The Washington herald., 1907-03-17
THE SOCIAL CODE Iss44Hs sEEHz

At recent dinner given at one Of The
embassies, where the convives included
people from all over the world-in fact.
it was a table full of cosmopoItans-the
question arose regarding table manners.
Some of those present cOntended that
table manners were the same all the world
over in certain class of society; others
that they differed with every nation, and
the discussion waXed rather heated. The
Arbiter was finally resorted to as a last
court Of appeal.
The world has become so cosmopolitan
in the last quarter OF a century that there
IS no question that the same manners
obtain in certain class Of Travelled peo-
pie all over the globe. but this class is the
minority When one discusses the GUS
toms of the country they must draw their
Information from what is known in Eu-
rope as the middle class" There is no
question that in this great middle
class Of the various foreign nations diff
ferent manners exist Indeed, Il is only
the very sInartest people. the diplomats
and globe trotters with whom one stand
ard prevails. For instance. In the man
ner Of dress. in England no matter
whether there are guests 1T dinner or
not. the women Of the household invari-
ably make a toilet for that meal. and no
matter OF what simple material the dress
IS made. It is Invariably cut away at the
neck. and with short or elbow sleeves.
and IL is rare ia any English household
to meet the men of the family AT dinner
in their city clothes. Unhsppny, this
custom. though 1t is followed in many
families. is not "a general one in America;
but It is general both in France and Ger
many. The latter country 10 less eX-
tent perhaps, but whether the dress IS
low or not, some change is made for din
ner, even in the most obscure provinces
of the Fatherland How often does one go
into an American household TO find the
daughter of the family in q shirt waist
and skirt In which she has tramped
through the country and the men i'm the
clothes they have worn at their Offices
all day.
Coming over on an American bound
steamer d young boy of eighteen or
twenty. the son OF a noted Washington
Official was very much annoyed by being
stared at at table by a young English
earl who was on his way over 20 do
America At last. the boy. bashful as
most boys are at that age went up To
the Engiishman. with whom he had be-
come quite friendly, and said.
Look here, old man, why do you glare
al me so al dinner?''
The Englishman colored. by Jove" p
he said Il didn't think you noticed it;
but don't you know 7 have been perfectly
fascinated to see you eat. You know 10
is quite new 10 mc-you are 50 deliberate
and SO tidy, YOU use your knife and fork
IN such "a different way from what We
do.
The boy laughed. and. with the parting
shot Of We'll. cut that staring out please. "
turned away. Now this use of the knife
and fork by the different nations is eX-
tremely interesting The well-bred Amer
lean is taught TO use his fork in his right
hand. 20 discard his knife unless It Is In
use, 20 make a. little noise as possible
and not TO search about his plate for It'd
BITS. An Englishman keeps his knife in
his hand from the beginning to the end
OF the meal He does, TO be sure keep
the hand in which me- holds II near tine
table and never turns the blade of his
knife upward. though he does often use
il as shovel 10 collect his meat and veg
etables on the point Of his fork The
Frenchman does not show this devotion
to the knife. perhaps because nearly all
Of the dishes served are made dishes II
is rare i'm France that tough steak that
has to be sawed through. or big slice Of
roast beef is offered. so that the French
man eats daintily. rarely using his knife;
with the Germans. on the contrary. the
knife is the chief weapon He never
deserts it for a moment, but uses It for
every possible purpose. to cut with. to
eat with TO mix with. He holds il well
up on the blade and every now and then
shovels in a load Of food with such ahan-
don. Of swallowing it as the sword swal-
lowers 90 IN the circus, but one trembleS
lest ne should cut his mouth. or his
jusular vein. and that directly the Grim
son will flow from his iIl-directed efforts
4 German gUverness in noble family IN
Berlin once limited to one Of her young
charges, lad Of some eighteen summers
in what she thought was a very diplo-
matte way, saying;
Paul don't you think you could eat
your peas with a fork rather than q
knife. fork seems so much more appro-
pirate"
Eat peas with fork"' exclaimed the
lad. Why Miss Brown. what do you
think a knife was made for?''
Another incident Of a German-Americau
gives to laugh" as the French put it,
On one occasion this lady. who is the
wife of a high official in one Of the fan
Western States. gave rather an elaborate
dinner party, and after showing her
guests about the palatial home her hus-
band had acquired since he came as an
immigrant 10 America, showing her won.
derfuI pieces OF handiwork. beautiful
plated silver and like treasures. held ur
one Of a set Of handsome knives and said
Isn't this beautiful? But you know
ans the only one that can eat with il: al
I the others cut their mouths every time
they try it,"
Fancy how her reat-grandchildren viii
feel if this story ever comes to their eyes
But then. the Germans have many queer
customs. few years back il was net
considered bad form for man to take out
a little pocket comb at a table d'hote din.
ner and smooth his roughened locks. This
was very customary with the officers
even In the crack regiments. and they did
it with an aplomb that showed they were
perfectly warranted in the process.
To describe the manners of the middle
class Italian is too difficult The sam,
habit characteristic of the Germans OF