The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-06-25
THE PASSING OF OLD TIME HOSPITALITY.

Often we hear elderly people re.
g~retfully remark that real, old
time hospitality is passing away and
that a code of social observance and
formal ethics has entirely supplanted
the true spirit of f~riendliness and
neighborliness that prompted the
sasy sociability and unceremonious
visiting of rye olden times.
They say that in those good old
DAYS people could go visiting sans
ceremony and whenever the spirit
moved them, with a reasonable as
a of a cordial welcome and a
hearty entreaty to stay and make
a s'real good, old-fashioned visit
Then we are told, the unexpected
was always expected, and the unin-
vited guest was not a calamity, and
the entertaining of ones friends was
not made the complex, expensive
and nerve-racking social feature
that it is to-day. For be it known
that visiting and entertaining ones
friends in those days was prompted
bv friendliness and good-fellowship,
and the desire for the social cOmpan-
fonship instead Of social distinc
kion.
And so we cannot but sympathize
with the aged, who turn their eyes
regretfuIly backward to the easy,
open handed hospitality of the past
for now, O Temporal! O moreS! we
may not go visiting unless we
are especially invited then the time
of our arrival is intimated and the
length of our visit is limited, and to
cverstay that limit is to make mani
fest not only our ignorance, but our
III breeding.
The burdens of this our twentieth
century civilization rest heavily upon
rs. And we who are young and
strong and vigorous, who would keep
step with the procession, have
learned that we must husband our
time. We know that every hour of
fhs day and every moment of the
hour has its allotted task, and that
We must redeem the time with sys-
fematic precision. And though our
hearts may turn with longing to
she sweet rlaciditv and the delight
full leisure Of the old regime, we
know that 1t Is not for Us, and, tenn
pora mufauh,r we must needs adapt
ourselves % the change in time and
manner.
We who are toilers upon the high
ways and in the byways Of life who
must bear tie heat and the burden
Of the day; whoare hurried and hur-
ried with the duties and perplexities
Of life, have yet the worldly wisdom
20 see that the old-time free-and-
easy, g0-as-you-please visiting OF
older days could not obtain at the
present time, and that certain social
restrictions and formal O~bservances
are the necessity of the times.
/. the lilies of the feld-those who
o1 not, neither do they spin-must
hedge themselves about with Il code
Of social restrictions, that they may
find time for the dispensing Of hos
pitality in their own way, how much
more so may we, who must scramble
for the Ioaves and the fishes and the
Wherewithal with which we are to
BE clothed
It is not that the spirit of hospital
Fty Is dead in our hearts, but rather
fh&t we may be given time to keep
r. alive, and to dispenseit in a r pr
and agreeable time and manner, that
we. the tOilers, must safeguard our
time against the inrOads of the per
petual and omnipresent visitor, who
would make Is a convenience simply
for his own pleasure,
The woman of to-day has larger
interests and u broader field of action
shan the woman Of even fifty years
ago, and her privileges increase her
responsibilities. Quite often she is
housekeeper, hOme-maker and bust
ness oma combined, and she has
duties and obligations which can
not be neglected or ignored, even
for the entertainment Of her dearest
and most intimate friends. And
thus it comes about that what may
seem to elderly people as a ~deplorable
lack of hospitality is in reality only