his ( whose?) dining society????

[ripley]

Hi, I'd like to know if "his" ( in the last paragraph, in red) is referred to the cat or to churchill ; what does dining soociety mean? Thanks RIP.






Kaspar the cat chases away curse of 13
BY ROBIN YOUNG (THE TIMES – 8 MARCH 8, 2003)

THE launch of the online survey was

attended by superstition’s own

celebrity, Kaspar, the 3ft high wooden

cat that the Savoy Hotel in London

sends into the dining room whenever

there would otherwise be a table of 13

guests.

Kaspar’s role originates from a Savoy

Hotel tragedy in 1898, when Woolf

Joel, a South African businessman,

pooh-poohed12 superstition and went

ahead with a dinner for 13 after the

14th guest cancelled. Joel fell victim of

a well-publicised murder soon after.

Determined that no such thing should

happen again, the hotel insisted, for a

couple of decades afterwards, that a

member of staff must join any table of

13, at the hotel’s expense, to make up

the number to 14.

Kaspar was apparently fashioned for

the purpose of reassuring

triskaidekaphobiacs (those who have

an irrational fear of the number 13)

and started his career in 1927.

He became a personal favourite of
Winston Churchill, who launched his

dining society, the Other Club, at the

Savoy in 1911, and his presence is not

infrequently requested by customers

even when they do not number 13.

[Tdol]

The society is Churchill's. A dining society normally meets at fixed intervals, like the first Friday on the month, in order to eat and discuss things. They often share professional interests or have beliefs, etc, in common.