The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-11-19
BIRTHDAY OF THE
 LONDON CIVIL =
 OLDEST OF CLUBS

Man is d. social, clubbable sort of animal, much given to seeking the company of his kind. and as a. result there are in existence thousands of clubs and fraternal organizations for the purpose of satisfying this gregar- #iaus instinct It is in Great Britain and the United States that club life has reached it's highest development. Today is the birthday of the oldest of the modern type of clubs, the Lon don Civil Club, which was launched 246 years ago today, Nov. 19, 1669- It was the development of an earlier system of social intercourse by which
 men of kindred tastes and pursuits
 met together at stated times, usually in coffee houses or taverns. The most famous of these early informal clubs was that at. the Mermaid tavern, es- tablished about the end Of the six teenth century, and which included among it's members Shakespeare and Raleigh. Addison, Steele and .otherss nfet at Buttons Coffee House, and Ben Jonson set up a club at the Devil been developed to the point where nearly every profession, art, political party and abusiness represented in great cities has it's cIubs with hand some, luxurious edifices.
 On this side Of the Atlantic the first important c1tlb-the Wistar of PhiIa- de1phia-was launched in 1s33- It was soon followed by the Union of New York. founded in 1s36. There are now 85 such clubs in New York alone, not counting a multitude of smaller societies. The c1ubwoman is a much later development than the cIubman, the first distinctive club for the fair sex being the Sorosis of New York, established in 1868. Practically --<.sk- r, United States and Canada now has it's commercial and social clubs. while the Y. M. C.. A. and the athletic clubs appeal to the rising generation
 In continental countries the club movement has always been looked upon with more or less suspicion, ewx ing to the, fact that so many of the clubs of Germany. France and Italy have had for their purpose the propa- Igation of unpopular and radical pc 1iticaI, and religious ideas,
 One Of the strangest sdeve1o pmentss of the club idea came in the latter part of the seventeenth and the early part of the eighteenth centuries, when so-called s.Hen-Fire Clubs, were orr ganized in London, Edinburgh, Dub lin and other cities. The members of these societies were accused of taking part in all sorts of profane orgies, and, while many of the traditions of these clubs are doubtless Actions. it is cer- tain that the young men thus banded together were not animated by any high or noble motives.
 Another curious club which four ished for a. time in England and Ire land was the .so-called .tAbductidn Club, although the various societies had different names. The chief pur- pose in life of the young ralzes who formed this organization was the ab- duction of girls. The members were wealthy and many of them fsnoble,s and they maintained lavishly furnish ed quarters. In order to attain full membership it was necessary for man to bring to the club a girl of good family and character. Some of the victims never returned, and it was1 supposed that they had killed them selves. In other cases the matter was hushed up in order to avoid scandal. When at last the authorities had asuf- fcient evidence the abduetin clubs were broken up. but the young repro-