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THE ANNALS OF
CHAPTER VI.
HE lusty voice of that great Bohemian,Daniel O'Connell, now makes itselfheard in the remotest corners of the
realm halloaing blithely the annual callto the woods:
MidsummerJinks:
uPra,~ses ofPan.
"'Pleasant it was when woods were green,And winds were soft and low,
To lie amid some sylvan scene,Where the long drooping boughs between
Shadows dark, and sunlight sheen,Alternate come and go.'''
"Brethren of Bohemia!
"Once more the lofty forest aisles invite us to restamid their towering columns, and drink in the balsamicodor of the woods (with a possible corrective) in thatpure enjoyment of Nature which is Bohemia's inheritance.
"In those sylvan scenes we shall forget that ever manwas born to toil, while the songs of the birds, most ofthem having now finished the domestic duties of the year,and therefore being quite able to attend strictly to vocalbusiness, shall be mingled with the creations of BrotherStewart's muse, to the eternal confusion of all material
suggestions.
"In those cool temples we shall chant in prose and r889
verseTHE PRAISES OF PAN J
a mythological gentleman, who, apart from certainamiable weaknesses, was sincerely attached to the pleas
ures of rural life. Pan was a Bohemian of the highest
order, and the vindication of his character from theslander of the schools, will be one of the most delightful
objects of our woodland sojourn.
"Care, the great enemy, will be cremated according
to a new ritual by High Priest Bromley, and his detested ashes scattered to the dessicating winds."
The praises of Pan were voiced and sung on the banksof Austin Creek, in which classic region, as everyone
knows, he made his haunts. Early on the evening of the
day of the Jinks a group of mortal men might have been
seen wending their way mysteriously through the camp.
N ow peering wistfully into the tops of the trees, now
scanning anxiously the leaf-littered earth at their feet;
now standing with their heads together in mournful
consultation, anon resuming their wanderings, only to
pause again at some tent door to pour a libation to an
unknown god and tell a tale of woe. And ever thesewere the words that were uttered: "Blank has lost his
Jinks paper and he doesn't know what to do!" Here,indeed, was tragedy! As the darkness fell others joined
THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. 93
The lostJinks paper.
1889 the little company, candles were lighted and held aloft-to examine the branches overhead or lowered to search
the interior of bushes, but all in vain, no paper gladdenedtheir eyes. Until at last a Man with a Voice called from
out the obscurity: "Has Blank looked in his tent?" As
one individual that weary band stopped and gazed into
each other's faces; as one individual they turned, but
with a varied assortment of steps, and took their way
back to Blank's tent. "Open your satchel," said the Man
with a Voice. With dignified deliberation the keys were
produced and a junction with the key hole finally effected,
the satchel opened and, lo! there in full sight of them all
lay the paper. Blank immediately embraced the Man
with a Voice and allowing the grease from his candle to
trickle generously down the back of his coat, vowed that
he had saved his honor. Others silently pressed hishand and he found himself the hero of the hour with
drinks enough coming to him to float a man-of-war.
But, alas! How fleeting is popularity, how fickle the
favor of the multitude. That night at the Jinks when the
newly recovered paper was read, reproachful looks
began to be cast at the man who had been instrumental
in finding it; when the paper still continued to be read
these looks became gloomier and more morose, and when
the reading had continued an hour or so longer the hero
found it wise to efface himself among the rapidly grow-
94 THE ANNALS OF
95THE BOHEMIAN CLUB.
ing crowd at the bar. But it was at this critical moment, 1889
when the yawning of the audience could be heard full
eight miles away at Cazadero, that the magnificent
genius of the Sire came to the front. With Machiavel-
lian diplomacy he leaned forward from his seat on the
platform and plucking the unconscious reader by the
skirt of his coat, whispered in a voice audible to the entire
gathering, "Cut it short, old man !" This sentiment was
instantly greeted with a burst of applause in the midst
of which the reader brought his paper to an abrupt close.
All of which goes to show that some Jinks papers are
at their best when they are lost.
A note by the Historiographer tells us that Charle.:;;
G. Yale contributed to this Jinks a delightful paper con
taining a poem entitled, "Down by the River in the
Reeds," which was received with great favor. Mr. Yale,
whose name appears all too infrequently in the print ofBohemia, is one of the old members, a well-known writer
and authority on mines and mining, a Knight of the
Round Table, a most pleasant companion and of the salt
of the Club. While he was too modest to appear
very often in the glare of the limelight himself, (I
his clever pen was as unfailing as his amiability ~
in the service of his friends and the Owl. IAt the Cremation of Care, a ceremony suf-
ficiently described in a previous volume, after .,~I \.; ~
~r~· 'i~I )!!
