But the Toronto Club, now occupying its palatial quarters at the corner of York and Wellington Streets, was the gathering place for the élite of the male persuasion. A story is told of pre-prohibition days when some of the masculine social stars used to meet at the Club for a little game of draw, or—there being no O. T. A. to interfere with their conscience on the temperance question—for a little of something else. Late in the night, or early in the morning as the case may be, at one of these assemblies the hand of one of the players was “called.” The hand was shown, and it showed three tens. No good; the next man threw down three Queens. Not worth a tinker’s what-do-you-call-it; the next showed three Kings. The same result; three aces followed. The holder of the three aces started to rake in the pot when the last player hiccoughed, “Hold on, will you, I’ve got three pair.” And they all admitted that the pot was his. The Albany Club on King Street east was and still is the leading Conservative club, and I guess some of the old members are still voting for Sir John. The Toronto Press. The newspapers of that period had a hard time to make ends meet, owing to the cost of production and the rarity of subscribers. The _Globe_, the _Leader_ and the _Colonist_ were the dailies. George Brown, Gordon Brown, Dan Morrison and Charles Lindsey were the chief writers. George Brown thought more of the _Globe_ than of any other of his life associations, excepting perhaps Bow Park. They say that, returning from Edinburgh with his bride, he jumped out of the train when it reached the Toronto station and made for the _Globe_ office, forgetting for the moment that his fair companion required some attention in the strange city to which she had come. His assaults upon the other side of politics were printed double-leaded on the front page of the paper. People used to think this was because of their importance. But John A. Ewan, who was a boy in the _Globe_ office at the time, and was assigned the duty of running up to Mr. Brown’s house for the editorial copy, used to say that in nine cases out of ten the articles had to go on the front page because, owing to the labor lavished upon them, they were too late for the page devoted to editorial matter. John A. Ewan began newspaper work on the _Globe_, and was one of the editors of that paper when he passed away. A staunch Liberal and beloved by all, we were warm friends, for he was a good deal like my other bosom friend, Sam Kydd, of the Montreal _Gazette_, whose quaint humor gave the editorial columns of that paper a brightness that made them very pleasant reading.