USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Boston of to-day; a glance at its history and characteristics: with biographical sketches and portraits of many of its professional and business men, 1892 > Part 14
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THE Boston of To-day is preeminently a club town. It has clubs of every sort known in modern club life. There are the great social clubs the hospitalities of which are enjoyed by men of distinction in various walks; professional and busi- ness clubs ; literary, art, and musical clubs ; dining clubs ; political clubs ; women's clubs ; athletic, bicycle, tennis, whist, and chess clubs ; yacht clubs ; rowing clubs ; riding clubs ; and clubs devoted to special interests or to fads. The best type of the modern club man is to be found here in Boston.
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the nabobs of the time. When the Temple was es- action is final. The admission fee is Stoo, and tablished here this was a favored section of the city, the annual assessment the same.
and hard by its best residence-quarters. The Tem- ple dates from 1829, and has always maintained an excellent reputation for good-fellowship. To- day its membership is small and composed of con- genial souls. It is one of the few clubs in the town in which the English habit of invariably wearing the hat is punctiliously followed. One of its earliest presidents was George T. Bigelow, afterwards chief justice, and of those succeeding him have been such well-known Bostonians as Patrick Grant, John T. Coolidge, Frederic W. Lincoln, and Peter Butler. Among the club's treasures is a small collection of paintings, which include "The Greek Girl," pre- sented by the late William M. Hunt, " An Interior of a Dutch Kitchen," given by the late Colonel William P. Winchester, "The Dutch Singing- school," and a " Bull's Head," by Hinckley. One of its relics is a pitcher of colossal dimensions orig- inally the property of the old " Tiger" Hand- engine No. 7, whose house used to be on School street in front of the old City Hall. . The entrance- fee to the Temple is $50, and the annual assessment $100. A candidate for membership is required to have three instead of two proposers - the rule gen- erally in Boston clubs. The Suffolk, in rooms on Beacon street a few doors above Tremont, is another mellow old club, organized in 1845. It also is a small and choice organization composed of solid Bostonians, most of whom are connected with other clubs.
The Union Club, on Park street, occupying the old mansion-house of Abbott Lawrence, which has been considerably enlarged and extended in recent years, was established during the Civil War (on the 9th of April, 1863), for " the encouragement and dissemination of patriotic sentiment and opinion," and the condition of membership was "unqualified loyalty to the Constitution of the United States, and unswerving support of the federal government in efforts for the suppression of the Rebellion." Its first president was Edward Everett, and in his ad- dress on the occasion of the opening of the club- house he sketched in his inimitable way the beauty of its position, which with all the changes of later years is yet undimmed : " Its proximity to our noble Common is a feature of extreme beauty ; the views from every story of the house are cheer- ful and attractive ; those from the upper windows and the observatory on the roof are of unsurpassed loveliness. As I contemplated them the other day, gazing, under the dreamy light of an Indian sum- mer, on the waters in the centre of the Common, sparkling through the tinted maples and elms ; the line of surrounding hills, Brighton, Brookline, Rox- bury, and Dorchester; the islands that gem the harbor ; the city stretched like a panorama around and beneath, -- I thought my eye had never rested on a more delightful prospect." Soon after the war the political conditions of membership were re- moved, and the club was made an entirely un- partisan social organization. It is to the Union that many of the most prominent members of the Suffolk bar belong; but other professions, letters and art notably, are worthily represented in its membership. Applications for membership must be reported upon favorably by a committee, and then be voted upon by the club. The entrance-fee is $100, and the annual assessment $75. The club- house has ample rooms, a valuable library, and some excellent paintings. There are a number of private dining-rooms, and at its table d'hôte din- ners in the large dining-room are daily gathered, through the active seasons, groups of representa- tive Bostonians, judges of the courts, prominent attorneys, and well-known men of affairs. Colonel Henry Lee is now president of the Union ( 1892).
