Connecticut western news., 1898-01-13
TWO KINDS OF CLUBS.
FsV OR. TAlMAGE ON TAs GOOD
 AND THG BAD.


 Young.
 Copyright, 1898. by American Press Asso-
 ciation.l
 WASHINGTON, Jan. 9.-This discourse of Dr. Talmage will be helpfnl to those who want to find places with healthful and improving surroundings and to avoid places deleterions. His text is II Samuel il, fl. Let the young men now arise and play before us.
 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. Nothing could be more healthful and innocent. The other army accepts the challenge. Twelve men against 12 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 ended in violence, each one taking his contestant 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 "A sportsmen. Was there ever 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. have found out that there is a legitimate and an illegitimate use of tho clubhouse. In the one case 1t may become healthful recreation, like the contest of the 24 men in the text when they began their play; in the other case it becomes the massacre of body, mind and soul, as in the case of these contes- tants 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-gath erings characterized by the blunt old Anglo-Saxon designation of "club.
 Famous Clubs.
 If you have read history, you know that there was Kings Head club. 8 Ben Jonson club, a Brothers club, to which Swift and Bolingbroke belonged; a Literary club, which Burke and Gold smith and Johnson and Boswell made immortal: Q Jacobin club, 8 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. If one will write au honest history of tho clubs of England. Ireland, Soot land, France and the United States for The last 100 years, he will write the his tory of the world. The club was an in stitution born on English soil, but it has thrived we'll in American atmos- phere. Who shall tell how many belong to that kind of club where men put purses together and open house, appor- tioning the expense of caterer and serv- ants and room and having Q sort of do- mestio establishment-as style of club house which in my opinion is far better than the ordinary hotel or boarding housef But my object now is to speak of clubhouses of different sort, such as the Cosmos or Chevy Chase or Lincoln club of this capital, or the Union Leagues of many cities. the United Serv- ice club of London, the Lotos of New York, where journalists, dramatists, sculptors. painters and artists from all branches gather together to discuss newspapers, theaters and elaborate art; like the Americns. which camps out in summer time, dimpling the pool with it's hook and arousing the forest with its stag hunt; like the Century club, which has its large group of venerable lawyers and poets; like the Army and Navy club, where those who engaged in war like service once on the land or the sea now come together to talk over the days of carnage; like the New York Yacht club. with its floating palaces of beauty upholstered with velvet and paneled with ebony, having all the advantages of electric bell and of gaslight and of kings pantry, one pleasure boat costing e3,000, another SIS, 900, another $30,. GOO. another $65, 1000, the fleet of pleasure boats belonging to the club having cost over S2, 1000, 00O; like the American Jockey club, to which belong men who have passionate fond ness for horses, fine horses, as had Job when. in the Scriptures, he gives us a sketch of that king of beasts, the arch of its neck, the nervousness of its foot, the majesty of it's gait. the whirlwind of its power, crying out: "Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? The glory of his nostrils is terrible. He paw eth in the valley and rejoiceth in his strength. He saith among the trumpets .Ha, hai' and he smelleth the battle afar of, the thunder of the captains and the shouting;" like the Travellers club, ka ,l, Dnlo ,l, Commercial club, the Liberal club, the Stable Gang club, the Amateur Boat club, the gambling clubs, the wine clubs, the clubs of all sizes, the clubs of all morals, clubs as good as good can be and clubs as bad as bad can be-clubs innumerable. During the day they are comparatively lazy places. Here and there an aged man reading newspaper or an employee dusting a sofa or clerk writing up the accounts, but when the curtain 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 par lors on the side with the upholstery of the Kremlin and the Tuileries and
 
 here are dining halls that challenge you to mention any luxury that they cannot afford, and here are galleries with seulp- ture and paintings and Autographs and drawings from the best of artists, Crop sey and Bierstadt and Church and Hart and Gifford-pictures for every mood, whether you are impassioned or placid !; shipwreck or sunlight over the sea, Sheridan's s ride or the monday party of the farmers under the trees, foaming deer pursued by the hounds in the Adj rondacks or the sheep on the lawn. On this side there are reading rooms where you find all newspapers and magazines. On that side these is library where you find all books, from hermeneutics to the fairy tale. Coming in and out there are gentlemen, some of whom stay ten minutes, other stay many hours. Some of these are from luxurious homes, and they have excused themselves for awhile from the domestic circle that they may