With respect to the number and attractiveness of its clubs, New York bids
fair to rival London. They embrace associations for almost every
purpose, and are more or less successful according to their means and the
object in view. Those for social enjoyment and intercourse are the most
popular, and the best known. They are composed principally of men of
fashion and wealth, and occupy some of the most elegant mansions in the
city.
The best known are the Century, No. 109 East Fifteenth street; Manhattan,
corner of Fifth avenue and Fifteenth street; Union League, corner of
Madison avenue and Twenty-sixth street; Union, corner of Twenty-first
street and Fifth avenue; Travellers', No. 222 Fifth avenue; Eclectic,
corner of Twenty-sixth street and Fifth avenue; City, No. 31 East
Seventeenth street; Harmonie, Forty-second street, west of Fifth avenue;
Allemania, No. 18 East Sixteenth street; American Jockey Club, corner of
Madison avenue and Twenty-seventh street; and New York Yacht Club,
club-house on Staten Island.
The location of these clubs is very desirable. They are all in the most
fashionable quarter of the city, and their houses are in keeping with
their surroundings. They are elegantly furnished, and often contain
valuable and beautiful works of art. Some are owned by the associations
occupying them; others are rented at prices varying from $8000 to $20,000
per annum. The initiation fees range from $50 to $150, and the annual
dues from $50 to $100. The number of members varies from 300 to 800, but
in the best organizations the object is to avoid a large membership.
Great care is taken in the investigation of the history of applicants for
membership, and none but persons of good reputation are admitted. In the
most exclusive, one adverse ballot in ten is sufficient to negative an
application for membership.
By the payment of the sums named above, members have all the benefits of
an elegant private hotel at a moderate cost, and are sure of enjoying the
privacy which is so agreeable to cultivated tastes. They have constant
opportunities of meeting with friends, and besides have a pleasant
lounging place in which to pass their leisure hours.
The Century Club stands at the head of the list. It is considered the
most desirable association in the city, and numerous applications for
places made vacant in it, are always on file. It occupies a handsome red
brick mansion just out of Union Square, on East Fifteenth street. It was
organized more than thirty years ago, and was originally a sketch club,
and its membership was rigidly confined to literary men and artists. Of
late years, however, it has been thrown open to any gentleman who may be
accepted by the members. Its President is William Cullen Bryant. Its
roll of members includes men of all professions among them: Bayard
Taylor, William Allan Butler, George William Curtis, and Parke Goodwin,
authors; Rev. Dr. Bellows and Dr. Osgood, clergymen; John Brougham,
Lester Wallack, and Edwin Booth, actors; Bierstadt, Gignoux, Cropsey,
Church, and Kensett, artists; William H. Appleton, publisher; and A. T.
Stewart, John Jacob Astor, and August Belmont, capitalists. This club
has no restaurant, and is conducted inexpensively. Its Saturday night
gatherings bring together the most talented men in the city, and its
receptions are among the events of the season.
The Manhattan Club is a political as well as a social organization. It
is the head-quarters of Democrats of the better class. It numbers 600
members, about 100 of these residing out of the city. It includes the
leading Democratic politicians of the city and State, and when similar
celebrities from other States are in the city they are generally
entertained by the club, and have the freedom of the house. The
club-house is a splendid brown stone edifice, built originally for a
private residence by a man named Parker. It stands on leased ground, and
the building only is owned by the club, which paid $110,000 for it. The
annual dues are $50. Members are supplied with meals at cost prices.
Wines are furnished at similar charges. The restaurant has for its chief
cook a Frenchman, who is said to be the most accomplished "artist" in New
York. He receives an annual salary of $1800. The house is palatial, but
a trifle flashy in its appointments, and a more luxurious resort is not
to be found on the island.
The Union League Club is domiciled in a magnificent brick and marble
mansion. It is also a political organization, and is not so exclusive as
the Manhattan as regards its membership. It is the headquarters of the
Republican leaders, and has perhaps the largest membership of any of the
city clubs. It possesses a fine restaurant, conducted on club
principles, a collection of works of art, a private theatre, and lodging
rooms which may be used by the members upon certain conditions.
The Union Club is emphatically a rich man's association. Its members are
all men of great wealth, and its windows are always lined with idlers who
seem to have nothing to do but to stare ladies passing by out of
countenance. The club house is one of the handsomest buildings in the
city, and its furniture and decorations are of the most costly
description.
The Travellers' Club was originally designed for affording its members an
opportunity of meeting with distinguished travellers visiting the city.
This object is still kept in view, but the club is becoming more of a
social organization than formerly. Travellers of note are invited to
partake of its hospitalities upon arriving in the city, and frequently
lecture before the club.
Many club members never see the interior of the club houses more than
once or twice a year. They pay their dues, and remain on the rolls, but
prefer their homes to the clubs. Others again pass a large part of their
time in these elegant apartments in the society of congenial friends.
Club life is not favorable to a fondness for home, and it is not
surprising that the ladies are among the bitterest opponents of the
system.
The ladies themselves, however, have their clubs. The most noted of
these is the _Sorosis_, the object of which seems to be to bring together
the strong-minded of the sex to enjoy a lunch at Delmonico's. Some of
the most talented female writers of the country are members of the
organization. It was stated in several of the city newspapers, about a
year ago, that at one of the meetings of _Sorosis_ the members became
involved in a fierce dispute over some question concerning the management
of the club, and that when the excitement became too intense for words,
they relieved their overcharged feelings by "a good cry all around."
It is said that there is another club in the city, made up of females of
nominal respectability, married and single, whose meetings have but one
object--"to have a good time." It is said that the good time embraces
not a little hard drinking, and a still greater amount of
scandal-monging, and that many of the "leading ladies" of the club make a
habit of getting "gloriously drunk" at these meetings. A faithfully
written account of the transactions of this club would no doubt furnish a
fine article for the _Day's Doings_.
The Yacht Club consists of a number of wealthy gentlemen who are devoted
to salt-water sports. The club house is on Staten Island. The yachts of
the members constitute one of the finest fleets of the kind in existence,
and their annual regattas, which are held in the lower bay, are sights
worth seeing.