The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-02-20
ideas TOR TMnuaen.

Parior maids. of discretion and ex-
perience arc found as efacient as man
walters in many houses. Sometisaes
she gives eyen more satisfaction. She
performs almost the same routine OF
work h is expected TO take charge
of the rooms on the hrst door of the
house, to answer the front door and the
up stairs bells, to lay the table for meals.
to wait on the family and occasional
guests at the table to caro- for the silver
and rende a faithful account OF each
piece; to keep the china unbroken and
well washed; In short. everything con-
nected with the pantry and dining room
is under her charge.
1t is her province to arrange that all
the plates. glasses. silver and small ar
ticles needed for the meal are either on
the table or on the sideboard or small
side table. SO that there shall be no run
ming in and put Of the dining room for
articles she has forgotten. She must
see to 1t that the plates are hot and
not luke warm. She must be all ac-
tivity; yet without any hustle or appear
ance of making haste, The parlor maid
must know how to lay the damask cloth
smoothly on the under covering of baize
or canton annel or felting. She must
see that the little pot of ferns is in the
centre of the table and thai the carafes
or water bottles and the salt cellars n
pepper castors are correctly distributed
about the table; also that by the napkin
the proper number of forks, knives and
spoons are laid. One must be careful
to discard all flowers that are beginning
IN fo1o Nofhinn ir doloro,,c y "a
a centrepiece or vase of flowers which
has seen better days-to put it mildly.
80
In waiting at table it is, of course,
necessary that all dishes should be pre-
scented at the left hand, SO that the
right can be used to help one'ss self. The
only exception to this rule of the Modes
and Persians is the water or apollinaris
or wine, which equally. of course, must
be offered at the right hand, where the
drinking glasses are grouped, The tum-
blers are filed one-third full of cracked
ice before the meal is announced.
When the. family is alone at dinner, the
soup tureen is usually placed before the
mistress, who serves 1t out in half-ladle
portions into soup plates. The parlor
maid meanwhile stands beside and slight
ly behind her mistress and removes each
plate as it is filed, passing it to the la
dies first, to the older married women
present, then to the daughters of the
house, then to the master and lastly to
the sons. The fish is always placed be-
fore the master of the house, and also
the roast of meat. 1t family dinners the
vegetables are diligently handed around
the table. When the master of the house
does the carving on the table. it simpli-
fies the labor of the maid. When guests
come in, or on occasions of ceremony, the
carving of fish and meat, as well as the
serving of soup. is carried on from a
side table. OF course all plates. knives
and forks are used. in one courseshrdl
and forks used In one course must be
completely removed before the next part
of the meal is brought in sight. The
dishes are handed on a tray and the
smart maid usually has her fresh napkin
ready in handing dishes.
The maid who waits must not by word
invite a guest to partake of another
help, but simply present and represent
After it has once been declin-
ed it should not be offered again. The
maid must know how to offer two dishes
at once if they are intended to be eaten
together. For example, she may offer
a help of fish in the right hand, and
the gravy boat of fish sauce with the
left. If she remembers to do this she
gets around the table much faster than
If she undertook a separate journey with
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or currant jelly should accompany the
help of meat, two vegetables should make
the grand rounds together, just as crack
ers and cheese SHOULD be offered with a
salad, and h appropriate sauce keep
pace with the pudding. Before dessert is
placed on the table the cloth is swept
clear of crumbs. and nothing is left upon
It Elt the drinking tumbler or glasses
and any dishes of fruit or flowers. Some
times instead of a made dessert the table
will display a feet Of small silver or cut
glass dishes containing each some differ
emit dainty-a few figs, raisins, almonds,
sailed peanuts, dates or cream choco-
lates. The guests then help themselves
from these. 1t is a matter of choice
whether coffee be served at the table or
not. It Is called, however, "after dinner
coffee, s'7and in some households is serv-
ed in parlor or library, wherever the fam
lily sepairs after dinner. In any case the
fi~nger-bowls are the final articles need
ed at the table.
A rainy day in town is almost as potent
as the deck of an ocean liner In bringing
out the points" of the woman who
gowns herself with taste and common
sense.
It is really worth the plodding one is
obliged to do and the drizzling one en-
dures in the operation to walk a dozen
blocks along Chestnut street during bad
weather and observe the army of femin-
ines as they pass" says a writer in
the Philadelphia Press"
Almost the first point of bad taste and
worse sense will be the white u~nderskirts
of the multitude. Even If a skirt of this
variety could be kept In pristine freshness
upon a wet day it would still seem out
of place: but it is one in a thousand
which will remain white. The skirt of
any ordinary mortal will have three or
four inches of very muddy earth within
alf an hour.
Tho silk skirts with their pretty ruff
hes and ruchings are hardly more ap-
propYate. With an umbrella to man
csuvre it Is hard to say that for a single
momen they shall not sweep the pave