The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-09-05

a supper and reception to its male guests. This is
always an elegant affair. The dining-saloon is thrown
open at ten O'Clock; a rich table is ready, and the
great punch bowls are drained many times. Then
follows a musical entertainment. There is pisno
playing, 10y brilliant performers Songs and comic
stories are given. amid the most jovil applause.
Many u man yields 10 these conyivial influences, who
may have been almost an ascetic during the rest of
the month; and wives complain, sometimes, that their
liege lords come home quite Crooks" from " that
horrid monthly meeting" and have some little diff
Guilty at the door with the l~atcl-key.
The Clubs of New York are mostly chartered insti-
tutions. with special characteristics or " platforms"
that are more or lessSetinite. The Union League"
and the " Manhattsn.' for instance, are respectively
Republican and Democratic Clubs The " Century"
is 4 literary association. 1t began withl0O members,
whence its name; but soon became so popular that its
membership ran up TO six hundred. OF course it is
not So select as it WAS At first. The " Jockey Club"
stands ut the other pole Of civilization, and is fire.
quented by gentlemen who prefer fast horses 10 libra
RES. 1t has an elegant house near the Fordham race
course. twelve miles out of town. The Travellers
Club assemblies the wandering in;ellects of a num-
Der of gentlemen who have been all over the world.
They have pleasant rooms in the Fifth Avenue. The
. Eclectic = is the 50 Goldfish aristocrats Club. The
AllSnseuul WIS, ulllI tue pESSSul hcShs u uS-
lightful Club. It's speciality was Art no Club in town
had a better membership or a finer house; but bad
management killed it. Lavish expenditure. dishon-
est employees, and the recklessness that follows pros
perity, were too much for it; and u peremptory sale
of all its effects, last Monday, closed the career of the
once popular and brilliant : Athennum Club of
New York.
The various " platforms 1 have mentioned are
not, however, very prominent in the Clubs. The
purposes of each are mainly the same. In each, you
meet friendly or business acquaintances, you read
studiously in the library, or you drink your light
wines you write your letters, you skim the maya
zines, you play at chess, cards, or billiards; you rec
reate yourself or dissipate at Will. There is the largest
liberty, you can enter the house ut ali hours until
two O'Clock in the morning, and remain as long as
please, you will seldom care TO remain all night, how
ever, as the Clubs provide no accommodations for
sleeping.
But We have not yet finished our stroll through the
Clubhouse. Here is a spacious toilet room, with hot
and cold water, and all the modern improvements.
Here is the library, provided with wei selected
authors and works of reference There is ample
stock of writing materials, with paper bearing the
Club monogram. Next to the library are the chess
room and the card-room.
Upon the next or top-foor are the brightly-lighted
billiari-rooms. The ivory spheres are playing around
briskly upon the green baize, and you see that clever
shots are being made. But we Will not stop to report
the game. We return down the broad staircase aud
visit the gallery devoted to the monthly exhibition of
paintings. The display is often excellent, in certain
Clubs; including works from the easels of the best
New York artists-Giford, McEntee, Boughton and
others. The majority Of our artists are Club men,
and lend their latest works for one evening in the
month 10 these pleasant exhibitions.
Some gentlemen belong to nearly all the Clubs in
the city, yet these are often the ones who attend the
Clubs least frequently. 1t must be admitted that the
most constant visitors are apt to be young unmarried
blades, devoted TO cigars and strenuous idleness; yet
nearly all the most prominent men of New York be-
long TO the Clubs. Ministers, physicians, capitalists,
literary men, lawyers, artists, ed,tors-all are nu-
merously represented in their catalogues. 1.-The
best society of New York is in the Clubs,'' said one
of the mos; eminent c%lergymen in this city to me,
lately. This is true; yet the best society is not COIL
stautly at the Club-houses. The best men are too
busy to spend much time there. But the loungers
love the Clubs,-their quiet, and their comfort, the
sleepy air of luxury which pervades their elegant
apartments.
At the monthly meetings one more frequently secs
the choicer elements OF the membership. A number
of gentlemen then appear, also, whose names nobody
knows. They do not pt;ronize the Club during the
rest oI II nlohtn, Dut they are Eunctualiy on hand
upon the occasion OF this supper, OF which the Club
defrays the cost, as if attracted, like mice from their
hiding-plares, by the smell of the bait.
The cost of Club membership varies, of course,
with the habits of the individual. Some men attend
simply TO read and converse, aud 10 not incur fifty
dollars worth OF expense while there, beyond the reg
ular semi-annual dues, in the course of the year.
Others take all their meals Mt the Club, instead OF Mt
II restaurant or boarding house or at home. Some
devote their whole energies to dining, winning, and
playing for,-gtmes OF chance are allowed in some of
the Clubs-and in these ways manage to spend hand
some incomes.
Candidates for admission are proposed in writing,
by n 50 mover and g secondcr," both of whom must
be members of the Club III question. Most of the
Clubs have from 400 TO 800 members Only resi-
dents of the city are generally eligible for admission,
though some of the Clubs have a small number of
memlers known aS NONRESIDENT" Strangers,
however, may become guests of the Club, i. G., entitled
TO the privileges Of the house, for n month at Il time,
on the written Introduction OF a member. Ungentle-
manly conduct is punishable by expulsion from the
Club, upon n three fOurtEs vote of Il regular meeting;
but obnoxious members are generally allowed TO re-
sign quietly. \ Board of Management " is elected
yearly, besides the usual officers; and all the business
affairs of the Club arc left in their hands.
Ladies' are not admitted, q" under any pretext,' to
the apartments of the Clubs. But the ladies have
lately started - rival enterprise, the "Wuman's
Club or " Sorosis,' as the name is finally deter
mined upon. This has commenced under the best
auspices, and has, so far, been very successful. 1t
Is composed Of the most cultivated ladies Of New York.
1t has been laughed ut a good deal, yet is regarded
10y many sensible people as a very sensible movement.
But Of this l may have more to say in another letter.
From the portrait L have sketchc,i, | think that the
many readers of the ;IdUsTtiSer will be able to study
the great institution known as "a The Clubs of New
York" CALAAUs
1nfor,iasiOn Wanted,