The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-02-23
GETTING INTO CLUES.
The Routine Tina IL Followed by Most OF
the New York Clubs.

t"t Y oSh ~hhbrs
Membership In half a dozen New Yorl
clubs by no means p~resupposes access Il
a particular social set. II is perfectly vel
known that a few clubs are mainly re
cruitcd from the fashionable world. but FOL
the most part clubs do not insist that can
didates for membership bear a certain
social hallmark. There are clubs thai
demand Of members a college diploma
and others that insist that candidates have
an American ancestry Of some generations,
| There are still others that without openly
insisting upon any Of these things shut
their doors against any but persons pos
sessing certain social requisites not easily
attained.
Most clubs. however, ask only that a
candidate for membership come properly
accredited. IN many clubs the inveetiga-
ton Ct candidates Is left to an Admissions
Committee. This committee reports
monthly upon the candidates that have
been posted in the clubhouse the necessary
number Of days, and II the report Of the
COMMITTEES is favorable the Board Of Trus-
tees usually elects. In a few clubs election
is by the vote Of all sue members az choose
TO attend the monthly meetings or TO send
proxies.
Clubs that are careful - to electing
members require that . candidate be
vouohed for not only by proposer and
seconder, but also by two or more other
members. The full name. tho business
address, the residence, the occupation
are demanded by the body charged with
the task OF looking up the records OF can
didates.
In some clubs a single objection Is enough
co Ara1ttAn N nanAtAatA Tho TRADITIONAL
black ball has disappeared from the elections
Of many clubs, and some have no hard and
fast rule as to the number OF objections
that shall exclude q candidate. Some
years & there was a long and lively con-
test over the name Of an entirely reputable
man proposed for a club now defunct:
The candidate had a single influential
enemy in the club and that one mans in
fiuence was enough to keep him out.
IL requires from a month to six weeks TO
TO a club. A candidate would not ordinarily
accept the hospitalities of q club pending
his candidacy, and there are a good many
clubs in which the fact that a candidate had
been the guest Of a member while his name
was yet under consideration would 60
far toward excluding the candidate,
1t Is said now and then that this or that
club has a long waiting list. In some
clubs this merely means that undesirable
candidates are TO be discouraged by the
prOeptcl u " IOtlR ublhN III citCtlOu. lIS
waiting list has a convenient way OF melt
ing before the application OF just the right
sort OF man. One method OF getting rid
Of the waiting list il arbitrarily to extend
the limit OF membership, a thing that is
not infrequently done when q club finds
it hard TO make both ends meet.
1t is found now and then that q few men
In a club have set themselves to keep out
certain classes Of applicants whom they
think Objectionable. The method Of attack
with these men Is TO watch the posted list
Of candidates and write letters Of objection
against tho candidates whom they seek
TO exclude. Some men are thus kept out, |
and the election of others is delayed, but
the systematic character OF the attack
at length defeats it's own end.
A man once in a club Is hard to get out. |
He must commit some overt act to incur
expulsion. When an Objectionable man
Is careful not 20 violate club rules ard
TO pay his dues and his house ac-
count promptly It is almost impossible
TO get rid OF him. One club was years
In ousting a member whose habitual slovenli-
ness Of dress was a source OF offence to
all his fellow MEMBER. Nobody quite
liked to make formal objection to him on
that score, and 30 he haunted the club
for years in clothing hat would
have excluded him from any good hotel.
although il was well known hat he was
amply able to dress decently. At length,
through some oversight, he left a club
bill unpaid beyond the time allowed for
payment. and his name was dropped from
he club list. Only a week before, however,
he appeared In q new suit Of clothes.