The Somerset is par excellence the aristocratic club of the town, and cultivates the "flower of the best families." It was formed in 1852, and was an outgrowth of the Tremont club, long since dissolved. It has occupied its present most agreeable quarters in the old stone mansion-house of David Sears on Beacon street since 1872, when it removed from its first quarters in the building nearer " down town," now the Congregational House. Its rooms of gener- ous size are admirably arranged for club purposes, and an air of elegant comfort pervades the house. A much-enjoyed feature is the ladies' restaurant, open to guests of members and to non-members accom- panying ladies on club orders. To other dainty dining and supper rooms, one of which is resplen- dent in yellow satin and mirrors of quaint pattern, ladies and non-members may also be invited by The Puritan, on the corner of Beacon and Spruce streets, in a private dwelling remodelled for club purposes, is sometimes called the Junior Somerset. It is largely composed of younger clubible men, and among its elder club-seasoned members are members as guests. The club has a good library, and on its walls are hung several valuable paintings. The membership is limited to six hundred. Candi- dates for membership are scrutinized by a committee on elections consisting of fifteen members, and its a number of Somerset and Union men. Already
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in its short life (it was born in 1884) it has occu- St. Botolph must have two proposers and be posted. pied three different houses : its first, that on Spruce After this they are passed upon by a special com- mittee, who alone elect. The entrance-fee is $30, and the annual assessment is $36. From the estab- lishment of the club in 1880 until 1885, Francis Parkman, the historian, was president ; then, declin- ing longer to serve, a most worthy successor was chosen in the unanimous election of Gen. Francis A. Walker. street directly behind its present one, and its second on Mt. Vernon street at the corner of Joy, formerly the home of the late Joseph Iasigi. In the constitution of the club it is provided that no person under the age of twenty-one, and no college undergraduate, shall be eligible to membership. Applications for admission must be approved by the committee on elections, and then be voted upon by the club. One black ball in five excludes. The entrance-fee is $25; the annual assessment the same. The club has excellent table d'hôte dinners. A number of lodging-rooms in the house are let to members for a year at a time. The pres- ident of the Puritan is George von L. Meyer.
In the line of Back Bay club-houses, the first, the St. Botolph, at No. 2 Newbury street, is distinctively the leading professional club of the city. In its membership, more generally than in that of any other, is represented the best in art, literature, the law, music, journalism, and the other professions. It has a rich artistic and literary flavor, and its members are in touch with the best work of the day in the various professional fields. It is in the St. Botolph that visiting men of letters and distin- guished artists from other cities in our own country and abroad are most frequently met, and its recep- tions to men of distinction in professional life the world over are notable events. In its large art gallery are exhibited during each season collections of work of its own members and of other painters ; and some of the finest treasures in Boston, nota- bly the rare specimens of Japanese art now in the Art Museum, have first been displayed here. In- teresting features of the winter seasons are its regu- lar Sunday afternoon concerts, to which its own members contribute, and the delightfully informal " smoke talks " on literary, artistic, scientific, and lighter topics, opened by an essayist and followed by general discussion. The club-house, formerly the dwelling of the late Henry P. Kidder, has a small restaurant, an enticing grill, agreeable reading- rooms well provided with current home and foreign literature, and every feature of the comfortable club of to-day. In the small reception room is displayed the silver-gilt loving cup formerly belonging to the corporation of old Boston, in Lincolnshire, Eng. It was the gift of the Rev. George E. Ellis, himself a member of the club, made on the condition that " if ever the club shall be disbanded or its assets disperse, the cup shall revert to the Massachusetts Historical Society," of which Dr. Ellis is the presi- dent. Names of candidates for admission to the
The sumptuous Algonquin, on Commonwealth avenue, is the leading business men's club of the town ; among its members are bankers, brokers, merchants, railroad magnates, and a sprinkling of lawyers. It is patterned after the Union League of New York, but without the political tinge which that club has. Organized in the autumn of 1885 with a large membership, it immediately proceeded to build its fine and costly club-house 1 and to secure luxuri- ous surroundings. Among its active or resident members are many who have been connected with the older Boston clubs, notably the Temple and the Somerset, and its non-resident members are largely composed of New Yorkers. Candidates for admis- sion as active members must have two proposers, and their names, after being posted on the bulletin for at least ten days, must pass the committee on admissions, and then be voted upon ; fifty votes are necessary to elect, and one negative vote in ten of those cast is fatal. The admission fee is $100, and the annual assessment the same. Non-resident members are required to pay one-half these sums. A non-resident is defined as one not residing or having a place of business within forty-five miles of Boston. The direction of the entire affairs of the club is in the hands of an executive committee. The Hon. John F. Andrew has been the president of the Algonquin from its establishment.
