Coldness Began To Creep In

The summers passed pleasantly, and warm friendships were made (among the members of the Cyclone Club), until the first mutterings of the approaching Civil War. As can be seen by the record already given of the different players, there were strong partisans on both sides, and coldness began to creep in where hitherto all had been so united. Finally the (Lafayette Park) grounds were occupied as a camp by General A.J. Smith with a troop of United States soldiers, and the "Cyclones" became a thing of the past.

-St. Louis Republic, April 21, 1895


I've written a few times about the effect that the outbreak of the war had on the Cyclone Club and have always been fascinated by the understated phrasing used to describe what was happening in the club as the nation fell apart. A "coldness began to creep in" is a beautiful turn of phrase and is now my favorite euphemism for the partisan divisions that took hold within the club.