Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-10-22
Table Manners,

1dulC VuduuCiSs
One of the surest tests of refinement
is the test of eating. There may pos
sibly be persons of taste and delicacy
who are careless CT the table and care
less at the table, but they are black
swans, exceptions which prove the
rule. This test is as applicable tc
brutes as to men. There 10 as much
difference in the refinement of individ.
uals OF the canine and bovine and feline
species as in those of the human spe.
cies; and this difference is seen most
plainly in their personal habits, and
particularly in their habits Of eating
Even in that omnivorous animal, the
pig, We find this statement verified. An
aristocratic pig is dainty at the trough,
and refuses food if not up to grade OF
served in a slovenly style.
There is no pain Of the social sort
more exquisite than the pain endured
by sensitive and refined nature when
by stress of circumstances it is com.
PEELED to feed on husks and with swine
This was the browning agony that
brought the prodigal son to himself
and Influenced him to return to his ia.
theirs house, where the servants had
good food and to spare.
To some, good table manners come
by nature: to others only by training
Those who are born with delicate
sense of taste and smell, with fine or.
CARNATIONS and limited powers of d.
gestion, are naturally particular about
their eating, and prefer starvation to
Indulgence in anything common OF
unclean." Others in whom all the
senses are dull and whose bodies are
coarsely made, are easily pleased, and
have no difficulty in eating whatever is
set before them, asking no questions
for conscience's or any other sake. This
latter class, unfortunately quite toe
numerous for tho comfort of the former
though not perhaps too many for the
rough fare and work of the world, are
proper subjects for culture in table
manners. 1t was doubtless in the in
terest OF this class our correspondent
wrote, at whose earnest request few
hints are here printed.
Any one who will from principle and
Icy habit keep the Ten Commandments
will have no doubts as to their worth to
VIC win, anu tuCit ulNluc OIiSlus IL
any man will do His will, he shall
know of the doctrine" The formation
OF habit creates sentiment. 1t may
take long time to form it, but the
habit once formed, settlement will
grow up and Irvine round it as the ivy
graces the oak. This is why mothers
who seek to develop good table man.
ners in their children will first provide
good table appointments, and carefully
prepared and daintily served food, anel
will thea insist upon good behavior.
These three things insisted on will in
time create sentiment in the minds OF
children that will make correct table
manners second nature.
l. AS to table appointments. The
cloth should be scrupulously clean,
though it be only coarse material;
nicely starched and ironed, and put on
straight, its folds parallel with the
sides of the table, and they with the
sides Of the room. The napkins, OF
however coarse material, must also be
clean, carefully ironed and put on in
place. The arrangement of the dishes
on the table must be uniform, regular
-, So s rs:.ss; :Ir'cs.
glass, being in its appointed place and
kept there. Any one accustomed to
orderly appointments by habit soon
learns to feel the necessity Of taste and
exactitude. These are fearfully neg
lected in many families. Table furni-
ture of all sorts is hustled ON without
regard to appearance or order, the
napery is disgusting, the carelessness
in disposing it equally so, and the re-
suits are only such "a Nigh, be *.
pected.
2. AS to the food. 1t is impossible
to feel polite and weli-mannered over
unpalatable, coarse, ill-prepared, indi
gestible food. Every mouthful of it
provokns ill-humor, resentment, dissat-
isfaction. The house mother who in.
sists on good table manners must give
her family good food. There is no
need of sour bread, muddy coffee,
soggy potatoes, heavy pie-crust, leath-
cry batter cakes. Chesterfield himself
would forget his manners if compelled
for any length of time to subsist on
such diet.
3. As to methods OF eating. With
the assistance of the knife and fork the
food may be SO divided as to relieve the
incisors of the heaviest part of their
work, and make small mouthfuls q
pleasure. The grinders indicate that
grinding in the mouth is part of the
process of nutrition. Animals destitute
OF grinders bolt their food. It is not
fitting that human beings cat as dogs
do, since they have each a mill ready
for use-which dogs have not. The
lips are so constructed that the noise of
the grinding, which is intolerable to
ears polite, may be effsctually disguised.
This is point that cannot be too ur-
gently insisted on. Food, whether
liquid or solid, must be conveyed into
the mouth and from the mouth down
ward silently.
The position at table should be un-
constrained and easy. the person sitting
erect or slightly bent forward when
eating. so that the moath may be di-
rectly above the plate; the arms should
be held at the side, not extended at
RIGHT apOlao with tho holr MI -