The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1904-02-04

roreTS TO In 6lulpS ne WOhlu nave Se0H
that its purpose was not to find fault
with the man for using his knife as a
means to convey food to his mouth,
but merely the way he used it in re-
moving atoms of. finished meal from
his plate.
The writer may have visited Arabia
and perchance been tie guest of an
Arab sheik, who knows? At any rate
he is in favor of the old admonition:
When you go to Rome, do as the Ro-
mans dol
Good manners as proclaimed by So
ciety are often great mistakes. am
not in favor Of the pre-eminence of the
fork over the knife as food transmit
ter. They are both bad, and of the two
the fork is the worse. They are both
cleaned and secured, to be sure,
but alas! in the tines of fork
minute particles and microbes have
a chance To increase. In these days
of daily discoveries of microbes as
the true source of this or that dis
ease, one is almost tempted to discard
forks in favor of ones fingers.
But how can we help ourselvesp Let
us see how the far East progresses In
this line. "Whatl chopsticks 2" you say.
"Neverp Yes chopsticks, my friend,
chopsticks are bound to come-and stay,
too, for some time. OF course it takes
the very finesse of table manners to be
able to handle pair of chopsticks
properly, but we'll get over that.
And think how cheap and cleanl How
many dollars it will save your friends
when you begin housekeeping
Another quarter of a century and
you will see chopsticks universally
adopted. 1t will be fad at first, I
dare say. Some shining society matron
will spring surprise on the 400 with
a "chopstick luncheon" and there will
be plenty of fun at the many slips be-
tween plate and lip. Students of hy-
giene will then take it up, and thence
forth twill be easy sailing. 1 should
mention also that the 'sticks," between
mouthfuls, should be deposited in a.
glass or small vessel containing water
or alcohol, while at present we merely
place our forks on the plate or hold
them.
| You'll see this and more if you live
that long. In couple of generations
they will laugh at our crude manners
and the folly of cutting our own meat
or vegetables, when it is so much bet
ter done in the kitchen and more SIM
pie and time-saving. Verify chop
sticks will be an important factor in
the near future, and moreover, be-
lieve every person will carry his own
or at least have them marked like nap
kin-rings.
The Chinese had knives and forks
centuries ago, and gold andsilver spoons
too. Now they use porcelain spoons,
and why? Because spoon should
not be inserted in the mouth. but only
brought to the lips and then slowly
Tipped to sc degrees. You see it goes
against the grain to have porcelain or
other earthenware come in contact
with your teeth-if you have any-if
not, with your gums.
1t is only since the beginning of this
century we have discovered that liquids
of any kind should not be partaken of
with solid food, not even water. 1t is
hard on the digestion, and should not
be taken till two or three hours after
ward. The Chinese knew this, hence you
see their tiny cups lin your eyes more
fitted for dolls house,, and really a
thimbleful of real Oolong goes farther
than big bowl of adulterated, sim
ported So Long" as nourishment or as
a thirst allayer. To be sure, we have
our own cafe noir, but that is only for
6 Beau Brummels and their ilk called
: for after sumptuous meal at swell
cafe and to help the little fiend Nico-
tine along IAN aristocratic fad, MOTH
ing more.
y
You may laugh at me for holding up
the Japanese or Chinese, but they are
wise, wiser than the Jew even. Opt
um? Yes, they use it and muchly!
But are their vices as bad as ours
How about whiskey, morphine, cocaine
and their Aftermath? Wouldn't you
Il cnopor COO q M O n cnoolxo opirp. In bic