St. Paul daily globe., 1891-07-19
MODEL W0MEN'S Club
1t Is a Place for Social Pleas
ures and Life as at
Home.
Nothing OF Woman's Rights
in the Ladies' New
York Club.
Advantages Offered by the
Organization to Non-Res-
ident Members.
An Entertainment for Men,
bers Once a Week--AS
to Servants.

are Fastening longing eve upon the
Ladies' New York club, which has sew
eral counterparts in London, but none in
this country conducted on exactly the
same lines, says the New York World.
1t was originally an outcome of the
Dorothy club. 1t came into existence
about year ago, with membership of
about thirty-five women. who occupied
a small house at No. 134 Lexington ave-
nue.. Its primary object was the eStab-
lishment of private hotel where
women from outlying towns temporarily
detained in the city could meet and find
accommodations, instead of being COM
PEELED to go to hotel alone.
Under the able management of Mrs.
Henry Wright Shelton, the president,
ihe purpose of the club took wider
range, until the membership numbered
over 400, and the roll Included names
we'll known in leading social circles.
Then the accommodations offered by
the old club house became too limited,
and new quarters were secured at No.
% West Twenty-second street, where
the club is now most comfortably
housed.
Entering the wide hall, out of which
open the reception room and private
dining rooms, one is at once impressed
by the cheerful and homelike air os the
place. The large private dining room
| is used by the members for private
luncheon or dinner parties. Its heavy
| mahogany furnishings. rich rugs and
beautiful china leave nothing of ele-
gance or comfort to be desired. On the
second floor is the large parlOr. finished
in white and gold. Comfortable divan,
piled high with innumerable cushions
well selected etchingS OH the walls,
immense for rugs, and grand piano
complete the pleasant picture. This
parlOr will soon be extended to include
the entire second floor, as the receptions
of the club are so we'll attended that
more room has now become a necessity.
Back of the parlor is the restaurant,
also furnished in light tones. Its tiny
tables, covered with snowy linen and
well equipped with silver and cut glass,
offer endless suggestions of feminine
tete-a-tetes over salads and apollinaris.
The restaurant is we'll patrOniZed by the
members, as it offers a convenient and
pleasant way in which to entertain a
visiting friend and enjoy an exclusive
ness not to be gained in any public din
| ing room.
Through arched doorways at the rear
| of the dining room one passes into the
sunny reading room. Here are tables
containing the latest periodicals and the
| daily papers, and desks supplied with
writing materials. The feminine rock
ing chair is there galore, tempting Que
| to ''sit apart and rest awhile"
The upper part of the house is de-
voted entirely to sleeping rooms, there
| being ample accommodation for such
members as find it necessary or con-
| venient to spend the night under its
| roof. The rooms, with their muslin
! draped brass beds and dainty toilet
| tables, are in themselves an invitation
| to linger. Maids are in attendance, if
| required, and every convenience TO be
| found in ones own home is at hand.
| The husband or father could contem-
plate the temporary detention of wife
or daughter in such place with perfect
equanimity. Could, L say, except that
he may not speak knowingly of that
which he has not seen, for it is nnnec-
| essary to add that the masculine ele-
ment does not enter into the life of the
| club. Not even to its receptions are the
members allowed to bid the ''he" dear
est to their hearts.
Tuesday morning of each week is
called "cluD day." and these "Tues-
days" are one of the social features of
the club. The best professional talent
| is engaged, and, as the audience is made
up of women who themselves entertain
largely and are constantly alert for new
features of entertainment for their own
! receptions, hearing often means much
to the professionals. aud sometimes
| leadeS to engagements in private houses
! which could not have been entered
through any ordinary channel. In ad-
| dition to the 'club day" special recep-
tions are given during the winter sea-
son to such celebrities as the members
of the club shall consider entitled to the
honor. Many will doubtless recall the
! brilliant reception given Mrs. Kendall
when she was i'll the city last winter.
The Ladies' New York club is a pro-
| prietary club. Mrs. Shelton is not only
| president, but resident manager as well.
| She assumes all financial responsibility,
| and gives every detail of the business
| of the club her personal supervision.
A committee acts upon applications for
membership, but outside of this there
are no officers. Possibly this is as it
should be. If there are no offices to fill
there can be no burning ambition to
hold them, no disappointments over
nOn-electiOn, no shortcomings, alleged
| or imagined, OH the part of the Office
| holders. 1t may be that this is the So
luton of the problem of w0men's
clubs.
The qualification for membership is
unquestioned social standing, and each
| applicant must be known to at least
three members of the club.
| The advantages of membership are
| obvious. Not only does the club house
| offer place where member may in
vite and entertain a friend with the
same eXclusiveness and freedom pos
sible in her own home, but it also offers
| to the nonresident member social pro-
lection whenever desired. The practical
member may also advertise for servants
from the club, gaining greater courage
for the interview possibly by meeting
"her highness" the cook on foreign
ground.
From many points of view the Ladies'
| Nayu York nluh may he called a suncpSs