The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-11
ECONOMIES OF CLUB LIFE.
Money Really To Be Sayed--Poor Men
 md Rich Men in q Democracy.

GMu kAAtM fhcm hm n Dem0er0Gy. # A good many country visitors are disappointed when they learn the so- Der truth that New York has no clubs composed exclusively of nillionaires It Is harder still to make country folk believe that hundreds of men join the so-calied swell clubs in large part from motives of economy. There are scarcely three clubs in the city that do not include a considerable number of poor men in their member ship. The average income of the whole membership of the ten best known
 clubs in the city is probably nearer
 s10,000 a year than s50.000 a year, and almost every one of those clubs in- cludes some scores of men with in- comes well below S10,000. and a good many with incomes well below $5,000. There is real democracy of New York club life. Youths In their early twneties and just beginning their ca- reers on very moderate salaries fre- quent truly palatial club houses
 breakfast in rooms such as few princes
 ever use and lounge before fireplaces that are to be followed only in the most splendid buildings of Europe. The. poor man in the palatial clubs is just as well treated as the rich. The servants look as solicitously to his wants and the chef ordinarily cooks his dinner with the same care that he bestows upon that of the richest mem Der,
 The poor mans credit at the club Is as good as the rich mans, and both
 are impartially posted when they ne- glect to pay their bills in good sea- son. There are a/good many instances also in which the monthly bills of the poor man are higher than those of his rich fellow member. for the fre- quenters of clubs are apt to be the rathar than the rfahAr bers.
 Many a man of small means regards his membership in a first rate club in the light of a profitable investment. Such man If a confirmed bachelor has probably lived for twenty years within half a block of his club, pay ing a few hundreds a year for a small
 bed room and finding all his luxuries in the apartments of the club house.
 Without being in the least mean he makes of the club a money saving in-
 stitution for himself. Its comfortable
 lounging rooms save him annually
 from $500 to $1.000 year in rent, ac-
 cording to the location in which he
 has his modest lodgings. After that
 he saves 8 fair percentage on every
 thing he eats and drinks at the club.
 Ills simple breakfast costs him per
 haps ten per cent less than 1t would
 cost at any restaurant he woIld be
 likely to frequent and the same IS
 true of his dinners. If he takes three-
 fourths of his meals at the club he
 saves annually about $100 in tips.
 If he drinks wine at dinner he saves from ten to twenty-five per cent upon
 every bottle. If he permits himself the
 luxury of a cab he saves handsome percentage by ordering it through the club, and avoids all possibility or row with the cabby over the amount
 of the fare. Many man writes all his letters of a social character at the cIuh and thus saves from $15 to $40 year in stationery.
 He need buy no new books. nor need he subscribe to norary' TOT
 there is the club library free Tor ms use. He never need buy periodical ar even a newspaper, save when he travels. for all that he reads are freely sruplied by the club. And the enjoy ment of all these things imposes upon hin, no considerable expenditure for cxtravagant luxuries He is sure. es-
 pecially in the college clubs, to find plenty of men with like modest in- comes and simple tastes as himself and he may sit for hours with cronles over the cafe table without spending noonev that he cannot afford, and with out giving offence to the servants or
 the house committee.
 Most clubs members probably do not keen a debit and credit account with the club but the man of modest means ana moderate habits would find the ex- animation of such an account a mat fer of great satisfaction. Such a man. waving S250 as an entrance fee, and S75 year in dues Is likely to find bimself at the end of twenty years a long way ahead of the game. The cl1b in twenty years has cost him ratber less than S2.000 for entrance fees due and contributions to the christnas box, and his savings by req
 son of the club have been from $lO.ooO
 to sl6,000,