1906 A Bachelor's Cupboard

A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD On Being a Bachelor No one is so wise that his wisdom may not be increased. One bachelor may be able to win at poker or break a broncho into quivering submission to his will, but will be quite out of place, like the proverbial bull in a china shop, in a fashionable drawing-room, and all for want of a little knowledge of the etiquette of afternoon teas or evening receptions. Another may be able to cook and serve a French dinner of eight courses, but be piti- fully wanting in the lore of camp cookery and " rough- ing it." Another may be an authority on colonial fur- niture and a connoisseur of wines, yet wonder why peo- ple try to hide an involuntary expression of surprise when he appears at dinner in a Tuxedo and a white waistcoat. For some years the world at large has been possessed of a passion for knowing " how to do things." '' How to do this " and " how to make that " have been " top- liners " in Sunday newspapers, and from '' Jiu Jitsu in twenty lessions " to " what to name the baby " and '* how to make your canary bird sing," these expert writers have condensed their stores of knowledge into printed page or paragraph and have set forth in con- Even David Belksco has been tempted into telling how to write plays, and Bernard Shaw instructs one upon " going to church." '' Bossie " Mulhall shows how to 6 how much more dangerous is it to be without it. cise or exhaustive information, as the case may be, " how to do " almost everything under the sun.