Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-10


The intervals between the demolition ito
the extent Of human capacity Of these
courses need not be given In detail. They
vary from two to f1ve minutes, average
three, and amount to twenty-six. From
this it will be seen that the time occupied
by the combined process OF eating and
waiting to be fed amounts to fifty-six
minutes.
1t is hardly to be wondered that ap-
pendicitis IL still with us. and that we
have no dinner table conversation. The
mere mechanical work OF knife and fork
employs every second Of the time that the
dishes are on the table. while the inter
walls are simply breathers. which could
not be filled in with ineligible talk
In order that a dinner Of this kind may
be carried Though with moro than milf
tary expedition and precision. a staff OF
servants must be trained to q high de-
obey the signals OF their leaders. and not
the pleasures OF the guests. The man
who fingers over his soup may disorganize
the whole machinery of service. and with
the heart to retain his plate.
Almost wherever a table d'hote or q
public dinner Is served the race for coffee
Is the same. The a Ia carte dinner. af-
fords the exception to high-speed dining,
but only to a moderate extent.
Go as You Please.
Where there is not fashion driving at
one end Of the menu and the drama call
ing at tho other. 1t Is possible. even at
the present day. to witness a less deplor-
able spectacle than q room full Of well
bred' men and women eating against
time. It is the active resisters the Newn-
ham-Davises OF a humber world OF cook
cry. who temper the speed and give
countenance to those who still dine with
dignity-one had almost said decency.
But In those cases where the dishes are
g. - I>,v< 10
ers the craze for speed at table tends to
lead involuntarily to an acceleration In
the service which IL entirely opposed to
the Teutonic ideal OF 'eating with under
standing"
Not even in clubland do we ind com.
plete freedom from the inclination to bolt
lin the double sense-immediately tho
soup appears.
At dinner eaten recently in well
known club dining room the average
duration Of each course was not moro
than six minutes. while during the ser
vice Of the menu. which consisted or
seven dishes. three were accounted for IN
fifteen minutes! Possibly half the men
Of some kind, but this only serves to eni-
phasize the fact that even In quarters
where life II not otherwise lived at high
pressure tho dinner rush 10 prevalent:
So far as their share In the matter
goes, actor-managers have done their ut
most to adjust the Ills OF the dinner
question:" but, the later the drama the
later the dinner, has become the maxim
of tho fashionable diner-out.
The Suburban Example.
We must 60 into the suburbs. by the
mysterious convolut1on Of tubes" to
find dining surviving IN anything like
condition OF dignity and leisure. Where
the Joint IL carved at seven and the last
glass Of Australian burgundy slipped at
atne. hixh-speed dining has not entered.
Our forefathers had the virtue OF de-
liberation at table, even II they carried
II ia a point at which revulsion set in;
but we arc still waiting for some society
reyivalist to rise up and start revolt
against the Injurious and unreasonable
craze for high-speed dinners.