. Since time Immemorial the grass Knot has been used by the gypsies as a signal and sign. Usually It Is in tended merely as n guide for a sec olid division ot a party. indiruliiiK which road has been taken bv the firs! section, hid, if necessary, quite elub "rule messages may tie conveyed, a particular meaning being Indicated by the character of the knot and its po sitioii with regard to the road-vhether road-vhether close to oi some dislancf TTom the wheel tracks, whether on the right or left of the right ol way The second party Is even able to teb wiih considerable accuracy now long It has been since the Erst party tied rhe knoL This Is accomplished by the breaking of a handful ot grass stems when the knot is tied the de gree to which broken stems are dried being a pretty clear iudicafion of the time that has elapsed. |