Mr. Charles G. Yale-From a Photograph
on the yacht rt Emerald"
1889
THE ANNALS OF
the Club in its ceremonial gowns and bearing torches,had wended its way through the midnight forest tothe mournful music of the funeral dirge and pausedbeside the pyre, the following lines written by theSire were chanted, the music being by Dr. Stewart:
ODE TO CARE
Shall he dare follow us when we pass overSteep hill and verdant vale, mountain and lea?Shall his grim presence in verdant woods hover?Are we not now from his influence free?
Where tall walls rise, and dim-eyed women,To the world appealing for rest and bread,The long, long day with weary footsteps,The city's highways despondent tread,
There lies Care's Palace. But ne'er shall he find usIn woodland, in open, where all is God's peace.Far have we left the iormentor behind us,Here from all'trouble is perfect surcease.
Ho, marshal your legions! He's with us, I hear him now,Sighing in ears which he's wearied so long;Seize him, and bind him, and manfully bear him nowTo where the fagots blaze ruddy and strong.
Up through the night's soft haze,Let the pyre's joyous blaze,Tell to Bohemia that Care's life has sped.Long live this grand design,Quaff deep this bubbling wine,Bohemia triumphs, for grim Care is dead!
The Sunday morning concert, that beautiful service
in the quiet woods, was held by the First United States
Artillery band. It was the drummer of this band who,
being initiated into the delights of Bohemia, by Mr. R.
Porter Ashe, announced his intention of deserting the
service of his country and enlisting in the Club, where,
the false Mr. Ashe assured him, his great talents would
be far more appreciated. It was also Mr. Ashe, if weare credibly informed, who established the Pie Station.
The special train bearing the Club having once stoppedat a remote wayside place for a hot box or some other
railroad weakness, the enterprising Mr. Ashe discovered
a pretty country girl who sold pies to the section hands.
Mr. Ashe was immediately seized with a sudden passion
for pies and vowed that these were the best ever eaten,
and bought out the whole stock, and at parting advisedthe fair baker to be ready with a new batch when the
Club came back. Sure enough, on its return the train
was flagged at the Pie Station and loaded up with pies.This was before the days when lunch on the train was
added to the luxuries of this outing, and the Pie Station
became a regular stopping place thereafter and the eat
ing of pies a part of the regular program.It having been learned that that talented artist and
genial Bohemian, Mr. John A. Stanton, at this time a
Director of the Club, had set a date for his departure to
THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. 99
ThePieStation.
Europe, the Club promptly invited him to dinner, forwhich the invitation reads as follows:"Fellow Bohemian:
"Since the return from Paris of several of our most
imaginative and loquacious Bohemians, a spirit of discontent and restlessness has overcome our well beloved
and genial brother,
1889
Farewell toJohn A.Stanton.
100 THE ANNALS OF
Di1lner toSir EdwinArnold.
JOHN A. STANTON.
"He, too, must go to Europe for the benefit of hisdivine afflatus. By his departure the artistic firmamentof Bohemia will be darkened, and the Club stock of
innate modesty notably diminished. He has been aworthy and zealous votary of the Owl, and His Sapiencywould like to bestow upon him his blessing before he~oes. And so on Thursday Night, Sept. 6, at 9 o'clock,we will give him a kindly Farewell.
He is but a simple provincial, and it is only properthat he should be advised of and warned against thenumerous pitfalls of the great world. He will probablyget some excellent advice. Come and share it.
THE HIGH JINKS COMMITTEE.
On October 15th, a dinner was given to Sir Edwin
Arnold, the English poet. This was the occasion whenthe celebrated author of the "Light of Asia" interpreted
1889
High Jinks:"The Wooingof the Muses."
Mr. John Lathrop
IOI
:_e c,c.: ceoe. o· c c., e 0 0e e 0 e
THE BOHEMIAN CLUB.
the expression of the great plaster owl referred to by
Mr. Kipling, which stands at the head of the stairs, one
claw resting on a skull, the other raised in admonition;
one eye solemnly wide, the other solemnly closed in a
wink; "the meaning whereof, I take it," said the guest,
"is, be wise, but be not too wise." On November 2d, a
second championship game of baseball was played between the Bohemian Club nine, and the Pacific Union
Club nine, for the cause of charity. On this occasion
the game resulted in a sweeping victory for the
Bohemians, the score standing 50 to 9. The financial
score was even more satisfactory, there being more than
two thousand dollars distributed amongst the charitiesinterested.
