Daily Kennebec journal., 1913-10-30
DOWN WITH THE BOWL.
Action of Hotel Keepers Assoe'at'on
Save Much Embarrassment

II 10 reported that the Hotel Keepers
Association of the Northwest mas aereea
tn banish finger bowls from the table lor
the reason that they are too NOISY
MANY of the guests make disagreeapie
splash in using them. and chiioreh ol
nature from the villages and farms mis-
take them for tumblers. What are the
tenderfooted from the East to do hence
forthp VIII curly haired boys and maid
ens he proyided as at the feasts oil an
cient Romans? There are fussy persons
who are not content with the dry WASH
of a nanl<in. and there are few landlords
who would act on this suggestion OIL
Montaigne: .I am sorry We follow not
a custom which, according to the exam
ple of Kings, / have scene besunhe oy
some: that upon every course or chahee
of dish, as we have shift OF cleahe
trenchers, so we might have change OF
cleane Napkins The Orientais, espee-
ially those in the wondrous tales OF "A
Thousand Nights and a Night, mieht
serve as examples, but the landlords Oh
the Northwest would probably dismiss
them curtly as "Dagos." Yet in Chicago
they look favorably on the noiseiess soup
spoon. which, we hear. is now found IN
the palaces of the wealthiest.
There are fashions in finger bowls. We
did not blame Uncle Amos when, seeing
dice of lemon in the bowl before num-
he drank a mighty draught, ana was
bitterly disappointed at the weakness
of the beverage. There was a man III
Albany, N Y, a good many years ago,
pompous person and tuft hunter. ne
pursued starry lions. caught them, 1ed
them and invited his neighbors to see the
lions at table Having visited England.
he brought back with him huge ana
eIaborately worked bowl of precious
metal. At the end of the dinner. when
the roaring of the lion was only purr-
ing of sleek contentment, the host or
dered the bowl to be passed. 1t was full
of perfumed water. Lion and lesser ami
mails were Ill at ease No one dared TO
drink as from a loving cup. No one was
brave enough to inquire into the use or
ceremony. Heads were shaken and the
bowl returned to the host. He, as
though a high priest at solemn sacri-
flee, dipped a corner of his napkin into
the water, wet his hands and lips, DRIED
them threw the napkin on the tapie
and then looked around as one that said:
"There, you bOObs, you boneheads, tnist
the way it is done in perlite sasslety"
"There are always the novices who COM
init the faux pas of trying to drink from
them whether thirsty or not" A man
may drink from them through sheer
observation-disclosures Any one ldiRt-
ing on subject dear to him may oe-
come so intoxicated with his earnestness
that he puts sugar on raw oysters, or
returning to his ancestors, shovels In
peas with knife. There Is the story
about Pasteur He was seen at a dinner
party to dip each cherry in a glass oi
water and wipe 1t before he put In in
his mouth. His neighber made some re-
mark about the unnecessary precaution
| Pasteur then talked at length concern
| ing the dangerous microbes always founc
on cherries. When he had exhausted thu
| subject, excited by the fervor of his
| thought and expression. he took up tn,
glass in which he had washed the frui
| and drained the contents-water, mi
crobes, all that was therein.-Bostor
| Herald