Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-11-02
LIFE IN THE CLUBS.
A oL,MesE INTO HIDDEN HsG,oNs
wHsas ONLY MEN MAY TREAD.
We westpscrstsnd. Richmond. and Com
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Men Who
XII Time witasa Their Doors.

Nil Time Within Their Doors.
To oil OF the women OF Richmond, and
perhaps to majority of the men oil a
city. club life Is sealed book. The
echo OF csreless laugh, word or two
OF q rsconseay's best story, reparsee or
Q bon mot may occasionally end its way
beyond the sacred precincts OF tho club
houss--hut :" all the rest is silence.
virginians have been called "bour-
bons, aud perhaps with some little JUS
tice, though conservatives " would be
q more spi title. They are ever slow to
adopt foreign customs, nor do they ru'h
into ANYTHING hastily. 80 that Il is only
when Whites Coffee. Hcuse has passed
into provertialism that We find Rich
monders tsking kaaly to club life.
lie HNsoS p'gTRE.
II is beyond doubt that club-iife is es-
septial to netrspslitsnism. Tho club
house is an outgrowth Of civilization,
and is necessary to it, Where else than
around the Pickering fire OF the smoking
room may be found the charming con.
persG-iog.c with its interchange OF
thought and free and unguarded inter-
course that brings the younger genera
ton In touch with tbs older! Where
else nav men threw OF the restraint that
is sometimes so oppressive and dispense
with the conyentoualitiosa and open their
besrts to one another? IL ia this froe-
dom from the ordinary restraining Intiu-
ences OF social intercourse. this demo
eracy of manner, that makes the club-
room more chsrming and more instruc-
tive than the salon.
No one is host hcre-every one IS the
others equal. and nothing bounds the
range oil debate and criticism save cour-
tesy and good breeding. There il no
other place, perhaps, where mans
Thoughts are broSdsnea or his ideas ex-
tended in suoh degree. This contact
with other minds and other personalities
is an education that is better than mi
yersi,y course. because it is contempt
saneous and comprehensive
The olun-HoCsEs OF RICHMOND.
The clubs of Richmond do not differ
essentially from those ia other cities.
OF course there are certain local Innu-
ences that make their tone individual,
but in the main there is nothing 70 dis
tinauish them from others. They are
intellectual for some OF the brightest
men in Richmond are club-men; and
thew are democratic, because oil kinds
of men attend them. Bankers, mor-
chantA, attorneys, physicians, artists,
Ntsrate,l,s. and even Bohemions find
them pleasant places 10 which to while
away an idle hour. or course not all
the conversations and associations are
intellectual ard instructive, because 1t
takes a1 kinds of men 70 make up
world-even a ciub world.
THE WIDE RANGE or ooEyHRsATIoN.
In fact in either OF the clubs one may
hear subjects discussed that range from
q criticgm OF en- eeomic idea to debate
on the merits OF popular actress. So
GEOLOGY, hygiene, metaphysics, religion,
politjcs. doS-talk, h0rse.talk, and mere
IDLE gossip. A dozen diaerent subjects
are discussed by Il dozen different cote
Ties in n single afternoon, and the young
man who ia content to "bs silent that he
NAV hear" NAY lean against the nsntel
and. merely keeping his ears open, learn
chat which he could not learn at William
and Mary or the University for the
men who discuss these subjects are spe..
cialists, so to speak. They understand
the matters they dilAte upon, they speak
e1caStedy1. =.
Woo 10 the man who attempts TO dis.
cuss in a oose7'ie Of this kind subject
which he does not understand. be viii
he listened to-but he will be very apt
20 discover that the politeness of his su-
diepce Is al that saves him from rldi-
Guile. II no is Elm hind dcs hduSeS,
however. he viii not be spared, but will
probab,y receive a lesson that will teach
him never to open his month unless he
knows what he is talking about. The
lesson will be given good naturedly, be-
cause ciub-men in Richmond are gentle
men. but viii be none the less severe.
TILE MANNERS or cIuB-MEN.
But there is more than q mental edu-
,.tion 10 be learned in the club. A
young man may be rough and unconth
Ia maupar aud speech. but the attrition OF
sanb lie viii soon smooth hrs manners
and remove his crudities. DE Will be
}mproved in mind and manners, and re-
ce{xe a training that will equip him
thoroughly for contact with bis fellow
man. Indeed, 1t is said 10y close OBJ
,srsera that the difference between club
men and Others is easily djseornibie, that
club hfe imparts polish and refinement
and removes all touch OF nasnnorlsm.
There il o very general impression
among people who are not in touch With
rlub.men that they are disdpated fellows,
and that the card-room is moro frequented
than the resding-room. But TINS IS
hardly true. OF course there are dissi-
pated mon in the membership of the va
rious clubs, Just rs come OF tho front
news In a church are rented by men
whose characters wouldn't bear close
scrutiny. Whatever dissipation there If
a not a consequence Of club'lite. but
would exist under any other conditions.
Indeed the rules OF oil the clubs SC
strosgly aiscountenance ell forms OF DIS
,.nat!on and selfindulgenoe that the mer
Of this mould shrink from exhibiting
their ialings within the pale.
poy-vIVANTs AND eoUMiETs.
This incorrect and unjust idea OF thu
character OF this much wronged class o.
good fellows no doubt arises from tbs
fact that they are as @ rule men whose
incomes allow them considerable suns
Cor houid luxuriss Many OF them arr
men Who are fortunate enough to Sill
easily through tho world, and who be
come bop-pivapatS and gotgglets withou
being either dissolute or disslpated. i
israre, rare indeed, that any club.mar
10 far oyersteps the bounds OF gentiiity
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