New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-19
THE RUNNING OF A BIG CLUB.
AN OBJECT LESSON FROM THE RECENT
HISTORY OF THE MANHATTAN.
HOW AN ENERGETIC HOUSE COMMITTEE HAS
WROUGHT GREAT IMPROVEMENTS AND
ENFORCED ECONOMY - THE RE
pLEy1sHED WINE CELLAR.

l.,,hs form ca ,ronortant an item In the ex-
penditures Of NEWCOMERS that many man mas
! set about. since the financial stress pesa" '''
summer. to see IL he could not reduce the sum
! he spent upon them. Men hate to resign lro'n
| clubs, even from those which they use NIUE ..
rot at all and will cast about for other lines OF
| economy rather than save their annual oues ~
| the time great number nave spent VS.
in the club cafes and restaurants this fail IMAM
! they did in previous years. Above ALL lie" J''"
| any more clubs
In the opinion OF the club world the Manhattan
| Club would have been in peculiarly bad con-
| dition TO meet period OF commercial disres'
| last winter. early last spring. Inc anhudl ~
port 1892 showed that the clnb was living iar
beyond its neans-that IT, If the income from Until
alton fees were not considered with its ordinary
receipts This source OF revenue, while large
last year could not remain ndf fnitely Nhen
| the limit of membership was reached 1t wouid he
no important item Any way, general principe
| Of bookkeeping in New-York clubs Is to set ASIDE
this income as an emergency or endowment fund
Last year the Manhattan took in 1GO new mem
ters each of whom paid $3.50. This made total
of $4,000 Outside of this the net loss was
SITES S. At this rate of expenditure. and with
the certainty that the revenue from Initiation lees
would decline. the club was going downhili. ana IL
only question of time before something would
drop The club also owed between $4,000 and SI5.-
900 for supplies some bills having remained unpaid
six months
ITS CHAOTIC AFFAIRS.
II is thus easy to see that the Manhattan Club was
not in the best position to meet great financial
storm. Besides its internal affairs were in state
hardly short OF chaotic A big 81 terprsc of the
kind needs the most careful and energetic man
agement. and there few members of house
committee who have the time or inclination 10
give the attention required.
Last May the House Committee felt that it had
done its share Of work for the club. and eX-
pressed willingness TO give way to new blood
A new committee was appointed, consisting OF
Harry d. Macedonia, Judge Charles II. Truax and
DAME! X. Bayne. These went into the field of
battle with a zeal born of insufficient knowledge.
1t didn't take them long TO realize that the
task before them Of mountainous proper
tons The momentum Of the course of affairs was
dificrlt TO change or check The committee. how
ever. set TO work with will. six months have
passed since that time. and only recently have
the members OF the committee felt that they had
effected complete and satisfactory reorganization
Their frs: care was the force of employees. Until
this was properly drilled the clubs affairs could
not be properly conducted. The clerks and
cooks and those who had charge Of the sup
plies had got in rut from which it was hard to
get thern Those who showed least adsptability to
the new order OF things were replaced with new
cashng Gradually the force was weeded out until
practically an entire new stan was secured The
find competent This problem solved Itself
In time and Is now long forgotten.
CHANGES IN THE FORCE.
An ex-EngIish ARM officer named Blake who had
been employed at the Meadowbrooi, Hunt Club and
the Newpor. Casino secured to have charge
Of the employees. He established a military di5ci-
pne, and gets astonishing amount of work ont
Of his men. The simplifcation of the system Of
clerks to keep the books. and changes in the
methods Of serving food also dispensed with the
The club had previously dealt with a large num-
With mea soS seSs
ana and SO on; The new commtte, put stop TO all
to single shop in each line Of trade The mer-
chants were told that the club would continue to
at reasonable hgufes Watch was kept on the de-,
Livery liver Of food ETC. to sse that the fun amount
vagaries OF club purchases in general Will under
stand that this system entaed considerable de-
PrYING FROM FIRST HANDS
Another plan put in force for the sake Of economy
was the buying. much as possible, from first
hands. Instead Of going to a Broadway dealer for
fruits. the committee went to wholesale dealers.
Hothouse tomatoes were bought directly from the
man who raised them near Boston Thus the
the Chesapeake Bay were ordered directly from the
In LEI there When they have an especially fine
to the club. An order Is at once teegraphed back
by the club itself and in Consequence are served at
prices which astonish members who have bought
them Of dealers In
With wines a similar plan ha, been adopted. The
clubs cellar has long been famous for containing
q store which could hardly be duplicated I'm this
country. The stock had been allowed 10 down.
however. since the removal to the Stewart mansion
To Judge Truax Is due the chief commentator for
the present admirable state Of the cellar Last
summer while abroad he bought large amounts OF
personally Thus the members have the benefit Of
the gratuitous services of connoisseur for two
the delight OF the members. but he obtained them !
at prices far below what they would have cost In |
store here. About half OF the brands OF cham
payne served at the club are imported directly by
it, and in carets and burgundies the proportion IS
larger The estimated value of the clubs cellar is
over $4,000.
IT MEANT LOTS OF HARD WORK.
This recital gives only faint idea OF what time !
the committee spent in bringing about these re-
forms. They had to give daily attention to their |
sef-imposei task. and often would go market |
themselves in the early morning. to make that
the club got the best which was 10 be had They !
spent hours studying w possible Improvements. ana
In short devoted amount OF energy to the club !
which would have gained them large sums In IA /
private enterprise.
But the committee has its reward. Never in all |
the history Of the club,and the fame OF is cheer
members been better satisfied with the food and |
drink and service and the general management An |
average OF 100 members dimes there nightly. ana |
every evening The running expenses have, in spite |
of the improved services been cut down over |
10000 annually that the deficit Of last year VIII
And thus has the new House Committee fulfilled It's
duty to the Manhattan Club; II the common |
opinion Is not at fault a number 81 ciubs IN rhis
city need similar internal REORGANIZATION This |
record is object lesson for them.
COPPEE, THE POET