Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-27

| Hz{M spending some tfns
/ at the different cen
/ W1 tiers Of pleasure
/ Mk YIN which are now be
I I{fkA4nll ginning to concen
| GM 6HTvS trate, according To
/ VV custom, at the capt
| tai. He understood
the question at once, and did not reply
with information about the political situa-
ton or finance, but launched right out into
the merry waters Of amusement.
why. he answered, 81 hardly think
there is anything very new in the way OF
fashionable amusements but I honestly
believe bicycling is going to be an extensive
fad with the girls this fall and winter"
When asked IL he approved Of 1t he
shrugged his shoulders. OF course if they
agreed to take it up in good earnest he
would be obliged to follow suit. He was
seriously thinking of selling his horse, as
he expected to spend all his spare time on
a machine. Why the girls had taken to
bicycles he could not tell. but he supposed
somebody started II who is leader In So
ciety and the rest followed. He had heard
that the Princess of Wales was going to
use one, and. If So he hoped she would
not wear breaches, which were hideous in
his eyes. But he had heard girl say they
| were delightfully."- comfortable, and that
| made difference.
The sudden craze for bicycling among
| women is one of those peculiar and sensible
developments which no man can account
! for. For some years there nave been wom-
| en- riders, but ii is only recently that the
sport has taken possession of the sex in
| the shape of a fashionable fad. We can
| look for them this winter with some degree
| of certainty. They will wear loose gowns
like riding habits and CATERS, unless, per-
adventure, they initiate our cousins across
| the water and wear breeches. Some of
these breeches have penetrated to this
| country, and a few women were seen wear
| ing them at the summer resorts but in
| Europe they are not uncommon,
The Bicycle Costume.
The coat of the costume is like mans
| frock coat, and reaches very nearly TO the
knee. 1t is double breasted, and fits close
to the figure. Any sort of a mans hat is
worn. The breaches are simply loose kniek-
erbeckers. Caters come from the shoe up
to the knee. There is law in most cities
against woman wearing mans apparel,
but it can safely be said not to Apply to
the bicycle costume, which is made express
~ Tor women; but there is no reason WISH
bic TO the naked eye why woman bicycle
rider should not borrow her brothers lSniek-
erhockers, If he has pair, or why he should
not borrow hers. So far as one can Judge
both garments are the same.
simultaneously with the appearance of
bicycle riding among society women of the
city 1t can be confidently predicted that
there will be bicycle parties given for no
enc expects girls to go riding alone, and il
is sure thing that there will be plenty of
men who will be ready to accompany them.
1t will be interesting to see what form
these parties Will take. If weather permits,
perhaps the riders will have an objective
point in the country, where they can have
feast. or they will come back to town and
dine together.
There will, In all probability, be bicycle
dinners given, and truly noble appetites the
riders ought to have 1t is hard to find any
amusement of society that does not sooner
or later center around the. dinner table In
bicycle riding, however, the dinner comes
after the riding, whereas in most events of
the social world 1t is condition precedent,
SO to speak.
To skip from the bicycle to the ball room.
this is especially true of the dinner dance
which, according to men who know promises
to be more in vogue this winter than ever
before.
The Dinner Dance.
Now, as matter of fact, there is not
much that is truly modern in entertaining.
Ever since men began to eat they have made
the chief meal of the day-the dinner, that
is-an occasion for gathering together and
making merry. Whether they are civilized
or savages makes little difference in this
particular. Does not the reader remember
how Robinson Crusoe found the savages on
his island for the first time? They had come
all the way from their own island to his in
order to have grand feast. They danced
after dinner. The menu was simple, but Ii
was composed of a dish very difficult to
secure and considered a great delicacy.
One can see in these savage feasts, with
the dancing afterward, the origin of the din
ner dance, which has now become popular
feature of each winters entertainments.
But savages have an advantage over civil
lied people in society. They spend all their
time out of doors and are creatures of great
physical activity. whereas swells very often
hn a,
that after a hearty dinner good many of
them are disposed rather to sleeping than
dancing. Nevertheless, the youngest set Is
always ready for a dance, and with them
the dinner dance is popular There is every
reason to suppose 1t win be in vogue during
the coming season. 1t is true that Ii is an
expensive way of entertaining, but perhaps
that is the very reason why some people Will
use 1t.
"Oh, like a feast that 1 know has cost
my host hundreds of dollars!' said a poor
diner-out when the subject of the expense
of entertaining was under discussion.
'Why?" some one asked. Are you rich
yourself?"
'Rich!" he laughed Pm as poor as
crow and that is just the reason why
like a millionaire's dinner whenever 1 can
get it,"
This man probably has salary not much
larger than that of the buffers who wait
on him. The consequence is he never misses
good dinner when he can get it, but he
scorns to attend anything so cheap as an
afternoon tea, and he thinks there ought to
be no more of this form of entertaining
Why Teas Are Given.
Nevertheless there will be teas. A scoffer
remarked a few years ago that life was
but a vale of teas" and he sincerely hoped
there would be no more Of them, but they
have not stopped at all. Nor will they
cease to be given until there is a strike all
along the line and a universal agreement
among the people who are invited not to
go to them. The truth is that they con-
tlnue to be given, not because people like
to go to them, but because people like to
give them. They are the easiest form of
entertaining. The hostess needs only to
provide herself with cakes, candy biscuits
punch and tea, send out cards to everybody
she knows and stay at home and receive
her guests.
None of them come before little after
O'Clock In the afternoon, and her rooms
are empty by half-past g. She can have the
debris cleared away, the dinner table reset
and sit down to dinner one hour later. EX-
cept for a little bodily fatigue, she is en-
tirely Inconvenience by her party. Con-
trast this with her trouble when she gives
an evening party. She must have regular
supper. She must be prepared to entertain |
her guests and give them amusement and |
food and drink for three hours at least. |
hay- he ctaIr