The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-05-12
May

| 'oNs Wv FAo" o NuWleluS
The soal.back burrows rising fall ans
And lie like pillows In his journeys wake.
The woods woods have flung their banners to tn.
eF''q fur 1sS: of leaves to every wind IN
:AAnd in the fields, by thicket and by fence
Inc rabbits hide In grassy cover dense.
rertly aud saucily the Old cock quail
most rail;
And when the evening flutters out her cloak
From roadside ponds the deep-voiced bull
frogs cronk.
And jinglingly along the country lane,
| As sinks the sun from his high ruddy dome
IN indian file the cows come trooping home
Ernest McGaffey In Womans Home Com
paniOn.
The Use Of Cards-Acce ptances Dec.
1inations and Other Features.
l am very glad to write something on
the etiquette of answering or refusing i'll
vltations, as some readers have asked
me.
Are one or two cards left at an after.
| noon tea, when two ladies are receiving
n mother and daughter-or hostess
and her friends card inclosed?' Such
| is the repeated question.
The etiquette in this case is optional
There is no harm done by leaving two
| cards, but the trend of society is fol
economy i'll pasteboard. This economy
has two sides; it is less expense to the
| sender and less of an incumbrance to the
| receiver.
II you cannot go to all afternoon tea,
and the cards Of two ladies had been
lnclosed. then it is wise to send two
cards of yours with "Sincere regrets
written Oh each. But, if you are going,
then one card left at the door is suffi
gent, says Anne Rittenhouse in the
Philadelphia Press.
An afternoon tea is the only social
function where cards are left.
At dance, ball, supper, luncheon, din
ner, any evening entertainment, no cards
are left.
This is a good thing to remember for
those who haven't quite mastered card
etiquette.
Even if you are invited to a receDtion
which is exactly similar to an afternoon
| affair, excepting it's hours, you leave ITO
card.
The knowledge of this line saves any
why NHSu 10 leINe cards,
1T one is not able to 20 to an aftcr-
mailed on the day of the affair. This
! courtesy is quite as distinct as YOUR pres
ence.
An invitation to a dinner party or
luncheon or supper should be acccntei
or declined Immediately upon receipt.
whenever set table is to be consid-
cred, the hostess should know mt once
for she wants her table filled. and if YOU
cannot come she wants to invite another
guest as speedily as possible.
No one wants to be the guest of the
eleventh nour, yet, no hostess wants To
have one place vacant.
ohe also wants to complete her order
to the cook or the caterer, and if Won
have ever kept house and entertained.
you must known that this is Il very i'm.
portant part of the proceedings.
These are the things which go toward
making it both necessary and courtesy
to decline or accept an invitation to y
meal.
An invitation to an afternoon tea need
not be accepted Or declined.
ball, dance, a wedding invitation
must be accepted or declined at once.
Here again comes in the necessity on the
part or the hostess to know the number
of people she is to sit and to provide cat
ing for. For an informal affair. or y
very large affair, a note of regret at the
last moment, even after an acceDtance.
is allowable, If a good reason is pleaded
But at dinner or luncheon the excuse
must be very serious to admit of il dec
!natlon after an acceptance
am often asked if, in declination,
the reason for not accepting should he
given. That depends. If your invita-.
ton is a formal one, in the third person,
engraved or written, then your answer
should be as formal, and written in the
tnlrd person, without any stated excuse,
if declined.
If the note is informal, You should
make yours so, with the reason for your
not coming. No matter how little yon
may care for the thing you are invitc,i
to- or the person inviting you, it behooyes
you as a person Of courtesy to make your
declnatlon as regretfui as Your con
science will let you
II you have no reasonable excuse for
not accepting, then you had best adhere
to the conditional form of: 1T is 50 good
of you to ask me, but it is impossible for
me to come Oh that evening" Add anv
little expressions which make your dec
hnatlon courteous without giving any ex-
cuse.
If you happen to be going to some ones
else mousse 40 not say so, for, if you be-
long to the same friends. you are convey
ing to the would be hostess the fact that
she isn't invited to the other house. This
is never wise thing to do, under the cir
cumstances
Between very good friends. when an
invitation is Informal, all explicit excuse
must be given, but otherwise not
Il am SO sorry I am unable to accent. "
is a good form at all times.
&c NO 5 retHHfh visit Is ever required for
d at i 10 Sn esas' feuf peseee OH that
call IS necessary; not simply courteous;
you understand, but necessary; If YOU
would be well-maiiiered person, per-
son entitled to courteous regard in the
world and by the world.
You say dinner and dance calls are
such bore! Well, my friend, you en-
joyed their music, their food. their house,
their guests, If you take; you must give
in this world
You must also pay your call inside of
ten days. Some purists in etiquette pay
such call in the next two days, but
such haste is unnecessary. A week is the
happy medium adopted by most we'll
hammered folk.
Most men pay their dinner calls on the
sunday afternoon succeeding a dinner.
try for men callers. Where gentlemen
are in business, as in the United States,
Sunday afternoon is the only leisure d
man has in which to see his friends in
their homes.
Calling in the evening has almost van
ished among society folk in great cities.
There are. 50. mnny engagements dur
ing the week that calling has been rele-
gated to the rear. lii the smull towns,
where there is no press Of social affairs,
the custom of evening calls continues.
Women of social Importance have en-
graved cards, made out in the conven-
tional style, leaving blank for accept
ance or refusal of ain invitation. Such
a woman's invitations probably add up
into two dozen a week, atid it is Waste
of energy for her to sit down and an
swer them. No woman is so busy as your
leading society woman.
These engraved cards are considered
quite as courteous as an engraved i'll
vitation.
Cooking and Morals.
When q man does not get the stimulat-
ing nourishment which his nature Graves
he resorts to liquor to supply the want.
With this fact staring one in the face, is
it not wise to teach that unfailing good
food, with all the elements that stimulate
and nourish the body and the brain, has