Year: 1878




FRIEND NEWELL Thinking you probably
would like to have description Of 90 sociable,"
given Tor the benefit Of the needy, thought l
would give yo1 . few jottings was visitor
70 one 0f these social gatherings not long since
The hospitable host and hostess were dom the
honors in their usual pleasant and cheerful
manner. Into the dressin ,-rooms to divest one
OF their wraps, hats, etc, the ladies taking q
sly glance into the mirror, lyon know gentle
men are never guilty of such weakness, not
that the fair sex are fond of locking at them
selves, for we may say, their weakness might
he In looking at the lords Of creation that is if
it might be called weakness, (of course you
will take the negative, the ladies only wanted
to see if the tort ensemb,e was all right; if the
beau, the fo,cer, was arranged most jauntily to
catch the eye and secure the admiring smile of
the sterner sex.


The rooms were brilliantly lighted and looked
cheerful. The object that attracted my atten-
ton first, was huge bowl of pop corn, looking
like snow flakes my childhood days were upon
me, and rushed for the popcorn which was
the centre OF attraction for quite awhile. The
thought seemed to possess every one, this is q
proper time to commence the fun Of the even
ing. Hearing the c0mmOti0n, all had desire to
see what was up. This little stir soon snbsided
to the annoyance OF our good hostess, and IN
deed might say to every one, who is averse
to that, stiff, quiet, quaker element that pre-
vailed to painful extent 1t seemed almost
impossible " get the company mixed-the fair
ones ON one side of the room looking as winning
and pretty As they could, waiting to be woed
or coaxed into lending their efforts towards the
mutual enjoyment Of the company.


My, how nervous was getting was Just
thinking, could it be all oil and water, when
the anf,puncement was made we would have
some rsSdin,s for the entertainment of the
company, then games would be introduced.
Anything for change; the reading commenced,
land was rendered in excellent style y but when
the bells, the BELLS" began to ring forth l
wish you could have seen the young ladies
straighten themselves up. 1 cannot tell you
just how they looked, but as far rs / could read
their thoughts, they were little bit jealous Of
those "bells," or they thought they were the
only bellies that should claim the attention of
those present. However, think they forgave
the reader after the rendering of his next


Then came the tables with different kinds of
games to amuse, then the fun began; the old
and the young, from the grey haired sage and
matron, the dashing young sallants and bloom
ing young ladies of sweet sixteen down to the
lads and lassies, all made up the bright scene
not to be forgotten


Time glidel by unnoticed, so pleasant was
its exit all having good time; so much en-
tertained, the hostess regretted having to dis
turb them in their pleasures; but the delicious
aroma of the boiling coffee adnonished her
that time had arrived for serving supper; she
knew too much boiling would spoil her coffee
which she prided herself upon, and well she
might; no one could excel her, they need not
try, but go and learn of her how to make the
same The announcement Was made that We
would have supper it did not spoil the fun l
can assure you, the news was hailed with joy.
| believe Americans are proverbih for think
ing the eating ar angement is the spice Of The
entertainment. Theplates were quickly brought
with large snow white napkins, III emphasize
tie large, for do detest small napkin, they
are so inconvenient y then came the delicious
vianls Of every kind, coffee and tea The
chicken will not soon forget, every one seemed
to be searching for wish-bOne, lhow many
.'wish- bones" those chickens had is still q
problem to be solved from the Oldest to the
youngest. Thought the days of "wish-bones "
had passed with some of US, but l was ms
taken, you could hear them swapping on all
sides. The paying of the forfeits was the
cream of the wish and wish believe is usu-
ually made quietly, but some of these were
made SO loud they smacked In the hearing Of
every one it was a wish worth making, you
would have thought SO if you had been one Of
the parsies-


After supper games were in order; but the
object that attracted special attention, was a
beautiful glass bowl, snowflake in the bot
tom to keep from attracting attention by any
bPt @ @ani in shs9t aptet 81 the
ters written in capitals 20. /. CT piece OF
silver foil, the size of half dollar, posted in-
mediately under the letters, "a capital hit that
to strike the pocket nerye.) This sheet of paper
VS. placed upright in the bowl, the light Of
the lamp thrown upon it to show it off to the
best advantage. 1t was really amusing TO see
with what interest these mysterious letters
were scanned, trying to interpret their mySti-
cal meaning, and when the momentons ques-
ton was solved, to see with what zest the gents
delved into their pockets; some responded
Presto change" while others in a quiet way
inquired of a friend if they could lend them
aid in their hour of peril of course the Ladies'
had left their purses at home: l am fearful
have taxed your patience too long already, so
amid the leave taking of the evening, bid you
good night EN-.