Mr. John Lathrop, journalist, young, amiable and
talented, makes his first bow before the Club as Sire of a
Jinks, November 2d.
"To the sages," he says, "who have peopled Bohemia
with thought and imagination, and tinctured her atmos
phere with breathings from their wits, greeting:
"We, who associate with your children, salute you
and take your places.
"Now have neophytes in the Bohemian faith come
to the age when purpose seeks opportunity, without
which it dies barren, to expand that which is or
1889 may be in them. They, new, and bringing fresh buds
of song and story, of verse and eloquence, will engage in
THE WOOING OF THE MUSES,
those divine inspirers of the arts to which our halls arededicate, courting that association of fact and fancy, realand ideal, which makes true art both human and divine.
"Make merry and make wise with your muses, youfresh ones of Bohemia."
A foot-note informs us that the Wooers with Words
are Bohemians Harry Durbrow, Francis Michael, FritzKing, Page Brown, Joaquin Miller, H. D. Bigelow; theWooers with Melody are Bohemians H. J. Stewart,Henry Heyman, Benjamin Clark, F. G. B. Mills, and theOwl Family; the Wooer with Brush is Arthur F.Mathews, and the Midnight Wooer is Bohemian LouisSloss, Jr.
The "wooers" were all of the younger generation, asthe Sire gently intimates, except the great and venerable"Poet of the Sierras," Joaquin Miller. Page Brown wasthe talented young architect who designed the FerryBuilding; Arthur F. Mathews, the artist who painted thecartoon, had just entered the Club where the future wasto be indebted to his genius for some of its most admir~able work; and as for Bohemian Louis Sloss, J r., theSire of the Low Jinks, he had joined the Order in J anu-
I02 THE ANNALS OF
ary, 1886, little more than three years before. Spark- 1889
ling with fun, effervescent with humorous retort, bub-
bling over with laughter, Mr. Sloss was one of those
joyous springs by the wayside that flowed into the parent
stream at intervals as it meandered through the pleasant
Bohemian land, giving new life to its waters and new
meaning to its shores. Abandoning this exquisite but
difficult metaphor, this youthful element, reinforced some
two years later by Mr. Edwin R. and Mr. Harry W.
Dimond and others of a musical nature, began to makeitself evident in the life of the Club soon after the lat-
ter's exodus from the old rooms. There was 110 longer
any fear of the Club dying of an ingrowing silence or of
inanition. In the language of the street, there was
"something doing" at all hours and the later the hours
the more there was doing.
After Mr. Lathrop's Jinks came the Christmas Jinks,
Sired by the President, who says:
CHRISTMAS JINKS.
"Brother Bohemian:
"Once again the world, swinging in its orbit, passesunder the radiance of the Star of Bethlehem. There is
Peace in Bohemia, and Good Will toward men. And so
we purpose merriment on Saturday night, December
28th, when we will hold our
ChristmasJinks:"OHrAncestors."
1°3THE BOHEMIAN CLUB.
1889 "The Wassail and the Waits will be there. There
will be special music for the season, and much joy andgladness of spirit. For sundry of us, while the thoughtsof mankind are turned back nineteen hundred years, willseize the occasion to discuss
OUR ANCESTORS)
in an earnest endeavor to find out what they have donefor us, and to determine what we have done or can do
for them. We will try to stop short of the protoplasmicprimordial globule.
"George Bromley will take charge of the genialogicalChristmas Tree.
"There will be a Low Jinks after supper."PETER ROBERTSON, Sire."
Those who read papers on this occasion were JudgeMyrick, Mr. Francis Michael, Dr. Sherman, and Mr.Willard T. Barton. The musical program vvas conducted by Dr. H. J. Stewart. Mr. F. G. B. Mills sang"Nazareth"; Sir Henry Heyman played a violin solo;Dudley Buck's short cantata entitled "King Olaf'sChristmas" was rendered, Mr. H. M. Fortescue and Mr.
