Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-15

women to theirs. The Ideal club Is one
in which husbands and wives meet to-
gether, informally at each others houses,
having light refreshments and little orgaai-
cation the minimum of expense, and an ut
ter absence of red tape. If q half dozen
families whose incomes approximate che
same amount, and who are on a similar
social plane. combine to form nelghbor.
hood club. they can have enjoyable times
in their meetings, and they will be bound
by ties of friendship almost invisible, but
strong as silken cords.
To make such club a success there
must be some occasion for its existence.
This occasion is sometimes found In d.
version such as cards, or an intellectual
game, such as chess, or It may be found
in music, which has subtle way of uniting
those who love It.
When frankly the object of club is men
tai improvement, and the members make
out program for study, and pursue it
through the successive months of autumn
or winter, there is great profit In the end.
Possibly in the first week or two or three,
only slight Improvement may be dis
cerned, but as time goes on all are aware
of that keen delight (which is the crown
Ing joy of students life, in school or col
study club have left school days behind
them, and they sometimes find 1t a little
hard to help the children with the home
work that goes on around the evening lamp
Unused tools grow dull 1t is only be-
cause we let our memories and our reason
ing powers lie dormant that they refuse
to do for us what once they did. Up TO old
age people might retain great freshness
and vigor of thought, and the gift of as
Sanitation. If only they kept on taking in
stores.
a club for neighborhood study may choose
its own subject. This may be for instance.
THE Social Life of Ancient Rome" or THE
Social Life of England Under the Stuarts."
or THE Struggle for Religious Liberty in
the Fifteenth Century" or THE italian
Renaissance" or it may be some aspect of
natural science. Nature study has fas-
cination that quite equals historical study.
What is imperative Is that something be
selected which can be pursued impersonaly
without awakening partisan sentiments, or
arousing those vehement passions that be-
long to issues of the hour Yet. at times.
q neighborhood study club cannot do much
better than take up some branch Of civics,
look into good government, and enlarge its
knowledge of what is going on in the coun-
try and the world today. 1t is proper to
write papers and read them in a club like
this, If that shall be thought the best way
to proceed. 1t is important to do some
earnest and diligent study at odd times
when the club is not meeting. 1t Is i'm
portant, too to have regular weekly or
fortnightly evening, and to make point
of attending all sessions, unless prevented
by something unforeseen.
There need be no age limit in a neigh
borhood club. If the doctor, the lawyer
and the minister take their share. the even
tngs will profit by the presence of those
men who in a way may be called profess
SIGNALS, as contrasted with amateurs Wom-
en- are on equal footing with men, old
people are not exempt. and younger ones
are welcome.
The chief thing to avoid is having a neigh
borhood club of this kind large that II
Is unwieldy. A dozen people may be So
ciable and homogeneous. Forty or fifty peo-
pie will necessarily break up into separate
groups, and will not be able to pursue the
same subjects with ease.
There should be no expense attached to
a neighborhood club. either individually or
collectively. beyond whatever purchase of
books and reading matter may be thought
advisable. The expense for this will be
slight, If all contribute on the principle that
many small sums aggregate large ones In
the end
Before clubs became so common. In a
little town in the south, rather off the
beaten track and remote from the railroad,
a coterie of congenial spirits kept bright
the flame of learning through successive
seasons. There was air of refinement,
culture and advanced thought, of plain lfv-
ing and high thinking, IN the families who
year by year quietly met. studied and talked
that lifted them out Of the provincial, and
made them in very truth cosmopolitan.