The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-09-06
CHARLESTON STILL CLINICS
 ID OLD WAYS Charleston toSoutn Carolina What Boston Is to
 Massachusetts. OLD AND STEADY CITY Ancestry Is Sole Basis for Social Distinc-
 tion.
OLD AND STEADY CITY

San Francisco to California. The peo- pie of the State regard it with affec- tionate pride. The South is very con servative, and Charleston most of all. Family portraits are cherished part of their possessions. Mary is pro- nounced Mary" IA dress waist is called a body, and the man that waits on table abutler. His other duties may include milking and cooking. Still he is the butler.
 By people of the old school-and there are many in Charleston-a mar ried woman is spokn of and to as Mistress" So-and-So. Many members of the aristocracy live in the country on large estates with high-sounding names, They employ governesses and turOrs, ride horseback, have house par ties, and go long distances to attend balls.
 Hedges are in general favor. Around the old churches are burial grounds or churchyards, but as rule burial in them is no longer permitted. Ancestry is of much consequence in Charleston. It is the sole basis of social distinc- tion. No college of heraldry is neces- sary; the memory is an infallibe re- pository. Even the point of story is sometimes lost sight of in genealogical | digressions. In South Carolina every one knows every one else in the State who belongs to one of the best fam l flies,
 The St. Cecilia society is the most l arlstocratic society in the State, but it is not so exclusive as is generally sup ! posed by strangers. The society came | into existence as early as 1737, but it was not organized until 1762. It was | at first a musical club and gave anna l teur concerts from time to time but having on it's membership roll so many young men fond of dancing and 1 desirous that balls should be given, the | concerts were given up, and since then l three times a year dances have been 1 given, which are the most important social events in the city. Three black 1 balls are sufficient to exclude man from membership. A woman's name when once put on the invitation list usually stays there as long as she lives l in the city. Actresses, Jewesses and di- lvorced women are barred from at- l tending.
 | South Carolina enjoys the distinction l of being the only State in the Union l where it Is impossible to get divorce, except by appeal to the legislature, ar. impossibility which society upholds by refusing to countenance divorced women. Though there were no laws enacted on the subject until 1895, di- Ivorce has never been granted in the 1 State except once, just after the Civil l war.
 Large families have not gone out of fashion in Charleston, the number of children often ranging from six to | ten. Family names are perpetuated in the naming of the children, as, for in- stance, McMillan King, Sinkler Sim lons, shannon Perkins, Prioleau Raven- el, Pringle Smith, Huger Bacot, etc. Sometimes girls are named in like l manner.
 Labor is very cheap, but 1t takes l several negroes to accomplish as much as one Swede or German, who Is paid from $5 to S7 a week for general housework. In small towns $5 a month is paid for domestic service; in Charleston, $7 or $8. A very competent cook and laundress commands $10; 1 $15 is a big price; $150 Or $2 for mak- ing a dress, even though 1t is much trimmed, is not an uncommon charge by dressnakers in small towns.
 Rice is usually served as 8 vegeta- ble, rarely in any other way White or Irish potatoes seldom appear on the table in any form, and are never warmed over. Although fruit Is cheap, 1t is not eaten at breakfast, except perhaps in midsummer. Neither is it canned. Housekeepers say that canned fruit does not keep in that climate, so they put up preserves and jam in- stead,
 Honiny is an indispensable break fast dish. Modern breakfast foods are not used. In the up-country soda or beaten biscuits are an almost daily breakfast occurrence. Beaten biscuits are made of four salt and water, and have the diameter of one and the thickness of four 50-cent pieces. After standing several hours they are of i'm penetrable hardness. Baked breakfast dishes of cornmeal or rice flour are
 made in great variety. In southern
 railroad station soda biscuits and frlet
 chicken are tfe invariable menu Bread Is served fresh from the oven It is baked almost daily, and conse
 ouently does not have a chance to gel
 even approximately stale. Ginger is thu
 chief ingredient in ginger cake. Rec pepper is used freely in cooking IT
 soups the elements are not kindly mix
 ed. It is hard to tell tomato soup iron
 catsup. At Christmas every household has a copious supply of fruit cake.
 The breakfast hour is from to g
 an earlier hour being hardly possible
 even if desired, owing to the fact tha
 negro servants go home at night
 They prefer to go, even when they liv,
 several miles away. Until late hou
 of the night they indulge in socia
 and religious demonstrations, and dt
 not arrive very early in the morning
 Dinner is whenever 1t is ready, whicl
 Is any time from 2 to 4. Dinner i
 hardly over before tea is announced
 at 7:SO or 8. This division of timt
 makes the days all morning, the peri
 cd between dinner and tea being b!
 some included in the word evening.
 Few if any of the buildings ar
 more than four stories high. Thes
 are of wood, brick or stuoco, stone be
 ing too scarce to be used at all.