The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-02-07
han on the invitation of a member.

than on the invitation of a member.
 The club was originally intended to comprise but 40 members, but as mat ter of fact at present can have 50 active members. There is a nonresident list of IA men, all of whom were formerly Wash ington correspondents, but have moved away from town. Then there is a list of 10 limited members. chosen for their congeniality and also for ability to as- sist in the entertainments. Each active and limited member is allowed to invite two guests to dinner.
 These entertainments are prepared by committees of the club, under the su- pervision of the president, who is elected annually and can serve but one term. There are five of these committees-en- tertainment, music, initiation reception and souvenirs. Membership in the club is not easily attained. There is always a waiting list. but when a correspondent is lucky enough to be chosen his advent is made the occasion for an entertainment skit, which the initiation committe pre- pares. The music committee has been given constantly increasing importance in the clubs program. Some of its pro ductions have become quite famous. When President Roosevelt had a rumpus with 4-dmiral Brownson, chief of the bu reau of navigation, over the assignment of a doctor to command the hospital ship Relief. the music committee made the biggest kind of hit by presenting an adaptation of scene from Pinafore about old pr. Sawbones. When President Roosevelt began reorganizing his cabinet pretty rapidly, the music committee came forth with a rendering of Hes a Jolly Good Fellow" the air being sung to these words:
 No more cabinet changes "Till Roosevelt changes his mind"
 When Nobody Works but Father was running in the heads of all the mus ically inclined in the country the Grid iron committee produced an adaptation at the expense of President Fair banks frequent guest, who has twice entertained the club at his residence The vice-presdent has nothing to do but act as presiding officer of the Senate Hence the point of the following chorus: Everybody works but Fairbanks. He sits up all day,
 Listening to the speeches made in the same old way.
 ! Allison, Lodge and Warren, all are in the ranks
 Everybody works in the Senate | but Mister Fairbanks.
 1 Out in Indiana the Hoosiers took note 1 of the version and some of MT. Fairbanks 1 opponents sought to use it to his disad- l vantage.
 The piece de resistance at the dinners 1 is expected from the entertainment com mittee, whose vaudeville stunts, like the 1 stunts of the other committees, are of ! ten month or two in the course of prep aration. The committee and subcom-
 mittee meetings for this preparation work
 constitute for the members a very en- , joyable feature. Suggestions are first ad-
 vanced, the best selected and finally put
 upon paper, culed. revised again and
 again, and studied carefully for effects
 in raising a good clean laugh. The older
 members of the club have become ex. perts in such matters. New men, as they
 come in, are being constantly educated
 into efficiency in the same class of effort
 An ambitious spirit prevails in the club to make every succeeding dinner
 better than its predecessor. In recent
 years, at least, that ideal has generally
 been attained. Certainly there has beer l steady progress toward making the Grid