History

Values

Facilities

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Reciprocating Clubs

By the way

From the Committee

The Club Committee took its duties as seriously 100 years ago as it does today.

February 1918. A letter was read from the transport Officer KAR ‘informing us the missing Gymkhana ox was, he believed, working in a municipal water cart. The Manager was instructed to make enquiries and report at the next meeting.

March 1918. A letter was read from the Municipal engineer ‘informing us that the Club ox was not with the Municipal Council’.

April 1918.’The Manager was instructed to purchase from W.B. Thompson & Co. one trained ox at Rs 150’.

July 1920.’Champagne, The secretary reported that Messrs Epstein had Heidseck Dry Monopole to sell at 143/- per case. He was instructed to get as many cases as he could’.

February 1921. ‘a letter from Capt. B******** asking to be released from jail. To be advised that the correct procedure had been followed by the Club solicitor and release could only be secured when the decree for debt to the Club had been satisfied’.
‘Some bottles of whisky from the condemned cask were tested and found to be alright’ [three Committee members were present: number of bottles not stated].

September 1921,’ The Secretary was instructed to see Mr. M******* and ask him to pay for the damage he did to the Club Bicycle by collision with his motor cycle’.
March 1922, ‘The Secretary was authorized to buy a second Club Bicycle to be used by him when out on Club business’.

October 1938, ‘Wireless Set. Mr. I. Davies’s motion that a wireless set be provided in the Club was discussed. The consensus of opinion appeared to be adverse on the grounds that such a set was likely to be more of a nuisance than a benefit to members’. The motion was lost. Mr Davies did not give up. He tried again in September 1939 when he suggested that a wireless set be provided ‘as at the present time [war had been declared] it would be greatly appreciated’. Alas, he failed again. ‘There were divided opinions…and it was finally decided by votes that there was no place suitable for a WIRELESS [sic]’. [But see under the war years.]

There is a caricature portrait of Mr. Idris Davies in the Men’s bar; he was the chairman of the Club in 1953, a Committee member for several years and active in building work around the Club.

November 1960. ‘Library. A letter….asking why it was necessary to purchase books in which majority of the members had no interest’. The title of the book: ‘Physics of Mathematics, Length and Time’.

Car Parking
By the early 1920s Parking of motor cars became a thorny problem. Where once there had been rules about tethering horses and waiting areas for rickshaws, more members possessed cars.

Prices our predecessors paid and often complained about:

1915: 50 ‘Three Castles’ cigarettes cost 95 cents, by 1950 up to 5/75.

1920: champagne 143/- a case (less than 12/- a bottle).

1921: A pot of coffee 50 cents; Hennessy. Brandy 1/60 a tot, Martell 1/70.

1932: Breakfast 2/50, luncheon 3/50, tea 1/-, dinner 5/-, Whisky 8/- a bottle, gin 6/-, brandy 7/-, and beer including ‘case and bottles’ 20/-

1947: Dinner 5/- including Coffee

1950: Room charges 9/- for a single in the ‘old’ block, 11/- a double, while charges for the ‘new’ block were 14/50 and 17/- (with bath). Minerals 70 cents.

1954: Whisky 2/- a tot, gin 1/90, brandy 2/20 and beer 1/40 a bottle. A single room with breakfast 12/-, a double with bath 30/-. Lunch 6/50, Dinner 9/-.

1956: a gin and tonic 2/60.

1957: Luncheon 8/50 for which a typical menu was: