, 1874-01-11

lentans Wou!u Holnen!y ''O1ue1 ~ Phiu oFea5
time o reminder camo in, and the easy-gong
Vice-President. when present, would cordially
orlerit paid to the easygoing landlord, and prob
ably feel inst ID happy after the ordering bus1-
ness had been disposed Of as he did before.
Az hinted above, e1.cllrc, poker On . qnies = ct
an ex-president Of the Club called them), essays
and debates, with intcrludes Of beer, occupied
the serious attention OF these bright young
men. But time and creditors we're slowly nnd
surely eating away the foundations Of the Bone
noian Club. How long that Deserving oEgnnz;at'pn s,
the latter, one cannot tell. Its ultimate ruin
was brought about by matter quito foreign 70
the interests, one would suppose, Of tho MON
ber8. They struck upon rock which, thouSn
it had wrecked many e1gp oa'r ont
course Of this one, That rock was va
theology. It is needless to detail accurately the
various religious opinions ayowed by the men-
bers thoy were finally col1ected into two dlsls-
ous,-orthodo1 aud heterodo1,-in wu,cn ~ every
man was the former and every other the latter
The first time the subject WAS entered upon. it
was in purely informal manner, but essays aud
speeches, and 6arcasms and innuondoes, and
examinations and recrininations, and personals
ties, and all sorts OF things OF NO interest to the
public, followed, aud. one after another, the
members left in disgust, shaking from their out
ragged consciences all responsibility for the debts
Of the Club.
Cholera breaking out in that abode Of genius.
or Sherifa posse, could not more efeotuany
have cleaned it of human beings. Ih8 place
was deserted dust vied with the tobacco Juice
in oblite1ating the gay pattern OF the carpet
The chairs and tables had the place all to them
eelvee, and an appearance Of desertion waa char,
ecteristio OF the apartment where beer ana
b1illiancy had We'd With weeda and wisdom
Mr. McYicker waited patiently for the rent due
him. and, il he is sanguine, ie stu wait
ing, No attachments On the furniture
eyer issued, and after some months OF wait
iDg tho Vice ce-Presideot had the chafa and tables
conveyed behind the curtain Of his theatre, and
unconscious audiences gazed for years upon the
tables over which 10 many good things had been
drunk and said. and reporters saw actors SIT
down professionally aud in highly impossible
way upon chairs into which they had been won't
to throw themselves with al the easy grace OF
which had once thrilled the soulB Of Bohemihns
with csthetic tren,ors were transformed by
few touches Of the seepe-painter's brush
into portraits for stage purposes, a
gracious Madonna BY. some. artist
member Of the Club needed but i,alf 80 aoze2 =
the first two Presidents were doubtless disposed
of to Mr. Aiken and retouched,-one to repre-
seut Hqala Senior as ts Mercury new-lGhted on
q kissing hill" and the other his wicked
brother so that there might be sddlt1onal point
to that managers innovation when be said
. Look upon this picture and OF that" That
CARPET was critically examined by Mr. 1ics1cker:
It was ahamefully dirty, too completely frescoed
to stand renovation. It was shaken and secured
and nut down in the dtessiug-rooms. Ouly
one piece Of the furniture Of that shr1ne OF wit,
intellect, and inpecuniosity remains to this day,
and that is Ar. Barney Williams donation to the
Club, BENJAMIN Franklin still survives the ruin
Of the fire which destroyed his companions, and,
II the historians data are not defective, still
gazes in an attitude Of calm beniGnity from one
~ liz, NJ Ar {oTi "a MIG
And so ended the Bohemian Club: It had
brief and brilliant existence. 1t had mere off
GERS than any organization Of such short Life,
and paid out eEs money than any but ono. At
the zenith Of its glory it was interesting, and,
when it died, had many nouruers, principally
creditors. It lcsvee no moral, savo reminder
OF tho extreme precariousness Of human lnstltu.
tious, and caution to other clubs to beware OF
introducing theology into public discussion.
TIE HEcATox.
When the Bohemian Club yielded up it's last
breath (Which act WAS accomplished By some
body handing bunch Of keys to the Chairman
Of the Executive Committee, and telling hun
that these we're the keys, and he, the deiiyerer,
had nothing more to do with 30 ill-starIcd IN
organization), chaos came again III Bohemia.
Tho gay young dogs in striking. toga. who we're
wont. on q drizzly, miserable afternoon to
sneak, with their overcoats buttoned up to their
throate, to the cinh~1oom, and play domlnoes
with doIefuI effort to convince one another
that they greatly enjoyed the pastime, now
wandered round to foreign billiard halle, and
and defiant air. Bat Bohemians, like geese, are
gzegarious in their instincts, and, also, like
geese, the wilder they are the more giegarlons
do they become. The Bohemian Club
dead, and several members thereof de-
parted, an effort was made to start
enduring foundation. And hence. in the early
days Of 1869, the shott-1yed "Hecatou Club
was organized. The gentlemen who conceived
the idea Of such 3 club deserved success. They
went to work in the right spirit. Membership
waa confined to actors and Journalists the en-
trance fee WAS comparatively high, aud the dues
comparatively low. But the Club, while con-
ceived in good-followship and brought forth in
harmony, was baptized in pedantTy. Hecaton
rneant .'one-hundred" in an obsolete tongue:
vernacular; in the PALMER dates Of Joe Vince
lock and Harry Linden it WAS meaningless. And
though the name might not have killed the Club
for long time, its pedantry Was such as to be
burden upon the institution, that must event
ual1y have fretted it away into skeleton. The
bylaws Of the Club were strangely extreme.
Membership was subject which was carefully
reviewed. Two black balls excluded any appi-
cant, and the writer is acquainted with several
seekers for admission who would have been
bus whose record was such as to insure their
rejection by tho members OF the Hecaton Club.
Tie render may be surprised at this scrupulous
care on the part OF the members, but it must be
borne in mind that Bohemians, while they
hold themselves aIoot from society, do so from
choice and the ezigencies Of q vocation
which commands their whole time, not by
any means because they are disqualified
from socinl intercourse by any ban which the
world has imposed. But the bylaws which SO
strenuoua1v guarded the responsibility Of the
Club was short-aghted at the best. Their 1axity
in other particulars brought the downfall Of the
institution. The enemy WAS within the citadel,
not among the besieging forces, md the same
treachery which crumb1ed Troy brought the
Hecaton Club to grief. But we must not an
ticlpate.
Hecaton, as wo said before. meant one hum
d1ed. The members decided upon limiting their
membership to that figure, and they adhered, at
any rate, to that part Of the programme. Within
two months Of the organization Of Cthe hub, the
ranks vera full. and members were notified
that further applications for admission, while
they would be considered, conld not be
acted upon. There ia every rea-
eon to believe that this Club might, but
for treacheEy, have grown to be one which
could compare favorably with any one Of the Kind
in the country. The officers we're diigont and
conscientious; the members paid their dues
with cornmendable regularity. The treasury WIS
always full. and expenses were met with proper
But there were drawbacks to this
Club, and We do not heaitate to name them. The
rooms we're situated under Woods Museum, on