Mills singing the solos; a gavotte composed by Mr. J.D. Redding was played, Mr. Redding leading theorchestra, and Mr. Ben Clark sang "Noe1." The Sire in
his address spoke of the subject of the evening "OurAncestors" as purely a family matter, to be discussed
1°4 THE ANNALS OF
Mr. A. Pal!e Brtrlll"
Benefitfor StephenLeach.
The ClubEntertainsArditi.
IOSTHE BOHEMIAN CLUB.
in the privacy of the home circle of the Christmas Jinks.
He declared that for his part he never knew his
ancestors; he understood, however, that they belonged to
the Clan Dunachie, one of the bravest clans in history,
and that they stole cows for a living. "I am glad," he
said, "that they are dead. If they were not their un
affected, simple propensity might embarrass me. Indeed
I dare say we all feel the same way, for if you only go
back far enough the habits of our ancestors were
peculiar and their acquaintance with a soap dish remote."
The cartoon for the High Jinks was a water color by
Mr. Theodore Hampe, a clever young artist member
who afterwards abandoned brush and palette for ranchlife in Arizona.
On February 15, 1890, a midnight supper was givento Arditi and his fellow artists of the Italian Grand
Opera Company. On February 27th, an entertainment
was given at Odd Fellows Hall, under the auspices ofthe Club, for the benefit of that veteran actor and
musician, Stephen Leach. Sir Henry Heyman con
ducted the overture and Mr. Mills, Mr. Rosewald, Mr.
Redding and certain ladies who volunteered
their services together with the Bohemian Club
quartette, contributed the musical part; while an
address by Mr. Bromley, and the Irish Cantata,
under the leadership of Dr. Stewart, formed
106 THE ANNALS OF
A breakfastis given to Mr.W. H. Kendal.
Reception forWilliamEd{;ar Nye.
links:"Thin{;s wedo notunderstalld."
the second part. On March 26th, a breakfast was
given in honor of Mr. W. H. Kendal, the Englishactor, while on March 15th, a reception was givenWilliam Edgar Nye, otherwise "Bill" Nye. On
March 29th, Judge M. H. Myrick was Sire of a Jinks,the possibilities of which were set forth as follows:
"Fellow Bohemians:
"There is a great difference between knowing a thing
and understanding a thing. The poet says, 'Knowledgecomes, and wisdom lingers;' but understanding sometimes does not get there at all. In Bohemia, it is different. We begin by understanding, and the knowledgeand the wisdom come afterwards. You can never tell
what a Bohemian knows; but you are seldom in doubtas to what he does not know, because he understands
what he does not know a great deal better than heunderstands what he does know. Still, as Bohemians~we must admit that in this world there are several
THINGS WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND.
"The fact that we do not understand them does not in
the least deter us from pretending to; so, on Saturdaynight, March 29, 1890, at nine o'clock, we will hold a
High Jinks for their special consideration. The 'powersthat be,' in their alleged wisdom, have ordered me to
direct the deliberations of the assembly-which will be
practically guided by Mr. S. M. Wilson, Mr. Peter Rob- 1890
ertson, Mr. J. D. Phelan, Dr. J. D. Arnold, and Mr.
Elliott McAllister. Music-which, let us hope, we shallunderstand-will not be lacking-under the direction of
Mr. H. J. Stewart. The only thing I pretend to under-stand, is my position-behind the desk.
M. H. MYRICK}Sire.
THINGS IN GENERAL
Low Jinks:
"Things}ngeneral.
I07THE BOHEMIAN CLUB.
Then follows:
"THE HUMBLEPLEAOFTHE LOWJINKS.
"Brother Bohemians:-
"As this is the age of combinations, the Low Jinkswill be celebrated in the dining room, in order that we
may combine the mental with the physical food, andwhile listening to the one, devour the other.
wi11 be the theme over which and through which the'Knights of the Round Table' will, with their united
eloquence, waft the enraptured Bohemian into the
realms of serene insensibility.
"The music wi11 be kept well in hand by Charley
Leonard, and the cartoon will be (hand-painted) byTheodore Hampe. God save the commonwealth.
"GEORGET. BROMLEY}
"Low Sire."
The cartoon by Mr. Hampe is an exceedingly clever
water color. It represents an interrogation point within
which a jovial moon, a dignified owl and a dashing
maiden in a red gown meet in the early evening and pass
through various phases of hilarity which end in the
small hours with the young lady grown gray, haggard
and disheveled, squirting seltzer water on the drunken
owl, while the moon with a towel around its head looks
on dejectedly.
