The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1864-10-12
A Dinner Party. in Norway

From All The Year Round;
There were, perhaps, hundred and fifty
guests assembled when we entered. | won
dered how we were all going to be accommo-
dated.
Il dare say you do not have this sort of
dinner parties in England" said a young lady
TO me, whom l had met the evening before
1--WE always, at such parties stand up to din
pef,' Ny answer was cut short by our being
ushered into the dining room.
As wished to do at Rome as they did at
Rome, first turned to ii...a .:. si1c . s.c on
which were arranged sardines, anchovies,
FThrondbjem aquaSit," and other appetite
tlcklers. | won't describe the dinner; suf-
hce it to say 1t was most excellent But
most earnestly recommend any one going to
Christiana, to practice dining standing up be-
fore leaving home, ior it requires an uncom-
mon knack to be able to manage it properly.
Fry; take Plate, With ? bit Of chicken, slice
pf ham, some peas and potatoes on it, for in
stance. Hold this in your left hand-for all
the chairs and side-tables are monopolized BY
the elderly peopie-cut and eat with your
fr..-ht hand.
In the meantime keep constantly drinking
Wine with Imaginary guests, and get your sis
teTs TO push gently up against you from all
sides. And withal you should not omit to
pay some attention to the study of attitudes.
Assume the best posture for preserving your
gravity In state OF stability" while you also
ssek TO avoid a straddle, as If you were on the
deck of rolling steamer, otherwise you may
be animadverted on by the company, You
must not feel annoyed ii, just as you have sue
ceeded IN cutting up the chicken and ham in
nice little bits, and have relinquished the
knife for the fork, Jolt from behind disturbs
the direction q mouthful is taking, and sends
III OutSlGa Chirf- -frnnt 0F ine H.
Neither must you hs irritated at feeling that
some one isponring platetul of gravy down
your back. upset a glass of wine over at
young gentleman's legs, Ian elderly man of
stout basis, who bumped against me was the
CAUSE and am ashamed to say that looked
hard in another direction, as i'll knew nothing
at all about the matter. Another piece of adj
vice would venture to suggest-especially if
on dislike psing dirty forks-is that you keep
tight hold OF your own.
Forks are always at premium, and If you
will put yours down for one moment, you'll
geyer see it again, ! cannot suggest the mod
est strangers doing anything better with bis
wine-glass than putting it in his pocket when
not III immediate use ! for lam convinced that
not one of the ladies or gentlemen present
drank out of the same glass twice.
After dinner, which was over about six, the
gentlemen strolled out into the grounds TO
PAuhc' 1ue IauIpS uOn6 al al OUJecG 10 Tue
smell of the fragrant weed, and nearly all the
clergy indulge in it. You canjudge for your
self, when inform you that in 1885, when the
population consisted of 400 ,047 souls-Ilik
exactitude-the imports of tobacco amounted
to about 100000 pounds; which gives an al
lowance of two pounds and quarter to
each soul, not deducting women and chill
dren,
One gentleman, to whopI was introduced
informed me that he had always had smoke
the last thing at night, after he had got into
bed and from some incidental remarks he
made, discovered that he was married man,
and occupied the same apartments with his
wife. Cigars, coffee, and its attendant Cura-
Goa, having been duly appreciated, we return
ed to the house and danced till twelve O'Clock.
And though the party had thus lasted eight
hours, it had been throughout an uncommon
ly pleasant one, and the time had passed very
quickly.