ElectIon ofoffice1's,

THE ANNALS OF

CH APTER III.1872-1873.

IHEfirst formal meeting of the Club. ~. within its ow~ walls was held on

'~, March 25, 18/2. Amongst other•. important business which was trans­~. acted, the following nominations for

officers to serve during the ensuing

year, were submitted by the committee:Thomas Newcomb, President; Henry

Edwards, Vice-President; Sands W. Forman, Secre­tary; Arpad Harazthy, Treasurer, and D. P. Belknap,Henry George, Frederick Whymper, R. C. Rogersand B. F. Napthaly, Trustees. The first annual

balloting took place on Friday, April 1st, result­ing in the election of the foregoing ticket. Within ashort time, however, Napthaly resigned from the Cluband other changes took place in the Board resultingin the following named members being appointedTrustees: D. P. Belknap, Edward Bosqui, Samuel M.Brooks, A. G. Hawes andJ. C. Williamson. The officeof Assistant Secretary was held by Mr. J. H. Sayre.

An " Irregular Ticket" had been put in the field,but only to serve as a vehicle for touching upon thepersonal peculiarities of its candidates. For thus earlyin its infancy did the Club show that tendency to cari-

THE CLUB'S FIRST HOMe.

Tbe Rooms occuPied 'iNreon the corner, .tint floor.

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. 3I

cature which has since developed into one of its mostmarked characteristics. If a member became prominentin any way, or for any reason, or showed that hethought highly of himself,.or was suspected of secretlythinking highly of himself, his frailty was immediatelymade the subject of artist's pencil and poet's pen. Theresult has been that conceit is but short-lived in the

Club, and a Bohemian is recognizable in any latitudeby his extreme modesty.

After the installation of the President and his Board

of Trustees, it was decided to formally open the Clubrooms with an entertainment on April 13th. It was

further decided that this preliminary merry-makingshould be the precursor of others to take place monthly,in accordance with which the following by-law was

adopted: "An informal re-union shall be held on theevening of the last Saturday in each month, under thedirection of a member to be selected for the occasion bythe trustees."

The title of " High Jinks" was proposed for theseentertainments, a name instantly adopted and since

made dear to many hundreds of men. That erudite andwealthy Bohemian manufacturer, Andrew McFarlandDavis, once wrote an essay on the genesis of theterm, which was published in the now defunct "Cali­fornian Magazine." The equally erudite reader knows,

The art ofcancatu1'e.

'The origmof"HIgh Jinks."

------..; - ----- ----------.~ ---

of course, that the word is Scotch and was used syn­onymously with frolic, but more frequently referred toa drinking bout into which some game was introduced

where the fine or forfeit was" guzzling scuds," or pay­ing the score for other guzzlers' scuds. The Club,however, borrowed the name directly from Sir Walter

Scott's novel of "Guy Mannering," where the HighJinks, presided over by Counselor Pleydell, is of a

rather more elevated character than the drinking boutsreferred to. And, indeed, the, Bohemian Club enter­

tainment is in no sense a carousal, but an intellectual,

artistic and musical revel where drinking is subsidiaryand indulged in with that moderation which in theClub's ritual is declared the chief of all virtues.

These Jinks have been an institution of the Clubnow for twenty-five years, and while no two have ever

been exactly alike, they have a certain similarity, likepearls upon a string, the string being the stout cord of

friendship and good fellowship. The method of pro­cedure is briefly this: The member chosen by thetrustees, or directors, to conduct the festivities, is aman noted for some one of those talents for the foster­ing of which the Club was formed and which the Club

ever delights to honor. He is called" Sire." The Sire

from his own store of wisdom, if he has any, selects atopic for the evening, literary or otherwise, and selects

The genesisof the term"High Jinks."

32 THE ANNALS OF

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. 33

from the members at large men to deal with it-poets,essayists, orators, humorists, musicians, singers andpainters. He then issues a printed invitation to theClub, setting forth the nature of his entertainment with

all the originality he or his friends possess. On theappointed evening the Club seats itself individually onchairs hired for the occasion, while the Sire enthroned,as it were, in an easier chair on a platform at one endof the room, with a gavel in his hand and a huge LovingCup filled with punch placed within easy reach on alectern in front of him, brings the meeting to order.Then is the theme of the evening discussed in prose,enshrined in verse, solos are sung about it, and glees,instrumental pieces and orchestral effects make it their

motive, all of which, served up witp. an accompanimentof such liquid as each member prefers, together withthe incense of tobacco, forms a mellow and pleasingentertainment.

This is the High Jinks, and from this a Low Jinksnaturally developed. For after sandwiches had beendevoured (we are speaking now of the good old daysand not of the present degenerate times when a supperis served which would make the old-time treasurer

stare aghast) the younger members, and eke some of

the older ones, gathered about a long table with pipesand beer, and chose a Low Sire to preside over their

'The method ofconductti1g aHigh Jinks.

