The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-09-22
Table Manners,

raSs neophNte, who does not know
which {" take first. SAYS Clara DE We're
in Cincinnati Gd2etic. The smallest
fork Is for the raw olsiers. which gem
orally prrcnde u handsome dinner, the
next smallest for the fish, and so on. In
eating oysters the shell is steadied on
the plate with the fingers of the left
hand, and the oysters are not cut, but
eaten whole. Soup should be served
with large spoons and never with des-
sert spoons. aud there is good reason
for this etiquette of spoons. Soup is
nothing if not hot; and as it is the Gus
tom To give but very small helping of
soup-about half latlie full to each
rerson-it is eaten quicker. and. there
fore. hotter with II large spoon than
with n small one. The way in which
man takes his soup is by many people
regarded rs the test of his table man.
ners-to tip the plate and to take the
soup from the point of the spoon are
sins against the morality Of the dinner
table, us great rs to suck down the
liquid with the sound of a miniature
maelstrom. The best law-givers on the
subject demand that the spoon shall
be swept through the soup away from
the person, and the soup drank noise
lessly from the side of the spoon. which
should be slightly tipped, as If it were
small cup or bowl. For thirty years,
until brief time ago. fish had been Ca
ten with fork and bit of bread crust
to poke the flakey bits upon tho tines,
and to this day old-fashioned people
fancy that that bread crust improved
the flavor of their salmon or black bass.
But one evening the youngest son Of
| IN Earl discarded this crust of bread
and ate his fish with two silver forks.
This notion found such favor that So
| ciety dropped the humble crust and
was found cumbersome and was SUPER
seeded by dainty little silver fish knife
and fork, which are in general use in
houses where the latest adjuncts to con-
venience and elegance are in order. If
no fish knife be forthcoming, the diner
out can fall back upon either his crust
or his extra fork, and still be SHINING in
good company. Very small helps of
fish are always given. When game is
eaten it is needless to say that the old
license for holding the bone delicately
between the finger and the thumb has
long since expired. "Set never on fish
nor flesh, beast nor fowl, truly moro
than two fingers and thumb. for that
is courtesy" is the old measure for
manners, now disbarred. The leg of a
fowl or game bird is never given rs q
helping to guest, unless at a pinch,
but the wing or breast cuts. From
these he cuts off the meat which can be
easily got ut, and leaves all those NOR
sells about which there is the slightest
difficulty. a good host looks with
greater favor upon grecdiness than upon
INDIGESTION. Always refuse or accept
promptly, and know whether you pre-
fer light or dark meat. One of the most
Objectionable diners out is the woman
who ''really has no choice" in these
matters. Vegetables are generally ca
ten with q fork, with two or three eX-
ccptiOns, rs radishes, water cress, and
olives. Asparagus is eaten by elderly
gentlemen who adhere to the customs
OF their youth by holding the stalks in
their fingers. The Younger generation
cut off tie pods of the asparagus with
fork, and :. knife if necessary, that is if
tough, and leave altogether the upper
parts Of the stalks. Salads belong 10 the
joint, and are eaten off small salad
plates placed at the left of the dinner
plate. The usual mode of eating cheese
is To cut it in small squares and place it
with the knife on morsel of bread,
which is then conveyed to the mouth by
the fingers. The English fashion of
serving celery with cheese is q growing
one. 1t is cut into fair-siZcd mOuthfuls,
and thus eaten instead of bites being ia
ken from the end Of a stick Of celery,
held between the fingers, schoolbOy
fashion. If wine is drank the glass
should be taken by the stem and not by
the bowl. Sparkling wines. the latest
dictum declares, should be drank at
...e and not slipped. In the matter, of
Taking wine. one can decline altogether.
il I'm" "hnuses. without any breach OF
good manners. Men turn down the
glass. and some of them make consid-
cradle unnecessary parade in so doing.
A woman motions the waiter away with
her fOreiinSer put on the edge of the
glass. If lady does not intend drink
ing more wine than remains in her
glass, she should make little motion
of dissent when the servant is about to
replenish it-otherwise a good glass of
wine is sent away INFESTED until the art
full waiter consumes it himself behind
the door of the buffers pantry. No
condiments except salt are now put up
OH the table. Individual salts are pure
~ American. In the best houses pref
erence is shown for ample silver sal
ieres. The custom cherished by many
people of putting little piles of salt on
the tablecloth is a violation of the MIC
est table etiquette, and though not ex-
actly n crime, is vexatiOus to the host
ess, and gives her faultless table shah
by look during the removes. The salt
should be deposited on the rim of the
plate, on the left side, too, if you
have respect for the old time
tradition that '.salt and pepper should
always be handed from left to right"
1t is no longer the custom. as it once
was, to wait till every one is helped.
A little tact will decide that question II
doubt arises. The hostess must pre-
tend to eat till her most lingering guest
is done to keep him company. It is
always proper to ask for a second cut or
to declare q preference for rare or un-
derdone beef or the reverse at an in
formal dinner, but one never asks twice
for soup, fish, salad. and rarely for des-
sert. When dinner is served a la Russo
one asks for nothing except perhaps
time to see what is on his plate before
the waiter spirits it away. When the
finger bowl placed on napkin and
glass plate arrives in the progress of
the dinner, the finger bowl should be
removed with the right hand and set in
front of the plate, and the little dolly
should then be placed at the left. leav-
ing the plate free for the fruit. 1t is
always proper to pare an apple, to cut
a peach, or prepare an orange with the
knife and the fingers. Some people
waste their energies by sticking these
fruits on fork and carving them with
out any touch of the fingers, but this Is
unnecessary. Cake ut dessert is broken
and eaten as bread would be, and not
cut into small squares with a knife.
| After the fruit is eaten the fingers are
dipped into the finger bowl, and dried
on the napkin with as little parade as
possible. 1t is permissible for man
to dip corner of the napkin in the
finger glass. and wipe his mustache. but
it must he done deity and quickly, for
it is not a pretty sight to see a man 50
engaged at the table, though much may
be forgiven to the owner of luxuriant
mnstache or patriarchal beard.
| One word more, and this to young
girls who have been carefully taught
nice courtesy to servants in their.own
homes, and it is word not out of place,
we know from personal observation in
fashionable hotels and restaurants. It
is bad form to show courtesy to the
walters by looking up into their faces as
they hand the dishes. 1t savors of
familiarity; also the habit of looking up
when saying. mo, thank you" or