The past year had been an eventful one for the
library. Captain James M. McDonald, a member of the
Board of Directors, presented the Club with a collection
of nine hundred volumes and pamphlets, having for
their subject the states of the Pacific Coast, thus creating
for the Club a library on this subject which, with the
single exception of the Bancroft collection, is probably
unsurpassed. To this gift Captain McDonald afterward
added a fund for the purchase of additional volumes to
make it even more complete. The Board set aside a
certain portion of the library room for the collection, and
subsequently Captain McDonald provided for the proper
shelving of the books, by having a beautiful bookcase
built of polished redwood occupying the entire side of the
room. Colonel George W. Granniss also gave the Club
a collection of books on international law, by General
Halleck, and a number of volumes on the Mexican legal
CaptainMcDonaldgives the Cluba Library.
Io8 THE ANNALS OF
Massenet.
Mr. Booth and Mr. Barrett also presented the Club
with certain books. But all of these matters belong
code, and other early California works. In this year, 1890
also, Mr. T. Henry French, son of the well known col-
lector and dealer in plays, presented the Club with a fine
dramatic library consisting of one hundred and thirty
volumes of acting plays. Another interesting addition to Massmet.
the Club's collection of autographed books and manu-
scripts was a copy of the opera of "Esclarmonde," sent by
Miss Sybil Sanderson. Miss Sanderson is a daughter
of Judge Sanderson, and well known in San Francisco
society. She went to Paris with her mother to study
music and while there was persuaded by the French com-
poser, Massenet, to interpret the principal role in his
opera of "Manon Lescaut." This proving successful,
Miss Sanderson subsequently appeared in "Esclar-
monde," "Lakme" and Massenet's grand opera "Thais,"
becoming a great favorite with the Parisian public. It
was in February of this year that the following cable
message arrived:
Bohemian Club,
Ce soir centieme representation Miss Sybil
Sanderson, Esclarmonde, Paris. Triomphe
creatrice. Vive Amerique!
I09THE BOHEMIAN CLUB.
rather to a special chapter on the Club's Library, which
it is the intention to make a part of one of the futurevolumes of these Annals and which cannot fail to be rich
with material of a pleasing and entertaining character.
Mention should also be made among other gifts of a
bronze stand lamp, surmounted by an owl, a fac-simile
of one found at Pompeii, presented by Mr. James D.Phelan on his return from his travels.
IIG THE ANNALS OF
-'-
-From the Water Color Cartoo" "Our Ancestors." by Theodore Hampe
The makingof theRed Room.
III
CHAPTER VII.
THE BOHEMIAN CLUB.
1889-1890 (Continued.)IHE new rooms of the Club proved
to be in many respects well suited
~, to its peculiar needs, but they were'. lacking in one particular, and that
,-~ was a Jinks Room, and in its absence an
assembly room where the members could
gather informally and indulge their taste
for music, song and easeful merry-making. In the
old quarters on Pine street the Jinks Room, with
its piano and other musical instruments always at
hand, was on the same floor as the entrance, as
indeed were all the rooms of the Club, and its opendoor continually invited the idle Bohemian and did
much to promote the gayety of members. In theabsence of such a resort it was feared that the Club
would deteriorate, forget its exalted aims and
grow serious. So the Board designated a large
room in the new club house on the library floor, as a
music room, and appointed a committee consisting of
Messrs. Joullin, Gerberding and Fletcher (R. H.) to
supervise its furnishing. This committee being incited
thereto by the artist member, Mr. Joullin, aided and
abetted by Mr. John A. Stanton, decided to follow the
example of the historical volunteer fire company on the
purchase of its new machine and "paint it red." Those
members of the Club who, during the early stages of this
process, came in to advise the Committee what to do and
how to do it, jeered and went away. But the Committee
forgave them because it knew that they were not artists
and were ignorant of the subtle difference between a tube
of bitumen and an asphalt pavement. And in time its
forbearance was rewarded, for those who came to sneer
remained to praise and the Red Room became the mostadmired and most loved of all the rooms and was known
as the Heart of Bohemia. And then it was that Mr.
J oullin perpetrated a revenge on the erstwhile critics.
Cutting an irregular jagged piece of canvas, he painted
on it a likeness of laths and broken plaster and fastened
this on the newly finished, beautiful wall, producing
thereby an awful looking hole; on the floor underneath
he strewed some real broken plaster, thus increasing the
verisimilitude of a disaster. Surrounding this aperture
the Committee was placed in various poses of grief and
indignation, primed with a story of a servant and a
ladder and when all was ready the victim was sent for.
