New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-07-25
UOSPITA Bile MISERIES.
From The Saturday RerieU.


A serious and lot us hope exceptional; difficulty
in dinner-giying is drunken butler. We remem-
bera host looking anything but pleased when ms
inebrlate domestic poured trayful OF cups
drawing-room Not long ago a gentleman
told his new butler that he had better
omen n certain number of bottles of wine before a
dinner party and that, when they were finished he
must use his discretion. Long after the gentlemen
had left the dining-r0om there were no gns Oh yea
in the drawing-rOOm; the host, therefore. went
quietly down stairs TO hurry the butler. lie found
chat funciOnary in the ante-rOom engaged IN glilp-
ing down champagne out of "a lumber " What
are You doing ~ said the master. The wine yOu
ordered was all finished, so am using my dlscre-
ton" answered the man 1t IS needless to say that
much of the success Of dinner party depends upon
the efficiency and skill of the butler-mOre, we are
inclined to think, than most people imagine. If
butler cannot always make party 30 oil WELL be
always spoil III.
The cook of course. is the nam agent in dinner
giving We divide cooks into two classes-thOse
who cook carefully but moderately well every day,
but cannot cook artisically when there Is party,
and those whose cooking Is all that can dc wished
on any special OCCASION but careless when the mas
ter and mistress are alone. Many people MINK me
former the best sort of cook; but on the whole,
there is much To be SAID Tor the latter because the
misery of seeing bad dinner put before friends In
ones own house is so great that some shortcomings
in ones everyday dinners are not to be compared
to il. There are few occasions on which man
feels at once so helpless and yet so responsible as
when he sus at his own table watching bad an
ner being given to his guests. Perhaps the entrees
are StOdgy, the rOasts under or 0VerdOne. ana the
sweets rolling about instead of standing in their
dishes an even temperature Is maintained III every
thing. the soups, the meats, the jellies and the
buildings are all pretty equally iukewarm. And
yet. the unfortunate glyer OF the ieast
utterly helpless and nwardly boiling
over with wrath. has to mako himself
agreeable and converse brilliantly on general topics,
as If he had not a care in the world. The next
morning the hostess proceeds to relieve her feelings
in the house keepers room With an air of injured
innocence the poor cook weeps over the fate OF her
excellent dinner Everything, she says, has been
cooked perfection but the butler and footman Kept
the whole dinner waiting, and dishes which were
fit to put before a king were allowed to get sodden
tepid and spoiled IN the sorving-roOm. The hostess
goes to her husband and tells him that 'he really
speak" to the butler on the subject but before
he has time to do SO the butler comes himself to
complain. He had sent down again and again TO the
kitchen for the courses, and yet he was kept wait
ing. The sauces were not sent up with the things,
and one man had To be employed during the greater
part of dinner in running with messages to the
cock. He had sometimes begun to think that she
must have gone to sleep. The general result of the
affair IN such IS likely to be grand row
among the dOmestIcs, with which We gladly dis
miss the subject.