The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1867-03-27
Syattaigelte
The Masonic Password

= -s
Sloogey. The former quality, some years. est
ago made him desirous of learnllln ngs,sae
secret of the Masonic Fraternity; put as
he had heard that hot gridirons, ana pug,
nacious goats with sharp horns are re. maze
use of during the ceremony OF inltlatlon,
Ralpb's timidity warned him that, as he
was not copper bottoraed, he should first
strive to ascertain, if possible, whether
bnck.ooats:and red het spears and gl1dl-
rons formed indispensa bic :adjuncts in the
{. mysterious ordeal of Masonry. 10 satls-
] ~ himself on this point he determines 70
spump'' an intimate personal frlena' ~ = a.
cob Sfecton, whom ho knew to be q MA
$ son. ;,4,or
ssNow jacob said he, during q CONVEX, u,
sation on the mysterious snpJscs, - fssator Mua
like to become member OF .n;s,l Ine LiaSo, ,yo,,
nitv; but before doing SO, tnlnh a. suu su,l
ought to tell me something aooa' ,l On1n,; l.n.
DoGt6ey really brand you WIN III a noe
sgridfron32 and if SO, ON Whas part oi s'ne .
body S 8, anos+ions
nre asked, jacob wonld: smile, and say,
a. i.xfferzyoiilj shall have taken the three
. : first degrees, you: will know all about 1t:
J :Iscan't, answer vour irltcrrogations.D Z.
For q long time Ralph tried to worm
|. out something concerning the; fraternity |;
hut in vain. On every possible oppo.rtu-
: nity he would renew the attempt, until at
last Jacob become offended at Ralph,s
inr,ersistency, and determined to punish
him:
g Early one morning as Ralph ana JACOB
were hurrying down Grand S street 70 @ thelr
respective places Of business, the FORMER
renewed his inquiries.
..;,saI'd give fifty, dollars if l knew Inc
. :siigns and password. IF you will tell me
!: 3abonts sthe password and grip, III promise
: never to asls-ayous another question IN re-
card to- the secrets of Masonry. Come
/! !! now, row Jacol,-you've known me since /
was a hoy. and you ought. to be aware
:. that # / am little curious never blab.
1Will YOU tell Tne7 Surely you don't doubt
syotrsold Id school fellow <, < Out with the
:. password J, and promise you that L Will
ssbe1 as mum as a mouse. !,
Were iS not for the sake Of old friend-
ship, Jacob you'd have long before put
AN; end to such impertin queries; but
having failed to do 30, the inquisltlve
Ralph imagined that he would at last be
successful lin spumping bus Masonic sc 9!
friend. s5sss,- :s.sSsss. -.
-. When Ralph had completed his last
sentence. which was spoken in q loud
!! tone tone: Jacob turned his head, thinking that
z The words might have been overheard by
) "a gentl who happened to be walking
behind them. Z ~ .-s 8, :: - z {
This gentleman proved to be Mr.. Hins-
low. who a few weeks before had been
dismissed from his position as keeper in
the Hospital, charged with stealing
spoons. Although personally acquainted
!: with Mr. Hinslow. Jacob knew him oy
sight; he had been pointed out to MN nlnI ~
% member of the Common Council, OF
which body Jacob was at that time q
uember. ),
gne charges against Mr.. Hinslow had
1 mot vet been proved but a committee OF
the Common Council was to inquire into
THE case at, an early day, and Jacob had
been appointed amcmber OF thatcommlt-
Il The last question propounded by ralph
anresred Jacob, and as he turned his eyes
and beheld the man who had stolen the
--sSssn5ons,. an idea, Immediately entered his
& mind. He conceived an admirable plan
SSssfoi. Furnishing Ralph, and instantly re-
z solved to put it in execution. !,
sssseI tell you the Masonic password, 7
u said Jacob, purposely slackening his pace
& to allow Mr.. Hinslow to pass before them,
5:tif l tell yon the password, you promise
never to 4 divulge iG-not even to a
8 brother??@ -,
gsaNeyer p exclaimed Ralph, exultingly,
thinking that at last his curiosity was to
: be satisfied.
s5.. s.Upon your soul, you swear it q
= ssUpon my soul, L swear it !" responded
Ralph, ais he put his hand to his face and
scratched his nose to hide smile.
- BY.Shis time, Mr.. eHiDslow passed on
before them, leaving Ralph and Jacob
s$about three yards behind.
-sfs4aY ou' II never utter it in the hearing OF
yysn. woman or BEAST" asked Jacob. !
y 4By that great God solemnly swear 7,
aIS think that i can trust you. Well,
Ralph, I am about to make known to
you one of the greatest secrets Of Ma
sonry. When you to form the ac-
ouaintance of Mason all you have to do
lis to whisper in his ear the mysterious
password. The password is-spoonsp
= .sSpoons! o, that be- calculated
Ralph, as smile onhis face was displaced
Il tell you truly tho Masonic password
lis Spoons
spoons! Ha! ha! hap and Ralph
made q feeble attempt to laugh. "Spoons!
that's hi Of a password !! You must
think I'm confounded fool !"
aI'm in earnest, Ralph. When Masons
get into difficulty, and need assistance,
they roar out the word spoons three
times. We're you to say spoons three