The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-29
With or Without
From the New York Sun.

"My dear, it is shoching!" said a we'll
known hostess the other day.
The newspaper woman looked interested
This talk about tea being the bever-
age that cheers but does not inebriate
will have to be revised. Now, if should
take one of my little tea cups and look
at you and say with or withOut' what
would you think l meant?"
why, cream or sugar, suppose" said
the woman, who had enjoyed only a
limited afternOon-tea experience.
"Cream?" echoed the hostess, with a
gesture of despair. "My dear, have YOU
really been living on this earth?"
mo" said the newspaper woman, I've
been on the Sun"
80 ] should have said you came from
an. extinct starr said the hostess with
mild scorn.
Nov, try it again. With or without"
'With or withOut?n repeated the news
paper woman as she tried to think of all
the things ever put into tea. Finally an
inspiration came. Hot water!" she ex-
claimed in triumph
The society woman looked at her with
pity.
Il see that you are hopelessly behind
the times. You don't know any more
about modern fashionable tea drinking
than Queen Elizabeth did. Now I'll en-
tighten you. When | say with or with
out2' that means rum"
"Rum!'
eyes, rum! and whisky and brandy! and
-a-b-s-i-n-t-h-e-r' exc aimed the hostess in
a tragic whisper.
The newspaper woman gasped.
'All in one cup!" she said.
mo! you silly innocent! One at time,
of course"
'And what do I say when you say With
or without"
well, you assume an expression that is
childlike and bland and say "A suspicion
of rum, please or you put on deprecat-
ing air and exclaim: %, really now Well,
if / must, a drop of brandy or, if you
want to be real reckless. say boldly, DO
'liven it up with some whisky It's so
beastly fat. Rather stiff, mind you'll"
"On said the newspaper woman. And
how do you measure a suspicion of
rum2"
lone toaspoonful, my dear"
"''And a drOpP"
''The same"
'And YOU 'liven it up with"
"Two teaspOOnfuls, or-occasionally-
'alf and alf, don't you know" and the
society woman put her finger on her lip
and looked around with an air of secrecy.
"And absinthe?" asked the news
woman
"Sh-h-hr' said the hostess, looking at
the ministers VIE, VINO ndd Just come IN.
''Well,n she said, in confidential tone
after the lady had passed on, tits only
the ultra-bOhemian women who take
those French things, you know. AS for
me, I've cut the whole business, anyway.
laid in a supply of all these things for
one of my at home days and all afternoon
mixed drinks till l felt like an old ac-
complished bartender. Well, you must
know that rum and whisky and all those
things have very able-bodied odors per-
tanning to them. But my good, young
friend, these odors get to be regular
Samson smells when they are put into hot
tea.
by the time the outer edge of the af-
ternOon was reached, the craven images
in the conservatory reeled and the very
pictures on the wall looked drunk. When
my husband came home to dinner he could
hardly get his latch key in the door At
least, he said so. When he got to the recep-
ton room, where / was still sitting think
ing about several queer things that had
happened, he. said-well, never mind
lust how he put it, but he asked me if l
had been rehearsing Ten Nights in a Bar
room Think of it Ten Nights in
well, as I say, I've cut the whole business.
l have plain tea, or put a slice Of lemon
in it and call it Russian, or if | want TO be
eccentric put a spoonful of jam in instead
of sugar. That's real Russian fad, you
know.
But as for mixing drinks under pre-
tense Of serving afternoon tea, I've quitp'