New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-05
CHAMPAGNE VERSUS BEER.
DISCUSSION BEFORE THE TWlLiGhr
CLUB.
NATURALLY THE BRADLEY MARTIN BALL Is
TALKED ABOUT AND CLARK BELL IANh'
A SHY At BEN FRANKLIN

TALKED ABOUT. AND CLARK BELL TAKES
SHY At BEN FRANKLIN
The Twilight Club celebrated its fifteenth ami
versary last evening with dinner at the ST Dehis
Hotel The celebration only in name now
ever for no reference was made 10 the anniversary
by any of the speakers. The Twilight Club has as
cussed first and last In s own characteristic. IN
formal way pretty much everything from now 70
square the circle down or up to how to he COM
Portable In Harlem fiat. All these subjects have
been timely at period or other. and the cup
tackled another subject of contemporaneous inter-
est last night when it discussed the relative al
vantages OF champagne versus beer. The discus
sion took especial importance. In view OF the
fact that nobody was ever known TO drink chdm-
payne at a dinner of the Twilight Club
But the terms OF the subject were only symbolic
OF the two extremes of poverty ana rlches, ana OF
course, the famous Bradley Martin ball came in
for consideration. But "A Twilight Club man IS al
ways free to talk about canals on Mars or the
Isthmus OF Panama. anything else to when
his fancy inclines and last night Of them
took whack at Benjamin Franklin and MS
proverbs. to say nothing of Thoreau and his system
Of diet.
Charles F. Wingate presided and the majority of
the Twilight Club men seemed TO approve the ex-
pendltures involved In the Bradley Martin ball,
arguing that while such a method Of drusiDg
large sums of money not the ideal method It
vastly preferable to boarding IT, s. {. T. Dodd
however cOntended that the money thus spent
was withdrawn from the banks which had II In
vested in industries and was disposed Of In a much
less helpful TO this A. T. Sherry replied
that on the contrary the banks had been boarding
millions in these hard times not daring to let 1t 20
into circulation for fear of losing II.
Robert Ora ham told the guests that In his mind
men like Cornelius Vanderbilt. J. Perpont Morgan
and Seth Low had solved the problem Of the
proper use of wealth and commended their example
Il. ,ratrz % t,n Dralt lrtin
DR. NJ G. Holbrook had something 10 say about
the modern expensive way OF living. He knew a
man. he said. who had lived well for the last five
years three cents a day. He thought pretty well
of Thoreau's scheme too, he added. To this Mr.
Skerry retorted that he didn't know the doctors
friend and he didn't want to. lie thought man
was to live like an lie knew man
who used to object paying ten cents for cup Of
coffee, but used to out of his way 10 get cup of
barley, because he could buy 1t for five cents, and
made the rest Of his luncheon out OF east wind
something. That dead now, from stomach
hoardngs into circulation all right enough ,.,,u
.declaring that he was responsible for more false
philosophy than any other American He espe,
best policy. 1t lowered the plane of honor. Honor
for It's own sake was enough he said
vious speaker about the greatness of Brooklyn by
saying that the only thing Brooklyn had that New
He then subsidized with the remark that his wife
said he talked too much anyhow.
Others who had something TO say were A O.:
Kittredge, Rufus Scott, Colonel 5. j. Albright, Joel
Benton G. A. Watson DR.. l.. A. Coffin and Captain
John Goldman. The Rev. Or. Madison c. Peters
was expected to be present, but he contented him
self with letter in which he said that wealth was
turned from a blessing to curse when II was
paradcd before the public gaze and when its owners
seemed to have no other ambition than to marry
their daughters TO titled mendicants Vulgar dis
plays OF wealth. he said. threw contempt upon the
virtues of industry and economy.
The next meeting of the Twilight Club Will be
held in a fortnight. and the subject for discussion
will be. THE Hired Servants OF the Public"