The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1898-01-13

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W. arise and play be-
There are two armies encamped by
the pool Of Gibeon. The time hangs
heavily on their hands. One army pro-
poses game Of sword fencing. Moth
ing could be more healthful and inno-
cent. The other army accepts the
challenge. Twelve men against twelve
men, the sport opens. But something
went adversely. Perhaps one Of the
swordsmen got an unlucky clip or in
some way had his ire aroused, and
that which opened In sportfulness end
ed in violence, each one taking his con-
testant by the hair and then with the
sword thrusting him in the side. SO
that that which opened In innocent fun
ended in the massacre of all the twen-
ty-four sportsmen. Was there ever a
better illustration Of what was true
then and is true now, that that which
is innocent may be made destructive?
At this season Of the year the club
houses of our towns and cities are in
full play. l have found out that there
is legitimate and an illegitimate use
of the clubhouse. In the one case 1t
may become a healthful recreation,
like the contest Of the twenty-fOur men
in the text when they began their play:
In the other case 1t becomes the massa-
ere of body. mind and soul, as in the
case of these contestants of the text
when they had gone too far with their
sport. All intelligent ages have had
their gatherings for political, social,
artistic, literary purposes-gatherings
characterized by the blunt old Anglo
Saxon designation of "club."
If you have read history, you know
that there was a Kings Head Club, a
Ben Jonson Club, a Brothers Club, to
which Swift and Bolingbroke he
longed; Literary Club, which Burke
and Goldsmith and johnson and Bos-
well made immortal; a Jacobin Club.
Benjamin Franklin Junto Club
some Of these to indicate justice. some
to favor the arts some TO promote good
manners, some to despOil the habits,
some to destroy the soul. II one will
write an honest history Of the clubs
of England, Ireland, Scotland, France
and the United States for the last 100
years, he will write the history Of the
world. The club was an institution
born on English soil, but 1t has thriyed
well In American atmosphere. Who
shall tell how many belong to that
kind Of club where men put purses to-
gether and open house, apportioning
the expense of caterer and servants
and room, and having a sort of domes-
tic establishement-a style Of club
house which in my opinion is far bet
ter than the ordinary hotel or board
ing-house? But my object now is to
speak of clubhouses of a different sort,
such rs the Cosmos or Chevy Chase
or Lincoln Club Of this capital, or the
Union Leagues Of many cities, the
United States Service Club of London,
the Lotos Of New York, where Journal
lists, dramatists, sculptors, painters and
artists from all branches gather to-
gether to discuss newspapers, theatres
and elaborate art, like the Americus,
which camps out in Summer time, dim
pling the pool with its hook and arous-
ing the forest with its stag hunt; like
the Century Club, which has it's large
group of venerable lawyers and poets;
like the Army and Navy Club, where
those who engaged in warlike service
together to talk over the days Of car
mage; like the New York Yacht Club,
with its floating palaces of beauty, up
holstered with velvet and paneled with
ebony, having all the advantages of
electric bell and Of gaslight and Of
kings pantry like the American
Jockey Club, to which belong men who
have a passionate fondness for horses,
fine horses, as had Job when, in the
Scriptures, he gives up sketch of
that king Of beasts the arch of its
neck, the nervousness of its foot, the
majesty Of his gait, the wrilwind Of
Its power, crying out: Hast thou
clothed his neck with thunder?" Dur.
ing the day they are comparatively
lazy places. Here and there an aged
man reading a newspaper, or an en-
ployee busting a sofa or clerk writ
''tng up the accounts, but when the cur
tain Of the night falls on the natural
day then the curtain of the clubhouse
hoists for the entertainment. Let us
hasten up now the marble stairs. What
an imperial hallway! See, here are
parlors on the side, with the uohols-
terry of the Kremlin and the Tullcr-
les, and here are dining halls that chal-
lenge you to mention any luxury that
they cannot afford, and here are gal
lleries with sculpture and paintings and
autographs and drawings from the
best of artists, Cropsey and Bierstadt
and Church and Hart and Gifford-pic.
lures for every mood, whether you are
impassioned or placid; shipwreck or
Funlight over the sea, Sheridan's ride
pr the monday party Of the farmers
Iinder the trees, foaming deer pursued