Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-24
|ONE-T|ME LUNCH CLUB
RECALLED TO MEMORY
Organization Known as ''Snack
Grabbers" Without Officers
and Minus Insignia.

A lunch club which was composed of
Washingtonians and which dourished in
the 90s is recalled by the recent
| opening Of the New Raleigh Hotel.
1.-The Snack Grabbers." as the club was
named, held their weekly meetings in
the then New Raleigh. A few Of the
| members used to meet there occasion
ally. and the custom gradually took the
| form of a club. A description of the Or
ganization was yesterday furnished The
Star by member Of the club. who sign
ed himself Stilicho. 1t is as follows:
1.-THE members were few in number.
Chief among them were DR.. George Brown
Goode, Dr. Cyrus Adler and Richard
Rathbun, all of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton; DR.. Frank Wigglesworth Clarke, the
chemist; Joseph C. Hornblower, architect,
and his partner, Rush Marshall; Frank
w. Hackett and Cazenove G. Lee, law
yers. The late DIR. B. l. Whitman, then
president of Columbian University, was
occasionally to be found there. Each
one was privileged to bring in friend
Threatened to Become Real Club.
For period the gathering, always en-
joyable, >promised to grow into a real club
for the purpose of lunching, instead of
being a perfectly informal meeting.
las a part of the fun of the occasion,
constitution was read and then subscribed
to by those who CHANGED to be present
Friday. January 4, 1885, That accom-
plished scientist, DIR. Goode, signed his
name rapidly, offhand. the letters re-
versed, in this wise: edooG nworB @
''1he constitution was as follows:
I'VE, the undersigned, good men and
true, being fired with desire to do some
thing, hereby pledge our lives, our for
tunes mot exceeding 30 cents a week. and
our sacred honor to carry into effect the
purposes of our organization.
Our Name.-Our name shall be 1.-The
Snack Grabbers.'
"Officers.-There shall be no officers.
Annual Meeting.-The annual meeting
shall be held at such time and place as
may be convenient.
Regular Meetings.-We shall meet reg
ularly each Friday at 1 o'clock in the aft
ernoon at the Raleigh restaurant-perils
of the sea, public invasion or other en- |
gagements excepted.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT shall pay his |
own bill and nobody shall spend more |
than 80 cents unless by unanimous con- |
sent.
.Insignia.-There. shall be no insignia, |
no password, no secrets of the order. |
There shall be no honorary members and |
no free list.
Etquette.-Buckle's History of CiviH-
Mrs Henderson's Cookbook shall be |
treated as standard works. from which
there shall be no appeal, except to the I
editor of the Nation.
Secrets of the Order.-Any member |
who shall divulge the secrets of the order /
shall be left to the cravings Of his own /
conscience.
"Punctuality.-No member who is not |
present shall sit down at table.
Clarke Without a Peer.
dr. Clarkee puns were endured with
fortitude, but nobody who tried to put
him down by making a worse one ever
succeeded. No one Of that company was
more delightful, both in listening and in
dropping remark than
the late Mr.. Hornblower, whose quiet hu-
nor was ever ready at the happy moment.
One day, while some of US. coming away
from luncheon. were climbing the slight
lill on 18th street, Hornblower pointed /
20 a tin sign on the sidewalk, just in
'ront Of a banber's shop. 1t read: Boots
,lacked inside Shouldn't like that OBJ
served Hornblower.
1.-THE club, such as 1t was-or wasn't
nay at least, come into the memory for
brief moment as a bit of the history of
he Avenue"