The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-09-05
FROM Z owy coRRrsPoxpExr."
NV YoRK, June 20, 1865

seS at tie Inferior OF q CtuO-HOuSe.
"rRoM ouR owy coRREsPoSpENT."
NEW YORK, June 20, 1865.
The Clubs Of New York are one Of the most inter-
csting features of city life. and yet one OF the least
understood. They are not, indeed. secret societies :;
few Of them are even rigidly exclusive but how lit
tie is known TO any, save members, Of what trans
pires within the doors of the splendid mansions they
occupy? "What do the men do at the Club - is
the never-satished question of the ladies. Are Clubs
immoral? Are they a sign Of high civilization, or Of
decline and weakness?
Your correspondent will best answer these queries
by recording some of his personal observations of the
City Clubs
As you stroll on the Fifth or on Madison Avenue,
you will observe that several of the largest and NEST
elegant buildings seem to be inhabited by more than
their just proportion Of men. Stylishly dressed gen.
tlemen stand behind the plate-glass windows, con-
templating, with "A stoical expression of face, the
passers-by. They lounge in arm-chairs within, mag
azine in hand, CHANGING from the page into the
street they constantly enter and leave. As ladies
pass along the sidewalk, you notice that only the
strangers among them look into these windows Res
idents prefer to shuh the critical glances that fall
upon them when they pass the Clubhouse. Let US
turn from the throng and ascend the steps of this
elegant g brown-stone front"
We enter "A spacious hall ; 10 the left is a cloak
room, to the right n large reading-room. elegantly
c~hrpeted, and finished with black walnut in the
Gothic style. Four or five copies of each of the lead
ing city papers lie upon the oaken centre-table, or
are in tho hands of readers. \ serious-looking old
se"u~,ua" reclines upon IA sUni near the open win
dow, endeayoring 10 maintain his gravity against the
comical pictures. Of the London Punch. The per-
fume of flowers steals in from the fashionable Square,
where ten acres of trees and blooming shrubs make "A
miniature country for the benefit Of eyes tired with
brick walls and the house of the eminent Flora
McFlimsey, Of Madison Square," is not three doors
away.
In this room conversation Is not permitted. The
price of stocks, the "Heraid Personals and the lat
est kilograms from Central Africa or Tongataboo, are
alike Subjects to be studied in silence. Once in the
month. however, this is n noisy room for here the
business meetings of the Club are held. The subject
of discussion is generally the same-how to get out
of debt for there is very little business thrift in
the management of the Clubs. I have before me the
annual statement of ono that is not worse managed
than most of the others. 1t shows n debt of So, 900,
and expenses for the current year amounting to
nearly 10000 : Some of the items are as follows:
Rent
Wages Of 1000
Glass and silver Ware. Furniture. etc. a''aio
Two supreIs (t monthly recepiions) -....-..-..-.. s3
Where does the money come from to pay NIL these
bills2 From the admission fees, which are from $50
TO $50, and the semi-annual dues, S25 TO s $40 per
member ; and also, in large part, from assessments,
which are freely levied upon members whenever n
reckless Board Of Management brings the Club mere
deeply than usual into debt. That csrelessness which
il the peculiar characteristic of American life, is
strikirgiy shown in the UNDECIDED waste of the large
;,..r,ag 80 Nov Xorl Ciuhs ", M a q, fal-a
the trouble of making protest or inquiry. In one
Club, not among the we Lthiest, the steward is al
lowed, through f,voritism, a salary and perquisites
amounting TO $1,000 per month In another. Jis-
satisfaction having been, for u wonder, expressed Mt
the management Of the Club funds, the Treasurer
was allowed to resign his Office from n date fro
months earlier than that on which the resignation
was rendered. But no one would annoy himself to
inquire into the accounts OF this honest Treasurer.
Perhaps it was already too late for the Club " went
under" soon after, and all its effects were knocked
down to auction at pay It's debts.
Let us learn some other ways in which money is
spent at the Club. We cross n marble-tilei floor TO a
handsome dining-hall. Knots of gentlemen are seat
ed at their comfortable meals. Dusky walters ply
them with asslduous service. There sits Sir Ledger,
Jr., dining by invitation with Squire Invoice, who
eats at the Club, for the present, because his last
hired cook is a failure, and Mrs. l. WON'T adrnit it
yet. In the corner near the window sits one of our
first literary men, who has dined at the Club for the
last ten years. Opposite to him is a little lawyer Of
unsocial tendencies, who has not been known to speak
to any one in the Club since he joined it, eighteen
months ago. At the next table you see two cronies,
haunters of the Clubhouse at all hours, until late
IL. But one of them, a brilliant man of Wall street,
IS now about TO be married. lie does not seem to
mind it much. His friend is a young physician, a
tall, elegant fellow, with n touch of the cynical ele-
Inent about him, and a confirmed bachelor withal
80 You are going TO cut the Club, my boy. after
the fatal day?' says he. Must do it, Mat, - ans
wers Wall Street "my Angelics says the Club isn't
the thing" And their talk flows off and sparkles
from this text
But we must leave them and run up stairs, if We
would learn more Of i what the men do ut the Club
Below. we have seen them reading, l~ounging. and
dining in comfort at restaurant prices. The second
story rooms are devoted TO the second great function
Of the Club-conversation. Hese gentlemen meet to
discuss business, marriage, politics, amusements, and
philosophy here many a valuable business acquaint-
ance i made What projects are not planned in the
cushioned corners Of the conversation rooms7 They
are tingel in general. It must be confessed. with the
a. spirit of vine" 4 " dry talk " Is rare in a Club
house; vet drinking 10 excess i not common.
Once 4 month IL Is customary for each Club 20 giye