THE DINNER TABLE—HOW TO ARRANGE IT.

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 520, 8 December 1888, Page 4

THE DINNER TABLE— HOW TO ARRANGE IT.

In arranging a dinner table the first thing to be considered is the tablecloth. Care should be taken to fold a cloth in the original creases, and by doing so all those unsightly folds and rumples that so often mar the. beauty of a tablecloth will be avoided. In serving a joint I should advise that no gravy be put upon the dish. Even the most careful carver will be puzzled to avoid making little splashes, while a careless one will in some.unlucky moment soil a tablecloth which should have done duty for a week. The gravy should be served in a sauce tureen placed beside the carver ; but, in any case, it is a very good plan to place a serviette at each end of the table ' corner wise to the centre. It will catch odd drops j that may fall, from the carving knife or fork and Bave your cloth very much. | A napkin neatly folded must be placed between every knife and fork, in the folds of which it if" usual to place an oblong wedge of bread. In I many places, however, the bready i& merely | handed round upon a plate, In this casea | doyly is spread beneath the pieces of bread. A long strip of coloured cloth is sometimes laid down the centre of the table ; of course it mast be narrow, and looks pretty when embroidered taste- ■. fully. On more formal occasions a stripe of Roman satin may be substituted. Trails of ivy . or other creeping plants may be laid on each 7. edge of this stripe, and if the table be very, large* > spaces may be filled up with neatly arranged, leaves, suoh as, Virginian oreeper, which, look* 7 splendid towards autumn. A large China bowl 7 filled with, roses or' other flowers makes a nice, centrepiece. If hot possessed of a China bowj ,a pretty contrivance can be made out of a common soup plate with a long stemmed glass in the . middle of it. The plate must be concealed with 1 moss or fern, and a few choice blossoms (if with , tendrils so much the better) placed in the glass. A single flower is placed at every plate down each side of the table and, if preferred to this arrangement, a few china ornaments may be placed at intervals, with leaves of holly or ivy, or even common bramble leaves and berries in them. These little china ornaments, which are to be had in various designs, look pretty and cost very little. Leaves will keep fresh a long time if tumbled into a pan of cold water immediately after dinner. All high table decorations are quite obsolete, | People prefer to see their friends' faces without ; dodging and bobbing on this side and that of a huge oentral structure,, though I admit, that the; old-fashioned silver epergne with its pyramids of . fruit and flowers formed a very imposing^ 7 spectacle on entering a dining room. .'•"* 7 Care should be taken to avoid flowers of :a strong perfume.