When the victim entered and gazed upon the havoc, he,
too, became indignant, denouncing the outrage and
demanding the discharge of the careless employee who
An artisticdeception.
II2 THE ANNALS OF
THE ANNALS OF
1890 Stumps, his mark" did among the scientists of the Pick-
wick Club, had it not been that it was sent by the in
genious Mr. Harry Gillig and Mr. Frank Unger, which
fact immediately put the guileful on their guard, and
very justly, for although this antique carne from Egypt.
it had been made to order. These latter loyal Bohemians
on their way around the world also sent to the Red Roomfrom India a number of brass candlesticks made in the
shape of the cobra, together with a brass flask duly stop
pered and sealed, containing water from the sacred river
Ganges. The filling of this highly ornamental jar had
been accomplished with great ceremony in the presence
of Viceroys, Punjabs, Rajputs, Minarets and Fakirs,
while Mr. Gillig sang "On the Road to Mandalay," as
only he can sing it, Mr. Unger accompanying him on the
banjo. This bottle was consigned to the Knights of the
Round Table, an organization which had acquired the
privilege of dining once a month in the Red Room, and
being unfamiliar with the potable qualities of water, they
had it appropriately framed in the center of a brass
bracket, the handiwork of Dr. Bryant, and surrounded
by the cobra candlesticks as a warning to other equally
innocent but unwary Bohemians. Many other rare and
beautiful gifts were made to the Red Room, while cer
tain of the painters, notably Mr. Peters, Mr. Stanton
and Mr. Strauss, painted pictures for its panels.
Mention has been made of the Knights of the Round
Table. This fraternity first flashed upon the Club in
1887, in the Pine street rooms. Four men bewailing,
after the universal Bohemian custom, the decay of the
true Bohemian spirit, brought forth the proposition that
a party of the elect be arranged to dine together once a
month. Not necessarily for the pleasure of it, be it un
derstood, but in a self-sacrificing spirit to keep the sacred
flame burning. A list was carefully compiled and
twenty-one names selected. The owners of the names
responded joyously to the sacrificial call, with the resultthat the first dinner was a shining success. It was like
a return to the old-fashioned Low Jinks, every man being
compelled on demand of the Chair to say, sing or do
something, and as they were all chosen for their ability
to say, sing or do things, the results were most gratify
ing. The report of the dinner quickly sped through theClub and other members who yearned to keep alive the
waning spirit of Bohemia clamored to be admitted.Dr. Swan, one of the original party, in his official
capacity as president of the Club, caused a round table
to be built (at the expense of the Club), to accommodate
just twenty-one, from which Round Table the Arthurian
name arose. On moving into the new Club house, the
authors of the Red Room being Knights of the Round
Table, worked a gracious permission from a grateful
THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. IIS
The ROItndTable.
THE ANNALS OFII6
1890 Board to hold the monthly dinners there. The decora-
tions for these dinners under the new and inspiring con
ditions now became a feature, each artist having the
matter in hand trying to eclipse his predecessor in the
originality and beauty of his design. There were only
two limitations to the vaulting ambition of the decora
tors, one being the unalterable law holding the cost of
the dinner down to one dollar a plate, the other requiring
the color scheme to be in harmony with the prevailing
color of the room. At the suggestion of Mr. Joullin, the
Knights adopted as a dinner dress a red silk gown with
the owl embroidered in black upon the front. The apart
ment opposite the Red Room, afterwards known as the
Owl Room, was used as a robing chamber; here, having
greeted each other with due ceremony, donned the flam
ing silk and drank the pre-prandial cocktail, which was
included in the dollar limit, the company, led by the
Chairman, escorting on his arm the venerable High
Priest Bromley, who by virtue of his office and his own
extraordinary fitness, was a member of everything and
pre-eminently a member of the Round Table, the Knights
marched two by two, in the ancient fashion, set by the
occupants of Noah's Ark, to the threshold of the RedRoom.
