The Washington times., 1919-04-19
How to Set the
Table

ME beads she wore were a reliS
OF the ancient days before thE
emi-emsnCipation of women
Huge. cumbersome, and heavy ana
bright red were they. But she was
pretty-oh. so pretty-and one did
not wonder that two years before
some very worthy man had married
her.
She happened 10 be at the Gillette
home when I called. Mr.. Gillette
had again been working too hard.
and his poor health demanded that
he HE himself to the mountains
again for A rest. And so Mr.. and
Mrs. Gillette had decided to close up
their pretty home for a while ana
take the train early next morning to
the health resort The maid had an
opportunity to get another position
the day before. and Mrs. Gillette:
ever .considerate, had urged her TO
take il.
And so when supper time came
along Mrs. Gillette said TO Agnes OF.
the red beads. My dear, you can
help me by setting the table il you
will" And so while I endeavored
to prepare a dainty tray of special
foods to tempt the invalid. Agnes
set the table.
Set the table," did 1 say? Agnes
put the silver and dishes on the
table and only a very tactful Mrs.
Gillette could have managed to do
=it herself without apparently cEiti--
cising Agnes.
Agnes did put a plate at eacn
place, and to the right Of each plate
she threw a bunch" Of silver, hit
or miss fashion. To the left of the
plate there was nothing at all. But
Mrs. Gillette gracefully moved
things about so that when we hun
cry ones sat down the table was
correctly set.
Setting the table is an art. For
tunately. il is one not difficult to
master, and with a little extra ef-
fort one can learn to set it quite
correctly. First, there hOUld be a
silence cloth. This serves two pur-
poses. 1t prevents hot dishes from
marring the surface Of the table
and il also reduces the rattle Of
the dishes and silver when they are
placed upon the table. The depart
ment stores show a large number
OF varieties OF these silence cloths,
ranging in price from % cents the
yard to several dollars for asbestos
covers.
Next. the tabIecIoth should be
carefully laid. There should be
an equal amount of covering on
each end 1t is well for the novice
to begin by putting a plate on the
table at each ones place. To the
right of the plate. sharp edge in.
comes the knife To the right or
OF the knife come one. two or three
spoons. The one nearest the knife
might be the spoon for the tea or
coffee. To the right Of that may
be the spoon for the dessert. To
the right Of that may be the spoon
for soup or bullion. In oher words.
the spoon to be used first should be
the farthest from the plate.
To the left Of the plate comes the
fork. Sometimes there are two
forks and sometimes three One
may be the fsh fork. another the
regular service fork. while the one
nearest the plate may be for ice
cream or pie.
The edge OF the plate. as well as
the handles of the forks. knife and
spoons, should be a straight line
and pushed back about two inches
from the edge OF the table.
People often set the table without
or chilled as desired until serving
time. The cups and saucers are
usually stacked, to be filled and
passed at the end OF the meal.
When drinking glasses arc used.
the glass should be placed At the
point Of the knife. The small bread
and butter plate is usually put al
the top" OF the fork.
And when you purchase china, try
10 buy from open stock. Should you
break a piece or should you wish 10
add other pieces 10 your china cabi-
net, you will usually be able 10
match the pattern. For everyday
Use, however. plain white. Amer
lean porcelain will be found ap-
prOprIaic as we'll as inexpensive.
But no matter. what kind OF
things you have for your table. do
try 10 put them on just right \
wcll-set table is a table upon which
nothing has been forgotten il is
a pleasure, indeed, TO dine At a we'll
set table.