e organization is run. Members are
elected, and all are men, though the names of the ladies of a member's
household are placed on the club list. "Only death or removal from the
city erases them--change of fortune affects them not at all." A man
whose progenitors have belonged to the society is almost certain of
election, though there have been cases in which undesirables of good
family have been blackballed. Two blackballs are sufficient to cause the
rejection of a candidate. Men who are not of old Charleston stock are
carefully investigated before they can be elected, but of late years not
a few such, having been considered desirable, have become members. The
members elect officers and a board of managers, and these have entire
control of the society. Three balls are given each year, one in January
and two in February. Until a few years ago the hall in which the balls
are given was lighted by innumerable candelabra; only lately has
electricity been used. The society owns its own plate, damask, china and
glassware, and used to own a good stock of wines. Of late years, I
believe, wines have not been served, the beverage of the evening
consisting of coffee, hot and iced. The greatest decorum is observed at
the balls. Young ladies go invariably with chaperones; following each
dance there is a brief promenade, whereafter the young ladies are
returned to their duennas--who, if they be Charleston dowagers in
perfection, usually carry turkey-feather fans. Cards are filled months
in advance. As lately as the year 1912 every other dance was a square
dance; since then, however, I believe that square dances have gone the
way of candle-light. The society has an endowment and membership is
inexpensive, costing but fifteen dollars a year, including the three
balls. This enables young men starting in life to be members without
going into extravagance, and is in accord with the best social tradition
of Charleston, where the difference between an aristocracy and a
plutocracy is well understood. Most of the rules of the organization are
unwritten. One is that men shall not smoke on the premises during a
ball; another is that divorced persons shall not be members or guests of
the society. In this respect the St. Cecilia Society may be said, in
effect, to be applying, socially, the South Carolina law; for South
Carolina is the only State in the Union in which divorces are not
granted for any cause whatsoever.

This reminds me that the Stat