The Brutal Burlesque at Port Gamble
A Masonic initiation ceremony goes too far, leaving the audience horrified by realistic theatrics.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Franklin Lodge, No. 5, F. & A. M., of Port Gamble, presented to the public Saturday evening, March 17, a burlesque initiation society, entitled 'The Ancient Order of Hercules.' The affair was very well staged and the acting a credit to those who took part. The candidate was put through all sorts of torture, including sawing off a leg and branding on the breast with a hot iron. These scenes were so realistic that the majority of the ladies in the audience would not look at them, and several came very near fainting.
“These scenes were so realistic that the majority of the ladies in the audience would not look at them, and several came very near fainting.”
Fraternal orders were the lifeblood of 1890s civic culture, often using elaborate, sometimes bizarre, rituals to forge bonds of brotherhood. This story captures a moment where the performative 'torture' of the era collided uncomfortably with Victorian social sensibilities.
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