Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1896-06-01

Dated annoyanceS, she maintains q calm
exterior. If she is the chairman of the
receBtion and seating committee at the
annual dinner and s'gentlemen's night
of the most famous metropolitan club,
and every member pounces down upon
her az the last moment with requests
for additional seats when there are none
available for guests invited at the last
moment, she has herself sufficiently well
in hand to make the best of the Situa-
ton and seem every moment of the time
to be mistress of the occasion and not its
fustered football.
Mrs. Montmorency Decollete is pre-
scented to you. She is faultlesSly
gowned- You see at once that she IS
either an artist in matters of dress or
has shekels enough to command TIE
services Of an artist But she fuses
with her sleeves, her girdie. her gloves,
her corsage bouquet, her hair, and you
know at once that she is not used to
good clothes. They would not make her
self-conscious if she were used to them.
She screws her face into all sorts OF
contortions as soon as she gets to talk
ing and forgets herself for a moment
and you see that she has never had the
time Or the leisure to learn to control
her muscles She confounds EXPIRES
sion" with facial gymnastics.
You speak of the forthcoming club
concert, and she asks whether the men
know that the men of her acquaintance
look upon the swallow-tail coat as the
mark of a great occasion and one TO
which they are comparative strangers.
Otherwise she would ask whether it
will be a dress occasion or whether the
men will wear '@eyening dress Dress
suits" means nothing There are morn
ing dress suits and afternoon dress suits.
1t is quite as absurd, too, to speak Of
".fuM dress for women. A fashionable
toilet for a noon wedding is quite as
much full dress" for that occasion as Il
hall gown with decollete corsage is full
dress" for evening wear People accus-
toned to good society speak of ''even-
ing dress" for men and women if called
upon to mention the matter of dress for
evening at all.
The woman who signs herself |'Mrs.
Tom Courtenay' is still eXtant. What
would she think of any man who wrote
to her signing himself ''11r. Dick Cru
ger?'' The woman used 10 the usages
Of good society signs herself alike to
friend or foe, social &c lal or servant,
@'Jame Coultenay," and then if her COR
respondent doesn't know that she is Mrs.
Tom COurtenay. and will therefore be at
a loss how to address her, Address
Mrs. Tom Conrtenay" can be written OH
a lower line at the left. Or, if Jane
tCourtenay is a widow, or famous in her
own NAME and wishes to be addressed
Mrs. Jane Courtenay,'' and her CORE
spondent does not know that she is
Mrs" she can sign herself thus:
'Turs.) Jane Courtenay."
People who are not used to polite us
ages are inevitably at a loss in inditing
a letter TO any but a dear friend whom
they call Dear julia If writing to a
stranger the form of polite address is I'M
deviatingly "'Mr. John Jenkins, Dear
SIR or Mrs. John Jenkins, Dear Mad
ame;7 Miss Julia jenkins, Dear Mad
anne is correct. To begin letter with
the name alone, emitting dear sir or dear
madam, is impolite, whether writing to
ones social equal or to one who is not.
The only polite way to omit using dear
sir or dear madam is to write an I'M
signed letter in the third person. j. e.,
Mrs. Jones regrets, ETC. A letter to
anyone whom one has once met socially,
whether man or woman, should read,
Dear Mr.. or Mrs Jenkins. Dear used
i'm this way is not form of endearment,
but one of politeness merely. The num-
Der of people in really very good society
who sin against good usage in the mat
ter of beginning and ending letters is
amazingly large.-Jenness Miller Month