The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-01
STRANGEST CLUBS IN HE WIDE WORLD London Is Securing Very
 Choice Collection
SOME QUEER NAMES
Members of "Sighing Club" Were Supposed to Be Always Ab- sorbed in Thinking of
 Their Sweethearts
From the London Standard.

From the London Standard
 London is securing a choice collection
 of titles for new clubs Picturesqueness
 Is the one essential. Hence we have the
 Club of the Golden Calf and Black Ca,
 club-both we'll known institutions with
 titles that certainly arrest attention. There is also a Ghost club, whose secrets
 are so well guarded that it is unknown
 to the outside world.
 | It meets monthly In a private dining
 room of a fashionable West End restau-
 rant, and its membership is both limited
 and exclusive. Among the members are
 a titled chemist of worldwide fame. liar
 ley street physicians, solicitors and other professional men, and conjuror who is
 entitled to rank high in the list of pub
 lie entertainers. After dinner papers are
 read by the members, all of whom ara
 regarded as experts in psychical of ghost | ly phenomena, and sometimes the pro-
 ceedings are varied by the holding of
 seances.
 One of the most extraordinary clubs
 London has ever known was the Signing club, the members of which were sup
 posed to be wholly absorbed in thinking
 of their sweethearts. Each would hold
 In his hand n bit of ribbon, a lock of hair
 a purse or some other article belonging
 to the object of his affections, and from | time to time he would address this article i in terms of endearment, no other speak l ing being allowed. On initiation the mem
 Der had to compose and recite a poem in l honor Of his lady, and at the meetings
 fine was imposed upon the member | cfc
 quarter of an hour.
 | Again there was the Abduction club.
 organized in 1766 by some well-conneeted | Irish youths who banded themselves to-
 gether to abduct heresses and good-lools | ing young women of gentle birth As
 there was large membership many | forced marriages took place in conse-
 qpence of their exploits The evil be-
 came eventually so serious that d special
 act of parliament was passed making ab- 1 Guction a capital offense
 The members assisted each other by providing relays of horses and carriage ; whenever necessary. The wealth of tho | two sisters Kennedy, daughters of Rich ard Kennedy of Rathmeaden Manor, Wa
 terford caused the attention of the mem bers to be drawn to them. Gerald Byrne.
 grandson of Sir Gregory Byrne. and
 James Strange Willard were drawn in the | lottery, and the abduction took place 1 on April n, 1779.
 l The principals were arrested tried and
 condemned, and they were executed in | tfe following May, notwithstanding the
 fact that ministers of the court of Vien-
 ra grandees of Spain and French nobles
 inlplored their pardon. The club was in- troduced into England in 177O but dis banded in 1902 when % members re-
 mained.
 The No-Nose club was founded by a. gentleman who was an unwilling follower of the Egyptian fashion of fiat faces When the members dined together and q young pig, the favorite dish, was the
 principal item on the menu, the snout
 was always cut of by the cook Tho
 late Henry Petit established a Nose club | for the possessors of large noses. He bimself was the first president.
 The Club of Ugly Face was also found ed by a gentleman who boaste6 an enor-
 mously large nose. Another member had a chin the size and shape of shoe horn another a huge mouth and a fourth very large, protruding eyes. No one was eligi-
 ble for membership who had not some facial malformation, and all members on irritation had to make a speech in praise of Aesop, whose portrait hung over the mantelpiece of the clubroom.
 The Surley club had its meeting place near Billingsgate fish market, and It's if-tinDtTSn1p was limited 10 caDInen, car men and watermen, who used to meet once a week to exercise the art of abus- i've language in order that they might not lose the reputation they had gained. Any r. ember found guilty of courtesy or po- llteness was promptly fined.
 The Split Farthing club was limited in membership to men who agreed to stint themselves to the utmost in order to in- crease their possessions. One member fc a6 tn baI h bfc earned that there was not enough of the original material left to show the texture The members presented so starved an ap- pearance that 1t was said there was not an ounce of fat among the lot. The Our club was the outgrowth of the Museum club and had its quarters in Northumberland street Among the mem
 bers of the club were Thackeray, DicA- els, Douglas Jerrold, David Mason and George Henry Lewes.
 The present 101 club in Central Lon
 don, whose title defines the limit of mem- bership, recalls to mind the Six O'Clock
 club which consisted of six members only, who met at o'clock in the evening and
 separted at o'clock in the morning pr. Brooks and the celebrated Greek scholar Porson were members of this club
 The Humdrum club used to meet early in the evening and the members sat to- eether smoking pipes until midnight, ob- serving strict silence all the time. The Everlasting club was limited in member ship to 100, and the members divided the day among themselves in such a way that there were always some present upon the premises.
 The great fire of London put an end to
 this institution, as the premises wers burned down, and the only member on the premises was nearly burned to death
 because he refused to leave until he had omptied all the bottles on the table. The fire for lighting the members pipes was rever allowed to go out, an old woman being kept solely for the purpose of at tending to it. During the 50 years of It's existence the members smoked 90 tons of tobacco, drank 5000 butts of ale. 10Oo pipes of port and POO barrels of brandy, in addition to other liquors.
 The Man-Killing club was limited in membership to men who had killed oppo- nents in duels. The conversation at the gatherings was confined to bullets wounds and slaughter. The president
 was said to have killed a half dozen
 men in single combat, and the seats at dinner were arranged according to the numbers the members had slain At ban quets side table was provided for vis- itors who had only drawn blood. The members had not lengthy existence, as ne arly all the members were executed Suicides clubs have been long in exist ence, and one existed recently at Kursk The club had for It's motto: Death is the | cure for all ills,'' but as set forth in its
 book of rules. candidates for n,emberslAp
 hed first of all to show that they had a substantial reason for wishing to die.
 would-be candidate who presented |