New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-10-16


,e,s,.ted might add, :h.. Voc in rrs;ei with 90
secrets 10 bcray and hence my ina6ily ct he. Tine
10 violate my obligation had The disI position.
The following weak, the meetns Of :be Cub -as
held in ar other h. situated OF the fourth floor OF
prominent bui ing IN Broadway, IN he vicinity OF tie
s.. Nicholas hotel where they have ,ince been he'd
For thee or four weeks the meeting nights were unfs-
vorabs there being either heavy snoTs on hegronnd
OF The weaker being unpropiiiors in other ways.
The attend ance was consequently small, there being
not more kan fifty persons present 81 any OF The meet
ings, tie msjority OF whom If ] recoisct arigot,
were ladies. As the Club grew older, however, l.
increased in numbers, the sugmeDtations being Tor
GONE weeks more from the ranks Of the ladies' han
from tie gentlemen. For time, nJnnctions
were Civ en- TO exercise caution in Introducing Members
tie aim beirg, I believe, TO admit at first none but
those who were familiar with FTeeLove piincpAs,or
who a. least were DESTROYS of learning With the view
OF advancing truth what the doctrines and purposes
Of the FIcc L.vs,s were The object Of this, l pre-
sumo was TO secure predominaDce OF intellectually
until such time as the Club vas sufficiently powerful
in this nspec' 70 preserve for i, distinctive Ltelec
tua a. well as Free Love character. As the numbers
increased tbs rule was made less stringent and the
doors opened to eny persons who NIGH, be in
| troduced by members For some time, the numbers
of each sex in attendance continued abou. elual and
the ayersge attendance OF beth was about one hun
dred ard twenty. 1t was anticipated tina. during the
| heat of ibe past Summer the attendance woud ms
terslly diminish The contrary however, was the
fact. A n,tcesble feature about TINS period wss an
alarming accession 10 tie Club Of the lords OF erea-
tion; 30 great ndet d. that par ,ners were found diff
! cult 10 obtain in dancing. The prepondersnce
Of men confused, and it thought beet by
60 -fp.,
the numbers of the sexes to an equilibrium.
Accordingly, it announced ore evening inst the
rrices Of admission would remain the same the. is,
ten cents for each person. in the case o! gel
| ttmen uraccompaned by ladies, who would be re-
| quired to disgoige quarter o. dolT. About tiis
tine the meetings had become toe crowded Tor com
fort, and the all was opened for second eyening
each week, which arrangement still prevails. The At
tendance at the Club a, the p-esen: time varies from
orc hur bred and fifty to two hundred persons, there
being stu large attendance of macs Az present
the Club numbers nearly twelve handred rem
bers. Tie obligation which was administered to
uembers in their initiation be 1--we is no longer
! used tie simple introduction OF person by mem
Der being egarded sufficient. In this, sever,
may be mist ken.
Having given a cursory history Of the Eree.Love
movement in this city up to the present time, pro-
pote now to give your readers some insight into tho
nature Of the meetings About o'clock in the even
ire we ueet at the door Of the building Broadway,
and at once proceed up three flights OF stairs until We
reach tie entTar &C of the Cub room. | lni9rm my
| friends tla. the tickets can be purchased from
be arded gentleman who sits in seven'oy- line place
not mill tie ticket Office of hea.er. The two zen
tlmep, having each lady, put down quarter and
receive in return their admission tickets for themselves
and lsdes end ive cents change. The other gentlemen
paw quarter each, but having no lady receive ticket
and no change few steps further on, and the plrty
are informed that their hats oveIcoas, cases, AID the
Ike will be taken care of for an additional compensa-
ton of two cents. Nobody finds fault with tbs price,
and the surerfuous apparel of the party is care
| fully stoWod away. The doorkeeper receives the
tickets. The ladies psss into the ladies' dress
irg.room to prtpaIe their toilet. and We now
enter the Ioll Of the Club The main rom is about
seventy five feet in length, and with hight OF about
welye feet. Five sets of quadrile arc already ar
rsr ged on the aoor and the floor manager gives the
sic al to the musicians-two yioinists and pianist
| 10 commence and in moment the dancers hayetakea
the initiative fright and LEFT FIST four" Seated about
the Ioom epgased in conversation or observing the
dancers, are perhaps about fly or sixty ladies and
gentlemen. Presently however, the room becomes
crowded with visitOrs, and all the available space on
the floor is occupied with the votaries of Terpsichore
Not few gentlemen are looking Oh somewhat gloomy
becaufe they have Ialtners, while some
forgetting that such acts generally deemed to DC
in bad taste engage perhaps in & dance with each
other though polite request from one of the mana
geral officials is sufficient to cause them to dscOn-
tiLue. The fool. manager is omamented with badge
of ofcc-s beautiful scarf; and he has as his aids
body of sef.eleced policemen and police women,
wtose badge of office is rosette in the form Of star
All who occcpy any positions in the Club do it, X is
said from attraction, and elect themselves. Leaving
the dancers, we enter the rear room which is about
forty feet in length by twenty in width. This is also
crowded. Seated about tables parties engaged in
playing whist, euchre, backgammon, chess or cheek
err. Others occupy their tine in conversaon-some
discussing the subject of Socialism and REFORM Others
all that is new ard old in the artistic world. Occa-
siopslly the announcement is heard that Mr. Grower
or Miss Squeak will favor the company with song,
and all who are attracted at once gather around the
| piano. There are several quartcts Of singers who
are members Of the Club. Two or three wekno xn
composers and piansts also add their efforts to interest
the company. Comic songs and delineations which
are occasionally given only to hghten the pleas
| uie on tie occasion.
word now as to the character Of the members.
The Club is eup from ali the respectable ranks OF
society and though it may be that persons of disrepu-
able character are sometimes present, yet the fact s
seldom indicated by their actions Any actions OF.
fersive to the company are generally manifested by
youpg men, and the worst that they do is to show of
little boistorousress but gette re2roof from one
of the police oceresse, is suciest to cause them to