Arizona republican., 1899-05-29
FOREIGN NOTES
 AND CONTENT


 in London to decide the question as
 to whether CT not gambling is to bc permitted on the premises, a question
 upon which the club is divided into two rival camps, and which may be said
 to ghreaten it's existence. There is 6
 certain American interest in the af-
 fair, ewing to the peculiarly unfriendly attitude which this particular club has l invariably shown to Americans, sev- l c+-al citizens of the United States wn0 make their home fn England, such as, 1 for instance Bradley Martin of New l York, having been biackballed there.
 The origin of this animosity against i Americans dates some ten or twelve years back, when Charlie Ramsay, younger brother cf the late Lord Da-- i housie. and husband Of Miss Estelle i Garrison of New York, was black 1 balled by the knickerbccker club il | New York. owing to some trouble, it is i said. in connection with q horse deal ! In Crder to avenge this slight upon his
 brother the late earl of Dalhousie shortly before his death took advant- ] age of his membership Of the commit ] tee of the Bachelors club to secure the enactment of Tuie according to which no foreigners are eligible for election at the club. If in spite of this rule, Americans have repeatedly been put up at this ciub and turned down, it is because there are a number uf people in London who insist that peo- De hailing from the United States are 1 not foreigners.
 Just why any sensible Americans should wish to get into this club il is 7-l,- but by no means exclusive, and per hans the best indication of its status may be gathered from the fact that whereas the late Prince Henry of Bat tenberg was 9 star member, neither the prince of Wales, the duke of fork, nor the duke of Copnaught has ever con- sented to cross the threshold of the place It cannot compare for one mo- rent with the Travellers, the Turf, the Marlborough, Brooks, Bodies, the Guards, the Garrick, CT, in fact, any first-class club, and was started by man of the name of Gillet with the ob ject of improving his social standing.
 MT. Gillet is a man Of obscure birth, the son Cf banker in some small pre- vincial town. who. filled with social as- piraticns. resolved to force his way into the London great word. In fact, he is ''bourder" in the English sense Of the word. Fer twenty years he has been laughed at and scoffed at by so- ciety. But he has gone on imperViOu5 to snubs until by sheer push and Cb- stinacy he has come tC be locked upon as a species of masculine Mrs. Leo Hunter" and as a sort of inferior Ward McAllister.
 It was, as stated above, with the ob- ject of promoting his social conditions that he founded the Bachelors club, of which for many years he was the presiding genius and owner, giving periodical banquets there. at which he invited anybody with title who wCu,i consent to honor him with his pres ence.
 Gillet's cleverness was shown by the fact that when he started the club he placed the limit of youth at eighteen years cf age instead of twenty-Cne, which is the limit of all first-class ciuhs. There are a number of youths Of good family and of wealth in Lon don between the ages cf eighteen and twenty-one Who not having attained their majority, found all good clubs closed against them. It was to these that the Bachelors club appealed. and by degrees they have brought in number of their relatives. so that. aI-
 
 the Johnnies Of the =petits creves" and ''gcmmeux," there are some men cf age and standing, such as the duke Of Devonshire and Athol, on the roster of the club, which has this in it's favor, that 1t is perhaps the only club in Lon don that is convenient to Hyde park, standing, as it dces, near the entrance Of the latter.
 Win regard to the dispute about gambling, it has been brought about by enc or two scandals in connection with young men who had played cards for high stakes and had been unable to pay, their conduct being in consequence carried before the committee. This brought to light the fact that the play went on in the billiard rOcm, owing to the fact that when Gil.et started the club It was especially understood that owing to the tender youth of the men, bers there should be no card playing, ! with the result that no room has ever been set apart for the purpose.
 One moiety of the club takes the ground that the original understand ing should be maintained, and that no card playing should be permitted on the cub premises, insisting that it must be a case of all or nothing. as f cards are permitted high play cannot be prevented. While one is perfectly prepared to find among these puri5t5 the names of the dukes Of Athol ana Portland, as well as of such philanthro- 1 Plsts as Lord Meath, it is certainly as- t-nishing to find Lord CrfOrd, who. | prior to his marriage to Miss Co-bin |