The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1883-07-07
A Church Sociable.
Communicated

1t had become quite the fashion, ia the little
village in which L once resided, to get up what
were called =" church sOciables," the idea being
that the pastor would announce from the pulpit
that on the following Thursday evening general
Iy) a " sociable " would be held in the vestry of
the church, g and all are cordially invited to at
tend" Then the ladies of the church would ask
some two or three of the younger ones to take
charge of the arrangements, which generally con-
sisted in the providing by the ladies for those
who might come, a little to eat in the way of
cake, cookies, ETC., and a cup of coffee, or, ever,
on extra occasions, a dish of ice-creap. They
were enjoyable little affairs, there being some
music, the recitation Of a poem or a selection,
and a good deal of quiet conversation, spiced
with a little gossip. The refreshments were, of
coarse, a secondary consideration. At least We
always supposed they were, until it happened
that We found out quite the contrary" as
Sairy Camp once said. 1t happened in this
wise:
Three young ladies -sisters-Kitty, Jenny and
Sue, were asked to take charge of things on one
occasion, being assured that = all you have got
to do, dears, is to arrange the flowers prett3ly as
they are sent in, and make the coffee cit VIII all
be sent to the church with the sugar, creaIa and
some eggs to make it rich), and cut the cakes
and fix them III the plates with the cookies and
sandwiches. You are not to provide anything
yourselves - tell your mother - for if yoa will
oaly fix the THU -, tLtt is quite Us much IS We
can expect you to do" Now, she elder 2f the
three prided herself on her skill in making nice
coffee, and SO, on the appointed day, the three
rode down to the church, taking with them just
a few flowers, for fear there might not be
enough sent in. And a very wise precaution 1t
proved to be, for, besides theirs and one more
little bouquet, there was not a single bud, sprig,
spray or blossom sent in. These having been
displayed to the best advantage, the coffee was
duly prepared, and then their attention was
called to the eatables. They found three very
moderate sized loaves of cake had been sent in,
and with all their care they dsspaired of making
these do for the fifty or sixty whom they might
reasonably expect would be there to eat. There
stood six high piles of plates, and their hearts
sank within them at the prospect. Finally, late
in the afternoon, one of the matrons came in,
and, learning the state of things, said, Well,
here is a dollar which Mrs. - gave with which
to get some little things We might need, aud
we'll send the boy down to Souls (the crack
caterer of the town. and have him send Us a lot
of sandwiches" So a large tray was provided,
WIN - AlSS ihi5S hoPhAA W wv GHA
was sent of. Before he got back the people be-
gan to come, and when he did return, there, III
the middle of the tray, concealed by a corner OF
the napkin, was the dollars worth of sandwiches.
Dear me-" said Kitty, is that all you got "
"Yes'm,' . answered the youth.
Didn't you fall down aud drop about half of
them?"
ono, mum, - was the reply; q Mister Soul he
coil tl,t ,ya- oOr than he r,,al 70 ,iua fnc a
dollar generally
DWELL" sighed Kitty, - this will never do.
What shall we do next, Jenny? You slip into the
other room and tell Mrs. j to please come
here"
So Jenny watched her chance, and called Mrs.
J. out, and when she came she exclaimed,
g Good gracious, Kitty, is that all you've goto
Why, what are people thinking about, I wonder.
There is not enough for half the folks in there,
aud We must get something else"
Just then good Mrs. L came into the
room, and, grasping the situation at a glance,
said, well, 1 never; here, Kitty, call that boy
right here, and here is some money, and you tell
him to go to Souls and get another dollars
worth of cake and two dollars worth of sand
witches, and for goodness gracious sake tell him
to hurry, for we can't keep the folks waiting
much longer, or they'll be just ravenous and go
home Disguised"
So they hustled about, and a little more than
an hour later than usual the young ladies had
the pleasure of helping out the rich coffee.
goodness there was enough of that, al
though one leading citizen who anne in late had
to take d cup that had been sent back). They
pressed the cake and sandwiches Oh everybody,
taking if the truth were known-a little sweet
revenge by asking this one if they could nOt get
&c another piece of cake or a sandwich"
long after they knew the last crumb was gone.
1t was apparent to everyone that coffee was the
only drinkable to be had that evening, aud so
one bright young man asked for " two
glasses of lemonade naughty Kitty replied
certainly" and went off. She was back in a
moment with a couple of glasses of sweeteued
water, which she gave to the young man with
the remark that if he found it rather fat, he
could step outside and hunt up a lemon or a lime
to put in it. Those girls induced another young
man to swallow FIVE cups of coffee, excusing
themselves afterwards by insisting that if he had
had one less he would have gone away saying
that they were mean.p
The next morning not a soul made their APP
pearance to help the girls clean up things, and
the oaly consolation that they received was that
hey were splendid housekeepers, and that they
we're real good to do 80 much with so little.
Now, the moral of this little story is, that if
.hese "sociables' should be introduced into
we would advise that those who get
hem up, and call upon others to help, should
be careful that all things are provided in due
season.
interpretations.