The Art Club, which now includes men interested remotely as well as directly in art, with a minority of actual workers in art, sprang from a purely profes- sional club, formed in 1854, of twenty members. The meetings were for years held in the studios of its artist members, and until 1870 it had neither a settled abode nor a fixed place for its exhibitions. In that year a new organization was effected, the membership was largely increased by the admission of many non-professional men, and a club-house with a large exhibition gallery was established on Boylston street opposite the Common. The follow- ing year the club was incorporated, and enlarged powers and privileges were thus secured. From Boylston street the club moved into its present Back Bay house,? the cost of which, and the land on 1 and *. Described in the chapter on the New West End.
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which it stands, was met by a fund subscribed by its members. The Art Club's monthly "Saturday evenings." are events of the busy seasons. Every winter a large exhibition of new work of American artists is given. The club possesses an admirable library containing important works on art and books of reference, and its walls are hung with paintings which it has purchased from time to time from the collections exhibited in its gallery. Names of can- didates for membership, after passing before the committee on membership, are posted and then voted on at regular meetings of the club. One negative vote in ten rejects. The entrance-fee is $50, and annual assessments $15 for professional artists and $30 for other members. Stephen M. Crosby is president of the club.
The Paint and Clay Club is composed mostly of painters, with a sprinkling of architects, sculptors, and journalists. Its rooms, at the top of a business building on Washington street at No. 419, originally a loft with a high skylight and low alcoves at each end, are artistically and comfortably arranged ; and fresh works of its members are often first shown on their walls. For a number of years the club gave annual exhibitions in down-town galleries, and re- ceptions in its rooms. But these, unhappily, are no longer regular features of the season. It is a small and choice organization. One of the condi- tions of membership is that the candidate must be either an artist practising his profession or one closely connected with art interests. The fees are light and the organization simple, consisting of a chairman, a secretary and treasurer, and club com- mittees. During the winter season social reunions are held each Wednesday evening, and often on these occasions a rare company is gathered around the ample lunch-table. The Paint and Clay dates from ISSo.
The Camera Club, organized in 1SS9, is an or- ganization of one hundred and fifty members, which includes some of the most notable amateurs in the country. It has well-arranged exhibition, develop- ing, and enlarging rooms, on the upper floor of No. 50 Bromfield street, furnished with the best and most modern appliances of the art of photog- raphy. Each season the club gives an exhibition of the work of its members. It also unites with the societies in New York and Philadelphia in exhibi- tions held progressively in the several cities. That of the spring of 1892, an exceptionally fine one, was held here in the gallery of the Art Club. Ad- mission to the Camera is by ballot of the club, and the annual dues are not exceeding $15. Henry W. Sweet is the president.
The Athletic Club, officially known as the Boston Athletic Association, one of the largest organizations of its class in the country, having fully two thousand members, began its vigorous life in its own Back Bay club-house in 1888.1 Candidates for admission, after their names have been posted in the club, are voted upon by the governing committee of twenty, who alone elect. One negative vote in six excludes. The entrance-fee is $50, and the annual assessment $40.
The New Riding Club, organized in the autumn of 1891, is devoted to good horsemanship. Among its incorporators are some of the best-known Bos- tonians, all- thoroughly trained to the saddle, and its establishment has greatly stimulated the riding habit to which Bostonians, young and old, men and women, have of late years, happily, become ad- dicted. The club-house, on Parker street, within a few paces of the Back Bay park and the superb new driveways, was built especially for the club. Its main arena, 165 by 100 feet, and the smaller one, are the principal features of the interior. The club has experienced riding-masters and all the facilities of the complete riding-school.
