The sun., 1909-02-28

this direction. 1t s oatalogued a. "A
Good Starter
When the Cornish Coast by Frederick
Waugh. almost reaches the t2oo mark
Mr., Van Laer suggests that II the desired
sum is obtained the club win open bottle
Of champagne for the buyer. Whom IL
il reached II is discovered that the buyer
Ia the only man in the club who wears the
white ribbon, and AZ Is the way Of tho world
the sinners profit by his abstinence.
A bronze medallion framed In rosewood
OF Abraham Lincoln by j. SCOTT Hartley
brings a good price. Mr.. Van Laer steps
modestly down from his exalted position
while his own contribution, AN Autumn
Day" Ia sold for 500. his place being filed
temporarily by Mr.. Darlington OF the
Scyibn.r staif. who Is also lay menbsr,
After the waiting for the Fishing
Boats" by Melbourne H. Hartwick. is
disposed OF at generous sum halt 10
called and a rapid drift Of the artistic
current IL noted toward the grill room
In a retired corner one Of the older mem
bers Of the club William II Shelton. tells
some details Of its interesting history.
He says:
~The irst meeting OF the original club
was in 1871. in the studio Of Scott Hartley
at 5aG-5es Broadway. Some OF the mem
hers then were +. s. Church, Will II.
Low and Fred r. Vance. who lived in a
studio adjoining Grace Church. with the
Hartleys, myself and Alfred f. Ems
lie. who was an illustrator on the New
York Ledger stat and Is now a portrait
painter in London. Joseph Hartley was
president for ten years and was house
committee.
-In the early days We entertained many
interesting bohemians recall Alfred
Recks. an English actor, whose Laying
the Gaws Pipe Down often closed an
evening Of merriment; George David
Brown, newspaper man who had weird
repertoire of ghost stories, and Marshall
the engraver and O'Donovan the soulp-
tor Ferd Ward, OF later Wall Street
fame, came once or twice with his brother
WILL who was working on Appleton's
Encyclopaedia.
The club was then called the Sketch
| Glass and every week a subject for H.
| lIstration was chosen and the following
Satu rday night the SIX etches we're displayed
and criticised. There was always singing
and boxing, during which the plaster
casts danced appreciativey on their
pedestals. A drawing now in the clu b
shows one OF those early meetings. II
was made by Will Low, and besides the
members already mentioned are NJ. j,
Burns. Alfred Becks. W. W. Denslow and
G. Y. Turner,
Carroll Beckwith. then a young lad
from Chicago on his way to study art Ia
Paris as the protege Of his uncle Sherwood
was another casual visitor. and among
! the cranks whose names are forgotten
was vegetarian landscape painter who
was so opposed TO killing animals that he
discussed the discarding OF leather shoes
From the corner OF Houston street the
sketch class moved and maintained a
precarious existence for a time at soc
| Broadway This was before 1878. judging
| from the meagre records in which are
mentioned the names Of Frederick Diel-
man, now president Of the Academy OF
! Design. and A. B. Frost. The member
ship was then limited TO twenty
The club now changed its name TO the
Salma gun ndi sketch Club. which was the
suggestion Of J. Scott Hartley The club
was incorporated in due time, the charter
members being J. Wells Champney,
Joseph and J. Scott Hartley. George
Inness. A. C. Morgan Walter Clark, J..
Francis Murphy, W. II. Shelton, Milton j..
Burne. II p Share and Sidney and Charles
Osborne
The word sketch has been since re-
moved by official action at Albany. An
old scrap book Of the club mentions the
subjects decided on for illustrations, pre-
serving many Of them. some by Walter
Shirlaw. Howard Pyle. ". A. Rodgers,
Rufus Zogbaum, T. de Thulstrup and
other men since eminent in their respec-
tive lines Of work.
In these early days, too. the famous club
beverage Of coffee and chocolate. which
was called Salmagundi, was adopted
and while il has been replaced by other
sorts and kinds is still popular, particu-