The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-12-24
THE 1oNDoNloLUB HOUSES.
yvondrous splendor.and Luxury.


in London. Nocltysupon the continent can
compare with it for The number of Its club
houses, the splendor of their architecture, their
luxurious furniture. aad the standing In society
of their members. There are upwards OF ffty
clubs In London, in which all the professions
and oil the stations of life find representation,
with a'roll of perhaps $4,000 members. Tho
following are the principal clubs, with the cost
OF ground and construction:
Army and Navy Club, Georges street. st.
James Square, 1850 members, 4l00, 600 ts50O.-
OO0) the Conservative Club. st. James street,
1900 members, GSl,O00; Garrlck Club, King
Junior United Service Club, corner OF Charles @
and Regent streets, 1900 members, f75, ,0Ov;
Oxford and Cambridge Club. Pail Mall. l200
members, ElO0, 900; Reform Club, l40o mem
hers, 9l20,O ,OCO; University Club, Pail Nal! East,
500 members, s20, 900; Wyndham Club; ST
minister, Albermarle street, $50 members,
Els. 600; Athenaum, Pail Mall, 1900 members.
ESQ, 900; Carlton, Pail Nall, 800 members, fl0,-
900: Guards Hall, Pail Mall, 500 members,
E4O. 900; Oriental, Hanover. 800 members,
faO, 600; Travellers, Pail Mall, 700 members.
ESQ, 900; Union, Cockspur street, 1000 mem
hers, eos, 600; United Service Club, Pal! Mall.
1900 members. 10000; Whites Club, st.
James stfeet. $50 members, ELS, 600; Caven-
dish. Club, 207 Regent street, 500 members,
rT5. .O00, and Civil Service Club, So st. James
street. 1000 members f45,0O0:
Each member Is elected by ballot, and pays
an entrance on admission, and afterWard an
annual subscription, which varies, like en-
trance fees. in different clubs. Thus IN the
A1henmuln the entrance fee Is f26 5s., about
$780, annual subscription f6 Gs., $3l.
When clubs were first started they were re-
garded with much hostility as being antago.
nistic 10 domestic life, and the ladies' displayed
an intense spirit against them. The clubs,
however, survived and 1ourished under their
enmity. and 1t was found that they discouraged
coarse drunkenness, the prevalent vice OF
Englishmep; encouraged social intercourse, or
which ladies partook elsewhere; refined the
manners of the members, constituted courts
of honor, and tended most materially toithe
the manufacture of gentlemen.
vast and magnificent scale. They have bli-
lard rooms, coffee rooms, ninepln rooms,
splendid libraries, saloons, furniture and plate,
cf the costliest and rarest description. All the
refreshments which member has, whether
breakfast, dinner, supper or wine. are Iurn-
ished to him at the market cost price, all otner
expenses being betrayed from the annual SUD
scriplions. For few pounds year advanta-
ges are 10 be had which no incomes but the
most ample could procure. The Athen@um,
which consists Of twelve hundred members,
can be taken as good example OF the rest.
Anon. the members may be reckoneda large
proportion of ;the most eminent persons IN
England-civil and military and ecclesiastical
peers. spiritual and temporal, commoners,
men of the learned professions, those connec-
ted wit the sciences and arts and commerce,
rs well as the distinguished who do not belong
to any particular class, and who have nothing
10 do but live on their means, bore their
tallors, and admire their family genealogy and
their own figures. These men are to be met
with day after day at the clubs, living with
more freedom and nonchalance than they
could al their own houses. For six or eight
guncas (SS3 to $40) a year every member mas
the command of an excellent library, win
maps, the daily London papers, English ana
foreign periodicals, and every material for
writing, with flock OF gorgeous flunk1es IN
powder and epaulettes to attend at the nod OF
amcmber, and u host OF yputhiui pages N Dus.
tons and broadclOth. The club Is a. sort OF
palace with the comfort of private dwelling,
and every member Is master without having
o. masters trouble. He can have whatsoever
meat or rerCshment served mp &C all hours
with luxury and dispatch. There ID hxed
place for everything. and 1t is not customary
TO remain long ut table. You can dine alone,
or you can invite a dozen persons to dine with
you, females being excluded. From an nc
count kept at the Athene'lm for one year, it
appears that II, 1893 dinners cost on an average
%. 9Sd. each (about eS cents and the average
quantity OF wine drank by each person at these
dinners was small fructlon:more Than q! pint
each. The bath accommodations are the finest
that can be imagined. The kitchens OF the
London clubs cannot be equaned In the world;
and the chief cooks who have charge of the
kitchens, have each European fame Alexis
Soyer, the greatest cook since Ude or V8tel,
had tor long time the charge Of the Kitchen
OF the Reform Club, and the kitchen Of their
club, Of which John Bright and all the leaders
OF the English Liberals are members, ID the
finest IN London.
There Is cheerful dir, an DIR Of magnlf-
cence about these superb kitchens which
would charm good:houseWife. Here'a the
genius which can he brought to bear upon
cooking Is concentrated; and the head cook
would not deign 10 notice any person OF less
rank than baronet whilo in superintendent.
Although there are 300 members, he Is not
responsible to any individual one, and the
only authority In the Glib to which he has 10
bow Is the eight or ten members Of the house
committee, whose decreeS even to this being
are arbitrary. The pots and pans are of an
exceeding brightness, end the entire system
is perfect. In one corner OF the Kitchen Is
little STALL, or counting-house, at the desk of
the CHIEF cook provides, besides ordinary pro-
visions, which ore certain to be required, a Sc
lected list which he inserts In his bill of fare
y list which is left to his judgment and skill.
Say three or four gentlemen, members OF the
club, determine to dine there at given hour;
they select from the bill Of fare, or make
separate .'ordcr" If preferred, or leave the
dinner altogether TO the intellect OF the chef,
who is sure TO be flattered by this dependence
on his Judgment. little slip OF paper, on
which are written the names of the dishes and
the hour of dining, Is hung on hook IN the
Kitchen, on blackboard, where there are
number OF books devoted to different hours OF
the Gay or evening. The cooks proceed with
their ordinary avocations, and by the time
the dinner is ready the clerk of the kitchen has
calculated and entered the exact value OF
every article composing it. which entry is
made out In the form oil q blll-the cost price
being That by which the charge is regulated; !;
nnlliing is ever charged for the cooking. I'M
| media ely at the elbow OF the clerk are bells
, and speaking tubes, by which he can commu-
f, nicatc with Lhe servants In other parts OF the
building. Meanwhile q steam engine is
.'scryin" up' the dinner. In one corner o.
kitchen is recess, OH opening door IN which
we see 9 small platform, sqnare-shaped, CAL
CIlatrd 10 hold an ordinary size tray. This
| platform is connected with the shalt OF o steam
| engine by bands and wheels, go as to be ele-
vaied through q kind Of vertical trunk leading
TO tie upper part ol the building, and here are
the white aproned servants O. walters ready to
| take Cut the hot AMI understanding yiands
from the platform 10 the member or members
OF The club who are anxiouSly awaiting dinner.
--The cactus fence is an institution peculiar
kt,.a a..l1 ,-NI fnx@