Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-07-03
A BOYS SECRET SOCIETY.


a Buys SEChel SOCleII Y.
"Reminiscences by Free and Accepted
Member of the Order.
Boys, do you remember that secret
society we organized at the old school
house many years ago. l have been
thinking about it for a week, and
whenever | think about anything SO
long as that, | am obliged to write.
1t was known as the Il j. l.. S.
but what on erlh those cabalistic
initials were intended for was one OF
our profoundest secrets The meaning
of those letters WAS ms simple as could
be, and as the sec ETY. is dead with 70
prospect of Il resurrection. it strikes me
that | am absol,ed from my oath OF
secrecy, and | will explain it. The
meaning was plain, barn-yard "luka
JuveSile Literary Society," II somc-
thing which there was about rs mu.h
necessity for keeping secret as there
would be for concealng the name OF
the President of the Unite States.
We organized the "a. j. l.. 81 for
purpose. We had had lyccum in the
.Iilase' anu 'ne Oh men o"t'io III anu
Office and mono, olihed the thing until
we scarcely got smell. This de-
telin'ileu W.. Us W I'I' oooli VI out
suit. We had Il form Of initiation,
or ps, signs, passwords crd other re-
nulinritipS tnn numprluS in mention
80 III IA SUI, ~ W ri,I;.l,
''Nu D." iiiio We ''u iio' HMM " 'l'e'''ii'1
of anything but literary excclcnc We
incidentally pledged each Other ct raj
friendship and brOthc.ly devotion, AID
swore to shed the La. drop # our
hood, if necessary, to pro:act broth r
who might deem it advisable to III; X
our sign OF distress. 1t is scarcely nee
essary TO remark that very lit blood
was ever shed us result of this solemn
covenant On one occasion. however
made the sign OF distress. \ dog had
laid hold OF my sitting material, aEl |
wanted help very badly. As no Ic ot
the members of our society wee with
in twenty miles OF me. hos ever, no
blood was shed in cfl'ecting my r1Scue.
simply snelked away, whils the dog
held so much of my panta Don in j
mouth that he was unah'e to SC;
whether was in them or not. At tao
next meeting of the society, rcsolGt ols
of coincidence and sympathy w r.
passed, and II copy of the same duly
engrossei, was furnished me by tne
secretary.
Our initiatory ceremony was one Of
the worst conglomerations of the sub
lime and the ridiculous | have ever
seen. We hoodwinked the candidatt
and brought him into the room sirg.nc
BROAD is the Road that Leads To-
Death" as we slowly marched him
around We always omitted the frs
stanza until after the second hal b2cl
sung, and by the time we came to "Ani
thousands walk together there we
had walked the candidate up a plank,
one end of which rested on headl ass
barrel half full of water, and the other
On the floor, timing his progress 50 tina.
he would step off the plank mo tic
barrel Just as VIC came down heavy on
the there" OF course he got wet. We
intended he should, but rs he had SOL
EMMY sworn to bravely and uncom-
plainingly submit to our right honor.
able rites, all he could do was to make
the best of it. We then led him up TO
Il pumpkin, and suddenly removing the
hoOdwnk, commanded him to 'Behol
the striking emblem of what You are!
Our sensitive fellows always got NAL
at this point Our pass word was
"Ye-a-e-hoo," accented heavily on the
"a" and "hoo," and in the still hours
of the summer night, it could be heard
all over town, and was always followe
by chorus of "Yo-ha-e-poon which
was the prescribed answer. often
wonder that the whole community did
not interpret our intent in using it.
At one time, we had 1886 in the
treasury and talked about erecting q
temple, but one of our members
stumped his toe and we had to pay il
over to him as SICK benefits. We pa d
four dollars per week sick benefits and
as only ten cents per quarter could b,
collected as due and assessments under