The Commoner.
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 5,
8
Kr
v
Somo Sooltv.1 Rvlos.
For n dinner raoro or less formal,
Invitations are usually seni out two
wooks In advnnco, though, on spe
cial occasions, less time may be given.
In order that the hostess may know
tho number of guests for which she
Is to provide, immediato acceptance
or "rcgrots" should be sent in reply.
Well-bred peoplo recognize tho nec
essity of these answers without re
minding letters being placed upon tho
cards of invitation. The correct form
of invitation, as well as of accept
ance, is formal and simple, but in de
clining one may state briefly tho rea
sons for not being able to attend.
Guests need not bo acquaintances,
but should movo In tho samo class.
It is permissible to speale to each
othor without a formal introduction,
as courlosy demands polite recogni
tion of the guests of your hostess.
Tho acquaintance so formed may end
with tho occasion, if so desired.
A hostess is not rcqalred to wait
longer than fifteen minutes for a tardy
guest, and It is obligatory on the
guest to bo promptly on time, and not
too early. Tho usual time given to
dinners is from an hour and a half to
two hours. It is due to your hostess
that you do all in your power to not
only enjoy yourself, but to add to the
enjoyment of others. One should not
Beok to monopolize tho conversation;
good listeners arc as necessary as
good talkers.
"When dinner is announced, the host
offers his right arm to tho lady he is
to escort to tho table, the other cou
ples following, tho hostess being tho
last to leave tho drawing-room. Tho
host oscorts tho eldest lady, or the
greatest strangor, while tho hostess
Is escorted by either the greatest
stranger, or by some gentleman whom
she wishes to placo in the seat of
honor, which 1b at her right.
Husbands should not escort thoir
wives, nor brothers their sisters. All
guests should stand until tho hostess
is Bcatod. As a rule, tho lady at the
right of tho host, or tho eldest lady,
should be served first. As soon as
any one is done, his plato should bo
promptly romovod and all crumbs
brushed from tho cloth before the
next course in served. When all
have finished dessert, tho hostess gives
the signal that dinner Is ended by
pushing back her chair, and, in leav
ing the room, the oldctt lady leads,
tho younger following.
In getting up a dinner, the hostess
should seek to have a small variety,
cooked to a nicety and served with
grace. An acceptable and sensiblo
dinnor is soup, fish and ono vegotabio,
a roast with one or two vegetables, a
salad and choose and a dessert. Jel
lies and sauces are helped on tho din
ner plato not on side dishes. Fruit
is served with puddings and pies.
Tho carvor should servo meat as ho
cuts It; tho platter should not bo
filled with hackad fragmonts. Do not
help 00 abundantly, cr flood tho
dishes with gravies, which many dis
like. Soups should never bo called
for a second time, and nono should
refuse it when served, oven though
It is not touched. Take tho soup
noiselessly from tho side of tho spoon.
Fish must be eaten with the fork in
tho right hand and a piece of bread in
10 loft, unless fish-knives are pro
vided. Do not call for a second help
ing. Side-dishes coming after fish
must be eaten with the fork. Tho
knife should be used only to cut
mnnin nni nnvfiiirnT tnn hard tor a
fork. In a substantially meat dinner,
1 1. l l1lf
a second poruon muy ue buivuu, um
care should bo taken not to overload
the plate.
Guests do not usually remain long
after the dinnor is ended, if the affair
is formal.
AN OLD AND W KI,L TIUED ItKMEDY
Mrs, Winslow'8 GooTuura Strop for children
tee h n Bhouia nlways be used for children whlio
teethlnjr. It softens tho rutou, Mlays all pain, curoS
lHd collo and tho best remedy for dUrriicwi
Tweaty.flve cento bottle, it la tho best, 4arrmBR'
Merited Training.
In making statements or giving
opinions, it is well to give founda
tions for our beliefs. If we cannot givtf
a satisfactory mason to ourselves, we
should search for one. It Is not a
good plan to allow either ' ourselves
or our young people to merely ex
press opinions, for we are thus in
danger of forming a habit of merely
voicing hearsay or prejudice, rather
than stating facts. By thus careless
ly following me statements 01 others,
without investigation, we simply
strengthen the habit of mental shift
lessness ana irresponsibility. WThen
asked to give u rcuson for one's opin
ion, it is often found that there is
none that we are merely parroting
after another.
