THE LATEST AMERICAN SOCIAL "NOTION."

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 115, 15 May 1878, Page 4

THE LATEST AMERICAN SOCIAL "NOTION."

The spelling Bee and Skating Riak, which have fortunately all but died, out in England, did not directly interfere with the comfort of those who kept out of their way ; but the latest American craze entails such inevitable annoyance on the patrona of the drama thnt we must regard it from the first as a nuisance rather than a novelty. The Theatre Party which is now the rage at New York, as the Surprise Party, which few seasons Bince, would eeem to ba & selfishly ingenious Bcheme on the part of a hostess to escape from the usual penalties of hospitality, such as, for instance, the disarrangement of her house ; the banishment of all family comfort for several days before and after tbe reception of her friends ; and as a rule, the expenditure of a large sum of money in adapting to the temporary service of two or three scores of guests and domestic machinery for a household of half a dozen. For, under the new arrangement, the invited frienda do not necessarily come near the house of their hosts at all. The cards invitation they receive are indeed tickets for some one of the more popular theatres, and it is to the particular play-house mentioned they bend their steps at the appointed hour. All that devolves upon the hosts, after having secured for a given night the number of seats required as far as possible en Hoc is to be in their seats early enough to forestall the most punctual guests, whom they receive with an hospitable effusion equally exteuded to the late arrivals. The detracting effect of these greetings on the uninvited playgoers in tbe neighborhood my ba imagined. The American Press, in deprecating the new social custom, do not hesitate to Btate that tbe assembled friends make themselves as much at borne aa though in their own homes— an intimation that will quite prepare our readers to suppose the remainder of the audience is "considerably annoyed," " Considerably annoyed," forsooth I We should think so ; for animated conversation, whispered flirtation, suppressed laughter, and a constant bustle of intercommunication between some twenty, thirty, or more of the spectators, must have at length en effect all but exaßparating on those old fashioned people who have to liaten and be interested in the doiags before the footlights, There is the supper after the play at some restaurant or hotel, which ie certainly the most enjoyable feature of the Theatre party ; but this depends much on the state of the weather after the drama is over, > _-—,—_— «^___