If the waiters are attentive, and in sufficient number, you will have, at a good hotel, little or no occasion to help your- self to anything. Do not under any circumstances reach across the table, or rise on your feet to get at any particular dish you may want. Trouble no one of the company; but wait till you see a servant at hand. If in turning to speak to a waiter you find him in the act of serving some one else, say, *'When you are at leisure I will thank you for some ." It is selfish to be continually sending out of the room the man who waits near you for the purpose of bringing extra things for yourself; try to be satisfied with what you find on the table, and recollect that you are depriving others of his services while you are send- ing him back and forward on errands to the kitchen. Many persons hold silver forks awkardly as if not accus- tomed to them. It is fashionable to use your knife only while cutting up the food small enough to b§ §at§n with th? fgrk 36 ETIQUETTE. alone. While cutting keep your fork in your left hand, the hollow or concave side downward, the fork in a very slanting position, and your forefinger far down upon its handle. When you have done cutting up what you are going to eat, lay aside your knife, transfer the fork to your right hand, and take a small piece of bread in your left. If eating anything soft, use your silver fork somewhat as a spoon, turning up the hollow side that the cavity may hold the food. If engaged in talking, do not meanwhile hold your fork bold upright, but incline it downward, so as to be nearly on a level with your plate. Re- member always to keep your own knife, fork, and spoon out of the dishes. It is an insult to the company, and a disgrace to yourself to dip into a dish anything that has been, even for a moment, in your mouth. To take butter and salt with your own knife is an abomination. Sometimes these errors are committed out of pure abstrac- tion, and by people who have been accustomed all their lives to good society. We once dined with a professor who actually ate a delicious-looking beef steak pie out of the very dish in which it was brought to table, and was so engaged in giving utterance to his profound learning that he never noticed that he had been guilty of the least impropriety. Fortunately for the company, we remember, there was a fine shoulder of mut- ton at the other end of the table; so the professor had the pie all to himself. But fits of abstraction are no excuse. Good habits should be so formed, and should so become part of our nature, that we follow them even when the mind is engrossed with other, and it may be more important, affairs. In eating bread at dinner break off little bits, instead of putting the whole piece in your mouth and biting at it. No lady looks worse than when gnawing a bone, even of game or poultry. Few ladies do it. In fact, nothing should be sucked or gnawe-d in public. Always pare apples and peaches, and crack no nuts with the teeth. In eating cherries, put your half-closed hand before your mouth to receive the stones; then lay them on one side of your plate. Do not eat incongruous and unsuitable things from the same plate, telling the waiter that **he need not change it, as it will do very well." BTIQUETTB. 37

AI-modernized reading of the original text

If the waiters are attentive, and in sufficient number, you will have, at a good hotel, little or no occasion to help yourself to anything. Do not under any circumstances reach across the table, or rise on your feet to get at any particular dish you may want. Trouble no one of the company; but wait till you see a servant at hand. If in turning to speak to a waiter you find him in the act of serving some one else, say, *'When you are at leisure I will thank you for some ." It is selfish to be continually sending out of the room the man who waits near you for the purpose of bringing extra things for yourself; try to be satisfied with what you find on the table, and recollect that you are depriving others of his services while you are sending him back and forward on errands to the kitchen. Many persons hold silver forks awkardly as if not accustomed to them. It is fashionable to use your knife only while cutting up the food small enough to be eaten with the fork alone. While cutting keep your fork in your left hand, the hollow or concave side downward, the fork in a very slanting position, and your forefinger far down upon its handle. When you have done cutting up what you are going to eat, lay aside your knife, transfer the fork to your right hand, and take a small piece of bread in your left. If eating anything soft, use your silver fork somewhat as a spoon, turning up the hollow side that the cavity may hold the food. If engaged in talking, do not meanwhile hold your fork bold upright, but incline it downward, so as to be nearly on a level with your plate. Remember always to keep your own knife, fork, and spoon out of the dishes. It is an insult to the company, and a disgrace to yourself to dip into a dish anything that has been, even for a moment, in your mouth. To take butter and salt with your own knife is an abomination. Sometimes these errors are committed out of pure abstraction, and by people who have been accustomed all their lives to good society. We once dined with a professor who actually ate a delicious-looking beef steak pie out of the very dish in which it was brought to table, and was so engaged in giving utterance to his profound learning that he never noticed that he had been guilty of the least impropriety. Fortunately for the company, we remember, there was a fine shoulder of mutton at the other end of the table; so the professor had the pie all to himself. But fits of abstraction are no excuse. Good habits should be so formed, and should so become part of our nature, that we follow them even when the mind is engrossed with other, and it may be more important, affairs. In eating bread at dinner break off little bits, instead of putting the whole piece in your mouth and biting at it. No lady looks worse than when gnawing a bone, even of game or poultry. Few ladies do it. In fact, nothing should be sucked or gnawed in public. Always pare apples and peaches, and crack no nuts with the teeth. In eating cherries, put your half-closed hand before your mouth to receive the stones; then lay them on one side of your plate. Do not eat incongruous and unsuitable things from the same plate, telling the waiter that **he need not change it, as it will do very well." [illustration: ETIQUETTE. 37]

The housekeeper's companion