The Van Buren press., 1860-03-16
M11isrrllaay.
The Missing Son Of Malta.
HIS WIFE IN THE ORDER.
CAN \ WOMAN KEEP A SECRET ?


ported to be full exposition OF the cere-
monies of initiation Is practiced by the
Sons of Malta, when :" taking" in a fel-
low member. This account we copied from
the GAINESVILLE Aurora II was q very fun
my account :, but the matter took serieus
ssfr - s9nuefnersF3se
has not sfffco BEEN seen and it was alledg-
ed that the charitable ;, Sons had made
way with him much in tue same way as the
I Masons are said to have extinguished the
famous Morgan. This serious aspect of the
matter has again changed to the ludicrous
by the publication in the Zanesville Aurora
OF a card by Mrs. Curtis. in which she
states that the Sons are not to blame for the
disappearance of her husband. We give a
few extracts from her card, detailing the
manner of her initiation into the mysteri-
Gus order
My husband came home one night late,
and, Of course, he laid abed later next NOR
ming than did and when l got up and
was ridding up the room, ! picked up that
part of his clothes which has ist-band
to it, and they were Just as wet as if he had
been sitting in some pond of water this,
of course, alarmed me, for was afraid that
he had got into bati habits though, before
that. l never thought or dreamed of his be-
ing drinking man. 1t bothered me a good
deal I; and so, when he got out of bed l
asked him, without mentioning about the
wet clothes, where he had been so late
| Now, | never scolded my husband, because
scOlding don't do a man one bit of good, as
ever l could see. So when l asked him
/ that question, he first smiled, and then said
he had been to the Sons of Malta, and then
I I
me if | was satisfied"
! The writer next goes on to state how she
questioned Curtis with regard to the condi-
ton OF his unmcntionablcs, and the only
satisfaction she received was burst OF
laughter from her husband, with the re-
mark that he was in .gool condition" !"
AMI that whatever might be her ideas on
J the subject, she might rest assured that he
had never departed" This put her al
most crazy, SO she called on her neighbor,
( Mrs. Smith, AMI told her the whole story.
! We let her tell the rest in her own Ian
guage. She continues And Mrs Smith
says to me Why, how in the world did
wet himself SONY husband belongs to
Il the Masons, Odd Fellows anl Sons of Fem
perance, but he never came home in that
condition. He must have slipped and fall
en- somehow Il thought about that,
says |, but then there hasn't been any
rain for month almost That
true says Mrs. Smith, but hc may have
fallen down at Printz's pump that's where
most ali the men stop to drink in warm
weather, and it is rough and rocky about
that pump. ] nearly fell there the night
the Sons Of Malta paraded, when L went
round the pump to get through the crowd.
| My husband had behaved himself after
that morning as well as usual. until the
next Friday morning, 1.-THE Sons meet on
Thursday when he was laughing again
but as his clothes were not wet, l just let
him laugh, and he went away IN the morn.
ing laughing to his work. As soon as h,
was gone Mrs. Smith came to see me, and
told me that her man had come home last
night as wet as mine had done. and wet in
Just the same place And when she told mt
pump-that rocky place where you mos
fell down at the time of the parade No,
! says she, asked him If he fell dowr
there, and he said. no, he hadn't. but h,
had been over a rougher road than that, ant
fell a good many times, he said, and
didn't say anything more, because yo,
know my husband is sort of shut up bod,
and when he stops talking, it's no use Il
ask questions WELL says i, the wa,
the men are carrying on. and Pm going t,
see into it. I'm not afraid of their socie
ties. l belong to the Daughters of Tenn
perance, and ! know if there was any sens
in using water we would use it there, be
cause we go in for water in moderation
though l don't like to have water used oil
me in the way it has been used on my hus
band before he came home that night, las
week Mrs. Smith and [ talked heal
more about the Sons of Malta, AMI tn
Masons and SO on before she went home tha
day"
"The upshot of the conversation wa
that the pair agreed to have themselves pro
posed as members. and got Mrs. Smith
cousin to attend 20 the matter. Well,
she goes on to say, 1--WE were proposed an
elected, and Joe came down into the stor
where we were. and told us, so we hurric
through with the dressing aud up to the an
tc-chamber and sat down all in row. w
hadn't sat there long before two men cam
out to US, from the inside room all muffle
f up in gowns, and having kind of tin hat
on their heads which covered their faces
| hCy ooNSV NO ioI ASC uOiiaiS caCIl, al
Joe handed over the money for us and him
self, as we had given him nearly on
amounts. and promised him tho rest soon
Then there came two men more like the 9th
err two who formed us into line (they cal
it single file and told to walk right along
They had swords, and one of them wake
before Joe, who was in front. while the 9th
er walked behind me. 1t was dark or near
ly SO. when we passed in. was glad of tn
darkness, because, having ON a suit of m
, husband S clothes, was not sure that the
fitted very well.''
She next describes some of the scenes in
isde as she saw them. and says : "I wa
: not frightened, for am not one of you
) timid people, being reared 10 ride colts shoe
pistols, skate and swim. SO l got throug
all the maneuvers, previous to that cos
business, pretty we'll, but when the conduc
tor said. IAN you swim. sir p said yes
Can you swim in fourteen feet of water :
L saii yes the deeper tac better We'll
t take off your coat. and try yourself No,
when he said take off your coat, that scare
me, because had put on loose sack O
! purpose, for reasons you will see yourself
However, tho't moment and then said