Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-12-30

~" NsiflNd HAhhs ARE ushD-AND HOW THEY
S1MEIlMEs AlgsTiFY THE FAR wEAT SIEMBsR.
Correspondence of The ooinne,cia
WAsHINGros. ID. @, Dee. 90
lhonbh lilo seipson may be sad to haze coni-
menced with Thanksgiving Day, yet il does not
attain iull vigor until New Years but from then
and until Ash Wednesday, it lIourishes in all its
glory. A most important part Of 1t ia ''eals {"
The woman who moves in Society must make
calls to be called upon if she does not, she viii
hnd her parors empty on reception days and
(whht IL toaome far more importantly her name
out OF the neSt papers. For tho record of ro-
ceptions and social events, with inoniiGn of
those present ANA coluplute description ut iln,
tolletteH worn, FORMS an important part of iocai
journalism and Tauks fully its high AZ, il not
higher than, the record OF cpngrossioual events
tnngross having adjourned till after the to-
days aud the past week having been unusually
dull, with one exception OF Christmas day, YOUR
correspondent will devote THE letter TO brief
descnptun or classification Of
!" oM-L4' AND . cALLEns,"
as they exist here in Washington Tile for,ner
may he divided into five distnGt elaases and
those who make tiiem into three rho i've kiids
OF calls are cpngra uiRtorV, of r1rhnlencc of it-
yitation, official aad pom, p,e,,dre coltfq. lhe
three classes Of callers are thnna who call ~
frenda, those who call ~ u matter of dirty, nw-
ing to tleir official position, and those who call
beoanse others do and because they want ia
" show ON The latter class finds it's repreAcr-
tatlyes chiefly amongst transient visitors TO the
scat of Government who want TO improve the
opportunity by seeing everything. from the dome
of the Capitol to the back-kitcben of tho Socro.
tary OF State, and who could never leave the
capital for homo i'll contented state OF mind
unless they carried with them the proud rccol-
lection that they had
II trTT Tuft
criticised Mrs. Grants Dress and taken u glass
of wine at the reception of some Judge OF tho
Supreme Court or member OF tho Cabinet.
As for the calls, the two first classics (congrat-
ulStory and OF condolence) arc indilged in AZ
occasion demands. 1t is the thing for married
iadles, when calling by card, to leave three spec
imens of the pastebosrd one bearing the callers
own name and two with that of the husband
The former which is for the hostess only, is lert
IN the drawing-room but the two others, one of
which s for the host and the other for the hos-
tess, are deposited in the card basket that is al
ways placed to receive them in the reception
room, ON the hall table. This fashion is god
send to the stationers and card engiaverA who
are kept busy from Christmas until Lent sup
plying the enormous demand, and then, after
one or two seasons, retire rich
"Oniea" calls arc an institution peculiar to
Washington and are purely formal.
CEREMONY DIRECTS THE WIVES
President at stated periods tho wives of sena-
tors must call upon the Cabinet ladies' the
wives OF Members upon the wives OF Senators
and 20 on, through the gradaions of political and
Official life. have seen this carried this to such
nicety, that the wife of a 5lic0 clerk would turn
up her nose at the idea of calling first upon the
wife Of $1,000 clerk, while the latter would
with equal contempt scoin the idea of favoring
the helpmeet of Thousand dollar clerk with
her presence, before the latter had made a for
NAL call on her This official and social ladder,
with its step above step, like the 'llouse that
Jack built +" reaches all tho way from the de-
partment messenger with sixty dollars month
to the White House. with fifty Thousand a year
and no round is ever skipped over
INVITATION cALIs HAD LATELY BEcoME
rect timing to invite your friends, not by card,
az formerly, but by an oral invitation, Tor the
express purpose of making which Il call il
made. II. s. v. j. cards arc therefore getting
out of fashion, and it is perhaps as well they
are, for these initials have bothered tho brains
of many verdant Congressman. l remember
having heard OF a case in point, where u mem
her from the Far West, after studying "A long
while upon those mysterious letters at tho bot |
tom of an invitation he had received to grand
levee at the house of n foreign ambassador, at
last came to the conclusion that they mllst stand
for Red StOcbiags, gelget Pants, (the card lay
ing the words :" full dress - inscribed just oppo- |
site to those initials, and conseguentlyapp /,
in such 8 costume, much to the disgust of his
colleagues who thought he had suddenly become
a fit subject for u lunatic asylum.
Cards r. u. A. (pour dire adieu) or r. l.. G.
(ponr prendre eongD are scattered proiusely |
during the latter part of the season, and in early
Spring, when preparation are made for tho SUM |
mer exodus to tho Watering places and Europe |
Both forms of initial are equally popular and
So much for tho card etiqmette, winch plays
such an important part in the ceremony of society," |
and which, ridiculous as it il when carried 10 eS |
cess has many good points when thoushtfully |
exercised. The "peddlmg of cards by the
busheful is one thing. and their proper use
quite another thing The former is an abomi- |
nation and an outgrowth of shoddyism tho lat |
tor a delicate privilege and a great convenience
DEIrA.