The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-02-26


this club. although men of what are
greater qualifications, ability and
achievement, assemble within its mar
bic walls.
So many people of more than ample
means favor it, that it has been named
The Millionaires Club" J. Pierpont
Morgan has been its president.
It's home is an imposing, yet plain,
white marble edifice at Fifth avenue
and Sixtieth street, nearly opposite the
southern entrance of Central park.
The gateway of the club is an archi-
tectural feature. The silence and the
quiet of the massive reception hall
and the enormous receiving room
were somewhat oppressive. The Nu-
indian marbled walls of one of these
rooms extends up through two stor-
les. featured by mammoth dou-
bic staircases and an open fireplace,
large enough to hold the two fire
places which the writer has in Tope-
ka and Shawnee county, and which he
believed were the largest in the COM
munity
There are about one thousand club
members. The entrance fee and the
dues are not large, considering. The
first is three hundred dollars, the an
nual dues one hundred dollars, and
the nonresident dues fifty dollars per
year. An odd feature in the hall near
the entrance is wall tablet contain
ing list of the mem bers, with ivory
pegs of white and red, one color de-
noting the presence of the member in
the building, the other his absence.
This writer had never held any par
ticular desire to visit this club house,
nor had he given any especial
thought to it one way or the other, not
having had opportunity or invitation.
Both came unexpectedly, and yet with
a delightful anticipation, which was
not shattered in the realization Still
there remains no desire to join and
pluck any of the Metropolitan arbor
grapes which might prove sour.
At this dinner there were viands of
which the western man often dreams,
but rarely partakes. including ter
rapin and canvasback duck. The lat
ter is always fine and the former is
not as bad as it looks when one be-
comes somewhat familiar with the
taste. which in this case, is admittedly
an acquired one. possibly perverted.
certainly not a natural nor necessary
demand of the palate.
Pierpont Morgan did not seem to be
in evidence.
It was in this club that Taft's attor-
ney general. George w. Wickersham,
was at one time welcome visitor, but
since Mr.. Wickersham has taken over
the United States government as his
client instead of retaining the corpOr
atoms as the beneficiary of his ability,
certain members of this club are said
to have turned their backs upon him
or failed to recognize him as he came
within the walls, although his face had
Heretofore been quite familiar.
This dinner of course was served in
one of the private dining rooms. There
were eleven about the round table.
All were newspaper men or had been
engaged in newspaper work as their
life avocation. The guest of honor
was Whitelaw Reid. our ambassador
to the court of st. James.
This particular meal, considering
the environm and the menu, was
strikingly democratic. 1t was infor-
NAL. Mr.. Reid was charming. He
was glad evidently to be in America
on visit and gave indication of
inconsistencies to be back permanently.
Yet he was evidently pleased to serve
his country, even if it required him to
entertain in London Americans by the
thousand and make diplomatic speeches |
which could, but did not include as
many a day as there were meals. The |
grace with which he has filled his
high diplomatic position certainly re-
fleets glory upon his career as a great
newspaper man. Entertained. he was
yet most entertaining. His stories of
Pulitzer, of Bennett, of Dana, of
Childs and those real Journalists
of his earlier years were of intense
interest to those about the same table. |
all of the same guild. =.
Each guest was called upon to SAY |
something" The writer spoke of two !
incidents which brought him upon a !
small part of common ground with the |
and had placed his feet for |
moments in the same pathway, as a |
bow might follow the footsteps of a |
man For about the time he was born |
in Springfield, and just before he be-
came identified with the press as a |
carrier of newspapers. in his native |
town, Whitelaw Reid was sticking |
type" in the adjoining Ohio county, at
Xenia, by the side of the late Senator
Plumb of Kansas, who founded the !
paper upon which the writer for many
years was engaged in various capacities
(Chapter kew tomorrow