The Washington times., 1906-11-06

There is much talk in these days OF
the decay Of manners, and it IS proba-
bly, more justified than a great deal Of
the sentiment which expresses itself in
unfavoTable comparison Of the present
with the past.
Certainly the styles in table manners
have changed. 1t used 10 be one of the
cardinal principles that il was bad man
ners for q woman TO put her elbows on
the table. Now il is a very smart pos
ture at a alnner party especially If the
girl has pretty hands. Pretty rings
constitute even a better excuse
4 would have been sent from the
table II 1 had dared sit like that" said
a matron glancing at the girl opposite
ner al a dinner party. Il was told
that / must never put my elbows on the
table whatever ! did. Now my own
child would think I was crazy II I told
her anything so much opposed to the
smart ways of girls today
II actually see women at formal din
ners now pick un cup of cold bOuillOn
and rest their elbows on the table while
they sip II. I suppose that shows how
unconventional and natural they are
but ] must confess to an Old-fashiOned
prejudice IN the matter of - Bile man
ners.'
This woman's explanation Of the pres
ent degeneTaCy an table manners was the
increased use OF restaurants by young
women who never used 10 go to them
II happens 10 be true OF the great world
OF society now that its members dine
In public much more frequently than
they formerly did
Restaurant manners" she explained
are a distinct type OF the degenerate
fashions or the day. Some OF the smart
est men and women dine three or four
times week in restaurants II is usu-
ally before they go 10 the theater and
most them are In a hurry.
Faults of Restaurant Eater.
The restaurant eater soon becomes
easily recognizable. There are unmis-
table attributes. One of these is the ma
tional weakness for salt and pepper
The minute dish is placed before him
the restaurant eater begins 10 sprinkle
y with salt or pepper There is no pre-
urinary tasting 10 see If IL is all right.
It s discouraging TO hostess who
Knows that her cook is a good one when
she sees carefully seasoned food sub
mltted 10 this treatment. The taste of
the restaurant eater needs strong flaw
orlng after a while and IL goes without
saying that a good cook would never
put IN the ingredients plentifully enough.
1 feel rather cOmplimented nowadays
when my guests don't ask for Jabasco
sauce and sprinkle that COudiment over
all the dishes the way they do in restau-
rants
Then The restIessness of the habituai
or Verv frequent restaurant diner he
trays him He has fallen into the habit
or Milling up intervals in the meal and
can never SIT quietly at the table with
out doing anything He must either eat
or drink every minute OF the time. So
he or she devOurs large quantities of
bread which they DO not really desire
before the courses are brought or dur
ing the dinner Just this same habit
OF keeping at "a all the time leads the
restaurant diners 10 drink more wine
than they ought TO or really want.
All these demOralIziug effects OF res
taurant life as il exists today naturally
shave their influence on the home. Look
at the formal diners that are given to-
day. They used TO be the. most de-
lightful entertainments of the winter
There enc had ample time for CONVEX
s8tion ard there was real luxury in
the repose and dignity Of the evening.
Serve Dinner in Hurry.
But Mat is a dinner today. whether
il be here in the winter OF at Newport
fl the summer Thirty or forty people
arc put al a table and the dinner is
handed out 10 them just as quickly as
the servants can get II around in order
that the evening may wind up with a
variety show. Then there will be more
10 eat and drink, possibly dancing and
then hCme.
but there is little doubt that the present
generation is much better satisfied with
Its own WAYS of entertainment than
with these popular twenty years ago.
Men as we'll as women find the ways of
entertaining now Ia vogue much more
10 Jheir taste
'Of course. dining in restaurants is
more popular now than ii was years
ago came as the response Of a young
or woman, when there were very few
restaurants and people did not know
enough 70 vary the mOnOtOny of going
10 them. In those days a dinner party
was a long-drawn-out affair. with
course aIlef course OF dishes that every
body Was too tun 10 eat and half
dozen Inherent kinds OF wines, begin
ming with sherry and winding up way
down ut the other end Of The menu
much about drinking 10 fU nm their
sJomachs with pousse cafe made OF
half a dozen kinds of wines NVho has
sherry with the oysters or h0rs de-
Reuvres, white wine with the fish, claret