The San Francisco call., 1908-11-01
CAFE S.p CLUBHOUSE .RosEvIuE.cAL,

cents per cue per hour A meal costs
about 1919 cents-a good meal. And 1t
is cooked in view of the eater. The
steaks are cut off in his sight and
broiled before his eyes,
Given the best billiard tables at such
prices a. man Will seek the club rather
than the saloon. Right down the line
it is the same way. Then there are the
baths. There is a lot of philosophy in
the way Athearn has reasoned out the
baths. He says that a. bath does a
man double good. Physically it cleans
him.. 1t cleans him mentally, too. It's
moral effect makes the man feel more
capable. And feeling So he is so.
The elubs-from motives purely busi-
ness-encourage domesticity among the
men,. A married man who can see or
write to his wife, or who wants to see
or write to her as frequently as possi-
BILE, is better bit of machinery than a
married man who is slack in his do
mestic duties That philosophy sounds
simple and right. The club system In
cludes it.. In the clubs are letter paper
and nvelopes-good, handsome sta
tionery with good envelopes. There
are pens and handsome desks. The
men are helped by the secretaries in
their writing when they want help
And in those towns like Tucson, which
is shop town, where there are many
families of employees, the men are en-
couraged to bring their wives and chill
dren to the clubs. Sunday nights the
club restaurants in these towns are
crowded, for Sunday night a woman
likes to leave her cooking for once
and to dine out after an afternoons
recreation with her husband. This sort
of thing helps domesticity.
And helping domesticity helps the
road in many ways. Especially does it
help in this way-it insures greater
length of service. That means money
in the corporations pocket It has been
calculated by men who can resolve
facts into figures that 1t costs s5. on the
average to hire one man, and that this
mans average efficiency for the first
three months is % per cent of his av-
erage efficiency when he is broken In
The human machine, like other
mechanisms, needs to find Itself" as
machinists say. So this increased
length of service which has come in
those town. where the clubs are es-
tablished, m sns thousands of dollars
in the treasury. There isn't any sentf-
ment in that, and yet. like many other
sociological facts, 1t is based on sem
timent.
Since the establishment of these
clubs their management has been be-
sieged by outsiders who want permits
sion to enter them. In1S is because of
the quality of service they give. But
no outsiders are allowed inside their
doors In the old days 1t was the rail-
roadman who wasn't allowed in the
waiting rooms. Now it is the passen-
ger who isn't allowed in these refugees
of the employees
The secretaries of the clubs have
been chosen from two classes. Univer-
sity graduates, men with athletic rec.
ords, get best chances when all other
things are equal, for they usually un-
derstand their fellows best, and from
college settlement workers, who have
studied men for some time. AS a con-
sequence the clubs are in charge of a
number of young men who can deal
with the members. They have secre-i
taries who can help the members when
these ask for information.
There are no rules in these clubs
no notices posted on the walls A rail-
road official at the outset of the move
ment said that there would be vandal-
ism, that the fine woodwork would be
marred, the furniture broken. Each
member signs the roll. simply pledging
himself to be gentleman. And since
the establishment of the first club In