The Massachusetts Yacht Club is an outgrowth of the old Dorchester Yacht Club, which was established in 1870. Under the direction of Commodore John C. Soley, lieutenant of the navy, retired, it took on more importance and lofty ambitions. In 1890 an old warehouse on Rowe's wharf was leased and remodelled for club uses, and here is one of the most unique club-houses in town. The lower floor is devoted to stores, lockers, lavatories, and yachts- crews' rooms. On the second story are the business room and a dainty ladies' suite finished in colonial style; next is the billiard room; and the floor above, showing the rough rafters, is that of the res- taurant. The whole house is rich in treasures of the yachtsman's sport. This is the summer club-house. The winter quarters of the club are' in Hayward place near the side entrance to the Globe Theatre, where a modest grill is established. A noteworthy feature of this club, in connection with Commodore Soley's work as lieutenant commander of the State Naval Battalion, consists of lectures and classes in various maritime subjects.
The Union Boat Club, whose picturesque club- house is on Charles river at the foot of Chestnut street, is with one exception the oldest boating-club in the country. It dates from 1851. It is exclu- sively an association of amateurs, no member being allowed to enter into negotiations to row a race for a stated sum of money. The club-house, built in
I Described in the chapter on the New West End.
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1870, contains parlors, smoking, bath, and meeting rooms, a gymnasium, a locker for every member, and two large rooms for the storage of boats. The balcony, extending the entire front of the building, commands a full view of the Charles-river course, so that in a race the boats at the two-mile turn can be seen as they round the stake-boat ; and the roof- seat's accommodate six hundred persons. Candi- dates for membership are voted on by the club ; two negative votes reject. The entrance-fee is $25 and the annual assessment the same. The chib uniform is navy-blue and white, and the ensign is a dark- blue field with the letters " U.B.C." in white.
The Appalachian Mountain Club, established in the Ticknor Building on Park street, is devoted to the exploration of the New England hills and moun- tains and to the cultivation of an interest in geo- graphical studies. Since its organization in 1876 its members have struck out new paths, especially in the White Hills, published accurate maps, and col- lected much new information concerning the moun- tain regions. During the summer season the club has field-meetings, and outings to interesting points are features of the spring and autumn months. It has about one thousand members. Candidates for admission must receive the affirmative vote of two- thirds of the members present and voting.
The Tavern Club is an organization of good fel- lows, mostly artists, musicians, and lawyers, who breakfast and dine together with more or less regularity in their snug and artistically fashioned club-house on Boylston place, just off the busy thor- oughfare of Boylston street by the Common. It employs an Italian caterer, and its frequent club din; ner-parties are choice affairs. Among other nota- ble guests it has entertained at different times Henry Irving, George Augustus Sala, Edwin Arnold, Edwin Booth, Lawrence Barrett, and Oliver Wen- dell Holmes. Although its good table is its leading attraction, it has all the other features of the modern club. It has been in existence since the autumn of 1884, and it first occupied the second floor of the little old building formerly on the corner of Park square and Boylston street, in the upper story of which William M. Hunt has his studio. Candidates for admittance to the club are passed upon by a small committee on elections, and then balloted for by the members. One black ball in five excludes. The entrance-fee is $50, and annual assessment $35. "Charles Eliot Norton is the presi- dent of the Tavern.
The Press Club, on Bosworth street, is the news- paper men's club. To membership are admitted not only men connected with the editorial depart-
ments of the newspapers of the city, but those in the business departments. The club-house is an old-fashioned, low-studded dwelling, well arranged for the comfort and convenience of the members. There is a small restaurant which is open through- out the day and night. Candidates for member- ship are voted upon by the club ; an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the active members present and voting when a ballot is taken, is necessary to elect. The club was organized in March, 1886. The pres- ident is E. B. Haskell. There is also a Woman's Press Club here in Boston, which meets from time to time at dinners or teas, and occasionally gives notable receptions.
The New England Woman's Club, whose rooms are at No. 5 Park street, was the second of its kind established in the country. It is not merely a social club : it engages in much philanthropic and other work for the advancement of woman. Organ- ized in 1868 at the house of Dr. Harriot K. Hunt, by some of the best known of the women of that day in public life, it grew rapidly in numbers, and early in its career its present pleasant quarters were se- cured. It has frequent meetings, entertains guests from other cities at receptions and dinners, and cel- ebrates high tea once a month. Mrs. Julia Ward Howe has been president of the club for many years.
