Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-04
WAS HE CRUC|F|ED,
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE.)

tain herself longer she crept from the
bed and stole half way down the stairs
until she could observe the actions and
hear the words of her husband and the
caller.
We'll if it must be so. it must be So
she says she heard Stirtan say.
There's no escape from it replied the
unknown man.
Mrs Stirtan remained on the stairway
in terrible state of anguish until the
visitor departed
Frank. she pleaded. when the door
was closed. you are fearing something
terrible Tell me what it is. that l may
help YOU
Katie. am in a frightful predica-
ment" he replied. Il am to be cruel
fed.
She says she begged her anrighted hus-
band to tell her all. hut he would say
no more.
The Last Good-By.
Stirtan left his home at No. 1851 south
Sixty-third street West Philadelphia, as
usual October 22d His wife said good
bye. little thinking his face would be
from that time forever hidden from her.
He did not return in the evening. She
communicated with his office. and learn
ed that he had left at s O'Clock the pre-
vious afternoon. as if to so home.
A constant visitor at the Stirtan home
at the time was c. f. Silllnan' with
offices at No. 1886 Front street. He had
been Stirtan's initiator into the order of
Martinists. so Mrs. Stirtan had gathered
from the perusal of letters. and to him
she hurried for explanation Silliman was
not at his Office and in his absence she
questioned the clerk.
She asked il he had seen anybody who
= {;NV,
he replied that at $3.50 o'clock the day
before such person had called for his
employer In a short time Silliman ar
rived He at first denied having seen
Stirtan. but finally said Stirtan had come
to him in a state Of great mental an
guish. and he asked him to accompany
him to his home. near Fineland.
when we reached Nineland we sepa-
rated" Mrs Stirtan says Silliman told
her Il had some business TO attend To-.
and Stirtan got into a farmers wagon
and said he would go to the community
house alone l went up later, but did
not find him there
She Found the Ritual Protest.
The names of Judge Gordon. of Phila-
delphia: Alfred r. Dunn, said to be Il
hypnotist. and other persons prominent
throughout the country, are brought into
the story by Mrs. Stirtan. She says that
some time after her husbands disappear
ancc she received a letter telling her to
80 to Judge Gordon. The keys to her
husbands desk were given her, and she
removed his effects from the office. Il,
a secret compartment of the desk, which
she opened by accident. Mrs. Stirtan de-
clares She found a copy of the ritual OF
the Martinists. letters from Siliiman and
Damn and others prominent in the order.
She charged Siliman with keeping her
l,,,SJ ,o@,1 - r
expose the order and disclosed the fact
that she had the documents in her pos
session. After that she received many
letters and kilograms containing the fol-
lowing threat:
Keep your own counsel. Do not
breathe Your fears to anybody. Say no
thing of secrets You have got in your
possession. else the fate meted out to
your husband will be yours
Mrs. Stirtan declares she has searched
all over the United States for a trace of
her husband. but has found none. She
says her movements have been watched
and she has been prosecuted in many
ways. She is living in seclusion in Chi
cago
"Martini.i'' Defined.
The following are definitions of the word
"Martinist":
MARTINIST-A follower of Chevaiier
ST. Martin. French religious enthusiast
Of the eighteen century. participant IN
an attack on the prelacy in the Marpre-
late controversy of 1855 S9.-Standard Die
tionary.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. of school of re-
lisionsts formed originally by Chevalier
ST Martin d743-lSOS) a few years before
the French Revolution broke out; kind
of pietistic imitation of Treemasonry.-
Century Dictionary.
The punishment in store for member
of the Martinist order who dfvulges q
secret may be gathered from the follow
ing section of the ritual In possession
of Mrs F. A. Stirtan:
But if by the power of free will and
the blessing of the Deity thou dost come
to behold truth face to face, remember
to keep silent about the mystery thou
wilt have penetrated even if thy fidelity
may cost thee thy life. Have forever pre-
scented to thy mind the awful fate OF the
great initiator who attempted, even with
the best Of designs. to raise before the
multitude the sacred veil Of Isis.
"Adonis killed by boar; Osiris killed
by a typhoon; PythasoraS prescribed; Or
pheus torn 10 pieces by Bacchantes; Moses
abandoned in the carerns of Mount Nebo:
Hiram slain by ruf1ans: st. John behead-
ed: Appolonius tortured; De Molay burn
cd at the stake: .,srippa dying In abso-=
lutte abandonment.
"Shouldst thou reveal any of the secret
arts, parts or points Of the hidden mystic
ries thy mediation will have led thee TO
comprehend. any physical torture should
indeed be mild punishment in compari-
son with that which thy folly would have
received for thee.
God has no mercy for one who pro-
fanatics this sanctuary and brutality ex-5
poses to unworthy eyes an unexplainable
necret