The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-28

"
many seasons. There are
many more people in New York than
usual al this time Of year. for no sub
s,itute for the heretofore fashionable
European trip mas yet been found.
People have therefore had to stay at
home and make the acquaintance Of
their friends. sometimes Of their fam
lies. Of whom they certainly do moi
zee a great deal in the ordinary win
Ter season. which is now so short.
Nobody ZONES to town until after
Christmas, and If all goes well and
At the latest by the first Of February
IN order to allow people to get to the
other side in time for the season in
Italy and OF the Riviera.
Now is the time To settle the ques-
ton az to whether New Workers. are
hospitable. The general impression
throughout the country would seem
10 be that there is no other city in
he Un.on whore there is 80 little
genuine hospitality. The stranger
within the gates must he a parsonage
Of importance whose name must ne
spelled with Il capital Up" II he or
she Is to receive any attention hat
3 worth while. No matter how appar-
ently intimate a friendship has been
formed away from home. there is lit
he nance of that intimacy being con-
t.uued when the New Yorker returns
20 his own tireside and the new &C
quaintance comes To New York and
puts W at a hotel.
There are few hostesses in New
York who receive with equanImity
he Information that "A hastily given
aviation to visit me at any time
convenient to you" has been taken in
Earnest and that the would-be guest
expects to arrive within "A week or
tHo at the latest. This attitude is
not due entirely to the wish to he
inhospitable. Any popular hostess in
New fork has her book of invitations
filed for days ahead for luncheon,
auction and dinner, and she knows by
sad experience that nothing will make
ner more unpopular among her
friends than to ask for an invitation
for a house guest.
To be well received the house guest
must be some one well known to all
the hostess's friends, and not only
known but popular with them or
worth knowing. The house guest may
have been the most charming of host
esses in her own city. but that does
not necessarily make her a popular
house guest in New York. as she loon
learns. II is easier to ask for an in
v!tation for such a guest for a for
nal dinner for which invitations
nave been sent out a month in
advance than for the smaller dinner
with a limited number Of guests.
Most sensible is the stranger who
realizes this and before she comes
10 New York makes her own plans in
advance.
II is not many years since house
guests at Newport carried this max
ing Of plans in advance To something
~ an extreme, particularly where
young men were concerned. n more
than one hostess openly declared that
she did not care to entertain or TO
give house room to men h
lad accepted invitations in advance
Tor every evening of the time for
which she had invited them. This
practice in the case of women visit
ing in New York has not the same
disadvantages, and the girl who ONE
10 return a visit even at this time Of
mo utDfat. u.tlI d. u..ll o.. n.a,.il.
herself with such means OF amuse-
ment that her hostess can go her
oWn way without any apprehension
nat her established routine is To be
'HteIfered with. At a luncheon lately
q sri from a neighboring city who
had been visiting here for the last
!o'ii!gh' said she had had h
most delightful time imaginable.
ne ~ the m st charming visits she
ha1 ever made anywhere. but she
Ndd not seen her hostess except once
since she arrived, and that was when
'heN met Unexpectedly at a dance. to
winch neither of them knew the other
vas going.
But lust how can the stranger he
MADE to feel that New Workers are
hospitality inclined? The hostess can
N"hd ont cards in advance of her ar
IVA asking her friends to tea to meet
"''H or Mrs. So-and-So. The chances
are ten To one hat only one in ten
ot lh"S" who receive cards will take
'"r trouble to 90 to the tea, and those
WILL" %" 20 are often too tired to do
'ol' IMAM speak to the hostess. uch
d jIu- as calling upon the guest hey
'"'r been asked to meet or inviting
"'' 10 their houses il rarely thought
of th"y may send cards the next day
"u' m very few instances Is there any
"Nl'allpn extended such as would he
gwen in any other city whore a guest
was introduced TO the circle Of the
"t'i'-s's friends,
Invitations for luncheon sometimes
"rInG a resi- but not often. There
~ no sense of obligation az to the en-
.''tainlng of the friends of ones
HI"rd, and In that lies the difference
""t""rn New York and other cities.
IN other words there is no sense OF
.h" Obligation OF hospitality as under
STOOD elsewhere.
IN" stranger who comes here as a
stranger excepting to one or two
''npic viii unless letters have been
written beforehand he very apt to
axe away an extraordinary idea OF
'' almost marked d~!-court.-y that
'"'H"~ from the absolute indifference
winch 10 Tna1h at th. root ~ 4 oil