Luncheons, breakfasts, simple dinners and carving

People who have elegant dresses never wear them at luncheons, unless it is a very formal affair. Sometimes an elegant reception dress is worn, and again a tailor-made street costume, and all varieties of dress are at times permissible. Hats and bonnets need not be removed by ladies, but gloves should be pulled off before taking a seat at the table. Gentlemen may wear the morning dress, or even lawn tennis suits, at a watering place. Guests go to the dining room separately, instead of arm-in-arm, but the ladies go first. It is immaterial where they sit. Guests may help themselves and wait on, one another and the gentlemen may wait on the ladies. In America, most hostesses prefer to have one servant remain during the whole meal, but in England the servants usually leave the dining room after serving the first courses. THE USUAL ARRANGEMENT OF TABLES. This is left entirely to the hostess ; one prefers one arrangement of a table, and one another, but I shall give some general rules. First have well-laundered linen, glass, silver, and china perfectly clean. Napkins are not folded in fancy shapes in homes ; it is thought by fashionable people to be too much on the hotel order. At an elaborate lunch there may be three knives and forks, and a fork for oysters at each place. Table mats are not used at either dinner or lunch — they are out of date — but each dish must be wiped before putting it on the table. Menu cards are never used at a luncheon. At luncheon the bill of fare may be varied, but some hot dishes or soup are usually desired by most people. Cold meats and salads are always in order. Fish croquettes, chops, and vegetables may be served. For dessert, the plainer loaf cakes, puddings, ice cream, mints, blancmange, jellies, and tarts are appropriate. Chocolate is nice, also. BREAKFASTS. "A French breakfast," is a mieal served a little earlier than the lunch. In some circles it is quite a fashion ; many people entertain that way instead of a lunch. There is little difference except the hour at which they are held as the breakfast may be at twelve o'clock, while a lunch would come at one or later. Any fruit that may be in season is usually offered for the first course, and eggs, cooked in various ways, are quite generally served. This is a better way to entertain than to give a luncheon because it calls for simple dress. The bill of fare should be of the best and tastefully served, but nothing elaborate is attempted. SUPPER PARTIES. Supper parties given late in the evening are another nice way to entertain. Some physicians have objected to late suppers, while others, equally eminent, assert that they are conducive of balmy sleep, so that it is an open question whether they are really injurious, and each individual must be a "law to himself." SIMPLE DINNERS. Many people who are endowed with all the qualifications for giving and receiving social enjoyment, are deterred from giving dinners by the feeling that they must adorn their tables with all the extravagant accessories of the luxurious dinner givers, if they entertain at all. This feeling is foolish ; some of the least expensive dinners are the most charming and pleasurable. They who are able to entertain but do not, deprive both themselves and their friends of much enjoyment, and society is a g-reat loser thereby.