The Century, formerly the Central, originally a South End business men's club, established in that quarter in 1868, has a pleasant club-house on Boyl- ston street opposite the Common, generously fur- nished with every club comfort. Of its several game-rooms the large whist-room is the most popu- lar. It is a prosperous club of business and pro- fessional men. The entrance-fee is $50, and the annual assessment the same. Col. Charles H. Taylor, manager of the "Daily Globe," is the president.
The Elysium Club occupies a handsome new house on Huntington avenue, not far from Chester Park, into which it moved from its first club-rooms at the South End in September, 1890. The cost of the new house and furnishings was $135,000. It is thoroughly equipped with all the conveniences and features of the best class of modern clubs. The Elysium was organized in 1871, and its object is " literary pursuits and sociability." Applications for membership are referred to the election committee of nine members, who alone elect. The initiation fee is $50, and the annual assessment $60. Theodore P. Spitz is the present president. The club has one hundred and twenty-five active and resident members, and twenty-five non-resident members.
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The Roxbury Club is the representative business table at " Billy Park's," but now the club gathers the first Saturday evening of every month - barring the summer months - in one of the large dining-rooms of the Revere. The president, with the secretary and the club's guests, sits at the main table, and at men's club of the Roxbury district. It was estab- lished in October, 1885. Its inviting club-house is on Warren street, a fine dwelling remodelled for its use. The election of members is by the member- ship committee of fifteen. One adverse vote in the long tables extending down the hall are the three excludes. The entrance fee is Sto, and the members' seats. After dinner the "loving cup " annual assessment $30.
The newest club is the University, modelled after the University Club of New York. It was organized in January, 1892, with William C. Endicott as president. A candidate for admission must show a degree received from a university or college ap- proved by the election committee, or from the In- stitute of Technology, and the United States Mili- tary or Naval Academy. Those who have received honorary degrees, and are distinguished in literature, art, science, or the public service, are also eligible to membership. The entrance-fee for resident members is $40, and the annual assessment $36 ; for non-resident members, $30 and $18.
The number of dining-clubs which flourish here in Boston is legion. A few are composed of men of letters and of other professions, many more of poli- ticians or would-be politicians, of business men, of philanthropic or religious groups, of reformers of various classes. There are the Literary, the Papy- rus, the Schoolmasters', the Merchants', the Com- mercial, the Beacon, the Paint and Oil, the Agricultural, the Cereal, the Clover, the Pendennis, the Round Table, the Saturday, the Sheepskin, the Trade, the Twiffler; of purely political clubs : the Massachusetts (Republican), the Bird (Indepen- denty, the Bay State (Democratic), the Boston ( Re- priblican), the Essex (Republican), the Middlesex ( Repriblican), the Middlesex County (Democratic), the Sixth District (Democratic), the Massachusetts Reform (Independent), and the Norfolk ( Repub- lican) ; and of religious and miscellaneous dining- clubs : the Unitarian, the Universalist, the Congre- gational, the Episcopal, the Liberal Union, the New Hampshire and the Pine Tree State (composed, the former of New Hampshire and the latter of Maine men resident in Boston), the New England Railroad, and so on.
Best known beyond the limits of the town is the Papyrus, the organization of clever men in the various professions, notably journalism, art, music, and the law, which most resembles the famous Sav- age of London. From the original organization of a dozen or twenty men, mostly journalists, effected one frosty evening in the autumn of 1870, it has grown to its present extensive proportions. The earliest members met around a generously loaded
passes from the president to the guests and then from member to member, and the literary festivities follow. At these Papyrus dinners some of the gay- est work of its literary members and the poems of its poets have been tried on the free critics who sit at its board, before their appearance in enduring print. The object of the club, " to promote good- fellowship and literary and artistic tastes among its members," is fully attained. According to its con- stitution, at least two-thirds of its members must be literary men, and with such it classes journalists, artists, and publishers. Candidates for membership are first proposed to the club at a regular meeting, then are-referred to the committee on membership, and finally, if approved by that committee, are voted upon by the members. Five black balls exclude. The admission-fee is $to for literary members .and $25 for non-literary, and the assessment is $5. Members pay the dinner-fee at each meeting. The political dining-clubs meet frequently dur- ing the active seasons, some of them once a week, and always on Saturdays : and the business men's and other clubs generally once a month. These meetings and dinners are at the hotels, sev- eral of which have special club dining-rooms.
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