ear the
heaviest brunt of wear. All complete sets contain one hundred and
seven pieces, and include one dozen each of dinner, breakfast, tea,
soup, and butter plates, and cups and saucers of medium size, three
platters of various sizes, vegetable dishes, covered and coverless, and
a gravy boat. Tureen, sugar bowl, and cream pitcher, and after-dinner
coffees are not included, but may be ordered extra.

The choice in everyday sets lies between plain white--preferably the
French china, known as Haviland, which can be bought for $35--and the
blue-and-white English porcelain of different makes--Copeland, Trenton,
etc., a desirable set of which costs $15 and higher. All-white is
entirely blameless from the standpoint of good taste, and has a dainty
fineness in the Haviland of which one rarely tires, while it never
clashes with anything else on the table. It is so infinitely
preferable to cheap, gaudy decorations, so sincerely and honestly what
it seems to be, that it has a certain self-respecting quality which one
cannot help but admire. Blue-and-white has an attraction which has
never died since it had its birth in the original Delft, which is
copied so extensively now in Japan and China. And though the porcelain
is but an imitation, it is a clever one, and one which leaves little to
be desired in decorative value and general effect. The design may
strike one at first as being a little heavy, but it improves on
acquaintance, and it has been very aptly said that the fact of its
having survived enthusiasm should vouch for its worth. Porcelain has a
good glaze which does not readily crack or break. Advancing in the
scale of cost and fineness, we come to that most beautiful of all
chinas--the gold-and-white--which can be had at from $50 a set up to as
high as $1,500. The gilding is in coin gold, the effect of richness
tempered with chastity being carried through all grades in varying
intensity. It "expresses itself beyond expression," and is an honor to
any table.

COURSE SETS

When it comes to the purchase of course sets, different tastes can find
instant gratification in numberless colorings and designs.
Overdecoration and large floral devices must be avoided, but any
delicately expressed pattern is good, and here again the gold-and-white
seems to fulfill all demands. Soup, salad, tea, butter, and other
plates can be had in china from 30 cents apiece up. Articles of this
kind, in a standard pattern, may be