The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-07-16

Formal Affair.
There is nothing in the world that
requires more tact than entertaining,
especially if the guests be few. Ii
woman gives a large tea or reception
and invites her entire list. she does
not worry if one guest does not speak
to another. but if two women who are
not on good terms happen to meet at
small luncheon it is apt to put very
decided damper On the affair Of
course there are few women in society
who are not we'll bred enough TO speak
to- their pet enemy if they meet IN the
house of a mutual friend but now very
few women are able to carry it on
without some awkwardness and
manner which tells the hostess there is
something wrong Some years ago
woman of means came to St Paul ana
lived on Summit avenue in a charming
house, where she entertained a GOOD
deal and in the most elegant way. she
did not know everybody, but she knew
some women who had been very polite
to her, and the first affair she gave
was a small luncheon for the few
whom she had met. She did not know
until a long time afterwards what
made her luncheon a failure; her own
impression was that she had never
seen such stiff lot Of women together
in her life. They conVersed. but there
was a restraint that kept her luncheon
from being the pleasant Informal AFFAIR
that she had intended it to be. Later
on she discovered she had inVoted sew
eral women who were not on speak
ing terms and who represented feuds
of long standing of which it was hard
" possible for her to know anything.
For there are, unfortunately, great
many such feudS in St Paul, and un-
less one knows just what they are and
who does not speak to whom. some
very embarrassing mistakes are like
ly to occur Broken friendships are
very sad things. and there are many
of them here and among women who
often go into the same set and are
obliged, if they go out at all, to meet
those with whom they are not on good
terms. 1t is often that violent init
macies between women precede these
feuds, and this is the case in almost
every instance here where there is one
of these unfortunate divisions.
Every newcomer to the city, when
she intends to entertain in a small way,
should call in some friend and go over
her list with her and ascertain whether
her prospective guests are on speaking
terms.
Manners at the table are a sure in
dication of breeding, and all one has
To 90 10 ma out dllllOSI lnC cAdCI
status of a man or woman is to dine
with them. Humanity can be observed
and we'll classified in any of the res
taurants of this city at the noon hour.
when they are crowded with clerks and
women shoppers. A lunch or tea room
for women is need of downtown in
st. Paul, and the woman who has the
courage to make the experiment and
the capital to live during the first
months when she must make a reputa-
ton, would undoubtedly make a sue
cess ultimately. While there are sew
eral good cheap restaurants down
town, where the woman shopper can
get very good luncheon, still there is
no place that caters exclusively to
women and makes a point of dainty
serving. This is, of course, excepting
the two clubs where women may go.
The few places there are are always
very much crowded between IL and 2,
and it is not pleasant for woman
alone to sit down at a table for four
with three men who are very apt to
stare her out of countenance. which
process is not only disconcerting. but
not conducive to the enjoyment of
meal.
One woman who has taken her
luncheons down town a good deal tells
of going to a small restaurant rather
late in the middel of the day, and at
the next IdDle TO ner was d young HAL.
He ordered his luncheon, and before 1t
came in he took off his collar and tie
and laid them on chair beside him,
The young woman was much surprised
and amused at this performance on his
part, and said it reminded her of
horses being unbridled before being fed.
A woman who goes about good deal
to small restaurants sees many strange
things, and table manners so original
that she could write book of her i'm
pressions Table manners should
come naturally to the well-born, but
children are never too young to be
taught the proper use of the knife and
fork. and some things which should
never be done at the table.
But the young people of today, in
many instances, are very lacking in
just those small things which go to
make up the difference between the
well hammered and the i'll hammered.
One Of the current magazines, which is
devoted to dietetics says that the av-
erage person betrays what he is moral
ly by the way he eats and drinks.
New York has a publication called
the Social Register, which publishes
the names of society folk, where they
live. and gives a little sketch of fam
lilies of prominence. 1t is not exactly
like Who's Who, because the latter is
not confined to any locality, but con-
tains the names of prominent and
moneyed people the country over. But
New York's Social Register is devoted
almost exclusively to New York's smart
set and includes perhaps few from
Boston and Philadelphia who have
enough money and social position to
enable them to be mentioned among
the elect. 1t is not known just exactly
what method is used to select and diff
ferentiate the lambs from the goats,
but it is supposedly question of
money, although this would be doubt
less denied by it's promoters. The pos
session of a few or even twenty mil
lions is no longer an open sesame to New
York society, but when some man be-
comes SO wealthy that he can Guido
some of the ordinary entertainers and
Is likely to offer the jaded ones new
sensation, then it becomes eXpedient to
take some notice of him. This has
been the case with several families
now well known and appearing in the
Social Register, who in reality have
been in New York long time, but
only recently have shown themselves