Wo should insist upon something
better, and this will mean mental
development forming the habit of
thought. A child or a young person
should be required to define any word
used In their hearing, or by them
selves. It Is surprising, when one
looks into the subject, how few per
sons can give, off-hand, a definition of
the most commonly used words even
those of their own every-day usage.
Not ono in a hundred has any knowl
edge of the different shades of mean
ing conveyed by words which they
recklessly use as perfectly synonym
ous. Another method of thought deveion-
ment Is In requiring 01 our children
jiml especially of our daughters while
training them for housekeepers and
some-makers, a reason for doing their
work In certain ways. There is, in
every labor, a right way and 0 wrong
way, and, invariably, the right way
& the easy way: How many girls can
tell you why the dough for pastry must
be made with cold mateiial, and kept
cold until used, while in bread-making
things must be kept warm? How
many of them can toil you why in
cake-baking, the butter should, as a
general rule, be washed, while in biscuit-making
tho washing is unneces
sary? How many women can tell you
why in sweeping a carpet, the stroke
of the broom should be a short and
quick rather than long and slow? in
short, how few women have learned
to reason and think about the com-
l110!1 illngs r'nd how necessary it
Is that they should do it!
Homo Chats.
It is all nonsense to tell a girl that
a pret y face and dainty clothing have
no value Beauty adds to the vaue
of evoryth ncr nmi t .," vaxue
than to .the prospers of theoung
t IVT ent(7lng uPn fe-s journey
If she have half sense, she will dial
cover this for herself, anS it i SS
to her by every one rf come, n
contact with, whether eke be herself
possessed of it or not it i fnJ 1 If
innn ior n.t.i n '. . . 1J1yress It
lv enhanr f OT to right
real happiness, there must bo more
than a pretty face or pleasing form;
without beauty of mind and spirit
back of these, "such beauty is of short
life; but if tne meniai uuu sininuui
faculties are cultivated and taught to
dominate those of mere color and con
tour, this outward beauty will be but
an added attraction. Tsach them the
just valuation of physical beautv, and
how to possess it, even to old age.
0 0
There is a beauty of middle age,
too, that many women lose sight of,
through various causes, and of tho
value of which they should oftener
be warned. We all love a face that
is pleasant to look upon, and of such
faces, color and contour are not the
prevailing charm. The fading face'of
the over-worked wife and mother pos
sesses a beauty we are not slow to
lecognize and appreciate, while the
dear, old. wrinkled face of the family
grandma may be the most beautiful
face in existence to those who spo
the lovely spirit back of it. We may
all be beautiful In a certain senss, if
we will, and this beauty is not de
pendent upon fairness of face or form,
though these are greatly to tie wished
for, too. But the beauty of the Inner
self is a matter of personal cultiva
tion, and it is a duty we owe to our
fellow mortals, as well as to ourselves,
to seek diligently to render ourselves
as charming as possible, whatever our
age, to the friends we have gathered
about us.
Query Box.
Alta M. Your questions aro too
general; it would require too much
space to answer.
Ruthie D. Ask a physician to give
you the address of nnmn fmin...
school for nurses in your own state.
Sufferer. Large quantities of but
termilk used for drinking dally Is
said to.be very beneficial in cases of
rheumatism.
