Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-09
ALL KINDS OF QUEER cIuns.
Ecce1trie Clubs OF Many Land. I'm the Pc,
aud nj the Present Time.


aud nj the Present Time.
Prom the Nv York Times.
Az club life has developed the spirit O.
specialism has crept into IL TO q large extent
Cub life in general has had its historiosraphers.
but its specIalties have, perhaps. not been 90
widely commented upon. Tho ingenuity. lido
synerasies, foolishness and spleen of man hav.
evolved tine quaintest most outlAndish. mad
desi ideas possible as the rsison d'etre and act
uaiing principle Of social (or unsociaD clubs.
We are told OF many such societies and
though such statements at second or third hand
cannot always be implicitly regarded rs author.
itative, yet there Is always enough underlyins
crasies.
II seems quite natural in this age Of progress
mat Club OF tie Emancipated' should be
formed. as we are told IL has been in Frankfort
on-the-hain. Only those ladies are eligible for
rembership who will promise never 20 marry,
nave never been engaged and are able Go pay
the yearly dues, amounting 90 200 marks
should member ~ any time desire 60 enter
Tue hoiy state 81 matrimony after all she nav
purchase her liberty at the price of 2. coo marks
rooms are set apart for smoking, billiards and
reading. Novels. however. are not allowed.
Inc club costume" Is black and semi nascu-
line IN character. and the balls and picnics
arranged by the club are, o! course. carried ous
without the assistance Of the male element
should band together and publicly proclnim
themselves as such, yet we told il has been
done IN Irier. At the monthly meetings OF this
Liars Club prizes are given TO those who do
the guild most honor. Newspaper men are de-
barred from membership. Mr. John Kendrich
Bangs not long ago told OF a club with a
distinctly opposite principle. Utter truthful
ness was the rule in this Candor Club and an
this included mutual criticism as well as conn
incubation, the truth was likely often 20 prove
very disagreeable, although probably beneficial,
70 the ono criticised. Among the other clubs
mat Mr.. Bangs mentioned was the Thinkers
Club, talking punishable by fine. the Chatter
poA, talking compulsory, the bachelors Club,
purpose self-evident.) the Mental Athletic
Ciub, "a society of prevaricators) and the So
ciety Tor the Prevention OF Cruelty TO Music.
Lhgiand, 1t seems, is primarily the country
o. queer and quaint clubs. We are told of the
ogiy Cub. which numbered such a gallery %
hldeous physiognomies that the caricaturists Of
that time sought to gain admission 20 it's meet
inSs 10 ma subjects for study. The club came
70 an untimcly end. as no member desired tho
nohor OF the presidency, which was 20 fall to
the ugilest similar idea of fellowship in
misery caused an erratic Englishman TO project
the formation OF the mo Nose Club" an ns-o-
citation OF those who were unfortunate enough
10 have lost their nasal organ that highly use
tul as well as ornamental member of the human
face.
Clubs. notably tavern clubs. flourished i'm
England, especially during the time Of the
Man. writes Addison in No. of the Spectator.
us said TO be a sociabe animal and as an in
stance OF IL we may observe that We take all
occasions and pretenses Of forming ourselves
INTO those ittie nocturnal assemblys which are
commonly known by the name of clubs. When
set OF men find themselves agree in any par
hcular. though never so trivial, they establish
themselves into kind of fraternity. and meet
once or twice week, upon the account Of such
fantastic resemblance"
In those times they had tho Ca1vau. Hal
Club, IN 'ridicule of the memory of Charles l. ("
street clubs, the members of which were all IN
habitants Of the same street: clubs like the Mo-
hooks and the Hell FIRE Club formed for the
indulgence of rioting and blasphemy; the Kit
Nat Club. which first met at the house of Chris
TOPPER hatt pioman, and whose productions
formed the standing dish At the clubs suppers,
and the Beafsteak Society Cthe sublime So
ciety, J as well as various beefsteak clubs. We
are told also of fat mems. tall men 8 title mems
and one-eyed men clubs. of living clubs angling
clubs. lfor the disciples Of Izaak Walton Of Q
club OF ''eccentrics, and others.
Some famous clubs have had their existence
only IN the imagination OF their projectors.
Such are Robert Louis Stevensons Suicide
Club and the Club of One. The latter has it's
counterpart in reality in the Two Club"
which always had, besides il two members,
two honorary members and two guests at its
dinners. few clubs have been formed sim
ply in opposition to certain ideas tendencies
or prejudices. THUS, the famous Thirteen Club
combats superstition, especially exemplifed
In the thirteen fancy.
L Among Germans. clubs-or "vereine as they
call them-are simply innumerable. To the
Germans, clubli (yereinsleben) seems TO be an
absolute necessity. They don't usually 20 int
specialties, however. All their clubs exist for
the avowed purpose of affording social intee-
course, with all that that implies-balls picnics,
excursions and the solemn kommers on special
occasions. And this is, of course, after all the
object and purpose OF their many singing soci-
S4fl aah
Germans Unborn love for music. In these
clubs, as q rule, we find, above all, Gem uthlich-
keit, that form OF sociability for which We
hardly have properly Synonymous term in
English. The Germans have an appropriate
saying:
''wo man sinst. da lass dich ruhig nieder;
Bose Menschen hsben keine lieder.'
tWhere they SING you may safely settle down: wicked
They are often hard put to it to discover new
names for their clubs For the large number
of German clubs in New York city alone the
list of old gods and goddesses has already been
ransacked, saints and sages have had 10 lend
their names, and the memory of prominent
Americans like Washington, Franklin, Lincoln
aud Garfield, and other patriots like Moltke,
Andreas, Hofer, AazePpa, &C., has been per-
petuated.
The names Of composers, poets, actors,
operas. animals and plants have served 20 help
the founders of new clubs out of their difficult
ties in selecting new names. We Furthermore
find Blue Onions, Bummers. kickers, Frogs,
Schnorrer and what not Perhaps the largest
and most original association of Its kind ID the
far-famed Schlarafiia. l'.Schlaraflia' is that
land of fables where the rivers run pure milk
and wine, where Vienna rolls and cakes are
picked from the trees, and roast geese waddle
about with knives and forks stuck in their
backs, ready to be eaten.) The central asso-
citation is situated in Germany and branches
are found in all parts of the world. Schlaraft,s
publishes paper of the same name. its organ,
and its list of members embraces many promi-
nent names in the fields Of literature, art, me-