But pause here, oh, youthful Bohemian, and free
your mind of the idea that the Red Room of today is
anything like the Red Room of those early times. Alas,as the years progressed that dream of artists has been
placed at the mercy, of successive hordes of "house
decorators" to be "done over;" for to the practical House
Committee, red has always been red and the room has
been "done over" until it resembles the original just
about as the rouged face of fifty resembles the blushing
cheeks of sixteen. No one of the twelve languages
placed at the disposal of the Historiographer by the
erudite Board contains words sufficiently luminous or
colorful to describe the glowing interior of the onlyoriginal Red Room as the twenty-one gentlemen in
crimson gowns crossed its threshold on the night of
a Round Table dinner. If, perchance, the reader mayin some former incarnation have been a bee and re·
members entering the heart of a crimson rose at sun
set of a summer day, then perhaps a faint conception
of the scene may be conjured up in his mind, but not
otherwise. Even the wine was red, there being a law
to the effect that the thirst of the rich and the poor alikeshould be quenched only in this liquor. The chef in
white cap and apron made the only note of contrast as
he stood at a side table with a mighty carving knife andfork ready for the roast.
The Knights were seated, the soup was served.
Possibly the tuneful instantly burst into song which may,
THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. II7
Mr. Hartaddressesthe RoundTable.
r890 according to the humor, have become general, or it mayhave been met by the icy comment of the scholarly Mr.
Jerome Hart rising impressively with a warning handuplifted, declaring that singing with soup while alliterative was not desirable, especially when the singing wasno better than the soup which, from the spoonful he hadtasted before this unseemly clamor arose, was thin and
smacked of economy on the part of the Committee, whosecheeks, indeed, ought to take on the color of the room inshame, and would, were they not hardened in gastro
nomic ignorance, a pitiful condition brought about byconsorting with alleged artists who spent all the dinnermoney in the perpetration of freakish crimes in so-calleddecoration, dreadful combinations that were enough to
drive any man with a true sense of color and form todrink, except that there was nothing fit to drink at thetable. Where was the Chairman that he had permittedthis wicked and wanton riot of ignorance, incapacity, and
imbecility to go unchecked! "Where," demanded Mr.Hart, "where, I say, is the Chairman? Can this be he
sitting to my left guzzling this luke-warm potage indifferent alike to these discordant noises, and these false
color effects, careless of our comfort so long as his ownbase material wants are satisfied! Gentlemen, I movethat the Chairman be DEPOSED!"
u8 THE ANNALS OF
And having cast this apple of discord among thediners who have received it with shouts of encourage
ment, derision, admiration and other expressions of in
terest, Mr. Hart sits down calmly to enjoy a hot plate of
the maligned soup which the waiter has thoughtfully
brought him, while perchance Mr. Frank Unger and Mr.
Charles Leonard having finished their soup and pos
sessed themselves of banjos, accompany Mr. Gillig as he
sweetly voices the irrelevant inquiry: "Oh, who stole a
ham?" the company coming in on the chorus. Or pos
sibly Mr. Edward H. Hamilton rises to his feet anll
adjusting his eye glasses begins with ominous suavity:
"I have listened with pained surprise to the extraor
dinary and ill-timed harangue of the editor of the 'Ar
gonaut,' and it is my purpose to say a word in defenseof our honored Chairman," and then as he proceeds Mr.
Hamilton begins to grow gusty in his comments, blackclouds of denunciation pile themselves threateningly on
the horizon of his speech, windy aspersions whistle
through Mr. Hart's allegations, driving facts and fancies
before them, hissing vituperation descends, the thunderof his rhetoric roars and reverberates, the forked light
ning of his wit splits the word storm, leaving it darkerthan ever and the tempest of Mr. Hamilton's oratory is
on. In the height of it all Mr. Redding goes to the piano
and improvises an accompaniment ranging in expression
THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. II9
Mr. Hamilton'soratory.
from the tremulous treble to the overwhelming bass and
furious onslaughts on the middle register. This duethaving reached its climax and conclusion and all of the
applause being graciously accepted by Mr. Redding who,
with hand on heart, bows profoundly, the dinner may beconsidered to be fairly under way and conversation
becomes general. This calm, however, is presently in
terrupted by Mr. George E. P. Hall, Turkish Consul,
Knight of the Order of Medjiji and other things, who
drops these titles to assume that of captain of a troop of
French dragoons taking his troopers out to drill. "At
tention !!" he cries in rattling French. Whereupon both
hands of each one of the twenty-one diners drop knife
and fork and are placed upon the edge of the table.
