Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-12
WORKlNGMEN'S CLUB
New Home of the Organization Thrown
Open.
a Place for the TOilers to Obtain Rec
reattOn-Speeches Last Night
"A Banquet.

The new club house of the Workngmen's
Club, an organization inaugurated some
ten years ago by the parish of st. Johns
Episcopal Church of this city, was formal
ly opened last evening under the most IA
vorable circumstances AS the name implies,
the club is organization composed CT
men who toll. Although organized under
the auspices of. and mainly supported 10y
contributions from, the parishioners of St
Johns Church, it recognizes no creed but
that which believes in the good of man
and which promotes all that is good in him.
AS was explained at the club last evening.
the religious belief of no man is asked, the
doors of the club being open to the Protes-
tant and the Catholic, heretics and infidels
alike. All that is asked of members is that
they shall conduct themselves as men and
observe all the proprietieS of good behavior
A well-flled library is provided for the en-
tertainment of the members, billiard tables
chess and checkers, and also cards. Now,
for the first time in its history, the club
occupies an entire house, the large old
/ fashioned but commodious and well-ar-
ranged building at 2lO5 Pennsylvania ave-
, nue.. This was the building formally opened
last evening.
The opening exercises were held in the
large double parlors of the old mansion,
| and seated about the Rev. DIR. Mackay-
Smith, as he opened the exercises with
prayer, were Judge A. b. Hagner, Gen.
Luther Nj. Curtis, member of Congress
from New York; Mr.. III. Randall Webb, MIR.
Lowndes Commander Eaton, United States
navy; Mr. William Corcoran Hill, Mr. CIV.
Salter secretary of the advisory board, and
others interested III the club. About one
| hundred of the club members. and their
friends were present and listened to and
applauded the speakers.
DIR. Smiths Welcome.
The Rev. DIR. Mackay-Smith welcomed
the members in a neat address, congratu-
Iafip
| club house. The club. he pleasantly said.
| had yearly outgrown its accommodations.
and, like the big, healthy boy who out
grows his clothes, its progress was de-
light to all who believed in the good or
men and enjoyed its growth. What the
club had done in The past year or two was
really surprising, but II clearly Indicated
that more and greater surprises were In
store for those who believed in II ana In
its work Every true man ana woman
honored the laboring man, said the speak
er, for labor was the source of all happi-
ness, and without labor the world would
not be worth living in. He was glad TO
know that all was harmony and good fell
lowship in the club, and while the club was
not a religious one, IL stood for all that Is
good in religious belief, and sought to save
its members and their friends from the
evils of the saloon. 1t was proposed TO
hold monthly meetings at the club and at
those meetings he hoped the club would
consider not only their own welfare, but
the welfare and advancement OF the whole
District.
Other Speakers.
Gen. Curtis was the next speaker being
introduced as one of the heroes of Fort
Fisher, where he was severely wounded
during the late war. Gen. Curtis said while
he was not a club man, he believed i'm and
would do all in his power to promote such
a club as the Workingmen's Club. He
represented, he explained, a great laboring
district and knew from personal expert
ence that only by combination of interests
could the laboring man succeed.
Judge Hagner followed Gen. Curtis, and
in q few words said that the club was one
of the best institutions of its kind in the
District Its advantages were, he said, too
we'll known to be recounted, and the large
attendance at the opening was the best in
dication of the complete success of the
club The judge gave several historical
"reminiscences of the neighborhood, and
said that while many of the best and most
important men of the country had assem-
bled in the house in the old times, none
We're so important to the country as those
of the club. Nobody but the Old Boy
and the very meanest of rum sellers VIII
try to wreck the club" exclaimed the
judge, and he said that they need not be
feared If the members We're earnest in their
purposes. He spoke of the possibilities of
the laboring man, remarking that all of
them could succeed il they but honestly
worked for success.
Mr. q. w. Salter, the secretary of the
advisory board, explained the objects and
advantages of the club. The present men,
bership, he said, was about seventy-five,
and he believed that with little exertion
the membership could be increased this
winter to not less than two hundred He
then invited the members of the club to the
upper floor, where a delightful collation.
was enjoyed.