The morning news., 1897-03-17
CHICAGO's BEAN CLUB.
Its Unique Methods of Entertain
ment In Its Day.
From the New York Sun.

From the New York Sun.
The Bean Club was political organiza-
tion in Chicago during the erection of the
city hall and county building in that city.
No club before 1t and none after Il could
be classed with 1t. The Bean Club was
unique.
To be a member of the Bean Club was
to be a contractor or purchasing agent
for the new buildings, or a county COM
missioner or an alderman of the city.
Done of the originate of the movement
TO form the club. however was the lessee
of a high board fence which inclosed the
grounds This fence was used for ad-
vertising purposes.
An entire floor of the Mccormick build
ing at the southeast corner of Dearborn
and Randolph streets, was rented ana
furnished for the use of the members. II
was under the protection of the police ce-
partment and the sheriff of the county
When a new contract was to be let or an
appropriation made the club held ses-
sion until the end desired was reached.
The club derived its name from con-
tract which one of the members or the
county board log-rolled through another
channel by which the Bridewell the city
work house, was supplied with brand
of beans that would have been better for
fish than for human stomachs.
One of the men who had the fence
privilege was also a member of the county
board. and his partner, then young
man about town, Is now proprietor OF
large saloon and restaurant in the city,
Bill board advertising was something
new in Chicago at the time, and as this
fence inclosed an entire block in the CEN
ter of the town there was spirited rush
for the most conspicuous places on the
fence and the price for space were some
times fabulous, No contractor on the
buildings-and the contractors were all in
on the ground floor, and together-ever
realized so much in the clear as the lessees
of this wonderful fence.
No brotherhood ever stood together more
ioyally for the advancement of Its own
interests than did the Bean Club. An
outside contractor had no more chance in
a bidding than a cat without claws would
have in Hades, which figure of speech was
coined for this situation by the brilliant
and erratic Chicago lawyer, Emery
Storrs.
Finally the finishing touches were given
to the structure by the combine of con-
tractors. Perhaps this is not literally true
for there yet remain incomplete sections
in the building. although the men who
had contracts for fulhlment received their
payment in full A long time after the
building had been occupied Wilbur r. Sto-
rey, editor of the Chicago Times, under
violations of contracts and rings and COM
binations which overshadowed the Tweed
regime. But the syndicate stood togeth-
err and although a special grand jury had
extraordinary powers, 1t failed utterly to
find squealer with enough information to
warrant bid.
The completion of the work called for
some sort of demonstration by the club,
and II was decided to have a banquet In
the exhalations of this feast the club was
to pass out of existence The time had
come to remove the fence, and there was
no more income to be derived. The flnal
bids were for those things which the
dinner reporter of the olden times in Chi
cago called a flow of soul. The arrange
ments were on a broad scale. There were
to be speakers and a local poet was to
mingle his rhyme with the festivities. The
invitations were unique and costly, and
for several years after some of them were
still to be found in the city as souvenirs.
Vaudeville was then unknown, but II II
had been In existence II would doubtless
have been taxed TO the utmost for attrac-
tions. The rooms of the club were Of
fees so arranged that they connected, and
the plan of the dinner committee was TO
have each room bountifuly supplied. so
that the members and their guests would
not be under the necessity OF hunting re-
freshments. Care was taken that there
should be no shortage. To this end bar
rels of whisky were distributed about the
rooms, the heads being removed Tin cups
hung around the sides of these barrels
and the man with the whisky appetite
helped himself whenever his thirst came
upon him.
Champagne was emptied into wooden
washtubs and drunk from the tin dppers
hung from the rims There were buckets
of mixed drinks and cracked Ice. There
were barrels and kegs of beer. Cigars were
Hts.a
dreds. Wherever one turned he found any
thing and everything In the way of edl-
bles that the ingenuity or the caterer could
suggest. When the caterer-a celebrated
one in his day, who came to New York
later and erected here a great hotel, In
which he died few years ago--was en-
gagged by the committee TO prepare the
feast he asked what was the limit. The
chairman OF the committee, a man who Is
now walking the back street Of Chicago,
lodging his creditors, replied: There amt
no limit 10 nothin'. You throw the lines
over the dashboard and let the horses
run" And It was so.
one OF the peculiarities OF the feast was
that there were no walters. although por-
ters were engaged to remove the debris
from time to time. Occasionally a barrel
or tub would run dry and have 20 be re-
moved by porters, 10 make place for a
fresh one. Walters we're not needed at the
banquet OF the Bean Club. II had been an
nouncod in advance that ii was TO be a
democratic affair.
There were no ushers. There was no
courtroom. There was a room where each
member Or guest could deposit his top coat
and hat. but the place Of deposit was the
floor. and no checks were given. Possibly
in the windup OF the affair some man got
his own hat and coat. but in after days
when this was suggested to an old-tlmer
he laughed incredulously.
Hhn dnanra rlarn nr.ornd "a Ilar An Ahn o.raIl-