Evening star., 1903-07-06
NEW YORK CLUBS.
They Are the Most Expensive in the
World.

From Ainslee's.
There Is no city in the world that has
more expensive club houses than New York,
and nowhere else are club dues so high To
| man with modest income one good club
is In many ways an economy. For the mil
honaire. dozen clubs are not worth their
dues. He may find 1t convenient to use
three or four of them, and he probably does
| not enter the others more than once a year.
l know one man in New York who is a
member Of twenty-one clubs. He has paid
dues to one of them ever since it was Or
ganized. nearly twenty years ago. and he
| has been inside of its doors but once. There
are others In which he has not been during
the past five years. and probably for
longer time. If one picked out at random a
dozen young men Of wealth and social po-
sit1on In New York, he would find that they
had at least five clubs in common. This Is
both the weakness and the strength Of New
York's club life. The club does not identify
a man here as 1t does In London. Each club
has few men whose names are always
sociated with it. but the majority Of it's
members are also members of several other
clubs, which they use quite as much, and
their loyalty is divided. Were this not the
case. however, we should have many fewer
handsome club houses. because there would
not be members enough to support them.
We could not follow a better example in
selecting clubs for our millionaire bachelor
sor Of S20.0OO.0OO who devotes much of his
time when here to his country place in New
Jersey. He selected such clubs as he
thought a gentleman should belong to,
rather more from sentiment than from ac-
tual need Of them. Here Is the list. with
the annual dues which he must pay: Union,
$75; Racquet SIS; Tuxedo 500; University,
$50; metropolitan n, slOo: Coaching. ss5: Rid
ing 800; Country SIS: New York Athletic,
$50; Fencers. $50; New York Yacht, $25.
He is also member of his college frater
nifty club. of several New Jersey clubs, of
half dozen associations and of good
club in London and another In Paris. The
initiation fees of the New York clubs to
which he belongs range from $500 of the
Metropolitan and the Union and 5000 of the
| University down to the $50 of the Fencers'.
! If our bachelor happens to have strong re-
| publican convictions we may add to TINS
| list the most influential club in the United
States, the Union League, with Its lnitia-
| ton fee of $500 and it's annual dues of S15.
| Or he may have a fondness for arts and
| letters and join the Century Club by paying
$3.50 initiation and $50 annual dues. or the
more frisky Lotos. with its entrance fee
| of 500 and it's annual dues of $50 The
Calumet, with an initiation fee Of 500.
prides itself with some justice, on being
| Junior Union Club and It's far more ex-
| elusive neighbor, the Knickerbocker with
an entrance fee of $500 and annual dues of
500 counts among it's members some of
| the most popular bachelors in New York
society Nor should the claims OF the
| Players' Club be overlooked, II the bach
| elor likes to get near the stage as did
the man to pugilism who shook the hand
| that shook the hand of Sullivan. There are
some actors still in the Players Club. but
| for the real midnight to dawn favor of the
| profession he should join the Lambs Club
| and use 1T moderately.