L. N. The stomach may not always
glVO Sign of indleranHmi !. .
parts of the body show results. One
may suffer from the effects of this
ailment without knowing rightly
PsTcian.1016 tVme' Ask
Querist-Lent is a fast commemor
ate Christ'S fasting forty davs in
tho wilderness. Its observance is not
commanded by the Bible, it Is a re-
htrch 3Ire,ment f the CDttoUo
cnurch, and is popularly observpd
ffm Jth fnd fno? bTap'piS
JLX t0 be iceablf1 A
clear, smooth complexion is nretlv
much a question of diet- one hnM
not use highly-spiced foods rich pas
tries or other indigestible mateS
piext rUiU tUe delicncy of S5 Tom!
cutn2SM";Allquo means terlal
cut out m various shapes aid snwmi
embroidered or pasted oil othor mi'
11 is often pronounced 'applikav" hS
dennm, ti. ?s tUo son of a
ho Wa3 torn In ism. U,' ?!.?!.
i.xt nnllPrl TllO TAIn J l j-
Ti. -wv, ttuu is tae au
thor of many books. Ho is known
as a humorist. u
Culinary. The black pepper used
In culinary preparations is the coarse
pepper made by grinding the peppr
corn with the outer shell or husk
on it. White pepper is made of wv',
fectly ripe peppercorns after tho
husks have been removed, and is la
every way superior in flavor to black
pepper, though less pungent White
pepper costs but a trifle more than
tho black, and does not discolor a
white soup or sauce as the black does.
Fannie M. For cleansing fabrics
without discoloration, the following is
a prize preparation: Grate two good
sized potatoes into a. pint of water,
-wash and strain through a coarse
sieve into another vessel containing
a pint of clear water, and allow to
&tand until thoroughly settled; pour
tho clear liquid off and tree to sponge
materials, which are then washca in
clean wrer, dried and ironed. 'Hie
sediments left after pouring off the
clear potato water may be used lor
cleansing carpets.
Young Housewife. To use up cold
potatoes, ir. boned, cut into dice, put
into a baking dish, sprinkle over them
half a cup of grated cheese; make a
white sauce, or gravy, by stirring into
one tablespoonful of butter a heaping
teaspoonful of flour, and, as soon as
hot, turn into it a cup of hot milk,
stirring until smooth and bring to a
boil, then pour over the potatoes,
cover with cracker crumbs moistened
with a tablespoonful of butter and
bake until a nice brown.
Sarah. To make butter pie, try
this: One teacupful of. sugar, ono
teacupful of butter; two tablespoon
fuls of flour beaten smooth in a half
teacupful of .water (cold); stir well
all together; make a nice paste for
crust, fill with the mixture, flavoring
to taste, and bake about ten minutes
in a slow oven, To' be, eaten cold.
Mrs. M. C Boucle cloth is a faoric
having knotted or curled cftccts
raised on the surface of the cloth by
a mocess of weaving. Crepe de Chmo
u a turn, crinkled dress fabric. Veil
ings, tweeds and mohairs are all pop
ular spring dress goods, while for
summer wear, all sorts of muslins and
light silks, dimities, organdies, ba-
DOCTOR. EXPLAINS
His Artlclo in tho Modloal Magazine
About Coffoe.
ly enhance r,h "J?. right- ho Wa3 fcto TmSTC ,"":
I - - elnrle2
One of the most famous medical
publications in the United States is
the "Alkaloidal Clinic," in a recent
number of which an entertaining ar
ticle on coffee by a progressive phy
sician and surgeon is published. In
explaining his position in the matter
this physician recently said:
"In the article in question I really
touched but lightly upon the merits
of Postum Food Coffee. I have had
several cases of heart trouble, indi
gestion and nervousness where a per
manent cure was effected by merely
using Postum in place of coffee with
out any other treatment.
"In my own family I have used
Postum for three yearsand my chil
dren actually cry for it and will not
bo satisfied with any other beverage,
indeed they refuse to eat until they
have had tho customary cup of Pos
tum and as It 1S a rebuildor and does
nothing but good I am only too glad
toilet them have it. '
"To t get the best results we boil tho
Postum at least 20 minutes and it is
then settled by adding a little cold
water, then the addition of fresh
cream makes a beverage I now prefer
to the very best coffee." Name given
by Postum Co., Battle Creek, Mich.
Authorities aro agreed that Postum
is a wonderfully quick and sure re
builder. Ten days "trial in place of
coffee proves it.
I-OOk in each T1rrr frtv flia fnmnilS
little book, "The Road to Weljville."
, n
M?rit!ftMmliWiriit riiuHiJ