The sun., 1910-02-06
WOMEN WHO SPOIL DINNERS
WON'T EAT AND WON'T LET
THEIR NETGHBORS EAT.

The Fnshlenahle Desire 20 Get Thin the
Reason They Avoid Most Dishes--
Things That a Doctor Says WOuId DO
Them No Harm n They bat Knew.
One social eifeot OF the increasing craze
for thinness in women is felt at dinners.
They are now. so far as women are cOn-
cerned. mere Of fcrrnallty thsn ever.
What is man to dol" asked diner out
the other day. "Ihlvs healthy appetite
and the stimulus Of cocktail or two does
not abate lts demands, 90 enjoy my
dinner; but IL sit next to q woman who
has absolutely no intention Of touching
anything that is put before her my duties
in the conversational line are very much
increased. The other night at dinner my
neighbor, who obviously had no intention
Of touching the food. turned around In her
seat to face me and then and there began
conversation which kept me abb
sorbed. There was no opportunity to
make any impression on n~the food, which
came and went in the most attractive
forms. had as much an could do to
keep UP the conversational end.
The fear OF getting stout has 80 pos
sessed every woman that few ! ever zee
at dinners touch bite. OF oourse soup
10 out Of the question. Nobody seSms to
eat that. even IL they are willing 20 touch
some Of the solids. There 10 the same
prejudice against hors d'puvres unless
they happen to be oysters. have seen
women time and time again refuse caviar,
which should not have any effeot on them.
Fish they rarely eat, even when IL is so pre-
pared that it cannot be fattening. or
course entrses are out Of the question.
They are not even glanced at. Occasion
ally some string beans or some OF the fresh
vegetables. provided OF course that there
is no potato in them. may tempt the
feminine guests to nibhae, and they may
take a thin slioe OF game or roast with no
fat.
"Of all the courses that may come, how
ever. there is but one that seems TO make
the slightest appeal to the fasting sister
hood. That is the fruit salad. They
will pick out some OF the grapefruit or
orange. the grapes or the alligator pear.
mixed with the sotr dressing and seem 20
take some pleasure out OF that; but IL
10 too late then for man TO enjoy himself.
He doesn't care for fruit salads and this
belated chance TO stop talking and cot
comes too late.
Il Icould make an affldavit, this grouchy
diner out went on. that have not In the
4 last three months sat next to a woman
under IS who ate bite Of bread, drank any
! wine or showed the least interest In the mea
until the salad and the coffee came. They
| light on the coffee with q vengeance. they
pick delicately among the fruits in the
salad and thcy show how hungry they
are. yet they treat the sweets az IL they
were poison. The ban on bread has led
hostesses to have now two kinds Of toast
at dinner. One OF these Ia the baked
bread that is put into the stove and dried
out and the other Ia toasted. The appre-
citation OF toast that exists nowadays
has led to some really novel efforts in that
line. One Of these has become about
the most popular dinner dish Of the year,
quite surprising terrapin or canvasback
duck In the favor Of the women. The
bread In out into very thin slices. then
rolled up into a piecc the thickness of
your finger before II Ia toasted to a
delicate brown. Into the midst OF this
10 dropped a bit Of butter which is not
sufficient TO run through the whole piece
but TO relieve the too great dryness. I
have known the most careful fastsrs TO
MUNICH several pieces OF this during q
meal that lasted two hours
Dinners, however. are rarely 10 long.
There has been for several years a con-
slant tendency 10 make them shorter,
and this has received q new impetus from
woman's present intention to keep her
self thin IL starving can do It. The hos
tess who gives old fashioned Victorian
dinners nowadays astonishes the guests
who do not realize that in certain families
this tradition still exists. There are
still hostesses. usually those who have
inherited the belief. who think that din
ner without q certain number OF courses
and among them the old fashioned alter
nation of timbales and entrees. a thick
and a thin soup. and then hot Virginia
ham to finish up with. and various kinds
OF wine distributed among the little knot
OF glasses standin by every plate, is not
a dinner worth inviting guests to eat.
nowadays only in very conventional
houses The tendency to keep dinners
short goes right along, in spite of them,
and there is no reason why women should
not enjoy some OF the good things at
these meals.
aThe unfortunate thing about these
dinners" said physician who had been
discussing the effect OF 90 much absti I.
nence on the health OF the militant fasters
| lis that women do not like what IL would
not do them the least harm to eat For
instance the ducks at q dinner are not
in the least fattening. nor is the saddle
OF lamb which is found nowadays on
nine out OF ten tables. Then a alice OF
partridge or grouse will not make woman
an ounce fatter IL she eats It every day
Of her life. The little tournedoe served
so often at dinners. the little lamb filcts,
which are now one OF the most modish
dishes to take the place OF the roast at
lunch-these things will not contribute
in any way to increase the size. The lamb
filete, which the expert butchers now make
up in very attractive fashion, are almost
wholly without fat. They consist Of the
nut, as the French call it, OF lamb chop
cut quite thick. All the fat is cut away
from It and in its place there runs a thin
layer OF the thick white fat cut from the
tenderloin. This. however. is so separate
from the meat that IL drops away at
touch OF the fork when 1t Ia on the plate
There is nothing fattening about such
q dish, even when It 10 cooked in the most
popular way which Ia now to place It ON
a small piece OF dry toast, lay on that
a mushroom, and then over the filetSa
br0ilad h0thOaHma tOunafn