Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-08-01
throughout a thousand buyers. they ar.

throughout a thousand buyers. they are
a mere song.
The Buyers Guide is a little book
which might At any purse. and on its
back is stamped the owners number
Inside are the names of a hundred rep
utable merchants of Washington who
saw an advantage in Offering a dis
count of from to 25 per cent to the
1900 or 1000 members OF the club. NJ
responsibility Is assumed In the pay
ment of bills by the club. but the mem
hers have found perfect cooperation
with all the merchants listed. and /.
has been a saving of hundreds of dol
lars in large families where shoes.
dresses and whatnot are in constant
demand.
No license is required by the District
of Columbia for the traffic in goods car
ried on by the Home Club. as II is all
done under the club management
One OF the first things Franklin X.
Lane did after he became Secretary Of
the Department of the Interior was to
put on foot a movement for organic
ing a club for the employees of that
department The Home Club is the
result. or the 5000. more or less. gov
eminent clerks in the Department Of
the Interior, about 1000 of them are
members of the club. Their monthly
dues of so cents enabled the manage
ment to lease the Schuyler ColfaN
house. owned bv Mrs. Mary Mclean
Ludlow. and variousiy occupied by her
brother-in-law and sister Admiral and
Mrs. Dewey, the late DR.. Nabuco. Bra
lillian ambassador. and others.
II is In historic Jackson place. facing
Lafayette Square. and overlooking the
White House, its Offices and beautiful
-.
trail. the house perfectly adapted to the
purpose, and the furnishings have been
chosen for dura ability. and show vast
amount of taste which fully carries
out the name. Home Club. Not
piece .of furniture or picture but be
speaks the thought and taste of the
fnstigator OF the club Mrs Lanes
judgment was asked when the final
touches were added.
Mr. Lane has theory of community
of interests being the best thing for
government clerks 1t improves their
efficiency. The Home Club proves the
theory to he correct. The thousands
of clerks employed in the Secretarys
office. the Indian office. the general land
office. the pension office. the geological
survey. pureau OF education. reclama-
ton service and bureau of mines, were
all asked to unite in forming the club
More than 1900 employees came into the
club, and of this number fully 1000
have adopted the cooperative buying
system
AS social club it is great sue
cess Miss Margaret Wilson, the
Presidents daughter. has sung there.
and last winter when the musical club
within the club gave a concert at Con-
tinental Hall with all Home Club tall
emf she accompanied the Secretary and
Mrs. Lane and declared the entertain
ment to be matchless.
There is a camera club. bowling
club. a billiard club. a base ball team.
and recently a club was formed for
target practice. There are classes in
foreign languages. as well as In Eng
lish branches; and those formed for
the study of domestic economy are
particularly well patronized.
Dancing classes were the fad OF the
winter, and in the large ballroom. once
the pride Of the Brazilian ambassador.
members of the club frolicked away
many evenings.
feature of the club which is most
compatible with the cooperative buy
ing feature is the opportunities afford
ed members. and especially the wives
of officials and employees. for entertain
ing their friends. When a woman
wishes to entertain party OF her
friends at tea or luncheon. or with a
card party which may combine both.
she may do so there. She pays only
81 for the use or a n electric stove tne
services of maid, and the use of china,
silver. glass linens and other table
ware. She has only to send the pro.
visions for the occasion. and we'll
kept pantry affords every other con-
venience required.
A camp up the Potomac is now a
charming and alluring feature Of club
life there. and the gray automobile
makes various trips with such sup
plies as cooperative buying affords.
The Home Club in all it's branches is
looked upon as an experiment., but so
great is it's success that the Secretary
Of the Interior has formulated a plan
for bringing all government employees
under the civil service into such clubs.
AS it stands now. the clerks of the
State. War, Navy. Treasury and other
departments frequently importune to
be admitted to the Home Club. but are
precluded by the rules. which admit
only employees of the Interior Depart
ment.
However. IL cooperative buying were
the only feature of the club, and all
the social life precluded. it would be
well worth more than the so cents
month dues to belong to it.