Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-10-31
PARIS'S SOCIETY FAD.
FIVE O'CLOCK TEA HAS BECOME a
DELIGHT AND A PROFIT.
NO CHAITY "DROP IN AFFAIR THIS
Every One Has to Drink fe"-r"r
eigners Like the lden-Amerie'"'
and English are Notnpie f'b"
These Gatherings.
,corrospondence of the Dispatch.)

ocorrespondence Of the Dispatch)
paris october 2.-Paris society all
takes tea, and 5 o'clock iea' i-iAe '"o
mushroom. the custom suddenly spruns
into fashionable prominence ana popuidi
itv. 1t is no application of a mere term
70 a social gathering, but means exactly
hot the words imply-tea. For every
one has to drink tea.
Nowhere in the realm or fashloh %
II exists in other countries is there such
gathering as the one referred TO- fasiAion
has had her pink teas, and various al
fairs VIII have been dignified with the
name of teas. none of them bona hde'
Won might call the Partisan affair Oolohg
of Young Hyson, and it would not DC
at all inappropriate, for it Is the beverage
connected from these brands that one
often encounters. For goodness knows
how long the English have had the repu-
tation of being the best Of tea-makers
but now. and | say it with due consldera-
ton, TO the French must De dWarueu INC
palm for making tea.
The Parsians may have borrowed inns
idea from US, but it ended right WITH me
borrowing OF the idea. To the Englisn-
sueaking races the tea gathering Is, II
GOES without saying informal. But IN
france. as Bernhard would say, 'Oh'
la Ia. Ia" Formally is In the air as
much as IS possible in France, and even
The most volatile of the young sprigs OF
ccntility who have been invited TO par
ticipate in the tea feels called upon 10
ADOPT his most sober manner when IN
evidence al the function. IL cannot be
correctly called function, you say The
best way to be convinced that 1t can ~
to attend one.
know Of no better comparison 10 make
than 10 say that the French tea is very
much like the American afternoon recep-
tion-that is 10 say, there Is numerous
company and plenty OF conversation and
music. often by eminent artists. At no
time. however. Is the lustre either OF the
artists or the distinguished persons as
sembled permitted 10 dim the eifuigence
Of the beverage from which the event has
gained its name.
Nothing is less common In France than
tea. and what Is not common is there
fore aristocratic. at least it is according
to the French idea. When the French
fashionable sits az the table and luxu-
riously sips his Congou, Souchong. or
! Pekoe. as he or she would drain their
| Curacao. Kummel. or Benedictine he re-
| ioices IN the thought that there are mil
| lions in France who never have and
] never will become familiar with the taste
| of tea. According TO his mind, the teas
the thing wherein 10 catch the conscience
OF the king-of fashion.
1t is very remarkable indeed that In
view of all these facts. with seemingly
| every opportunity TO become connois-
seur. neither the Frenchman nor woman
/ Is able to distinguish good tea from bad
In fact. at a recent affair Of this sor
which l attended. the hostess said to me
without the slightest knowledge that sh'
was eylncing woful ignorance, that 10 he
n made no difference whether the te;
was boiled minute or an hour. Shadei
OF. our observation-disclosures! Think 0
drinNing tea boiled an hour, and liking II
with the formality, as a rule. goe
fashion. and so IL is that at the Parisiai
o'clock tea one sees the guests In al
tbe panoply of carefully-arranged toi
{ ,sttes the latest efforts OF the genius 0
! worth combined with the most charm
,rr creations OF virot. The effect Is sim
rly stunning, and the accompanying Il
ius.ration conveys better than any word