"Forward) at a walk) marcht» and the captain marks
time, "Un! Deux! Un! Deuxr> the strokes upon the
table alternate in unison, Un! Deux! Un! Deux! pro
ducing a very good imitation of horses walking. The
captain warming up to the drill corrects the faults of his
men, adjuring Pierre to sit straight in his saddle and
Jacques to keep his bridle hand low, and then comes the
order "Trot!" and the rapidity of the strokes increases,
while the cautions and orders come volleying fast,
"M ordieu! S acre nom d)'/ItnePipe! Is it that you are
soldiers or plough boys that you do not keep the time?"
Then at last, "Gallop!" the hands going in rapid, irregu-
The TurkishConsul leadsa charge.
120 THE ANNALS OF
"She did not speak of ring or vowBut filled the cup with wine,And took the roses from her brow
To make a wreath for mine;
And she knew she could not be, Love,
What once she might have been, .But she was kind to me Love,
My pretty Josephine."
lar beats and finally the captain rising in his stirrups,
madly waving his sabre, shouts, amid a volley of objur
gations, "Charge!" and the thunder of the hoofs and the
jingling of bottles, glasses and plates is tremendous, until
in the midst of their wild career with their eyes fastened
expectantly upon their leader, the gallant troopers
receive the command "Halt!" and at the instant every
steed is reined upon his haunches as it were, every hand
is stayed as one man, and the next course is served. Bar
ring these little diversions, coffee at last appears and the
more serious business of the evening begins. Mr. O'Con
nell who, as is generally known to all historians, is the
rightful King of Munster, and whom Mr. Charles Rollo
Peters apostrophizes, "Oh, King, oh gin besotted King !"consents perhaps to recite "Locksley Hall" or "Jose
phine," and when his sweet, mellow voice, deep as acathedral bell utters the sentiment:
Mr. O'Connellrecites"Josephine."
I2I
****
THE BOHEMIAN CLUB.
-. ~-- -----I'I
I22 THE ANNALS OF
Mr. Robertsonrecites his
oJ osephine."
A shout goes up, "Long live the King of Munster!"and the O'Connell is urged to drink by each and everyman at the table, which requests, with great presence of
mind, he promptly complies with to the best of his magnificent ability, and loud demand is made for PeterRobertson, who, if he is present, his duties as dramaticcritic keeping him too often from joining these gatherings, recites his "Josephine" with apologies to the shadeof Mr. Mackworth Praed:
"She did not swear to love me trueTill earth should be no more,She only said, "I'm struck on you,And then Ah, me! she swore.
She called another bottle up,My glorious midnight queen!She broke its neck and filled the cupMy daisy Josephine!
* * * *
Mr. Robertson wrote this famous parody for a LowJinks, in 1888, but this and his "Welsh Rarebit," have
become classic and for all time. And then George Nagledelivers one of his deliciously rambling talks withoutbeginning, end or middle, or he and Jack Lathrop, poorJack, lost to us in the flower of his youth! sing "Marchand," and Sir Henry Heyman plays upon his violin
and Willard Barton recites his touching poem, "The Lay /890
of the Lingering Lung," while Humphrey Stewart ac
companies it with plaintive, minor chords, the pathos of
which Uncle George relieves by starting the chorus of
"Easy, my man, easy!" that rousing old shell-back
chanty that goes ringing down the corridors of Bo
hemian time, and Ned Townsend, subsequently author
of many books, and Dr. Chismore, surgeon, hunter and
poet, are called upon to talk, and Donald de V. Graham,
who joined the Table in later years, sings, "Honey, my
Honey!"-the description indeed is endless. And
curiously enough each dinner took on a character of its
own, often in spite of the intentions of its managers.
Sometimes the talk turned on past days, on the Bohemian
brothers who had gone out into the world, had written
their novel, or play, or composed their opera, painted
their picture or won fame and fortune in whatever their
line of work might have been, or else had been stricken
down in the fight and disappeared from mortal sight
forever. Sometimes the dinner was given over to the
telling of stories, when such guests as Mr. Nat Goodwin,
William Edgar Nye, or Sol Smith Russell were present
it was very apt to prove a night of story telling, or again
it might be mostly music. But whatever their character
the only record of these feasts is in the memory of the
men who sat around the great round table, loved their
THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. I23
~ -
124 THE ANNALS OF
fellow men and gave freely and frankly of the best thatwas in them in the service of good fellowship. As
Charles Warren Stoddard wrote:
"My dreams, ambitions fine,My youth, my joys divine,My fasts, my feasts, my wine,
Were thine, Bohemia!"
l1
~ I ~Mr. Barton and Mr. Levison at the Mid-Summer Jinks
