Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-01-16
The Red Tablecloth.
WARN AND COMFORTING, SPEAKING OF
GOOD CHEER AND HOPE.

To one who eats to live, or 10 one VINO
lives to eat, the sort of crockery, or cut
lery. or napery which he has on the
table is of very small Importance. So
long as the surroundings are clean and
wholesome, all outside of the food Is q
matter of detail. 1t has been and con-
tinues to be a mystery to many OF us
why go much attention is paid to non
essentials. No matter how much money
a guest may have, he had rather find a
thick slice of steak on his plate than
thin one, and If he is real hungry it is
not offensive to his natural refinement II
there are two slices instead of one.
There is a natural sense as to the fitness
of things about our eating and drinking
that centuries of civil cation cannot
eliminate. Within the memory Of men
and women who are not old is a time In
the past when a small saucer was act at
the side of every cup of tea, its use being
to hold the teacup, when the tea was
poured into the regular saucer. For in
those old days everybody poured tea
into his saucer before thinking of drink
ing the beverage, thus making the saucer
of some use. In fact, it was the rule
rather than the exception, for old tea
topers, not only to pour their hot tea
into saucers before drinking, but to blow
upon this poured out tea with their
breaths for the purpose of cooling It on
No doubt many who read this will say
that such conduct was low and vulgar
and not tolerated by those who had good
manners, but We have seen clergymen
and members of congress, and skilled
doctors sitting at table and blowing their
tea, and slipping from saucers, as II that
was the only way to drink tea la mode.
And in those same old times the napkin
was spread across the chest, like child's
bib, and kept in place by tucking corner
under the collar, making sort OF eating
overalls out of what modern diners keep
foldedlupon their left knees, and use for
wiping their mouths, letting the white
shirt waists and stylish bodice and
starched front care for themselves and
catch any crumbs that might choose to
fall from busy mouths.
The old way of eating was very formal
and very bungling, however, and though
there is much that is unhandy and silly
in the new method of dining, the race Is
gradually improving. In old time eti-
quette no eater could under any circum-
stances touch his finger to his food.
Green corn cooked on the ear was either
cut off with knife and passed to the
mouth with spoon or it was speared by
a fork and nibbled at gently with the
teeth. If one had chicken leg on his
plate he could not take it up by the
barred shin bone and gnaw it in comfort,
but must dissect it with knife and fork
The same process was followed in eating
pork chop and veal outlet. In fact, eat
ing knives were made sharp and stout in
former times for the reason that those
who sat down to table needed sharp and
stout knives in their business. The
dulled and ornamental silver knives in
use now would have caused starvation
in the families of our grandfathers.
Table knives were made for disSecting
and cutting. Not only did they shape
the food to be placed in the mouth, but
they often carried the food to the mouth
from the plate, the two-tined fork being
no more an instrument contrived for
holding the contents of the plate while
the knife did the chopping and cutting.
The knives and forks used by our grand
fathers were of steel, good and polished
steel, and they were made for hard
service. Ask member of any old family
in Maine to hunt up the remnants of the
knives and forks in use when the Next
can war was in progress and compare
those thin and worn-down knives and
forks with the fat and lazy cutlery en-
ployed to-day, and be convinced that the
eating implements employed by our an
cestors had to work hard.
But our dead and gone ancestors had
many things which We of to-day miss
sadly. For one thing, they had more
food. The frosting on the cake was not
80 thick as 1t is to-day, and the parsley
about the meat was not present so often
as it is now, but there was more food
that was real food-more ''grub"-tO one
old fashioned dinner than there is to all
the modern meals that society gets up.
And some of us old 'gluttons miss the
spreads they used to have in former
times. Particularly we miss the red
tableclOth at Christmas. The man OF
the woman who first thought of placing
red tablecloth under the repast should
have beautiful and sky-pricking monu-
ment erected to his or her memory, fol-
nothing can give such an impression OF
comfort and good cheer as one of those
old damaSk fabrics, which bore up the
goodies that we we're waiting and
anxious to eat. No matter how choice
the linen may be, white tablecloth is
cold and formal and suggestive of snow.
drifts and Mondays clothes lines and
wind sheets. But red damask cloth is
warm and comforting. 1t speaks OF
open fires and blazing Goals and red
checked apples and rudy elderberry
wine, and good cheer and good hope.
If we could 60 back and eat once more
from one of those dear old red table.
cloths, we would put up with smaller
wedge of pie aud We would not find fault
| If q whole lot of hot water was added to
our tea.-Bangor News.