Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-07-27

by the Romans Later on 1t was at
tached TO Sicily. and after the Rom0n
power was oycrthrown Il was occupied
by the Ndndals, the Goths, and again
by the Gre eks. In the ninth or tenth
ceutprv the Arabs took possession OF It.
ana later OF the Normans came In an
ruled II Under one form or other for
hunGrcts II years.
THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA
It was in 1890 that Charles = OF
Spain gave Malta to tho order of the
knights q ST. John az Jerusalem. who
thereupou took tho title OF the knights
Of Malta and fortified It, At this time
they had not only Malta bur also Coco
and Tripoll They took upon them
selves the defense or the Mediterranean.
! hey made war upon the Barbnry nj
rates, attacked the Turks again and
again, ara defeated the sultan when ne
attacked them. They waeed war with
the Mosems for generations: and 1t
was not until Napoleon Bupaparte on
ms way TO Egypt, besicged them, that
thcy surrendered their forrresses. Al
together they held the island FOR PCS
years, and when the French took il they
agreed to give the grand master of the
Knights an annual pension of about
100000 and 20 every French knight resi-
cent in Malta yearly allowance of
$40
The French siege was followed by
one of the English and the Portuguese
ileets, which lasted two years During
u part of this time there was a FAM
Inc IN Malta Fresh pork sold for 81
pound, dogs and cats were generally
eaten and even rats brought an exorbi-
tant price
While the knights had possession OF
the island they lived In grand style
Ihose OF each language had a partic-
ular post assigned them in case of at.
tack and there We're also palaces or
inns where all the members ate and
assembled together to transact bust
ness. The palace OF the grand master
was surrounded by the four principal
streets. 1t still stands and is now
occupied by the officers of the British
garrison. This building covers more
Than two acres. 1t has two entrances
ana two courtyards, one of which is
now used rs an amusement court for
the British officers. The interior of the
palace is elegant, the chief halls and
apartments being embelished with
paintings commemorative the battles of
the order. One of the most interesting
parts of the building Is the urmory. Ii
is u great han running the whole length
of the structure and containing many
warlike weapons and trophies which be-
longed to the Knights of Malta. In II
there are now 90 complete coats of
aTnlor Ior mounted knights, and large
number of weapons used by the in
fantry of the past The complete suits
of armor stand among the muskets of
the garrison, looking like sentinels and
giving the whole n somber appearance.
In one piece of armor several slight
dents may be seen. They We're caused
by shooting at il with a musket at $50
feet. The bullets failed to penetrate or
break the steel.
CITA VECCHIA.
The old capital of Malta is six miles
from Valletta, and one can reach It by
rail or carriage. II is there that the
grand masters had their summer resi-
dences, and there they were naugur-
ated. They left Valletta early In the
morning, escorted by bodyguard and
bands of music. When the grand
master came near the city he was
saluted by musketry, and one of the
ch!af citizens came out and gave him
Il bunch of artificial flowers, making
an appropriate speech and kissing his
hand. When the grand master arrived
at the gates he knelt down before n
cross which had been erected there, and
the keys of the city were given to him.
At the same time he swore that he
would respect the privileges and fran
chises of the city. After this he went