-------- - ';-- --;- - - .-- ----- -

deliberations. Now, this Low Sire must be a man ofmettle, for as he rises to his feet he is made the targetfor a desultory fire of all sorts of irrelevant comments.and witty suggestions, and out of this chaos he mustbring order. He calls on some one, whom he choosesat random, for a criticism of the more dignified earlyevening discourses, a song, a story, anything in factthat will amuse. Sometimes the person called uponinstantly uses his opportunity to attack the Sire, and aduel of wit ensues to the delight of the others who con­stitute themselves judges of the tourney. Sometimesa man sings a song, or plays upon some instrument, or

recites. The actors who are occupied with their pro­fessional duties during High Jinks usually come in atLow Jinks and add greatly to the fun, as the persistentreader will find out later on, for he is going to attendtwenty-five years of Jinks; a whole quarter of a centuryof merriment awaits him. So we will merely add thatin the last twenty-five years the Low Jinks has changedmore than the High Jinks, the increased membershiphaving made the cosy gathering around the table andthe impromptu drollery impossible, so that it has grad­ually been elaborated into a performance on a stage, aplay, an operetta, or variety show, composed and actedby the members.

From almost the beginning, it has been the custom

Theevolution ofLow Jinks.

34 THE ANNALS OF

deliberations. Now, this Low Sire must be a man ofmettle, for as he rises to his feet he is made the targetfor a desultory fire of all sorts of irrelevant comments.and witty suggestions, and out of this chaos he mustbring order. He calls on some one, whom he choosesat random, for a criticism of the more dignified earlyevening discourses, a song, a story, anything in factthat will amuse. Sometimes the person called uponinstantly uses his opportunity to attack the Sire, and aduel of wit ensues to the delight of the others who con­

stitute themselves judges of the tourney. Sometimesa man sings a song, or plays upon some instrument, or

recites. The actors who are occupied with their pro­fessional duties during High Jinks usually come in atLow Jinks and add greatly to the fun, as the persistentreader will find out later on, for he is going to attendtwenty-five years of Jinks; a whole quarter of a centuryof merriment awaits him. So we will merely add thatin the last twenty-five years the Low Jinks has changedmore than the High Jinks, the increased membershiphaving made the cosy gathering around the table andthe impromptu drollery impossible, so that it has grad­ually been elaborated into a performance on a stage, aplay, an operetta, or variety show, composed and actedby the members.

From alm?st the beginning, it has been the custom

Theevolution ofLow ]tnks.

34 THE ANNALS OF

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. 35

to commemorate each Jinks by a picture done by oneof the artists, in which he represents the theme of theevening according to his own wild and unkempt fancy,and these pictures are hung upon the walls where theyform a history of the Club, despite the derelict historio­grapher. The earlier cartoons were done in pen andink, or with charcoal on wrapping paper, cheaplyframed, then the efforts gradually became more ambi­tious, some of them being finished pictures of greatvalue framed in frames of gold. Some of the oldmembers protest that as the value of the framesincreases the merits of the pictures decrease, and thatthe cartoons, the music, the literature and all that

formerly went to make the Club, has distinctly deteri­orated since the old days on Sacramento Street. Butthis is sentiment, and as such is reverenced in the Clubeven by the youngsters, who solemnly agree with theirseniors and wink the other eye.

This solemnity of visage and slG'';" descendingeyelid is the first lesson learned by the youngBohemian from his tutelary genius, the Owl. Forat the beginning of the Club's existence the owlwas chosen to preside over its destinies. It firstappears in print on an invitation to a Jinks inDecember, 1872, surmounting an elk's skull andhorns in a small circular design. The elk horns

Themutations ofLow ji11ks.

Jinkscartoons.

The Club'smotto.

THE ANNALS OF

were afterwards abandoned and the owl appearssometimes grasping a branch as in the seal onpage 9, or medit'ative1y perched upon a human skull.

The initial letter at the beginning of this chapteris a drawing of one of these mortuary owls, ofwhich there are several in the Club's present home.One of the most beautiful of the many representa­tions of the bird is the bronze by Giessling, givento the Club by Mr. James Freeborn, a reproductionof which is attempted on the title page.

The Club also adopted a motto in this first year,"WEAVING SPIDERS COME NOT HERE," a quotationaimed at its ancient enmity for the dull plodderwhose sole ambition in life is money-getting.

The Club'sdomesticenVirOn11'ltllts.

17

18i2-1873.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB.

NEWSPAPER article de­

scribing that first enter­tainment on Saturday,

April 13tb, 1872, says that," the Club threw open its

~l rooms to its membersand their lady friends."

