The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-04-02
ABOUT TABLE MANNERS

cram 1t down with the handle. nor has he
the least scruple about depositing the re-
Jected residue upon the floor. Moreover
with the continental eater the knife en-
tiers into conversation. it Is retained in
the gesticulating hand, it is raised i'm
ploringly to the ceilng-and heaven-it
is brought into strangle circles of argu-
ment, 1t Is used to point the conclusion
at the very breast Of the fellow diner
When you see man waving his knife
at table you may be sure he is an alien
I'VE wear no swords here" nor do we
argue with knives at table
The English knife with all its blood
thirsty suggestions, is reduced to the low
est and least obtrusive office. 1t is not
! even dug into the saltcellar. For Eng
land has reached the delicacy of salt
spoons, and only In Soho restaurant
will she give you the real SAVIOR of the
continent by providing salt cellars with
out spoons. You shove your knife into
the salt-and dream of Paris. Bohemia.
the Gypsy life in which you dip your
fingers in the pot"
England has suppressed the knife at
table. The Englishman does not use If
for argument or menace or persuasion
or even for the talking of salt. His table
manners enjoin that the knife shall he
raised The properly conducted knife at
table never reaches forty-hve degrees
above the horizontal
Unfortunately the American goes a If
tie too far in the desire. to avoid the OBJ
trusive use of the knife. and takes refuge
in obtrusive concealment. Many Ameri-
cans will slice their meat with the knife
lay the knife by the side of the plate
ana put the pieces into the mouth with
the fork held in the right hand. Now
this is injustice to the knife, which has
its modest function.
Fish knives and sugar tongs are among
the delicacies of English table manners
but | am not so keen ON sugar tongs.
That lump of sugar which you may take
with your coffee-if you want the I'M
necessary addition-is an individual mat
ter IL is your own lump, your own fin
gers. And Oxford has done we'll in re-
fusing to supply sugar tongs. But I am
/ sure that the treatment of the egg is
the real test of table manners. There ;s
not a French peasant who cannot give
PoiheS " all EL6llSH COOK IN the making
| of an omelet
| But how to eat a boiled egg? Hera
| comes the great art of concealment. the
| table manner that conceals the gross fact
of deglutitlon. In a Kentish farm house
l was once presented with eggs-new laid
and knife wherewith to eat them. Can
| you negotiate soft boiled eggs with a
| knife and preserve your self-respect? Tho
| spatter would be too horrible! In America
| they mash their eggs in a tumbler. and
the whole process is too violently apollo
| getic. To sit opposite a man who IL eat
ing an egg in the wrong way-that is to
say emphasizing the fact that he Is eat
| ing an egg-is to meet a man with the
| wrong table manners
The Englishman is the hypocrite of the
dinner table. as well as the autocrat of
| the breakfast table, where he disposes
| of his eggs and bacon without offense to
the eye or ear of his companion He eats.
and eats solidly but all the time he is
| pretending that he does not eat; for that
| Is the pretense that lies at the root of
our supreme table manners. The problem
/ is to get away as far as possible from
| this mere sensual f1eshly life and the
| Englishman-feeling the temptation to the
| lower-reaches for the higher. He in
vents salt spoons and finally evolves ia
| bles manners from the primeval plunge
of the fingers into the not