The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-06-09
The Etiquette q Dini.e 0ut

Ae -EtqueUe AOlnlnS V96 sses
.sCostly thy habit as thy purse can
Guy" is not bad rule for the diner-out.
"A man of course wears the customary
suit of solemn black, unless he be an es-
thete and disports himself in knee-breech-
e and lace ruffies. A lady can scarcely
wear too handsome q dress, though it
should he different in style from ball
dress. Her most beautiful jewels and
her richest laces find in ceremonlous
dinner suitable occasion for their dis
PLAY Places at the table should be
found as quietly as possible. and q man
is wise to inquire before going to the
dining-room on which side OF the table
he is to sit. Guests remain standing
until the hostess has taken her seat, and
then seat themselves. They lay their
table napkin across their laps, take off
their gloves, and if there is roll of
bread in their plates they remove it to
the left side. If raw oysters have been
served they will be eaten at once. 1t is
NO longer good form to wait for the rest
of the company to be served before be-
ginning to eat, and for this there is q
sensible reason, as will be found upon
examination to be the case with most of
the little changes in fashion which take
place from time to time. A grand din
ner would be indefinitely prolonged if
all the guests waited to eat the same
thing at the same time. The walters
begin their. service with the lady who sits
ut The hosts right hand, and she should
be ready to be helped to the second
course by the time the first course has
made the round of the table.
A neophyte might perhaps be puzzled
: amsng the multiplicity of forks beside
her plate, but she will see that the small
spoon-shaped fork is used for oysters,
aud the next smallest fork for the fish.
IL is now customary to supply also a
silver knife for fish, and this is great
convenience Should the fish-knife be
absent the fork is to be held in the right
hand and assisted by piece of bread in
the left; but the silver knife is prefer
able and will be found in most houses.
Soup should be eaten with large
spoon. Dessert-spoons for soup are no
longer en- regLe, on the theory that soup
is nothing unless hot. and that it can be
eaten1nore quickly, and therefore when
hotter, by using large spoon. If you
are fastidious about triiling forms you
will dip up your soup with the side of the
spoon farthest from you and move it
toward the farther side of your plate as
you lift it toward your mouth. The
really important thing is to eat it from the
side of the spoon and noiselessly. Moth
ing is a much surer test of the number
of removes we are from our great-grand-
father the ape than our manner of taking
soup. To eat noisily is loudly to pro-
claim ourselves unfit for the society of
ladies and gentlemen.
In eating any course where both a
knife and fork are required the fork
should be held in the left hand and the
knife in the right. 1t is not a social
crime to transfer the fork to the right
hand and back again, but it is now con-
sidered better form to keep the fork in
the left hand and carry all food to the
mouth with that hand, unless in the
courses where no knife is required. In
eating soft dishes, such as crOquettes or
sweetbreads, where fork only is neces-
sarysit is of course held in the right
hand. A fork is used whenever it is
possible for buildings and jellies, and in
many houses fOrice cream. In England,
both fork and spoon will be given you
with the sweets, and both are sometimes
used together.
Cheese is the one thing for which
fork is not used, and you will find your
self supplied only with knife for that
course which consists of cheese, lettuce
or celery and biscuits, or, as we say,
crackers. Vegetables should always be
eaten with a fork, except the few which,
like artichokes. you hold in your fingers.
One is quite at liberty to take asparagus
in the fingers and bite it off, though
some people prefer to cut off the soft
ends and eat them with fork. Olives
are taken in the fingers.
Peaches, pears and apples are pre-
pared for eating with a fruit knife and
fork but large Strawberries are eaten
by taking the stem in the fingers and
dipping them into the sugar on your
plate. '...s.r.f..
Very young ladies at dinner seldom
eat anything so strongly favored as
cheese. cheese tondus. cheese souffles
and that order of edibles. Wasn't it in
"Good-by, Sweetheart that the plain
elder sister consoled herself for the want
of a lover by the thought that at least she
had full liberty to enjoy her dinner?-
and the fully blown rose, a bud no longer,
may build a monument to her lost youth
with raw oysters, a little of the fat from
the roast beef, and all sorts of savories
from which she would have abstained in
her girlhood.
When the dessert service is put on the
table. the finger-glass with the bit of
prettiness under it which plays at being
a dolly. should be removed to the left
side and the glass plate left free for the
dessert. I All use of the napkin should
be asinconspicuous as possible, and tooth
picks are horrors. the Use of which, like
evil deeds, should shun human observa-
ton.
Alta very small dinner only. the con-
Versation will be general. When the
number at table exceeds six or eight the
conversation is chiefly carried on in 4
low tone between those who sit next
each other. 1t is perfectly proper to
speak to your next neighbor on either
side, whether you have been introduced
or not.