The rooms that were thus royally

thrown open have already been described. The largerhad been fitted up as a reading and lounging room,while the smaller was furnished with a side-board and

a small, free lunch table of monastic simplicity; theselatter were in charge of a West Indian by the name ofParker. Parker was a tall, colored man, self-containedand ceremonious, as one appreciating the dignity of

being a club steward. A few months afterward whenhe was given an assistant, he took unto himself addedstature and the title of head steward. It was in this

character that a very clever likeness was painted of him

by one of the artists, Mr. Joseph D. Strong-Mr. Strongbeing the painter who later on figures in Mr. RobertLouis Stevenson's story of the "Silverado Squatters."

The landlady of whom these apartments were rentedwas irreverently known as" Mrs. MacStinger." From

THE ANNALS OF

The Club1'eceives t'ts

lady friends.

all accounts she was a sour female, hard and exacting,who presented her bill for the ensuing month's rent

with awful promptitude at eight o'clock on the morningof the first, accompanying it with a most alarming billfor last month's gas.

These then were the rooms, and these the domesticenvironments which, according to that ancient news­

paper article referred to, and which we may fairly guesswas written by one of the Bohemian journalists,"presented a scene which, were it not for circumscribingwalls, made an ideal picture of an ideal Bohemia inwhich art, fancy and literature dwelt." No invitationswere issued, but each member brought his lady friendsin the afternoon, who "one and all declared themselvesas charmed with their reception by the new BohemianClub, and many were the wishes expressed that they,too, might be allowed to become members." Shades ofMacStinger! Think of it, ye bachelor members ofto-day. But the night was given over to the men. Abanquet was served at which fifty members and invitedguests sat down, and the toasts that were given and

responded to, and the songs that were sung at this firstBohemian revel may be imagined, in fact, must beimagined, for there is no record of them.

The first few Jinks appear to have been of aninformal nature, the contributions not being confined to

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. 39

I'

any special subject. This, in fact, was the formative

period of these peculiar gatherings, and from the veryfirst a high standard was set up. It was quite naturalthat in a miscellaneous assembly of this sort thereshould be those who allowed their wit and humor

rather more latitude than was quite seemly. But theClub invariably showed disapproval of any such displayof bad taste. Finally this feeling culminated in adramatic scene. Some of the old members recollect a

certain variety actor whom we will call Blank. In

private life he had the manners of a gentleman, waswell read and a delightfully entertaining companion.He was a prominent member of "The Jolly Corks" atthe time the Bohemians had used that society's rooms,and had been most cordial in his offers of assistance to

the new organization. In acknowledgment of thesecourtesies, Blank was elected to the Bohemians, and at

one of the early Jinks he read what purported to be apoem by Byron, which was, to put it mildly, somewhatindecorous. The Club submitted to it for the first

fifteen or twenty lines, and then Newcomb, the Presi­dent, got up and protested. He spoke earnestly, andwith some feeling, declaring that while he was notprudish or inclined to assume any exalted plane ofmorality, he felt it his duty as President of the Club to

point out the danger of such ribaldry, that vulgarity

- ~ - _._~--- _. __ ·r • -

'Theformativeperiod of theJinks.

The Presidentpreserves theproprieties.

The dInner toDr. Pavy.

THE ANNALS OF

was not wit, and that as one gentleman in the societyof others, he, f6r one, felt no call to sit there quietly andlisten to it. Moreover, that if the Jinks of the Bohe­

mian Club were to be characterized by licentiousness,he begged to tender his resignation as President thenand there.

Poor Blank was much astonished and quite over­whelmed by this unexpected rebuke and protestedthat he had no intention of offending anybody, andwith tears in his eyes begged everybody's pardonindividually and collectively. The affair, of course,rather spoiled that particular Jinks, but it had amost salutary effect in raising forever the tone ofthe Jinks which followed.

In May, 1872, Dr. Octave Pavy came to town.Dr. Pavy was a handsome, wel+-bred man, the sonof a wealthy Louisianian, whose mission in San

Francisco was to organize an exploring expeditionto the North Pole by way of Behring Sea, the routetaken in later years by Lieutenant De Long in the ill­fated " Jeannette." The members of the infant

Bohemian Club promptly seized this opportunity toencourage daring in others, and publicly set its sealof approval on science. On June 3d it gave Dr.Pavy a dinner at Martin's restaurant on Commercial

street. Thirty - six members were present, and

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. {1

THE BOHEMIANS AT WORK.

- From tbe cartoon by Fren?:eny.

T. L. Johns, the journalist, is sitting at the table writwg; the man with tbe 'Punch and Judy showis Henry Edwards; the singer is Sayres; the photograPher is Rulofson; tbe long-baired person wtththe brush is Samuel 'Brooks, the painter, while the lawyer at the back is Judge "Dwinelle.

--.- .. ---- ---~~-~"

HarryEdwards'

Benefit atPlatt's Hall.

