The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-02

NuC ShuD WuS hEOt hAO Ohu
Bernhard mansion mt Fifth avenue and
Fifteenth street, or the marble mau.
solemn at Fifth avenue and Thirty.
fourth street, nor is Il the Jerome place
at Madison avenue and Twenty.sixth
street. 1t IL an atmosphere. a habit,
an association: n vague, intangible.
an ungetatable something that not
even an artist 10 skilful as Colonel
WATTERsoN ran set down In ink on
paper. Colonel WATTERsoN recognizes
the limitations: he lifts the veil an
inch, when he relates the remark at
tributed to a learned and dignificd
Judge Mt n of the dinners given
in his honor. that EVERY one Of you
boys here, except one. calls me
CHARLIE and that one is my son.
That spirit Is the club; and Its very
intimacy, Its u%nreserved confidence, its
complete trust, must Of necessity keep
1t out Of print. Expose It, record 1t,
put It on parade, and 1t Is forever
destroyed.
From the fne comradcship that
this jurisconsult's words typify spring
all the possessions. trapperies, uni
forms. customs, that house and CON-
fort the club members. On 1t the
cellar man and the chcf-honOrable
and highly honOred servants Of good
clubs, held In particular esteem at the
Manhattan-erect their most notable
triumphs. Architect and decorator are
as nothing without It; the one may
rear a stately pile, the other furnish
1t with consummate judgment, and
their labOrs will be in vain II that
essence be missing. A great hotel
offers all that the best of clubs can
offer In the material things Of life
good food, good drink, a comfortable
chair. attentive service; and It re-
mains a hotel. while some obscure
assemblagc. meeting at first by chance
and then by design. transforms n
plain and %uninviting room into a
haven for its ~frequenters.
Not that the Manhattan IL. or ever
has been. plain or uninviting. It.
founders took pride in its kitchen and
wine vaults; they boosted that Its
chef was better than Delmonico's; n
worthy succession of gifted gentlemen
has seen to It that the surroundings
Of its members should minister AIDE.
Quately to their creature wants; but
always, We take 1t. the supreme fac
tor in the success of the club. the
force that has extricated IL from the
tight places into which it has occa.
sionally fallen, has been that frater'
nal feeling without which all the
portraits, all the ~vintages, all the re-
sources for intelligent social enjoy.
ment, would count for naught.
The preservation Of this homogene'
ity of sentiment In u large club would
be highly difficult II II had To b'
formally undertaken. Even Colone
WArTERsoN would be put to IT.. we
think. IL six men should demand of
him a recipe to exclude those who
would not tit into the mosaic Of their
would contribute TO its success. I'ut
the problem does not arise in this
abrupt fashion. The founders of the
club are congenial the ecccntricities
Of n complement the idiosyncra>ic'
Of another they engage the society
of their friends; mutual interest and
! antagVnism perform a service: the
appropriate number of cranky fcl'
lows. the necessary background oi
solid and stolid citizens. produces
itself: the public spirited man who
Is willing to he the unrewar,ed ser
want Of all Is found for the house
committee; the dumb black ball pro
yides for the ultimate treatment ut
those who, with responsibility un,ar
nishal, pockets sufficiently lined and
ambition aroused. simply will not do
the selectiye process is constant. an
tomato and efiicncious; the clut
grows strong In fellowship; the diff
%ferenccs of It's component units un
dergo Informal adjustment and the
organization succeeds.
Lucky Is that club which has Colo
mel WArTERsoS 10 write the record u,
It's activities: lucky Is Colonel WAT
TERsON to have such n club as tn,
Manhattan to engage his talent. The
one BELTS the other; the sum Is nd
mirable: the Colonel has given Us /;
book worth reading and keeping; ",
thank him for II. and thank the gren'
body of the Manhattan club for hay,
ing made II possible; and yet. will
all its wealth Of anecdote and list %
important and pleasant men fresh IL
mind. we know that the Manhattan
Club has not been put between IT,
overs.
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