The Dickinson press., 1889-05-18
WOMAN AND HOME.
CONVERSATION, AND NOT THE
MENU. MAKES A GOOD DINNER.

American Women Do Not Smoke. but
Some of Them Triple on tho 0uiet-A
Pleasant Party Without Any Talking.
The Trials of Hoardins-This and That.
have, for instance, heard of n cultivated
and excellent woman who actually went
abroad because she either could not or would
not indnlSei i'll the costly modes of entertaining
adopted by some other social leaders of tho
same city Now this is, to say the least, Il
very narrow and perverted view to take of
the true province of entertainments.
In what does the brilliancy of an entertain.
nlcnt consistl Assurcdly not in the flash Of
electric or gas light, mingling with the softer
rays of waNcn candles and modulated illumi-
nation, i'll telrapin and champagne, in i'm
nlcnsc suits of clahor; .telv decorated apart
incnts, or in the sheen of satin and sparkle of
diamonds. Does our intellectual civilization
call this brilliancy? Coz forbid! These
things are nero accessories, effects produced
by a respectable army of %workingmen and
women who have united their labor to pro-
d,ce this result and are thankful that by so
doing they ave gained an honest livelihood.
If the effect is not Slaring and is devoid of
a seeming display, then it is to the credit and
the good taste of the person who has made
the outlay. But for all this, the entertainer
and the entertained may bel do not say
they are, but l do say that they may very
readily bc-very commonplace if not abso-
lutely unrelincd people. Tho making Of
money is not one of the fine arts, and the
people who have the knacl of making it most
rapidly are apt to como out of tho trying or
dc~&l-sIprosing them to he naturc's diamonds
very rude, Jagged and uncut. They need
n ~ al of ,,pli.li~,. loc,,o $l~, 49,, le,,+ T.,
shine as bril!iants of the first water.
While on tho other hand tho vast body of
our respectable families, who have been sat
isied with moderate means, have lived in an
atmosphere of true refinement. We have
only to collect our senses and turn aside from
mere glitter as meretricious, and disassociate
the idea of money spending from our social
life, to regain the old standards.
Now, tho first cardinal rule as to the real
elegance of an entertainment must he that it
Is the selection of the guests, the character of
the people who assemble, which will go to
make it brilliant or the reverse. One may
waste n fortune in giving Il dinner, as the
pagans have done before us, and it will be
but a vulgar affair at best if the guests are
not tho chief attraction. Happily, it is con-
versation, and not simply what one eats or
drinks, or has to offer, or display, that makes
a dinner u banquet lit for tho gods.
Ii tho people who have brain and culture
will only be stcadfast and Eight it out on
this line" and combine their forces, md let it
be understood that tho canons Of good taste
will not tolerate mere display, then the own
ers OF millions who assume to dictate modes
and manners us social leaders, because they
arc millionaires, will soon DO mado to UNDER
stand that after all they havo nothing to
offer hat is specially desirable to engraft
upon our social demonstrating V. Dahl
gren in New York World.