Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1902-09-04
BANQuETs FOR men ONLY.
HISTORY SHOWS THIS HAS Al
WAYS BEEN THE CASE.
Long Before the Lords supper and Ever
Since It Has Been Customary
to Exclude the
Weaker Sex.

weaker Sex.
When the last supper was partaken
Of by the Lord and his disciples no
woman participated, although the
great teacher numbered many among
his friends. This was In strict &C.
cordance with the law Of the pass
over, which forbade women attending
their feasts. And tie last supper was
eaten on the eve Of the passover, &C
cordlng to the synotic gospels.
Going further aneld into the remote
past we find women are not permitted
to sit at meat with the philosophers at
their Utopian banquets. Socrates i'm
proved the opportunity to speak his
mind freely concerning Xantippe, for
It was on one Of these occasions when
be made his cynical remark that he
married Xantippe In order that her
society might inure him to the trials
Of life. An after-dlnner speech that
has never been equaled for meanness.
Hawthorne, 10 describing bis at
tendance at some public banquets In
England, has this to ray Of one given
BY the Lord Mayor Of London:
Zone very pleasant characteristic
which I never met with at any other
public dinner was the presence Of
ladies'"
He does not tell US what they did
or said, but confines himself to the
gastronomic features Of the banquet.
He says:
'There fell to my lot three delecta-
bic things-a red mullet, a plate of
mushrooms, exqulsltely stewed, and q
part Of a ptarmigan."
And then the Lord Mayor passed
the loving cup, and 1t Is easy guessing
the delight Of Hawthorne at seeing
that dignifled and ancient custom for
the first time.
At the head Of the civil banquents
stands the inaugural entertainment
1t the Guild hall on November 8, to
which the wives and daughters are
invited, and at which the lady May
Dress presldes. A masculine descrip-
ton Of this yearly banquet, which ID
provided for by the government, says
that It Ia the most vague, arlstocrat-
Il. unsatisfactory and uncomfortable"
Of all the public banquets given with
In the sound OF Bow Bells" Query.
Because women are present? Be that
% or no, that particular banquet In
terests all London. AT II the women
retire to the ballroom and scene Of
noise and gormandizlng ensues, and 1t
ID early next day when the last ban
queter departs.
Fraternity, masonic and civil ban
quets cling to the old Idea that won.
IN, being "the lesser man." has no
place at their feasts. That argument
does not hold good In these days, and
Is simply begging the question. The
women can retort with justice and
truth: I'VE know why you want us
to absent ourselves from your ban
quet. You desire to smoke freely,
drink till you drown your sorrows,
and tell rlsque stories. Well, have
these special occasions once year,
but do not ask us to sit In. the boxes
and galleries, so near and yet so far,
that we merely choke and blink and
watch you through the incense, Won
derlng why people are always at their
worst when feeding"
Apropos Of which Is the story Of an
old Scotch woman who listened to her
minister quoting Solomon, where he
says: zone man among a thousand
have I found; but woman among
those have | not found"
"Noo, Sister McClelsh, hoo do We
understand thot" asked the parson.
'I'm sure Its simple enouch,' was
the quick answer, ina respectable
woman would ha' been seen speaking
WI Solomon"
80 perhaps the highest compliment
the average banqueter could pay his
w0manklnd is to invite them not to
attend his banquet, but to leave to
their vivid Imagination the scene
which, beginning with the feast Of
reason and flow Of soul, degenerates
into a hllarity that Is neither humor-
GUS nor entertaining and ends with a
roar that has hint Of the cracking
Of thorns under a pot vide the laugh
ter Of fools. How do we know? We
listened In the corridors, being fearful
Of catastrophe.-Chicago Times
Herald
Against Treating.
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