The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-06-16
BUSINESS MEMS CLUB IMPORTANT
FACTOR IN CITY'S COMMERCIAL LIFE
YOUNG IN YEARS, ORGANIZATION II
FILLING 4 WAND LONG
EELT. ,.t
IN PALATIAL QUARTERS
IT'S MEMBERS WORK TO0NTHEn
UNsEr4FH0fI1Y FOR TINE An-
vANCEaGnNT or NIcH-
MONn.

The most potent factor In the COM
mercial life OF Richmond--ths Busa-
ness Mems Ciub-roundsd OUT the
fifth year Of It's existence the past
week, and starts another year with
the brightest prospects for evn
greater era of property and usefui-
ness.
The growth of this organization,
unique in it's aims and purposes. mas
been little short OF marvellous. There
~ probably no club similar TO 1t In
the entire South Its basic, primary
idea IL the commercial advancement
Of Richmond. and its method Of
bringing about this general result Is
to furnish a convenient, comfortable
gathering place for business men,
where they can meet each other. be-
come better acquainted ana thus CO.
operate In any and every n,overne emit
looking to the oitys commercial wei
fare. The club does not enter tho
Geld OF the Chamber of Commerce In
IFS campaign or attracting new enter
prises 10 Richmond; it does not take
the place OF the Retail Merchants As
ISOLATION or gin,ilsr organizations
which follow the narrower lines OF
credit protection. nor does 1t intrude
upon the mission of the social clubs.
having no cafe feature, nor tho usual
club diversions. The red room. for
meeting purposes; the reading room
and the dining room make up the sole
attractions of tho club. The furnish"
ings are luxurious and the dining
room service perfection. Nor IL tt fss-
cessary to tip the servants TO secure
service. Tipping Is forbidden In the
club, and tbs waiter or servant who
accepts one Is discharged without no.
tiee.
Motives Purely unssifsh.
The wiseacres prophecied that such
a club could not succeed. 1t did not
hold out the inducements OF the social
club. and. they argued. there was
nothing to hold the membership To-
gether except the purely unselfisa mo-
tive Of Richmond's commercial well
fare. and how in the world could
sum cient number OF men be found so
nnselfish as TO work together to mann
tain club Of this character
The wiseacres for once were wrong
The new club found favor from the
start. and the fact that there are
plenty OF men IN Richmond who have
the city's welfare at heart. and who
are unseiass,, enough 20 work to that
end. is demonstrated by the continued
and steady growth OF the organiza-
ton. The increase IN membership
iasS year was Sixty nine, PER SE&ii. a sV
club now has 1,125 members. or this
number $50 are resident members: So
commercial members, and ia nom
resident emhers. There were 45e adj
o!tions the past yrur, ard It Is ex-
peeted that as many more VIII any
themselves with the organization the
coming year
Started on Small Scale
Organized on May 1s, 1907. on a
small scale by a group OF progressive
men who saw niche untitled by evn
the chamber Of commerce. the move
ment rapidly found favor. a. c.
Braxton was It's first president The
start was ~1nodest and the quarters
not alluring to prospective members.
But the little coterle worked together
and worked hard John N. Miller.
Jr. succeeded Mr.. Braxton and his
rresidendcy left its impress. Then
Vei, d. Sills was elected president
Y-nr two years he encountered the
same odds that faced his predecas-