The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-11-06
WITH TIE SMART SET.
The riaxxs Question nm Imperative one
EoW

1
The Smart set" is a term that has
! become associated with the people of
! the leisure class all over the world,
but the Smart set" who dine out Of
doors in summer are by no means
confined to just few representative
people, and the word smart might
easily in this case be changed to gen
sible." For any one who has onco
dined out OF doors In hot weather un-
der any sort of favorable auspices, in
the shade of a canopy or under a p,az-
"a roof, will certainly continue SO do
ing as long as possible.
| The piazza question is an impera-
tive one at present, and piazzas arc
growing in popular favor and use ev-
cry day. The stoop may be relic of
former days; he piazza is Is idealized
follower, and now more attention IL
paid to the piazza than to any other
part of the house. ..
Newport was the first to start this
custom OF living on the piazza and fur
nishing II like room, and the FASH
ion has spread like wildiire all over
the country, until the most modest OF
suburban residences can boast of what
the real estate man calls "veranda,"
which is furnished aud really becomes
the principal living room of the sum-
mer home.
The rugs and furnishings of the ver-
anda need not be expensive, but they
must be comfortable. There must be
awnings or screens to pull up and
down, and II the country is infested
with mosquitoes there must be wire
netting. All the new country houses
especially those designed for all the
year round occupancy, have these
enormous pia1zas, so arranged that
they can be used either in winter or
summer-in summer place to be cool
and in winter a place to be warm.
The furnishings remain practically the
same winter and summer, hut the
screens and lattices are changed ior
glass. The same beautiful Towering
plants and palms remain, or, at all
events, there are those that look just
like the others in case the first plants
do not thrive.
Dine with the MiIiiopaires.
Two maids or two men servants, or
n waitress and second man are requir-
ed to serve luncheon in any formal
house. Dinner is a different matter,
for 1t is fast getting to be as tremen-
dous a function on this side of the
water as it Is in England, where din
ing is the mcst serious Of all functions,
and where the man can say, Pm
dining with Lady So and So tonight,
with Lord So and So tomorrow" and
so on, ad infnitum and ad nauseam,
makes you feel that he takes it fol-
granted that you don't know what it
is to dine.
The number of men servants, the
number of courses at dinner AID the
decorations Oh the table are in these
days only limited by the size of ones
house and of ones bank account, for
1t is considered smarter to have
shorter dinner in Simmer than in
winter, with fewer courses, but with
each course masterpiece in its way.
Livery is much more thought Of
than it was, for people take much
more pains about what rightfully be-
longs to them now-the color OF thu
livery their servants should wear, and
so forth. Having an individual taste
and using the livery that belongs to
ones family makes it much more in
dividual In appearance, and although
we have not yet begun to choose our
menservants according to their sizs
and appearance, and although as a
rule, we do not go in for powdered
hair and knee breeches, we're fast get
ting to them. In the meantime,
whether our meals are out of doors or
indoors, the one that is served with
great formality is dinner.
Evening dress is required now in al.
the country houses, and even where
people live very plainly 1t is the Gus
tom for the lady of the house to wear
low necked gown and for the man
of the house to don a dress suit, or.
at all events, dinner coat.
The dinner hour is also advancing
so that nine o'clock is no longer con-
sidered too late an hour to sit down
at table. There is a great deal OF
good sense about this for people who
live In the country, for 1t gives a
chance to enjoy the sunset in the first
of the evening and get back in time
for dinner. 1t is said that Mr.. George
Vanderbilt, at Biltmore, was one OF
the first people who started the idea
of never dining or supping--for very
often an evening meal at Biltmore is
what used to be known as high tea
until nine or half-past. This calls for
five or six o'clock tea. and makes t. II
meal quite an event, and there Is nctn.
ing more attractive on tn piazza than
afternoon tea with people dropping In
and with all the good things that ara
part and parcel Of afternoon tea. THIS
is an English custom that has taken
very we'll here and Is becoming mere
and more necessary to our comfort.
Any Ons Gan Do This. 4
There are great number of houses !
that cannot boast even of a piazza, but
have merely a porch; this is rather a
difficult matter to treat with, for rat
urally porch Is merely a place Of in
gress and egress to and from house