THE ANNALS OF

among the guests were Selwyn, the dramatic man­

ager, and Nordhoff, who was correspondent for" Har­per's Weekly." The bills of fare were embellished byDenny, the marine painter, and Mr. Kidd, a visitingartist from Boston. Polar bears prowled around thesoup, and ice-bergs overhung the dessert, whilespeeches,' songs and stories were encrusted withbarnacles and glowed with hyperborean fire.

Dr. Pavy, however, did not go to the Arctic

regions. For some reason the expedition failed totake shape. Afterward the unfortunate gentlemanaccompanied the Greely expedition to the North,where he lost his life under most distressingcircumstances.

On September 26th the Club gave a "GrandTestimonial Benefit" to Mr. Harry Edwards atPlatt's Hall. Mr. Edwards was an actor in the

excellent stock company which at that time wasmaking a reputation for the old California Theater.Mr. Edwards was also an entomologist of some noteand an accomplished writer. Among those whoassisted at this benefit were John McCullough,Anna Elzer, Owen Marlowe, J. C. Williamson,Mestayer, Herr Muller and Prof. Fabbri, besides the

California Theater Orchestra under Charlie Schultz,not to mention Mr. Robert Eberle, who was stage

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB.

manager. Newcomb wrote a farce for the occasioncalled "The Diamond Dividend," which was playedby Bohemian Club amateurs.

The first Jinks of which the theme was formallyannounced beforehand, seems to have been that

given on November 30th, 1872, and of which Mr.O'Connell was Sire. The subject, or subjects, were"Tom Moore and Offenbach." This affair appears to

have had a stimulating effect on the Club, for in aburst of extravagance it authorized the finance com­mittee to purchase "four picture frames and a coalbox."

This episode was followed by the Christmas

High Jinks, of which James F. Bowman was Sire,the literary and musical exercises being "commemora­tive of the ancient festival of Christmas." The

subject of the Jinks of February 17th was" TomHood, the Humorist," Frank G. Newlands, thepresent United States Senator'from Nevada, being theSire.

Additional interest is attached to this latteroccasion for tbe reason that here for the first time

was produced an elaborately lettered program in penand ink, embellished by little caricatures of theperformers. This sheet was tbe work of Mr.

"Tom MooreandOffenbachJinks. "

Christmasjinks.

"Tom Hood"Jinks.

W r. !J'(ewlands.

[Mr.). G. Denny.

How Mr.Bosqui andMr. Newcombdrew the firstJinks cartoon.

Some of theold members.

THE ANNALS OF

Edward Bosqui and Thomas Newcomb, who IIIsecret conclave had devised it to add amusement to

the Jinks. They drew better than they knew, forthis modest effort proved to be the forerunner ofthat great host of cartoons which now crowd thewalls of the Club.

The Jinks of March 29th, 1873, was an anniver­

sary occasion, and was what is caned a close Jinks,no invitations being issued to other than members.

The President was Sire and the subject was"William Makepeace Thackeray." The cartoon IIIpen and ink is, like its predecessor, the result ofthe combined efforts of Bosqui and Newcomb.

And this finished the first year of the Bohemian

Club's existence, a date further marked by theadoption of its present Coat of Arms, which wasdesigned by the wen-known marine painter, the lateG. J. Denny. The Club has a number of canvassesby this talented artist ou its walls. Of those who

joined the Club in its first year, there remain with

it at the present day, General Barnes, T. B. Bishop,H. R. Bloomer, Arpad Harazthy, R. C. Harrison,Colonel Hawes, J. N. H. Irwin, Reuben H. Lloyd,Henry Marshall, Captain J. M. McDonald, PaulNeumann, Thomas Newcomb, Daniel O'Connell and

Charles W. Stoddard. Mr. Newcomb, who so ably

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. 45

steered the Bohemian ship through the troubledwaters at the beginning of its cruise, went to NewYork in 1876, and for many years ceased to be amember of the organization. In 1890, however, he againbecame identified with the Club, being created anhonorary member. His portrait looks down uponus from the walls, young, genial and debonair,while men who were scarcely out of kilts when herelinquished the gavel, point the picture out tovisiting strangers with affectionate familiarity as"Tommy Newcomb, our first President."

Mr, Newcomb drawin¥ cartoons.

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB. 45

steered the Bohemian ship through the troubledwaters at the beginning of its cruise, went to NewYork in 1876, and for many years ceased to be amember of the organization. In 1890, however, he againbecame identified with the Club, being created anhonorary member. His portrait looks down uponus from the walls, young, genial and debonair,while men who were scarcely out of kilts when herelinquished the gavel, point the picture out tovisiting strangers with affectionate familiarity as"Tommy Newcomb, our first President."

Mr. Newcomb drawing cartoons.