The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 21, 1905, Page 7

THE "SANF novelty, novelty is y of those who move daily of society. Not co, but all the w s of t set in New 11 for variety y not possible, with entertainments given is lar forms musement in some way in order at ast to give the semblance of noveity. slightest change is often sufficient y the most blase. The art of entertaining is taken quite seriously by the most successful hostesses in London, and a regular school, which many of them attend for the subject, is flourishing. h of the subject is care- considered and taught, and the tudents receive a number of notes of interesting entertainments which may be used twenty years later. What can be more monotonous to the intellectual woman whose life sur- reunds her w scquaintances reiterati the te 6, & couple of h dies crowd into a small heavy neighbor— how one's each other own things Another thing. to vary a he soup in rves t the of mind in- e courses of the ady who has a collec- white e circue- through fortune mystique devices for the brain- It is an easy thing to secure a repu- tation for originality—and as easy to lose it. Again, to quote /London—so conveniently remote—there is there a lady with a magnificent mansion, who was the first to buy a phonograph. She got it into her head, and, I believe still has it there, that the art of entertain- ing consisted of turning on this old sound disorder for an hour or so, and then sumptuously feeding her friends. The joke of her set, when her cards are out, is— Not even the feed In the latter half Can make up for the darned old phonograph. Some things, of course, never lose their charm as means entertainment —simply because they yleld to so many varieties of presentation. There is mu- sic, dancing and fortune telling—the latter as entertaining to the unbeliever as to the most confirmed follower of its psychic charms. In fact, fortune telling, particularly by some novel method, is especially ac- ceptable in such a cosmopolitan city as San Francisco. One is struck with the let’s-heer-what-he-has-to-say air that pervades all branches of society when a fortune‘teller appears. This city is like Paris, where a person who has not looked into some form of the vetic—either with the purpose of disp ing or accrediting the same—is cor red *‘weird.” In Paris and many of t leading pleasure-loving centers most hostesses are themselves glever amateur psychics. But to return to the subject of music, hough the remarkable attendances nd ope: hows that the of real music lov- re is a tragie Or- is unaccountably y good con- reason do not ion are usually e audienees. One tly performances by ra s ew re some Philharmonic and ocieties which abound n every other city of equal importance e in the world. As a matter the months I have spent in »-date town, 1 do not recollect torio uttereq. t musicians s could give S0 many e that hos ical feasts at their “at ering the number of ctions given, dancing" is unknown. At va & fessionally in in nearly all the I countries of the t I cannot recall a season in re have begn so few dances— he number of other func- ven—as the one almost over in ancise informed, however, that most of touch 'in three hours with a comparstive siranger. Just ss long as a hostess appre- that she must Interest her terest each other things will go satis- factorily. W SN TE CHRLO & T s EYTH BROZLE #7047, wtion of sufficiént interest to~ NTE~ yosT = the dancing goes on at the country homes to which many of the soclety people go in the summer, but again, my noted for the seclusion he kept at his handsome residence. The evening informant says that there is a dearth of house parties. I do not refer to the collections of people aimilessly cocped in seme country house, but to the gala weeks with their almost hour- Iy succession of crazy diversions which are so popular in many of the jolliest * homes in England, India and the East. America is a delightful place in which to entertain, for the simple reason that Americans are so partial to any form of humorous diversion. In no country is there so general an appreciation of the “josh.” From the richest to the poorest all enter into a good natured spirit of jollity. In a less mercurial country many of the best of the “joshes” one hears of would be flercely resented by the peo- ple upon whom they were played, but this happy knack of entering into all kinds of queer and harmless jokes makes America a paradise for the orfg- inal entertainer. The other evening I was called to amuse a few people who had been mysteriously summoned over the tele- pione to the home of a business man proved to be of the very jolllest and the good-natured man of figures said he bade his - unexpected guests adieu, “I'm mightlly obliged to who- ever ‘phoned you all. I've had a great time and will take the hint and ask you ell again.” The anger of the average British lion at “the impertinence of that fel- low who telephoned” after he had po- litely borne with his uninvited guests would have been terrific. But to return to the subject of en- tertaining, it has frequently been re- marked that there are so few outdoor functions in San Francisco. ‘What, on the succession of lovely days we had in February and March, could have been more healthful and delightful than a garden party—fancy dress or otherwise—or a minlature lawn fair, or a pastoral play? To be sure this—as far as the private residences are concerned—is a somewhat garden- less city, but what would have been finer than a tally-ho drive of a few teams to a billy tea in some remote corner of the Presidio or park? Or say a boating excursion to one of the charming spots round the bay? The weather here is much more reliable than in many places where these things