Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 93, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 March 1911 — Good Form [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Good Form

Correct Letter Writing. A communication or gift received by a person In social life must be acknowledged. This Is a rule so emphatic that it has no exceptions. And equally is it the rule that if the .Communicatin be a card or note it must be responded to in precisely the same form. Acting upon this, no woman need fear making a mistake in this branch of her social duties. A visiting card, slight as it is, should not be ignored unless it bears the letters P. C.” In that instance it Is an answer to courtesies received as well as an announcement of departure and therefore might be said to close communication. A receipt of a card following an event of importance to the family requires a card in return. For example, after a birth or death or other occasions less momentous it is not uncommon for friends to post visiting cards as indicating that they are aware of the happening. Sometimes merely a word or line is written on the card, as “Condolences.” “Felicitations,” according to the nature of the event. The return card, which should be sent within a couple of days, may have the word “Thanks” written on it. or it may be blank except for the engraved name and address. It is not considered good form to answer a note with a card save after a death, when a bereaved family is permitted to make little effort, and its members may spare themselves the v of writing notes. •: Invitations are always to be answered in the same form in which they are received, so tliat if a note comes written in the first person the response also should contain the personal pronoun. More formal invitations, in which the third person is employed, require the third in return. Incidentally a person who is unaccustomed to writing this most formal communication, which takes the third person, must be careful that in answering the response continues to contain pje -thitd at the end as at the . beginning. ' More than one person has committed the error of beginning correctly with the third and ending with the first person.

A Few Table Rules. - A woman who gives much attention to diet and lives up to the best ideas in this line has the following rules neatly framed in a conspicuous place in her dining room where'the family may be impressed with them: First.—Five or ten minutes before beginning to eat a meal drink a glass of cold water. This will leave the stomach before the food reaches it and will carry with it any mucus which has accumulated since last eating. thus leaving the walls of the stomach clear and ready to be activated by the newly arrived food. Second. —Never take a second cup of coffee. You will not care for a second if you moisten your food sufficiently with saliva. Take dinner coffee always with dessert or after rather than before, as it thus aids digestion. Third.—Never wash your food down with liquids, but masticate each mouthful well and it will be sufficiently mo?t and will promote the flow of gastric juices, thereby preparing the stomach still further for its work. Fourth.—Never eat “until too full.” By a little attention to the matter you will learn when to stop and thus avoid the consequences of overeating. One mouthful too much is apt to cause disarrangement of the digestive system. This may seen like putting it rather strong, but you know that even a teaspoonful too much will cause a dish to overflow, and the same applies" to the closely packed organs of the human body, where disarranged gastric fluids will produce illness. Telephone Invitations. When accepting an invitation over the telephone it is the part of wisdom to-follow it with a written acceptance, in which the day, date and hour are repeated. Only in this way can a woman be certain that no error is made in the time, and the sense of security given is worth the effort. Telephonic invitations will always appear to be informal and sometimes are, but a woman will have no difficulty in deciding the point if she gives heed to the hour appointed. A luncheon at half past 1 o’clock, to play bridge afterward, may be regarded as formal; dinner at any time after a quarter to 7 is also formal. Earlier than these hours is consul ered to be informal. Bridesmaids Gowns. It is customary for a bride to select the style and material of the bridesmaids' dresses, and if the girls' are not well enough off to have many dresses she should assuredly be cere ful to choose styles that are not too pronounced, so that the dresses may be worn <m other occasions. Complaints about this are,, not infreqUefl’ from girls who have acted as Lridemaids when they were obliged to bndresses they could never use agfli on account of the combi'natidii of co’ ors or the exaggerated mode fitnciei’ at the monjgnt by the bride.