The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1891-03-07
CLUB 0F.THn FUTURE
KATE FIELDS IDEA or An ORGAN.
IzATloN FOR GOTH SEXES,

Tho Necessity OF such AN Institution,
Reasons Why Women should Enjoy tn,
ncncnts of club Life ns Weu as Men,
I.ifc WIN Ee PIcasantcr ror An,
Some of US werc startled u while ago
by reading that certain New York wola-
en- had founded a awom2p's clUb, | was
very glad to learn Of de innovation, and
have been Ggh;iny in i,S deioasc private
ly ever since, rs the idea seems to bc par.
! ticularly obnoxious 10 tho average intel
lect. Why should there not ho clubs
not for men only nor for women only,
/ but for men &nl women, which could
/ become social cCa,crs il the elongated
I babel of New Yor&? Oaly the very
wealthy can now afford TO entertain.
/ Well TO do Intelligence stG:ycs for lack
Of u natural interchange Of ideas and
sympathieS. Occasional theatre parties
and suppcrs, whilo significantly cNpou-
sivc, no more nouriSh healthy friend
ships than lightning nourishcs the grow
Ing grass.
Confno the he2l5hy cHulhton Of social
/ instinct, and explosion casUcs, Ii women
are to be helpmatss 10 their husbands, il
they are to be wise mothers. they must
know the real world by actual contact,
Without freedom tEcro Is no Intelligent
virtue. Many man. from inherited
habits of thought, eatortains oriental
ideas without knowing il.
FEATURES oE TuG CLUB,
Rank treason, dare say. Hence am
prepared for many Il feminine shrek of
disgust, for the howl that will rend
many manly bosom. for the scorn that
will sit upon many manly countc-
nance, for the anathemGs against the
unsexing of the sex that will proceed
from many u manly tongue; but howl,
scorn and auathema are not argument,
and argument is what want.
Women require relaxation as well rs
men; women need the friction Of intel.
ligent minds more than men. for the
reason that their lives are more secluded;
women, especially those who live in the
suburbs. need Il place of rendezvous
where they can read papers and maga-
zines and encounter their friends un-
tremendously. More particularly do
they need Il restaurant where they can
obtain palatabls meals for reasonable
prices, and where they can invite friends
10 breakfast, lunch or dine without max
ing great inroads upon their purses.
Year by year the army of professional
women increases. All of these women
are more or less clever; few are blessed
with fortunes. All feel the necessity Of
q club, but to start one is not feasible.
What is less impossible and more nat
ural is such an addition to the present
system as will give women all they lie
sire without depriving men of their in
alienable right to smoke, drink and wear
their heels higher than their heads.
Avivid imagination can picture club.
consisting of two OF more houses. with
rooms exclusively for men, rooms ex-
clusively for women, a general reading
room and restaurant. private dining
rooms and general reception rooms.
IT Is CoMITG.
Men who hate women and women who
hate men need never encounter one an
other, while men and women who be-
lieve that two halves make whole could
exceed the Century club of New York il
the brilliancy of their Saturday nights.
Society is becoming more and more com
plex, and today there is fur less chance
of clever men and women meeting in
big American towns than there is in
London, because people in this country
rarely have leisure.
Unless they give themselves up to
dinner parties-rever knowing beside
whom they are to sit, and generally
longing to be at the other end Of the Ia
ble-they are frequently doomed to go
through an entire season without an in
terchange of ideas with their best
friends.
Suppose all this changed. Suppose
women know that on Il given night in
the week they are almost certain to en-
counter not one brt many male friends,
who are things of beauty and joys for
ever; suppose men know that on this
same evening they are sure of seeing
many women who ere never at home
when they find time to call; how simpli-
fed society becomes! And where is the
unwomanliness Of this proposal?
In the club Of the future only such
persons will be admitted as are in the
habit of behaving like ladies and gentle
men. fail to perceive Why men and
women of acknowledged position and
intelligence, who conduct themselves
properly in drawing roons and public
balls, should become transformed by
occasional contact at clubs.
In all probability the club Of the fut-
ure will not be born during the reign of
the present generation, but that society
will eventually resort to some such de-
vice as | have suggested is as certain as
that lunches and 5 o'clock teas are death
to digestion and impossible for workers.
Kate Fields Washington.
.G.N D