Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-03-15

a week from population that Is willing to pay
from 20 to 80 per cent for the use Of what is
equivalent to a little money ahead of what has
been earned"
WHEN THE LADIES HAVE LEFT
Men at Dinners Should Not Linger Too
Long Over the Wine.
WOMEN DO NOT LIKE IT, BECAUSE THEY THINK
Is PLENTY LONG ENoUGH--A SOCIETY GIRLS
VIEWS ON THE sUBJECr-THE Hosr's FAULT
O. is great mistake in taste for men
NMvE&9to linger so long, as they are very apt
GSSlIE lto do, over thelrwlne at dinner parties
EyahtS&s 1after the ladies have left the table,"
10y said society girl of three seasons
experience to a representative of The STAR.
"Men are not generally aware Of the feeling
women have on that subject, and so will try
to make it clear, in the hope that it may serve
as useful suggestion. You would be very
wrong to imagine that we object to allowing
the men fewmoments to themselves after din
ner; on the contrary, it is an old custom, en-
tirely unobjectionable as i consider, and worth
perpetuating, SO long as it is not abused. There
are few men who do not really feel the want
of a little tobacco after the meal, and it il
necessary to their enjoyment of their evenings
entertainment that they should have it. Then,
too. there is no reason why they should not be
given time to discuss an extra glass or two of
old port with the host before leaving the board.
But any good thing may be overdone, and 1
think this is too frequently the case with the
after. dinner interval"
''The men are apt to abuse your patience. you
mean?" the youth to whom she was talking
queried.
BORE FOR THEM.
"Yes, decidedly so. You know the women
when they leave the table have nothing espe-
cially to amuse themselves with after they reach
the drawing room until the men appear. They
cannot start in to do anything, if they should
so desire, because they don't know when the
male contingent may arrive and interrupt. All
they can do is to sit about and chatter. They
are waiting for the men, and when they come,
and not until then, things go on once more
easily and enJoyGbiy. The time during which
the men linger at table is almost invariably q
mauvais quart d'heure to the women, notwith-
standing the fact that men seem to have no no.
ton of it. really think that men generally
suppose that we are having good time chat
tering among ourselves while they are anus
ing themselves with their wine and cigars or
cigarettes No, it is not fun; but women are
sufficiently self-sacriticing to put up with
moderate dose of annoyance in any shape if
the opposite and over -much-spoiled sex may be
gratitied incidentally. We don't complain at
all of being made to wait reasonable time.
l am Of the opinion that very usually here in
Washington men stay too long at the table after
the ladies have left it. Often l have heard
girls say:
81 do hope the men won't stay long at the
table
INJUSTICE SOMETIMES DONE.
&La
during the after-dinner interval, but, if it is
prolonged, they are displeased as well. How
should they not be SO? 1t is very uncompli-
mentary to them, to say the least of it, that the
men should prefer their cigars and wine to the
womens society and. although they NAV saw
nothing and smile amiably when the belated
men arrive IN the drawing room. they really
feel decidedly resentful. I have even known
very nice girls to use rather strong language, in
private, on the subject. Often, too, they really
do the men injustice, blaming them when it is
not their fault
How SO ~ asked THE STAR man.
sin this way: When such thing occurs as
speak of-namely, the undue prolonging of
the after-dinner interval-it is usually one
mans fault alone, and that man is the host.
Women generally don't understand this point,
l believe. just as the interval is begun of
necessity by the hostess, it can only be brought
to close under ordinary circumstances by
deems it time for the ladies to leave the table
she catches the eye of one of the other ladies
present. and, giving the signal by an almost
imperceptible inclination of her head, she rises
from her chair, the lady to whom she has con-
veyed the signal doing likewise simultaneously
and the others following suit. The men. of
course, follow them far as the door aud
there bow their au reyoir. returning thereupon
to the table and gathering about it, those who
have been seated toward the head usually
ifafin tor par1 no phar h.. hot
sits. in order to facilitate conversation. Cigars
and cigarettes are offered with the after-dinner
wines and things assume a more degage air.
Now, for the men. this interval is very likely
THE MOST ENJOYABLE PART
of the entertainment. During it by far the
best of the talk is done, and for the moment
formalties are relaxed. Therefore there is a
temptation to prolong it, for which certain
charitable allowance may perhaps be made
Nevertheless women are not disposed to con-
slider that the abuse of this privilege is at all
warrantable. They feel it too much a slight
to themselves. When 1 say that the men are
likely to find the after dinner interval the most
enjoyable part of the evenings festivity, am
not so uncomplmentary to my own sex as to
imply that they enjoy each others society
better than our own. Doubtless they would
not have nearly so good a time, taking the
whole entertainment through, without US; but
that little quarter of an hour in the midst of
things, while the ladies are absent, is, l have
no doubt, the most agreeable of the evening.
Men have repeatedly confessed to me as much.
under cross-examination, and have told me
with some frankness why it is SO. According
to the accounts they gave that quarter of an
hour is likely to be the one during which a
man is at his very best, intellectually speaking
and as regards his capacity for enjoyment.
HE HAS DINED WELL,
which is in itself source of happiness; he has
had just enough wine to stimulate his higher
mental faculties to the utmost, and the good
cigar he puffs fills the cup of his contentment
to overlooking, while he sips, perhaps,a glass of
some cherished vintage, kept by the host for
such occasions and not dispensed to unappre-
ciative women. Then he is in condition to talk
as he can never talk at any other time or under
any other conditions. The formal restraint in
cidental to the presence of the ladies has been
removed, and, with the prospect of rejoining
them a moment later, he contentedly contrib
utes whatever is best in HIM to what is often a
display of conversational pyrotechnics. There
is no such brilliant conversation done in this
world, am told, as is heard during the after
dinner interval. 1t is great injustice to our
sex, consider, that we cannot take part in the
enjoyment of it. know some girls, not of the
younger set, who would make good informal
takers under such conditions; but, of course
women cannot be such conversationalistsa as men
are, for the simple reason that their sources of
observation and information are so limited OF
necessity in their range"
THE HOST pFspoysIprr