San Antonio Daily Light

GYPSY KING IS DEAD.
Strange Ceremonies Mark the Passing of Seth Lovell.
All His Belongings (Costly Wagons, Harness, Clothes, Linen and Ornaments) Burned and His Arabian Horses Killed.
The king of gypsies in this country passed away with the death of old Seth Lovell at Sharp's hotel, Forty-eighth and Market streets, Philadelphia. All of his belongings-wagons, harness, clothes, linen and ornaments, some rare, some beautiful-all valuable, were heaped together in a huge pile on the lot back of the hotel, well saturated with oil and set on fire. The seven wagons thus destroyed were worth over $500 each. They were miniature dwellings, and were fitted up with the most exquisite furnishings imaginable.
Lovell and his tribe had made four trips around the world. The old man—he claimed to be nearly 100 years of age, although he scarcely looked over 65 or 70—always carried large sums of money with him, and the jewelry worn by Queen Lovell, a woman of some 70 years, is not only valuable, but remarkably beautiful. The Arabian horses which drew the regal van of the Lovells were led to the side of the burning pile and deliberately killed by Ronald Raey, who seemed to be conducting the weird ceremonies under the personal direction of Queen Lovell, who would not leave the spot until the last thing owned or used by her departed lord had been given to the flames.
As the fire died and the great crowd passed from the scene the old woman and the members of her tribe wrapped themselves in their blankets, and, stretching out on the ground, went peacefully to sleep with their feet close to the charred remains of all that belonged to their dead king. Queen Lovell refused to say anything concerning the singular performance beyond the single expression: " 'Tis our way."
She has ordered a new outfit of wagons and four new horses will be secured for her van, and as soon as they are ready the tribe will leave Philadelphia and never appear there again under any circumstances.
(The burial of King Lovell was a simple affair. The tribe assembled about the grave and chanted several unintelligible odes and left the place before even the first spadeful of earth had been thrown into the grave. The period of mourning for the king will cover one year.)