The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-07-31
THE SONS or MALTA.
A Gigantic Sell of the Most Ludicrous
TyPe-outward SoIemnity.

Iype-OutWaru Solemnity.
When at its height the sons Of Malta
had lodges in every city Of prominence
throughout the country. and numbered its
initiates by the thousands Its secrets
were exposed in 1850 by Frank I.eslie's
Journal, and the order several years later
met an untimely death. 1t was nothing
more nor less than gigantic sell, Of the
most ludicrous and original type. Who
founded II Is not known and the name OF
the wag will probably remain forever IN
heralded while the work which he left be
hind viii pass down into history as the
most marvellous hoax of the nineteenth
century. The ritual was from the pen of
George D. Prentice. It's birth place is CON
coded to New Orleans. Some ascribe its
origin To the hibustering army of Gen.
Walker which in 1855 or thereabouts was
preparing raid upon the island of Cuba
with view to annexation. Others ascribe
its rise TO the idea of some humanitarian
whose intention was TO divert the mind
during the terrible RACES of yellow fever in
the south and at the same time to raise
funds for the benefit of the epidemic suf-
ferers Certain it is that large sums of
money, enormously large sums, were ex-
pended by the order each year for charity
and the amount of good the strange order
accomplished each year on that account
Charity and diversion were undoubtedly
both the objects of the organization and
both were certainly accomplished. Il was
little fellow weighing only 40 pounds"
said prominent citizen to the writer not
many years ago, but l laughed so much
during my membership, that I actually
grew fat and ascribe my good health, to
some degree at least, to the famous Sons
of Malta To the outsider there was
nothing in the order which verged upon
levity. All its public demonstrations
were of the most solemn sort. The men,
bers appeared in long black and white
gowns which the older citizens of Mans
field well remember. On the front of the
white gowns was a large cross in black. |
The crosses were of the peculiar style |
which every one knows as the Maltese
cross.
Over the head a hood extended with |
nothing to make known the identity of |
the wearer save two holes for the eyes |
around which were fringes of black on the |
white gowns and white on the black ones. |
The public parades which were often |
given always took place at night. The !
procession marched slowly to the solemn |
music of the dead march, while wierd |
torches lighted the way and the members !
hummed to the music The impression of |
unusual solemnity was thus given out, |
and not single glimpse of the interior |
workings was ever allowed to come TO the
public notice. The fun which the mem
bers got out OF the order was in the initia-
tiOns.
In fact the initiation was all there was
in the order and it's workings. 1t was the |
single and sole business of the members.
The ceremony was complete with a series
of SELLS" which must have taxed the |
genius of the inventor to the utmost. The
outward solemnity was kept up as far as
the candidate was able to judge from the
beginning to the end of the whole cere-
mony, but the candidate was met at every
turn with some ineXpicable burlesque,
which half maddened and half frightened
him. Where he expected the most solemn
and impressive scenes he found only a
ridiculous farce. At last, when he had
reason to expect that finally he had come
to the stage in the proceedings where the
real ceremony of initiation was to begin,
the scales were lifted from his eyes and
he was made to see himself as others saw
nina very badly sold man.-Mansfleld
(O) News.