Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-28

this regard, but the effect is caused by the
taste Of the members themselves, and it is
an unusual thing, said one of the officers
TO reporter for The Star recently, for
liquor item to be found among the dinner
or lunch checks, an event so uncommon
that it is instantly to be noted by those
VINO manage the accounts.
=, The Club Quarters.
The quarters of the club are handsome
and tasteful without being uselessy luxur-
ious. There are three large dining rooms,
two for the use of the men and one. re-
Gently enlarged, for the Use of the ladies
of the families of members One of the
dining rooms for men is set apart for the
use of smokers, while into the other room
no fumes of tobacco ever penetrate. In ad-
dition there is d neat lavatory, and adj
joining the main dining room is snug
reading room, where members may pass the
time comfortably. 1t is a delightful privi-
lege of members to entertain their friends
at the club, and this is of exceptional value
to the average man of business who seeks
to entertain visitors from other cities or
guests from here at luncheon or dinner,
and who has not the facilities at home or
VINO, being bachelor, has no suitable place
WhereWith to entertain.
There is also a list of nonresident MEM
bers who are admitted at reduced rates and
who find in the Down Town Club a charm
ing place for satisfying their hunger when
ever they visit this city. Another feature
of the club that has been established but a
comparatively short time is a correspon-
dence system whereby members going to
other cities on business trips are given
cards of introduction to certain clubs there
that admit them to all the privileges of
membership
The extension of the rights of member
ship to ladies is of exceptional value to the
wives of members and other ladies of their
families who desire to economic time while
on shopping trips down town by dining
without returning home. They are per-
t.,t tnI 1,,,,, A.. H..
room, which is kept entirely excluded from
the other apartments, is often filed with
some of Washington's most charming
women.
Freedom From the Fee Nuisance.
One of the great Objectionable features of
eating away from home these days is the
tipping system, that has grown to be almost
as great burden to the diner or luncher in
this country as it is abroad In the Down
Town Club this problem is simply solved by
making it an offense punishable by dismiss
sal for any attendant to receive a gratuity
tip of any sort. In this manner all the
patrons of the lunch and dining room are
placed upon the same basis as to privileges
and promptness of service. For once the
waiter plays no favorites. The result is
remarkably beneficial to the health and
temperS of the members and has equally as
good an effect upon the walters themselves,
who are more cheerful, active and consci-
eHiicuS ABOUT the OF their
duties. They are sufficiently well paid to
reward them for the loss of these per-
quisites, and once year they are presented
with gifts by the members, who make up a
Christmas purse for them.
The membership of the club has varied,
800 being the high water mark. Lunch has
been served for as many l 10 members in
a day. The average is between 30 and 100
members who avail themselves ofe this
privilege. There are not so many who eat
breakfast or dinner, but the latter meal is
naturally more popular than the former
Members whose families leave the city for
the summer find it especially convenient to
be enabled to obtain their meals in this
way.
The club is not burdeued with an excess
of government. The general control of
matters is vested in a board of governors
meeting the second Tuesday of every
month. This meeting, which lasts about
quarter of an hour, is preceded by a dinner
The direct control of the clubs affairs is
gwen to the house committee of three mem
bers. who attend to details of management
after the fashion of similar committees in
other clubs. The chairman of this commit
tee, which in other organizations is the OBJ
ject of constant and annoying complaints
from members, said to the reporter that
duty in that body was a pleasure rather
than burden.
In his term of service the committee had
had but one serious complaint, and that
proved to be on a most trivial subject. This
is all the more surprising. as it is not the
easiest thing in the world to cater to the
gastronomic tastes of a hundred or more
men daily. The menu is changed constant
ly, and evidently to the perfect satisfaction
of every member of the club, the ex-
perence of the house committee goes to
show. The club formerly had the services
of steward, but this office has been abol-
ished, and the duties are now performed by
a head waiter, aided by the clerk.
Another excellent indication of the high
character and integrity of Washingtons
men of business is the fact that the post
ing list, which is often so large and import
ant a factor in club management, is in this
club one of the least considerations, and Is
usually so small as to be undiscoverabie.
Credit is limited to $50 and the club has
been remarkably free from annoyance ty
the loss of revenue. The annual election of