are common, instead of almost unheard of, and in no country that I can re- call does the rain come so obligingly in the night. Then the telephones can always postpone an event in case of sudden emergencies. There are two great drawbacks in San Francisco’s excellent system of en- tertainment—one the lack of outdoor amusements, and the other “the d— cards,” as a well known army officer puts it. As long as wealthy hostesses are centent to give monotonous repeti- tions of nerve-racking, brain-fagging, RANCISCO SUNDA T tiresome affairs—the very cheapest form of entertaining & crowd—San Francisco will have a social millstone round its neck. It only more of the ladies who so scathingly criticize the afternoon card horror would refuse all invitations which go against the womanly grain, this social pest would soon be a thing of the past. And pest indeed is any- thing that can engross day after day in such a sordid way the time of our ‘women. By all means, if it should so happen that a hostess finds herself the center of a set all of whom can sit down and enjoy a quiet game of cards without entering into the silent liitle quibblings which come up in a big crowd, let her give a nice little old- fushioned evening card party, but let her first assure herself that the par- ticular guests have not repatedly ex- pressed an abhorrence for that es- pecial form of entertainment. The art of asking each guest for the particu- lar kind of function she most likes is one of the chief knacks of the clever be hostess. . In London one clever little woman sends her cards out as follows: Mrs. B— requests the pleasure of the company of Mrs. K— at (1) A ball on the 11th of May. (2) A card party on the 18th of (8> A musicale on the 26th of May. Kindly mention for which you ac- cept, glever has this original woman been known to have a frost and one occasion, 8o she says, did a guest ac- cept for more than one It may be sald tHat the expense of the three entertainments would in most cases make this little lady’s plan impossible. As a matter of fact the lady in question is far from wealthy. She is, however, a resourceful woman and hers is & splendid example that it takes not money but brains to en- tertain. I can also recall the doings of a bright Calcutta hostess. vx!hve‘n on:er- taining she has her house ded into a n?l:l of sideshows—good musical programme in one roem, a curio com- etition in a second, cards in a third, fortune telling in another, and a meal in a fifth. All thege things go on si- muitaneously so that a guest instinct- ely chooses what he most cares for. "fl stands to reason that the large characterless dinner and card parties are mflvwsdm“pu:uu means :t entertaining. So often there appears to ol “go” about them which only the swixl of shuffiing ing courses. Many a timid those forms of enter- & is reslly cards or -, look to ‘to ‘break up FOR /783, CL Aer N ST TIA, LLL)S, GRAFHOLOGY 7T 3. 7 B. 3CHBOEIEE. BT IMENT 7T L E SN TERCUP BEFI/NG— HIULLLIAI? SLTRTEL /) TG LTRSS LOSE 7y N N\ UL ST EEAT ) - i 2V % \ ’ SCO7 72 42> = — o A o e S oo A CZTL Mopyrm “ exempt,from the boredom of the usual formalfdinner. Speaking of these dinner stunts, some very amusing things are done abroad of late—lights go out and spooks come in, and, in fact, nothing is considered tbo crazy that will create a genuine laugh and break up the somberness of eating. One marvels at times at the seeming insanity of some of the New York “novelties” in the form of monkey par- tles, and such things, but they are but the outcome of the craving for some new diversion—the reaction of the deadly monotony of an extra dull sea- son. It is little to be wondered that a prominent hostess who entertains in a tiresome way is in secret remarkably unpopular. People can never forget a really boring function and certainly rarely forgive such a thing. Soclety nowadays demands such a rigid attend- ance at so many uninteresting affairs, before one of its followers is sufficiently firmly established In whatever cirele ¢ he. is aiming for jto b{; pive enough to go to just those ctions which appeal to him, that it is easily understood how unoriginal hostesses are go often badly treated by their most friends snatching at any elev- enth-hour excuse to stay home. m‘l‘ha social market Is llg any other— e crowd goes where the goods are best. Bverything lies open for the brainy hostess who is content to do her part of the bargain, and the sensmie independent APTSTEN customs with regard to formal calls and things make it so much easier to entertain in this country than in Eng- land. To & man of position there is noth« Ing more helpful and satisfying than a wife who {s a clever hostess. Next to that he is better with one who does not attempt to do what she does not understand. Again and again we hear peopls flercely criticized because they have dared, in the privacy of their own homes, to venture the remark that some function to which they were bid- d'fl to be amused was a bore. OW unreasonable this is! Surely it is better to make up one’s u] such a subject and decline further tor- ture—for a boring affair is torturs to the intellectual person—than to go on inanely purring untruthful compli- ments at some otherwise worthy per- son whom one is gradually growing to hate for the one great reason that he or she bores. And again and again, let every hos- tess try whatever novelty strikes her as suitable to the especial guests she is about to call together. No matter how absurd—of course, within certain limi- tations—it apparently is. It is often some frivolous dainty stunt, done in & catchy way, that is the hit of the sea- e In Which o enteriam becauss 8 in which to en e jused and are ready people love to be amn to enter into anv lesitimate kind of fun.