The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1893-02-27
"A FASHIONABLE DINNER.
How 10 Entertain Guests
After Partisan Stand
ards.
DECORATIONS MENUS.
Comfortable Chairs and Round
Tables-A Word About
Wines.
DECORATIONS AND MENUS.

house is closed upon you and you
enter through the glass arcade into
the broad and high antechamber, you
are at once made aware of luxurious
comfort. The Smyrna carpets and
the sonbre hangings set off the an
cient Venetian mirrors, wrought r
heraldic devices, vases of fantastic
Moorish shapes and cniseling and
quaint lamps. There is neither gas
nor electricity. In the anter-chamber
four servants, two in dress coats and
two in livery, attend to the wraps
of the guests and lead them
into the drawing rooms through
Quaint recesses and ante-chambers
hung with tapestries and filled with
ancient pieces OF furniture and objects
of art. After saluting the hostess n
the guests who have already arrived,
YOU are at the perfect liberty to wan
der in the immense drawing room TO
admire the wealth of the appoint
ments. and such is the admiration
that the French have for artistic OBJ
iects that were they invited every
week to the same house they would
never tire of looking at and appreclat-
ing the things of beauty. They almost
paw the same obeisance to them as
they do to the happy possessor.
Is il polite TO look around a room as
if YOU hailed from the back woods n
never had seen anything? Oh, yes;
it is not only perfectly admissible,
but YOU pay a compliment to the
owner in so doing.
PAIRING OFF.
About a quarter of an houro before
the dinner was announced, the young
wo,nan of the house told each man
which woman he was to take to din
ner. This is an improvement upon
the past custom, when the hostess
told each man what woman to offer
his arm to. when the oma herself
had made her choice, and IL is a de-
cided Improvement upon the one
which allowed a man to lake any
QUA at will, for an awkward mo-
lnent for the guests was sure to foi-
low. A woman was sure to look fool-
ish until a man advanced to otter his
arm. and the man looked to his disad-
vantage when, looking round for the
most attractive woman, lie saw an
other step forward and walk away
with his choice.
Private houses are adopting n
style of h~igh-toned restaurants IN n
choice of dining room chairs. They
are now made for guests to sit as com
Portable at the table as at the corner
of their hearth. This wide, easy
chair has a double advantage OF not
allowing the ON of the house to
crowd her table, and it is Recommend
ed by the solid comfort which only
an easy chair can give. 1t is a wise
Improvement, for a dinner here lasts
about three hours, and sore are n
bones which rest for that length OF
time on the back and seat OF hard
carved wood.
Are the square or round tables 0
prevalent in American The round
ones are here considered the more
coy and the more comfortable. Ihey
are more pleasant to h eye, easier OF
arrangement and general CONVEX
satiou seems less apt to be interrupted
If it has no corner to turn. me
cloth for a dinner, however ornate it
NAV be. is always white, and the plain
ones of the finest damask are the
ones preferred in old homes that do
not bother with the everlasting and
tAIIdtdRd1 StiCl - ~
THE TABLE DECORATION.
At the dinner | am describing, in
the centre of the table was placed an
immense Louis XVI. silver plateau,
whose inside mirror reflected a basket
filed with flowers and fruit arranged
very low. The dishes of small dessert,
such as cakes aud bonbons, were in
termingled with low, round crystal
vases filled with small, fresh flowers.
Nothing obstructedthe sight of either
neighbor or vis-a-vis.
The changing of knife n fork
with every plate is preferable to h
variety OF forks that the English
burden their tables with on either
side of the plates. The display is
not aesthetic, is hardly ever locked at
or admired and has the incon-
y~enience of use often at the wrong
time. La the order of conversation
hardly any one notices whether he is
eating with the fish, meat or veget-
able fork. and | have found myself
guilty of having distractively used all
three of the forks while partaking of
one dish.
Never forget to place a low stool
under the tables at the seat of each
lady. l know there are many house
keepers who pooh-pooh these minor
attentions; but they all go to make
up the enjoyment of a meal, and if
YOU wish to be compliInented upon
being a perfect femme de m0ison, in
this g of multiplicity of luxurious
comforts, you must not ignore any of
the little things which make up a
well-organized house.
USE OF THE MENU.
1t is a very pretty usage for the men
to read the menu to their partners
while the soup is being served; it may
be the beginning of the topic OF con-
versation, for a woman who is rapid
at catching something to talk about
about hardly aver fails ON the read
ing of tile menu. Apropos of the
except in restaurants, | have
never seen the hors d'oeug7eS offered
before the soup. Restaurants, per-
haps. offer them before to while away
the time it takes to prepare the bill
of fare, or if they have taken the
habit of some other country, | am
not aware of which one.
WINES.
I almost forgot TO say that all wines
are now decanted. The ordinary
wines are put on the table in glass
decanters. The fine white and REL
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