The San Francisco call., 1904-02-21

IT would. Of course. be hopelessly
trite TO say that hospitality is a
word that is very much abused.
but il would be none the less ap-
plicabIe. It is a grand word, one
which opens cut to the eyes Of ones
mind a noble vista Of ideas: il brings
before them the great houses, open
10 all lavish feasting, a generosity OF
Spanish type, 'all mine is yours. ask
ing no return. and above all the grace
ful and gracious figure Of the lady or
The house. the loaf-giver, smiling like
The sun upon rich guest ana poor
guest alike.
AN this-if il ever existed-is quite
obsolete We entertain more or less
layishly still. il is true; but strictly on
The principle of Feed me and 1 VIII
feed thee Foiegras and the best
brand of champagne for him who VIII
feed us I'm return. outlet and sparkling
hook for him who cannot give us any
thing better. ~ certainly sounds very
Sordid. put i'm cold print, but of course
ID is excellent worldly wisdom, making
friends OF the mammon Of unright-
eOusness. OF what use 10 waste our
carefully reared pheasant on the man
who lets of his gun once year. and
probably won't be able 10 hit them
To send your opera box To a penniless
musician when the lady who IS going
10 give series Of balls is $50 fond of
music" We are few of US in the
happy position Of being able totally TO
ignore people who may be of use TO
as" and these quickly outnumber
those who are of no use whatever. Go
through half a dozen London seasons
without giving so much as n luncheon
party. and YOU viii soon find out how
your invitations viii tail off.
LONDON HOSPITALITY.
In London especially is the principle
OF outlet for outlet adhered to. So
ciety is very large, and London houses
are, comparatively speaking, very
small. They viii only hold a percent
age Of ones acquaintance. and of what
use 10 MI them I'D with those who
have nothing TO give in return? 1
think the idea has grown since we
had so many millionaires in our ranks.
In the old exclusive days it is possible
that hostesses were not so business
like
There is one piece OF hospitality OF
which people who have a house in
London are especially charv. and that
is the greatest kindness in their pow
er. II is putting UP people who have
no London house OF their own. OF
course these are usually poor people,
glad 10 save their hotel bill. and the
RNDI LIe 10 ht AVOIDED ike the plague
by the "cuuet for outlet" hostess, al
ways supposing that they are not the
smart poor. wonderful people whom
we all know 10 be Denniless. but who
nevertheless manage TO go everywhere,
and do everything in the best wav.
like other people" and TO lock smil-
ing and splendid all the time. These
rare spirits seldom. If ever. contribute
anything but the dignity Of their com
pany TO the mutual entertainment Of
their kind. There is generally the
glamDr OF some achievement hanging
over them. The men among them are
wonderful shots or amusing takers:
the .omen are beauties mentioned
by every society paper. or they have
The faculty Of "am-sing -he men" So
IN the end we can see that even these
poor" 30 something for their hosts
and hostesses. Otherwise they would
certainly not be there
OUR FOREIGN VISITORS.
Foreigners complain that we English
have no idea OF hospitality. ! think
this is unfair. We have an idea and
our idea is food. When re 90 abroad,
and are never asked TO dinner. but
only 10 evening parties with very light
refreshments. we think nearly as little
Of our entertainers as they do OF US
when they come 10 London. and find
themselves only asked TO huge heavy
luncheons. where they overeat them
selves and are bored TO death. because
they are not introduced 10 the whole
company. The English social light
wants food; he doesn't care 10 know a
lot strange people. The foreigner
wants TO be amused he doesn't care
whether he gets anything 10 eat or
not. Most foreign families OF la haute
noblesse would rather go without a
meal than n carriage o. an xtra foot