The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-03-20
1deas for dMn1nem.

s.
The one great and au-important fact
in connection with theatre etiquette for
women to learn (saida one of the sex
whose opinions on matters OF good form
are never d:sputedl, is never to wear
anything on or in their heads that will
pbstruct a view of the stage.
Now, / say on their heads advisedly,
because / know numbers of very nice
girls who always boast of wearing only
a bonnet or a small hair ornament to
the play. Perhaps they are sincere in
believing their heads afford free passage
of sight to eyes behind them, but the
woman who wears a great topRnot OF
roses, a showery white osprey, OF a dot
of a bonnet with a tuft of plumes in 1T,
is almost as great an evil-doer as the
owner of a picture hat. One single
osprey, by quivering before a pair of
eyes, can annoy beyond measure.
I have often sat behind bonnets far
more obstructive than a owe of black
plumes. 50 that n well-bred, truly con-
siderate women, who Is not scanning the
play from the advantage ground of a box
should completely uncover her head from
first to last act.
Eight out of ten follow this rule, I
am happy to say, or they will do it, if
any one in the rear will say-be 1t a
man. or woman: 81 beg your pardon,
madam, but may I ask a a favor that
you will remove YOU hatg" To refuse
would be the grossest rudeness and most
dagrant act of ~selfishness.
80
She is not apt to deny the boon, how
ever. and Instantly she mods her head in
compliance, or begins to pull out the
bong pins, the person who made the re-
quest should very warmly offer brief
thanks. In case h does refuse though.
or pretends thai she fails to hear, her
victim must suffer from her underbred
cruelty IN silence. as a theatre is no place
TO open a discussion in.
But one plea I do wish to make in be-
half of every women who goes to the
theatre, which is. If hats are TO be put
down, let us by all means settle it at
once whether or no a f.fan is to go out
between the acts. He who practices this
habit is the veriest boor, and, since
women ave adopted the custom of ak
ing off their headgear, the moving man
is more than ever iBtoierable nuisance.
Women a no place to put their hats
saw 40 o4kCA laps diof PVOWIiiS IQezT
way In and ~ the restless creature
sweeps hat ornaments with his coattails.
often obliges her to stand up, her arms
full, to let him pass, and quite as often
knocks over her posse sion and brutally
ruins a costly piece ST millinery.
The man who accompanies a woman
to the theatre-his wife, mother, sister
bears no shadow of title to the name
Danflornon Ju 1oo xrt,- 49, 7 49,
his seat at all. he, should not come back
to it again Then the public recognizes
that boredom, illness or some engage
ment drove him forth, and in hat event
his feminine companion goes with him.
If he is sitting between aisles, and
wishes water or a programme, an usher
will serve him.
A gentleman who is alone or with men
friends, and POSSESSING an aisle seat is,
of course, at liberty ID come and go as
he likes, but If he occupies IA seat with
strangers on either side, and decides to
go out for any reason, he will apologize
for the trouble caueed, make his way
out and then take insthe rest of the play
standing at the back
He must do this because the women,
whom he most Inconvenience, are per-
fectly in his power. A woman cannot
ask a man not to glide in land out of his
place, and just as often as women fail
In consideration by wearing high hats do
men offend by their constant change of
base It is more offensive In men be-
cause they have been the leaders of the
hat crusade, and now that plumes have
come down one good turn deserves an
other.
If a maj must smoke or move about or
go across the house to talk to a friend,
or rush out to get something to eat, he
had better stop at home, and not, in the
eyes of every woman and the gentlemen
present, brand himself as a bulgarian.
1t Is considerable tncuble to take
proper care of clothes. Yet there is no
labor that pays better than thai which
is spent to take a. stitch in time or to
fold and properly brush garments when
they are taken off. AS soon as a dress
il removed, if it has been worn in the
street. brush the skirt carefully around
the hem, and hang it up by the loop.
II is a mistake to throw dress skirts
across a chair. 1t wrinkles and injuries
Them. The waist Of a dress, however,
saould be thoroughly aired. and the
back of a chair is as good a place as
any to stretch 1T On, If you have no
bureau rawcr long enough to lay
e~yening-dress skirts In without folding
them, hang them in large bags OF cam
brio in dark closets.
Lay the waists away In the drawers,
Az. IL