MANNERS OF TO-DAY. THE FEMININE INITIATIVE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 74, 27 March 1912, Page 9

MANNERS OF TO-DAY. THE FEMININE INITIATIVE.

It is. the fashion nowadays to deplore the manners of- a past century, and to hold ud present day manners £s perfection in the matter ; human nature re* mains pretty much the eaine through the ages, whether it be in the year 1 B.C. or in theso latter daye, and it ie the custom that provides the variety in the manners that make man '(writes the London correspondent of the Sydney Telegraph). To the man or woman whose way lies in the pleasant places of the world it is_ given to be natural, but for those with a career to be hardly won mannere form an asset not easily dispensed with, whatever Hhe walk in life. Ballroom manners may be eaid to have almost reached the level described aptly by the famous dictum, "Customs are abominable, manners they have none," but each individual is a law unto himaelf in such matters, and no rule can be laid down: Bad manners are the keystone of good birth in many instances, and in this high and low meet on' an equal" plane, for the youth of the present_ generation affects a jargon that is reminiscent of the East End, and acte up to it on occasion. With county and hunt balls in full swing just now, a. sojourner in far lands returning after many years to England is struck with the change 'in manners and lack of dignity. Kitchen lancers, two-step, onestep, and other innovations of a like nature, have replaced the graceful and stately styles of an earlier generation, and a young girl at her first ball found it disconcerting the other night to be asked, when led out for her iiret dance, "Do you crab?" Shades of the midVictorian mother, had she lived to see the jeune fill© take the lead in all matters relating to the getting up of parties oi pleasure! She thinks nothing of ringing up the young men of her acquaintance to propose some festivity, with the result that the bachelor of today, finding all trouble taken off hi* hands, contentedly awaits events, and every day is mapped out with a view to his pleasure. The girl of to-day is accustomed to be ou equal tornis with her men friends, and a spirit of camaraderie is a bond of union. A dunce programme is, of courfio, dispensed with, save in the outer circles of the eddies of society, and in the very inmost net introductions aro unheard of, as alt know each other ;#; # but tho ambitious hostess who is without the charmed circle and seeks' to emulate this procedure will Hud her dance a failure should she adopt this particular custom. Some smart ' gatherings resemble a football serimmago 1 when supper is annouueed, and the ppen-air life led for v great part of tho ytar by most of the society women stands them in good stead on occasion, and a sharp elbow is a factor in progress in a crowd. In Queen Victoria's day, when unlimited numbers attended the drawing-rooms, the rush to pass tho presence befoie Her Majesty retired led to sad spoliation of finery, and * torn laces and disarranged veils testified to strenuous moments within Bu.ckinghani Palace. An • at-homo day is unknown in Bolgravia and "May fair ;v; v but many women arrange to be in to their friends after 5 during a week, or j>i>, and many pleasant * informal gatherings result. The paying of calls has fallen into the decadent, but card-leaving is a necessity, , and the duty can be deputed to a servant oi* messen-ger-boy. No one Avntcs letters nowadays, and the only hope of getting any communication read is to mako it as brief as possible. "Come and eat," or "Come aud dance," on a '"visiting-card fulfils all requirement*, and if a noted hostess sends round her card bearing the" legend "Do eolne to niy tiny party," tho initiated knows full' well' to look for a exowd and a brilliant entertainment, with the Russian dauceis or tho lateet fruni Montmartra.