Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-08-21
AT THE TABLE.
LITTLE PEOPLE SHOULD FEED LIKE
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.

Effects of Disorderiy Conduct At the o'a-
ncr Table-Teaehing Good Manners -
Hungry Childrca A Task for tho
Mother-Ssd Results
How often it IS tho case that when guests
are at table 10 whom some Difference aud
ceremony may be due. We see the childreg
made the center Of observation AID corvez>
sa,ion allowed 10 elanor for vi hat they want,
TO reach ami grasp and take and put hack.
and indeed sometimes to mako paudeIuo-
mum of the whole occasion. They talk their
own talk, and thev uEilSg. other ralk nearly Il
nos quite impossible; ti-ey ;o.a II the gen
erai conversation uarovgcrtIi, otStruct il 81
silence it alGogetsse-. Eeey ,;c,4y TIE Waitress
and the dish. tGeE ~ .'s-s =, II wants with
vehsmence. they lea. ,;,eir seats, they olnnh
bacl, into them, ta@y ,il...gsei they cry. they
have 10 be appeascG, ts9- rstard che helping
OF others, they soili md smear and make
their neiSdbcrilooi dangerous, sad theif
daubed fingers and faces aad tears, and the:t
tricks and their manners generally ART
enough 10 cause such GuaJrns IN the Observes
as viii prevent r,Do;.tion Of the attempt I'd
dine in their company; for si.e guests ars
driven 10 ie2ve tina. table with a feeling that
pulse and water ara better with pe2ce than
the stalled OK IS 70 this accompaniment Oh
children ruined by Indulgence.
Yet none 81 this sho2iS be or need be IL
is not, TO be surc, an entirely easy matter u
have il otherwise, Is requires constant over
sight and effort ~ prevent II. 10 counterfeit
it; for healthy, happy, hearty children havt
al something OF the carly barbarian IL them,
and this li;tle barbarian VII come 10 the tor
if il is left To itseif, JEso rs tine cultivated
garden flower, when Neglected, viii waste its
seed summer after SUNNI and ut last return
TO the wild stock iron which II was brought
to its educated blossom.
And 1t il certainly lar from an ngreeabls
task, this teaching Of table RUNNERS 10 chill
dren OF good appeti.es, especially 4 there ts
among them any sls!SwardreSs, lett handed
ness absent nindecsneSs or forSss tulnc.s, or
worse still any o,sobeSsieIlcc or resentment;
SO disagreeable a task indeed Is II that 10
sometimes seams Is If It Nigh: he best IN
have A person sand behind each little chair,
for no other purIs - NJ al than 10 attend -
every rloveInent o.. the c4.lids hand AMI
arm and mouth tai habits are established
that sAall be irreproac. auie' 10 SEQ thaS
the food is taken up with ne ioTA anu not
with the knife; that the kaifs "iiu !otA aFe
both held as they ought 10 bS tia 'n' mouth
Is not allowed 10 display its contents H'eNely
revolution; that the rlorscls are not - 'iltt
and scattered over chair and floor and l., .
and cloth, that the fingers are not used 81
chopsttcks; that the drink is not Swallowed
in resounding gulps or the soup sipped with
relishing glrgles; that glasses are not over
set; that hands do not reach forward ana
grab for the contents OF 2 dish, or hover and
handle before Selection when a dish is Of
fered; that the left hand shall not replace
tho right; that the movements shall not to
hurried or abrupt, violent or If too wide
sweep; that tue tongue shall DO a silent
member.
Few things more early manifest the good
sense and taste and diligence Of Il mother
than the behavior Of her child at the table
y child who, unreproved, s,uifs food into
the mouth as IL the spoOufuls werc to 10
snatched away otherwise aud vanish into
thin air, who bends over the table rs a pi,
does over IA trough, and makes scarcely less
noise about 1t, whose hair bangles into tive
plata, whose elbows rest ON the tabi3 or srrlka
acute angles with the ceiling, whose EuI9s
and fork stand erect at intervals, who lolls
along the board, whose fingers arc greasy.
whose face no less So whose mOuthfuis arc
held high in air for the general survey be-
glass IS in u slop-aii of whose actions IA tho
qualification Of appetite or the Satisfaction
of hunger are moro those Of a YOUNG savage,
not 70 say young animal, than Of an iuteiii-
gent child-sucb q child betrays that its
mother has paid no attention 10 decorum or
deceucy iii bringing 1t up, but has eaten and
drunken and amused herself, ard reyyr
taken the trouble 30 turn her head 10 scs
whether the child behaved like "a civilized
being, satisfied that, II only the food hal
disappeared from its plate, IL had then becn
properly fed
This neglect on the part Of mother Is /.
great pity, for 10 makes u sad difference with
a child's happiness wnethcr u intB Itself
sought for and beloved. OF avoided and con-
temned and laughed; ~ and thp latter fate
can hardly be Kindred II u cbId II manners -
table are lad u i.aussa ion IL vii sot other
children preferred before itSslf, Kindly
ertreated and c;tresez,d, and it viii have TIE
in furious sense Of bei1y a Young Orsoa-la-
furious because calculated T. make it Vii
and reckless iu many Others ways and there-
fore a-ain unlovcd And certainly chill -
happier for the cousciJuznssss that Il is q:its
the equal OF other chil.reu 10 al tbosz things
which are within its volitlon end capacity;
ard all children, jt 8 notorious. love 70 10
prsised for their gcntleEnanly u kdy Eko
department. 1t seems hard t1en that, owing
TO the idlc1ess or iadiIereDee Of ths ps.reus
OF the proper caro- taker. child should -
deried tie pleasure which It might have or
being noticeahly gentle hammered ~ Tia
table.-Harpe1's bazar.