Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-09-08
AMONG THE CLUBS OF PARIS
MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF LEADING
SOCIAL ORGASIzATIONs.
Main idea is sociaf intercourse and
That Alone-Daties of the
New. Member.
ON the London Pau Mali Gazette,

Many complaints are made against the
Englishman In France. The best repre-
sentatives Of our ma ton do not always find
their way to Paris. Considerable offense
has frequently been caused by our fellow
ccuntrymen appearing at the opera and at
theaters In low hats and in suits of dit
tees. These offenses do not, however, jar
SO much upon Frenchmen as the uninten-
tional ignorance displayed by Englishmen,
who ought to know better, of the manners
and customs of those among whom they
live. In few respects do Frenchmen differ
more from ourselves than in their under
standing OF the objects and aims of club
life. Their ideal is social intercourse. and
that alone. They cannot understand the
man who uses his club to read his news
paper or to interview those whom he would
hardly care to see at his own house Some
Frenchmen may, it Is true, care for card
playing and for billiards. others may be
devoted to horse racing or to literature;
but their main duty as members of club
Is to be on friendly footing with one an
other. Thus 1t is that the duties Of pro-
poser and seconder are far more serious
and responsible with them than they are
with US; for it is their business to be con-
stantly in the room when their candidate
Is up for election, and to ask each voter
as he approaches the polling booth to give
his vote in favor of their candidate.
Should their man be fortunate enough to
secure election, 1T is also their bounden
duty to introduce him to as many as posi-
BILE of the other members of the club. 1t
Is also incumbent on the new member to
see that one of those who have made
themselves responsible for him shall stand
by him the first day he attends the club.
Nothing has indeed made the better class
OF Englishmen more unpopular In Paris
clubs than their omission to comply with
this formality. for such 1t is-as the new
member is expected, on the first day of his
attendance. to make his ''tournee'' zen
Io< l..
first day this is nd longer necessary, and
though the fntroductions continue he is
allowed either to put his hat on his head
or to leave 1t in the hall. He is duly in
troduced to each member who may happen
to be in the club at the moment, but at the
end of week he is entitled to regard each
one Unfortunately as an old friend, and
to address him SUCH Foreigners who
arrive in England and who are made tenn
porary members of those Of our clubs which
admit them to this honor are Justly en-
titled to complain that they leave them
knowing as many of their members as
they did on the day of their original cleo
ton.
Five Leading Institutions.
The leading Paris clubs are five in num-
Der. The most select of them all Is prob
ably, for the moment the Jockey with its
thousand members. under the presidency of
the Due de la Rochefoucauld-D oudeauville
1t is also one to which an Englishman finds
1t rather difficult to obtain access and
mainly owing to the fact that some of those
who have secured election in the past have
failed to get themselves introduced to those
who have voted for them. This is all the
more unfortunate, as the main privilege is
the right its members enjoy of utilizing
free of charge the jockey club stand on
every race course which one exists-a
privilege which makes the annual subscrip-
ton of f24 seem ridiculously small Next
to the Jockey in importance comes the
Cercle de PUnion, though to many 1t seems
even more exclusive. 1t includes a larger
foreign membership than any other. for
not only is every ambassador entitled to be-
long de jure. buthforeigners of distinction
are also welcomed. 1t dwells in the Boule-
ward de la Madeleine. and is under the
presidency of the Due de Rohan. 1t num-
bers some $50 permanent and over 200 hon
orary members, OF whom the latter pay no,
subscription when they are out of the coun-
try. Should. however. amy Of these be in
Paris only for q short time. they may en-
joy all the rights and privileges of MEM
bership for month on paying CA subscrip-
ton, with the additional club tax to the
state of 20 per cent. and this privilege may
be enjoyed twice in the year, provided that
two months have elapsed between each sep
arate period. The Union is also dstin-
guished from many other French clubs by
only allowing games of skill and prohibiting
games OF chance. When the club was first
started there was a larger English colony
in Paris than is now the case which prob
ably accounts for the fact that 1t empaIes
the royal arms OF France with those Of the
United Kingdom. The Cercle Agricole or
pommes de terre. as 1t has been somewhat
irreyerently styled. Is essentially restricted
to the country gentlemen Of France, and
therefore. with very few exceptions. es-
chews the foreign element. It's fine build
ing Is at the corner Of the Boulevard ST.
German, facing the chamber Of deputies:
1t numbers some 800 members and acknowl-
edges Count Fernand de Brissac as its
IL hA onSf
nently respectable club in Paris The Union
Artistique. at the corner of the Rue Boissy
d Anglas, is far more cosmopolitan in its
character, for 1t devotes itself to the Guilt
walton OF the arts, and numbers over 1900
members, many of whom belong to the
haute finance. Its president is the Marquis
de vogue. The CercIe de la Rue Royale in
cludes those mainly who are interested in
the Auteuil steeplechases. 1t numbers some
$50 members, and is under the presidency
OF the Due de la Tremoille. 1t might be
possible to give far longer list Of Paris
CLUBS and to include such of those as exist
for sporting and other PURPOSES as the Au-
Iomopiie, under Comte de Dion. and the
Cercle du Bois de Boulogne; but this would
De outside the scope of this article.
Foreigners as Members.
Considerable attention has been given
lately in our press to the strained relations
that were supposed to exist between Paris
clubs and their British members Some cor
iSopohdchtS nave even gone 10 the length
OF asserting that, owing to the expulsion
OF the Due d'Orleans from the Bachelors,
the Royalist clubs in Paris were contem-
plating reprisals. 1t must be perfectly OBJ
vlous that these gentlemen know very little
OF these clubs, as their rules are hard and
fast on the subject of expulsion. No one
car be so expelled unless he be guilty of
an ofense against honor or against ia
bienseance' So vigorously has this rule
been enforced that the invasion of France
by German army, the defeat Of the
French forces in the field. the capture of
her fortresses, and the military occupation
OF the country were not regarded at the
time as in themselves jusufying the Paris
clubs in expelling their German members
1t was, however, reported that during the
commune German officer belonging to
one of the leading clubs in Paris. had given
a dinner at Versailles at which the Com
munards We're TOASTED, and each explosion
OF hre was greeSd with tumutuous APP
piause. The Gernaan members belonging to
this club were, thsH AGED to pay their sub
scriptions for the cuHgent year. Communi-
cations was difficult and it is more than
probable that the letters never reached
them in time. Suffice 1t to say that the
subscriptions were not paid, and that the
Germans belonging q that club were ex-
1t Is, however. unnecessary to dwell at any
length nh of fbo