El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-12-20

that taught her what company man
ners were ike from the "company's'
own standpoint But who HASN'T
Who doesn't remember being a guest
in households where the company ma
ehinery got dreadfuily rusty in be-
tween times. and worked only BY
Jerks and spasms and at critical mo-
ments stuck and stepped altogether.
to everybody's embarrassment and
anguish
Households where the table service,
for instance, was failure for lack
OF rehearsal and you could see the
maid growing panicky and father be-
coming mute and stubborn and the
giggling children on the point OF
breaking out into oDen mutiny.
Diseomforts of Visiting.
Or where the mostess's entire con-
versation was made up Of explains
tions and apology, and you somehow
sensed that behind every door and
curtain one member OF the family was
exhorting another to behave nicely
because there's company"
Didn't Il make you feel like run
ming upstairs to pack your bag and
catch the first rain2
Nobody ever got any pleasure from
seeing a family strain and pretend 70
domestic standard that IL didn't
bother about unless company aD-
peared- Nobody likes to see q middle
aged father forced 10 give Up his IA
mHlar habits. and youngsters COM
PEELED 10 adopt stiff garments and
ways that are strange
Worse stlli, to realize that oneself
is the cause OF so much family dis
comfort is enough TO make one quite
speechless and 10 lose ones appetite
altogether for the company dishes
that with so much effort are prepared
and set before one.
But what shall we do. women say.
II We can't afford 10 keep up a COM
pany standard all the time?
You may be sure that your guests
viii be a great deal happier. and q
thousand times more willing 70 come
again II you simply drop the idea OF
a company standard altogether
What Is Hospitality.
Hospitality means leaving your
door always Unmatched Il means
keeping the pot boiling. and invit-
ing your chance guests to take pot
luck" with you 4 house that is clean
and a household that is happy are
ready enough for guests at any time.
It's a JOY TO be guest when one Is
free to come In and take ones seat
by the fire. and ones share OF the
mush and milk, or the turkey and
truffles, and when every member OF
the family just goes on acting nat
urally however many guests arrive.
Perhaps you don't have open fires
and huge boiling soup pots. Never
mind. You can be just as hospitable
with a steam radiator and an i'm
provised dish Of macaronL So long
as your domestic atmosphere is warm
and inviting, and your family man
ners are normally good enough to be
inspected at a moments notice you
can offer hospitality TO princes.
on the Family Crouch.
Of course this system excludes fam
ily grouches.
Unless the rest Of the family are
much more than ordinarily fascinat-
ing the presence Of an habitual
crouch viii make any home guest
proof
Don't imagine that you can i'm
pose company manners on your family
crouch with that same quick sIolght
n hand with which you dust the
piano while YOU answer the doorbelI.
Or. n YOU do succeed, they won't stay.
Like all artificial, flimsy things. they
win split AT the wrong time.
The only safe way is TO rule out
company manners with all other pre-
fences when you begin your family
life.