THE HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11986, 7 June 1902, Page 6 (Supplement)

THE HOME.

THE INFORMAL TEA.

A-writer in "Home Notes" makes the following suggestions oh the subject: —

To make a small gathering a success it is advisable to send out visiting cards, with " at home" on them, at least a week before the day. Many hostesses who desire to makethese informal" teas attractive invite certain of their friends, verbally when they meet them, and thus secure a few kindred spirits '• to keep the ball a-rolling." as it were. It is very simple to say to a bright or fascinating acquaintance, " I am going to have a few friends to tea on Friday next, will you come?" Or, " I expect our mutual friend, I Mrs. So-and-So, to tea on Tuesday ; can you manage to come too?" The same thing may be said to young men who are well known to the hostess, and who may be induced by her personal charm, or for other reasons, to join her party. Every effort should be made to bring together the sexes, as the liveliness of the entertainment depends upon a well-balanced company in this respect. In some houses the maid carries in a special tea-table, spreads it with a white cloth (a cloth of dainty texture elaborately trimmed or embroidered), and bestows the silver tea service thereon, laying out cakes, etc., on side brackets, and then taking her departure leaves the hostess to pour out tea and serve her guests. When a certain number of visitors have previously been asked to tea, it is more convenient to have a tea-table ready arranged in a side nook of the drawingroom, so that the business, of cloth-spreading, etc., is avoided. The hostess, contrary to her custom at big " At homes." receives her guests within the drawing-room, and not at the door, and with her own hands dispenses tea. A little care should be taken in regard to the choice of the repast. Daintiness is the first consideration, and most of the dishes should contain what the French term bounamely, little things that can be disposed of in a. mouthful or so. Small, triangular sandwiches of potted game, cress, lettuce, well made and flavoured, are exceedingly pleasing: they serve to show a little trouble has been taken, and make a delightful variation in the routine of Madeira cakes and confectioners' biscuits, which is observable in some houses. Tea should be made with water that has but once been brought to the boil; water boiled over and over again loses its briskness, and the infusion is ruined. When many visitors are expected tea should be prepared at least three times, to avoid offering a cold or tasteless beverage. Only.when the water is poured oft' the tealeaves is the use of a tea-cosy excusable. It is meant to keep the pot warm, and not to assist the brew. If the leaves are kept in the teapot they naturally cause the tea to become rank and astringent, and betray an economy that is far from hospitable. For this reason many ladies who are connoisseurs of tea are suspicious of the cosy, and have deposed it from the foremost place in their tea paraphernalia. It is not the custom to ask if guests will take a second cup. The hostess, after pouring out the tea, flits about among her guests talking to all if possible. It is extremely illbred of a hostess to remain in a small isolated circle and leave acquaintances to confer with each other without giving them a chance, of exchanging a few words with the lady of the house. It must be remembered that no one is invited verbally to an " At home," though they, are so asked in print or writing on a card. Verbally, we ask our friends to " tea." or say we shall be at home on a certain afternoon from four to seven, or, in a letter, we say we expect to be in on such-and-such a. day, and would be so glad if our dear Sophia, or Sarah, etc., would come to tea. The word "At home," therefore, is merely a.word on paper, as it were, for in talking of " At homes" we say. " I am going to tea at Mrs. So-and-So's," or, if the card of " At home" is for an evening entertainment, we say, " I am going to an ' evening party' " or " a party at Mrs. So-and-So's on such-and-such •-'. night." A PLEA FOR DOMESTIC SCIENCE. At a recent meeting of the Assistant Mistresses' Association in London the president expressed the opinion that our national education needs to be more intellectually stimulating, not more technical and commercial." The present plan of teaching the elements of as many different subjects as can possibly be fitted into the school timetable can hardly be conducive to healthy intellectual stimulation (writes M. Shaxby, in the Queen), and over-stimulation is likely to result in mental indigestion and a distaste for stimulants in general. Now it is evident that certain subjects are better calculated than others to arouse intellectual interest, and the. instinct; which prompts a girl to cherish dolls and dolls' houses and belongings, will draw her towards the domestic arts, and her efforts to learn will be eager if properly directed. Taught on a scientific basiSi there is no reason why these arts should not afford as valuable mental training as the ordinary school subjects. They have, the power to arouse interest, strengthen memory, induce habits of attentive observation and reasoned deduction from the facts observed—in short few, if any, of the advantages expected from the study of abstract and intellectual subjects will be lost, while other benefits of no little importance will be added, e.g., manual dexterity, neatness, and, above all, a methodical habit of self-expression. The contention that home is the place for girls to learn the domestic arts may be answered by two questions:— Who will teach them? and 2. what time has a girl already over-burdened with home-lessons to devote to learning them? These two questions arise also, it is true, in considering ways and means for the teaching of domestic science in schools, but in this case they are easier to answer. (1) Teachers could be trained in the course of time; the schools of cookery and of laundry work, which send out teachers of these subjects, would serve as a nucleus for schools of domestic science, to include them and much besides ; and (2) time could be made by cutting out of the school time-tables all but the most necessary subjects, limiting the time spent over these, and in particular giving far less homework. The three " R.'s" could hardly be dispensed with —indeed, a great deal more attention ought to be given to them; the result of the neglect of writing in the school is only too apparent in the untidy, ugly handwritings of the majority of girls at college. A neat habit of self-expression is certainly a desideratum; but there is no lime for its' cultivation when a girl's brain must be crammed (for examination purposes), with mathematics, natural science, languagestwo at least, and possibly four, in addition to her native tongue—not to mention all the other subjects included in the school curriculum. The theory and practice of domestic science would afford exercise both for mind and body, for the arts must not be taught empirically, but comprehension of principles must accompany their practice. Even small girls could be taught to dust, understanding why and how; to take an interest in the composition of their own garments, and, indeed, to make some of them; children of seven or thereabouts could easily learn to knit woollen vests for themselves. Then, from the simple, they would proceed gradually to the complex, till, in the highest class of all, the girls would review their knowledge of sewing, laundry-work, cooking, aud all the various branches of housework with which they had become acquainted, seeing them now in relation to each other, and as a whole, viz., the art of household management. To her capacity for performing simple cooking operations, the girl would now add a knowledge of the composition and relative values of foodstuffs ; being already able to arrange ami tidy the various rooms of a house she would now- study furniture and decoration, house hygiene and construction —in short, all that concerns a house and the well-being of its inmates. Moreover, her education, while thus fitting her for her special part in life, will also (being conducted on scientific lines) afford an invaluable mental training, at the same time producing habits of neatness and method, and giving scope in a natural and useful direction to her inventive faculties. The objection may be raised that such an education will not help a girl towards earning her living, and that the percentage of women who marry and have the ordering of homes of their own is decreasing. Yet the marrying girls are in the majority; according "to the latest census returns for London 66.7 per cent, of women Over 20 are either wives or widows. But. setting aside its obvious advantage for girls who marry, an education of the kind indicated in no way debars a woman from. a living.