s of the Divorce Laws of New York--Letters
to Prospective Fathers-in-Law--A Correct Form of Letter to a
Society Matron Asking Her How About that Grocery Bill for
Eighty-Two Dollars and Sixty-Seven Cents--Love
Letters--Correspondence of Public Officials---Letters to
Strangers--Letters to Newspapers, Magazines, etc.--Invitations,
Acceptances and Regrets.

IX. THE ETIQUETTE OF DINNERS AND BALLS
Formal Dinners in America-Table Manners for Children--Removing
Stains from Gray Silk--A Child's Garden of Etiquette--Etiquette
in the School--Conversation at Dinner--What a New Jersey Lady Did
with Her Olive Seeds--Stewart's Lightning Calculator of Dinner
Table Conversation--"It Seems that Pat and Mike"--Balls and
Dances---Artificial Respiration--Mixed Dancing--Hints for Stags.

A Word of Warning and Encouragement

CHAPTER ONE: THE ETIQUETTE OF COURTSHIP

A FEW WORDS ABOUT LOVE

Courtship is one of the oldest of social customs, even antedating in
some countries such long-established usages as marriage, or the wearing
of white neckties with full evening dress. The beginnings of the
etiquette of courtship were apparently connected in some way with the
custom of "love" between the sexes, and many of the old amatory forms
still survive in the modern courtship. It is generally agreed among
students of the history of etiquette that when "love" first began to
become popular among the better class of younger people they took to it
with such avidity that it was necessary to devise some sort of rules
for the conduct of formal or informal love-making. These rules, together
with various amendments, now constitute the etiquette of courtship.

Suppose, for example, that you are a young gentleman named Richard Roe
desirous of entering upon a formal courtship with some refined young
girl of fashion. You are also, being a college graduate, engaged in the
bond business. One morning there comes into your financial institution
a young lady, named Dorothy Doe, who at once attracts your attention
by her genteel manners, as exemplified by the fact that she calls the
president of your company "father." So many young people seem to think
it "smart" to refer to their parents as "dad" or "my old man"; you are
certain, as soon as you hear her say "Hello, father" to your employer,
that she is undoubtedly a worthy object of courtship.

CORRECT INTRODUCTIONS; HOW TO MAKE THEM

Your first step should be, of course,