The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-07-18


or by some influential parsonage commonly
called q refrigerator, who was found to be
listened to andwhose time-honOred Jokes and
anecdotes had to be apparently relished.
''But to this the answer is obvious that at
large dinner party, say of fve-and-twenty
rcourse, placed on the right hand of the
hostess, is only able, if his jokes are stale
and his anecdotes pointless, to bore his
hostess, and at the most two or three other
people opposite to him, and one or two BY
his side. The ladies and gentlemen who
the influential parsonage do not care one
halfpenny about him, and continue to eat
and drink and prattle and say good things
If they have any to say-ln cheerful m
difference of what the exalted being in the
distance may be1talkingsabout.
g "Again, ut a small party, say, of eight or
ten, one clever raconteur, or even one cheer
full and somewhat impudent buffoon, is
pearl of great price to the hostess. There
are many thousands of estlmable but per-
fectly dull people who go out every. year to
3 dinner in London or Paris; but their fore
j gatherings would be absolutely intolerable
{ to their Amphitryon and to themselves if
fthere were not at least one good story teller
or one good jester at the board. Even Tom
Fool,' If he be voluble and good-natured, is
, a most valuable adjunct to stupid dinner
party. If we do not laugh with him, We can
laugh at him; and laughter is priceless
addendum to bill of fare. If we can only
laugh, we will forget the GOODNESS of the
soup and the warmth of the champagne,
the thickness of the melted butter, and the
the small table scheme have the hardihood
to maintain that if the guests are gathered
in groups instead of being assembled at a
single board, the tongues of dozen voluble
Frenchmen and Frenchwomen may be let
y loose at the same time, and thus everybody
vyru1a houo a nh IF q hoo pinn
1T does not, on the other hand, seem to
strike the advocates of innovation that if
four-and-twenty guests were scattered
about, at the rate Of four guests to table.
man to each table; thus to every two anus
ing people there would be two bores, where
as If four-and-twenty people were gathered
together at a single table, no twelve, but
six really clever guests would suffice to en-
liven the entire gathering. As to the con-
pany would encourage Irritation, it must be
pointed out first that in we'll regulated So
ciety people 90 out to dinner to eat and
drink and talk their best, and not to flirt.
filtration being process which is interest
ing only to the two parties concerned, while
rowly on the idiotic.
"a judicious hostess might, perhaps,
think that abe had surmounted palpable
difficulty by placing two loving couples at
one table; but four-handed Irritation is a
very dangerous game, and before the rub
Der was finished it might be discovered that
fierce war had broken out between the par
ties and that the tricks had got hopelessly
mixed. There would be something else of
verdsnt nature besides Chartreuse served
with the sweets-the green-eyed monster
jealousy, to.wit. Furthermore, Rourmets
who regarded a set dinner az really seri-
GUS function would not fail to remind the
innovators that very young people, either
ladies or gentlemen, are only admitted on
sufferance to the dinner table. Their proper
places are at lunch, at ball or at recep-
ton.
''Balzac said long ago that young girls as
very certain that there is a vast multitude
of delightful young damsels of the e1isting
period, who, if they had their choice, would
begin their dinner with the pastry and the
confectionery and conclude it with fruit.
A young lady just out still feels the shack
les Of the schoolroom on her wrist; she may
be thinking vast deal, but she rarely
knows how to say it. Usually she is water
drinker. and in the majority of cases she
cares very little about scientifically prepared
dishes. for the simple reason that her palate
has not been educated to understand and
appreciate the mysteries of ia haute cut
sine.' By all means. let this amiable and
interesting young person have the
amplest scope for Irritation; but there are
very many places and occasions where and
on which she can fiirt without feeling un-
comfortable herself and making other
people uncomfortable at dinner. Where
Rastronomy is regarded from serious point
of view, the young lady who eats little and
drinks less, and who for the rest, can only
blush, shipper and ask her neiRhbor what
he thinks of the sMeistersinger.' Is more
Questionable than refrigerator She is
a s,oaitive sdetrimeufAl.'
TIFF the separate table heresy we're allowed
to spread, the host and hostess would get
no dinner at all, since, during the whole
course of the repast, if they were really
worthy of the name of entertainers, they
would be constrained to fit from table to
table to look after the welfare of their
guests. What are the real duties OF the
host and hostess? They must welcome
their guests with effusion, SO that they may
feel quite at home before sitting down to
troduce all the guests to each other before
the banquet begins.
''The erudite Baron Brisse goes further
than this. He maintains in the preface of
his Three Hundred and Sixty-six Menus
that the Amphitryon must always have his
eyes on the plates and glasses of his guests,
to make sure that they have all that they
require: and that il the guest refuses a dish
the host must try his utmost TO persuade
him to change his mind. "A host pursues
the snthusiastic baron. whose guest has
had TO ask for anything would be . dishon-
ored man. No, what We AJAX, would be the
adoptsd2 Il would be Impossible to expect
the hostess TO trot about from table to table
aaking the company II they had all they
needed; but the unhappy host would he de-