THE CUBA REVIEW. 



19 



twenty-five thousand members in good 

 standing. While any white man is eli- 

 gible, objectionable characters are not 

 admitted, and all who apply are not 

 accepted. Nationality is no bar, and 

 many Americans who occupy clerical 

 positions in Havana are members. The 

 dues are one dollar and fifty cents per 

 month, and when one studies the bene- 

 fits to be obtained from this trifling 

 sum, he soon realizes that the financial 

 end of the club's affairs is in excellent 

 hands. The new clubhouse was opened 

 a year ago, and is one of the show 

 places of Havana. It is located on the 

 Prado, near the famous American Club 

 and in the very heart of the homes of 

 the aristocracy. The club privileges are 

 more extensive than those of the States, 

 as the members have the right to bring 

 their families, and, besides, it is an ex- 

 cellent educational institution, where 

 their children may be instructed by com- 

 petent teachers. 



I recall with pleasure several visits to 

 this spacious building, and especially 

 my visit to the schoolrooms, filled with 

 bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked children. The 

 boys occupied rooms on the lower floor. 

 A fair business education may be se- 

 cured here, and those whose inclination 

 runs toward some trade are given a 

 course in manual training. Upstairs is 

 the kindergarten, where about two hun- 

 dred tots are being started on the road 

 to learning. In near-by rooms were girls 

 just growing into womanhood. Paint- 



ing and music are taught, the latter in 

 a most thorough manner. The Cubans 

 are a music-loving nation, and learn it 

 readily. The members themselves have 

 night classes, where bookkeeping, sten- 

 ography and English are taught. In 

 nearly every shop in Havana there are 

 clerks who speak English well — the re- 

 sult of a course at the night school of 

 the Clerks' Club. 



The clubhouse is admirably adapted 

 for social affairs. An immense ballroom 

 covers one entire floor, and is as pretty 

 as the ballrooms of the swellest clubs 

 on the island. Balls are given at the 

 Clerks' Club once a month. 



On the second floor there is a large 

 billiard-room, with a refreshment booth 

 at the side, and in the rear a splendidly 

 equipped gymnasium. Several instruc- 

 tors in athletics are employed. The 

 fencing-room is one of the most attrac- 

 tive places in the building, with its odd 

 bronze figures, its foils, and its masks 

 arranged in a most artistic manner. Al- 

 most any time during the day or night 

 some fencers may be found at practice. 

 Quite a corps of clerks are required to 

 attend to the routine business of the 

 club, and these men have a room on the 

 second floor and work under the direc- 

 tion of Seiior Paniague, the general 

 secretary. 



In 1890 the trustees of the club de- 

 cided that a hospital for the exclusive 

 use of the association was needed, and 

 at the cost of over $125,000 a number 



Cuban children of the Kindergarten Class in the Clerks' Club School. 

 Nines Cubanos en el Jardin de los Nines de la Asociacion de Dependientes del Comercio de 



la Habana. 



