A single meal:
| Bread | 1d. |
| Cheese | 1d. |
| ¼ lb. of meat | 3d. |
| Potatoes and onions | 2d. |
| Jam | 1d. |
| ½ pint of beer | 2d. |
| 10d. |
Another meal:
Cantaloup Glacé.
Tortue Claire.
Bisque Nantua.
Truites Saumonées Michigan.
Mousse de Jambon à l’Escurial.
Selle d’Agneau Montefiore.
Poularde Strasbourgeoise.
Salade Indienne.
Cailles flanqués d’Ortolans.
Asperges Verts. Sauce Mousseuse.
Pêches Framboisines.
Friandises.
Fanchonettes Suisses.
Hock, Claret, Port, Coffee, and Liqueurs.
This dinner for twenty people cost £60, or £3 a head, without wine.
If the figures in these instances, with regard to food expenditure, really represented quantities consumed, the dangers from overfeeding in the one set of cases would far exceed the dangers from underfeeding in the other. The cheerful bell that announces the servants’ midday meal no doubt heralds the consumption of a vast amount of food; but it is a debatable point whether sheer waste does not account for almost as much. Quarts of cream are emptied down the sink, joints and birds only half eaten are thrown away, and the pig-tub receives a rich enough allowance of vegetables, fruit, and cakes to satisfy the appetite of a large family. In fact, in one house, where the household books averaged £63 a week, the matter was looked into, and a reduction was made to £34 without any diminution in the number of servants.
* * * * *
Dancing is a form of amusement appreciated by all classes.
At —— Hall, Fulham, and many other similar places the tickets for the Saturday night dance cost 9d. each. If two hundred people are present, the cost would be £7 10s.; allowing 3d. a head for refreshments (£2 10s.), the total amount will be £10.
At —— Hotel, S.W., a ball was given lately for two hundred people, costing £1237.