The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-07-28
4 CLUB Of has BEENS."
An Association Of Disciples Of
the Late Colonel Null
berry Sellers.
Only Men Who Have Failed
for Big Stakes Eligible
to Membership.
No Lack of Candidates for the "Glan
eurs"-The Bumiost Crank Drained
Club in Paris.

PARIS, July 11.-Some years ago Mr..
Walter Besant, the we'll known English
novelist wrote a book entitled, "All in
Garden Fair" The scene was laid in q
suburb of London, which was supposed to
be peopled with men who had "busted" in
the city, and their social eminence in the
community was regulated by the amount of
money they had failed for. The men who
had pit the barrow down." as they say in
Scotland to the tune of millions lorded it
over the poor unfortunate who had only
made his creditors whistle for thousands,
while the no account trader who had failed
for few paltry hundreds had to sit below
the salt.
Whether or no the Frenchmen who have
started the "Glaneurs'' the latest addition
to Partisan clubs, have ever read Besant's
novel is open to doubt, but certain 1t is
that they have founded the .clubs on much
the same Ii mes as the imaginary suburb.
Before man can become o member of the
"Glaneurs' he must prove to the satisfac-
ton of a committee which causes the
strictest inquiry to be made that he is
member of the great army of "has beers,"
and that at one time or another his be-
longings have gone "where the woodbine
twineth.' Here is another curious conci-
dence about the ''Glaneurs' do not sup
pose any of the founders have ever heard
of Jim Fisk and his immortal saying. yet
the crest of the "Glaneurs'' is sparrow
hawk perched upon the twig Of woodbine
twining mp spout"
Not only is it necessary for q 'Glaneur''
to have failed in business in order to be-
n rooryohor Init IN AAHifIOna1 on01ifi-
cation of membership is that candidate,
must have started some scheme with mill
ions in it, my boy" and which said scheme
must have gone up in smoke. If the object
of the founders was to get together the
queerest, Funniest, Funniest, crank-bFained
crowd in Paris, they have succeeded beyond
their most sanguine expectations. The
scheme was just the one that would COM
mend itself to such crowd as this, and
every schemer and bankrupt in Paris that
could beg, borrow or steal the necessary en-
trance money and years subscription-you
may be sure it was payable in advance
became a member of the "Glapeurs :"
There, at any rate, the hoary-headed "has
been" would be certain of meeting another
old ''has BEEN" with whom he could swop
40 he related for the 999th time how he had
been within an ace of "copping millions,
cool, my boy"
Lam beginning to be bit of "has
been" myself, 30 when q friend asked me
the other day if would care to pay visit
We found the club situated on a small side
street running off the Rue de Rivoli near
the Hotel de Vile. They occupied the en-
tire house. and my friend informed me that
the upper floor was sort of a "Holy of
Ho8s'' of HAS Beena"and il was tacitly
for less than million francs was supposed
to use that particular floor. There the mil
lion francers smoked and drank their alb
sinthe and related tales Of bubble schemes
and busted banks, of gold mines and
ChRtaanx 'Espagne, while their less
low,
The club was furnished in keeping with
the character of it's members, the chairs
tables. etc., all being antique and second
haAd, and peculiarly ricketty pattern
Net only that but to be still more consistent
tha pictures on the walls had evidently
bsen taken en- bloc from the shop of some
bAnkrupt picture restorer and manv of the
pQgtraits were still in that state which W.
Sometimes see labelled in the restorer''
window, before and after the process" on
uae-half of the face being restored and thu
other half in faded condition.
The smoking room was large and fairl,
w9ll furnished, and at the time visited i
full of members.
There are at least dozen men in thi
fuDm, s0io my tIloAo, VINO nave come
holy smash by endeavoring to start a news
paper to supply q hong felt want ''Tha
mdn over there" pointing to fat jolly
looking man who looked as if ''making a
assignment for the, benefit off, etc., ha
agreed with him, .'started paper som
c6me to grief in three months. They sa
pioneering never pays, and there Is an in
stance over there, that lanky man with
face like parrots with the indigestion
Wis the first man to start the Coupon syi
t4in, giving prize to any man who woul
scheme didn't catch on.'
Next to newspaper men the largest nun
ber seemed to have come to grief over try
ing TO solve the car-coupler question, an
there were at least half dozen who ha
Cracked up" over the perpetual motto
cpurse galore, but they were SO numeror
that they were mo account" men. Thel
we're at least fifty members of the club
Mas told, who had just missed making
fortune by sinking their own and the
friends money in the gorgeous productio
of plays that had to be withdrawn after til
first week.
The boss of the show was an old man wit
watery eyes and finger nails like bird
claws, who had years and years ago sun
over two millions of francs in a scheme fo
making an inland sea out of the desert {
Sahara. and another who was looked up
who had successfully foated company
sell compound to the niggers in Centre
Africa to make them pure white. Their
was not, in fact, crazy scheme that som
one or other in the club had not had
hand in, either as promoter or investor
Art, science, music, acting, inventing, Pre-
noting and financing had all their unsus
cessful representatives.
In the smoking room the "has beens
were mostly in groups, and it was amusin
to listen to the scraps of conversation ths
were waited towards us.
II tell you this coupler is"
mo, sir-twenty million francs tell yo
twenty millions and fifteen millions woul
have been mine! Twas just five minut,
too late.''
You see everybody would drink asse
milk II 1t were cheap enough. Now
spain there are half a million asses, and
every ass gave quart of milk, which
three sous a quart"
1T was all that idiots doing, he was
solved to damn my play, and damn it
did" and SO on, and SO on. The fun of
was that every 1shas been" seemed to list
to the other ''has been's' story with de
interest, and when the first one got throu
the second would get his ticks in and t
his scheme.
It il hard to say what the next club Y
consist of. Now that the "Glaneurs'
proved such q success in Paris some {
ought to start another on the same lines
America. There's lots of room for it, g
thers ought to be no lack of candidates.