The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1876-06-01
Talk at Table.

NOTHING gives such delightful flavor
to dinners as pleasant, lively chat at
table. The courses may be counted by
the first numeral, and the variety of dishes
to that may be small, yet bright, CHEEKY
talk is a spice that suits all dishes, pleases
all tastes, and goes a long way toward
making the planest meal a delightful
repast. | do not mean heavy, heated
argument on abstruse subjects, which
would render indigestible well,ordered
meal nor lecture from one of the two
heads of the table which would blunt the
appetite and dcpress the spirits, but light
airy talk-more chat than talk-the kind
that plays upon the surface of things with.
out going very deep, interspersed with
jokes and smiles and amusing anecdotes.
DR.. Franklin says that his father always
managed to have some instructive CONVEX
sation going on between him and his
boys at table, engaging their attention so
entirely that after the meal was over it was
the talk and not the dinner that was re-
membered.
Solemn silence at the table broken only
by the clatter of dishes and the sound of
eating is enough to make one discard
eating entirely, or drive him. Ivy its vul-
garity, to a solitary dinner. The rattle of
knives and forks is pleasant music as an
! accompaniment, but metallic, humdrum,
and monotonous as an orchestral sym
phony; let the noise be mingled with the
plash and ripple of conversation. Even
the cat and dog will growl their satisfac-
ton when cracking particularly sweet
and tender bone.
Some people take to themselves great
credit for improving all the minutes in
reading during meals, but in fact it is
really waste OF time. Mixing the two
things spoils both. You throw away the
enjoyment of the occasion, and you miss
the absorbed interest in the book which
otherwise would be inspired; so the real
good of both is lost. With full sense of
the importance of time, l say books
should not be served at table, The morn
ing paper should be read aloud, if read
at all, at such time. 1t is as selfish to
monopolize the dish of news as to take
the whole steak or mackerel on your
plate, while your opposite neighbor only
sees her hungry face reflected in her
china. Conversation should be general
handed round like the bread and butter.
Give me the dinner Of herbs, served with
a side-dish Of pleasant talk, rather than
the famous stalled OK, eaten in sullen 81
lence. Sudden news, protracted thought,
great WEAKNESS, anxiety, the indulgence
of grief, expectancy, anger, all take away
appetite and spoil the enjoyment of a
meal. The conversation should be light,
animated, instructive, and always on
pleasant subjects.
As general rule, the merchant should
leave the sale of his goods to be finished
behind the counter; he Should shut in the
worry and veXation of business with the
long column of unbalanced figures in his
ledger; the lawyer should dismiss the
case of his client for the time being, how
ever important; the doctor his patient;
the banker his stocks. The mind must
have some relaxation, and at meals it is
we'll for another set of faculties to come
into play. 1t is time when all should
be rested, cheered, yet stimulated, with
the right kind of conversation. And, be-
sides, the occasion demands our present
attention. We have no right to sit down,
sullen and morose, and dispatch a meal
in hot haste, when it might be seasoned
and made palatable with pleasant converse.
In the family there is no excuse for a
glum, persistent silence, making the full
est table seem the emptiest Illustrated
Christian Weekly.