Birmingham age-herald., 1895-09-15

tiful we have made the hospitable board, with snowiest of linen, waXen candles or rosc-shaded lamps, silver glass and flowers. The temperature is dcliciously cool; the light is adjusted so it is thrown on the table, not on the guests eyes.
 At the Table.
 The ladies being seated, the gentlemen follow, and during the serving Of the oysters or clans the ladies have an op- portunity of removing gloves, which are never taken off before dinner, and or placing them, with their fans, in their laps. Your guests will all place their bread on the left hand, and after unfoid- ing their napkins place them in thzir laps. Gentlemen do not tuck their nap kinS in their waistcoats, no matter now convenient they may find such an ar engagement. It is customary to nave menu cards distributed about the table, but it is not de rigeur. and l nave al tended many very elaborate dlnl F.s where the menu was not Tn eVldehce' The menu card is advisable and saves confusion, besides being very decorative if pretti1y arranged.
 Your servants should be properly dressed. If you number butter ailohS them he will wear plain evening dress, If the parlor maid assists she should wear plain black dress, white colldr' muslin tie and apron, white cap not a bonne's cap) with a bow of black velvet. Gentlemens servants do not cover their hands with white cotton gloves to wait upon the guests; they use soap and water instead and are required to take scrupu- lous care of their hands and hnger natis. It is well also to make rule that the servants who approach the dinner table are on no account to indulge in taste for onions or garlic. Each guest has GOV err laid; this word signifies the cletnt plate, knife, fork, spoons etc, at each place. A cover" consists of small sil- yer fork for clans or oysters, table spoon for soup, a silver fish fork, three large forks and two knives, glass TOT sherry one for white wine, one for claret, one for champagne and so on for any wines that may be drunk the table nap kin squarely folded ornamental folding and creaspg is not in good taste) is placed between the knives and forks. the bit of bread for each guest is laid upon the folded napkin. Butter is never of fered at dinner. It is incorrect to place the knives and forks lengthways of table or to attempt any new arrange ment of them-straight up and down they must be placed-knives on the right, forks on the left of the napkin. Extra knives and forks will be required before the dinner is concluded but the number above mentioned is sufficient to begin with. l is considered vulgar to supply your guests with an arsenal in the way of weapons.
 One man servant, if capable and we'll trained, should wait upon from four to six persons carefully and perfectly. Your servants must, of course, wear noiseless shoes-nothing is more dreadful than creaking footsteps. good servant is delft and makes no blunders-never let's anything fall, never spills drop of wine or lets it trickle, never breathes labo- rlously or coughs, and deposits or re- moves knives, forks, glasses, etc, noise lessly.
 Manners in Detail.
 A dining roc m floor should always be carpeted to deaden the noise, as nothing is so distracting as the noise of footsteps, chairs. and in case of an accident the confusion is a hundred fold augmented by the rattle on a wood floor Take care also that the temperature of your dining room is right, neither too warm nor too cold. Of course neither Mr. nor Mrs. Gardner will speak to a servant during dinner Oysters or clans are eaten with out recourse to bread, which is always broken, never cut, and never crumbled into soup or sauce. Soup is taken from the side of the spoon which is filed by drawing it up from the edge of the soup plate opposite you-it is vulgar to fill it with the movement toward you. Soup plates are never to be tilted. All vege- tables are eaten with the fork and a knife is only used to cut such food as fork will not break. Olives and hors d. oeuvres generally may be taken with the fingers, leaves of artichokes also. Wine glasses are held by the stem Ice cream is eaten with fork; indeed it is considered good form to eat anything you are able conveniently to convey to your mouth with fork in preference to a spoon, which is always, as an English authority says, more or less smeary thing"
 Old Fashions Revived.
 The custom of drinking the health is such a charming ceremony that I am glad to see it coming into fashion again. Nothing at table is so pretty as the gracious expression, T drink to your healths," of the host as he bows smiling ly to his guests and raises the first glass of wine served to his lips. s
 Finger bowls with perfumed water are in better form than the passing of the silver basin which has been revived somewhat of late, but unsuccessfully. It seems almost an offense to my readers to say that the mouth should always be wiped with the napkin both before and after drinking, and when we come to the question of toothpicks I feel bound to say I would gladly pass them by if din ners and dinner-givers would permit me, but I have seen toothpicks passed about to each guest with as muchceremony as the presentation of a rare orchid would demand, and seen them used, too, with ardor and by people who should know better I cannot for my life see why if one is to perform any ceremony of the toilet at the dinner table there should be a preference shown to toothpicks. Why not tooth brushes, or even hair brushes? and I insist that we'll bred men and women take care of their teeth in the privacy of their dressing rooms.
 It is the habit of some men and women to deride and sheer at any custom included in the term fashionable, and occasionally one sees a man who is an acknowledged genius defy some rule of