and chocolate bonbons. At a reception, the refreshments are more varied. Instead of tea there may be bouillon in cups, hot or cold, creamed oysters or chicken croquettes or salad, small rolls, ices, frosted cake, fruit punch, besides the olives, nuts and bonbons. A string band or pianist may play softly behind a screen of palms. A pleasant ending of an afternoon affair is to have the young women who help receive remain to dinner, and to invite an equal number of desirable young men. At an evening reception both men and women wear evening dress, the ladies in gowns of dancing length.
With such an entertainment a hostess pays all her social debts to those invited, and the list should include her entire visiting list. She Who Should Be Invited owes no calls, except where she has been entertained at dinner. Her daughter is "out," helps her mother receive at home, and should be included in all invitations. In very high society a debutante's name appears on her mother's visiting card, and she uses no personal card for a year. It is not in good form for her to appear at any social affair without her mother or some older lady as a chaperon.
REASONS FOR THE CHAPERON.
In all European countries the chaperon is universal, but custom differs widely in America, and properly so. Until recent years our girls were allowed complete liberty. We boasted that they were perfectly capable of protecting themselves and that American men, if not so polished as foreigners, were more truly chivalrous. In small places where boys and girls grew up together, and everyone is known to each other, the custom continues, with some restrictions as to buggy riding and late hours. But in the cities, which grow larger and society more mixed, the strict chaperonage of young girls has become a necessity, as in London and Paris. The too lively young person has been put into the background, and society has gained in interest and elegance. Today, we scarcely recognize the picture of unchaperoned "Daisy Miller" and her foolish mother, in Henry James' story; and those who fail to realize the peril of the unprotected, unadvised girl in the "smart" society of today should read of the disaster that befell "Lily Bart" in Mrs. Wharton's "House of Mirth."
Really, if she only knew it, a girl can have ever so much more fun and true liberty, under the wing of her mother or other older
