THE INHOSPITABLE HOME.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 574, 31 July 1909, Page 11

THE INHOSPITABLE HOME.

;It .'is- said that the first . society , woman to give a . dinner party ,'at a restaurant unconsciously struck a blow, the effect of which lias been to undermine, if not destroy, one of the strongest of English, social, traditions. To-day (says a Victorian paper) the rapid diminution of "capable ',hostesses is, a., sign,, of the times, and <in some cases this indispensable; factor of social amenities has> entirely • disappeared. It is true that, a. large number of women.still, give, dinner'parties,,but. they are arranged in accordance with' the, at present existing practice, and consequently , such entertainments are apt., to partake of,a happy-go-lucky, nature., On the other, hand, the .hostesses of the mid-Victorian period aro said to" have ruled their little world. They, sot,tho tone, of their dinner-table. conversation, induced tiho right people to talk, and: made the young man of the period do bis social duty to an extent no entertainer of today would dare to ; require of him./ In fact, says .the cynic, the hostess is-now looked ,to to, provide 'everything aiid expect,nothing, and, like the. out-of-date child, she should be seen and not heard.'. Tho old Imll-giving obj servanccs also are now almost as obsolete as those of/.the. .old - formal dinnor party," .and oven .hdro in Melbourne, where the . changes baliing-place-in English social ways are only dimly, cclioed, the people, who entertain thoir friends at-dancing parties in their own homes grow fewer--and/fewer. .Even those the-idea of,giving, a ..dance does not .necessarily include the taking up of carpets and the: turning.out: of funuturo seem reluctant to,, use their ballrooms, for''they assert that dancing men are few and far between, and also .'that:. as things go now, every detail-has to! be elaborated to-such an extent that "tho game is not wcrch the candle." ! So it often happens that when-a .sot of suburban: girls of the average'sort feel that' somo'.hospitality: is: due or expected, -'a number of, them club together,'- and; givo a big- combined' dance 'insome i good -public- or semi-public hall. ,' Already. tlie present)'winter has seen several entertainments of/the'kind, and they have been attended TVith-: unqualified success! 1 ' "'c