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Show DINING TOGETHER. Man is tho only animal that invites others of his kind to eat with him. Other animals prefer to dlno In solitude. soli-tude. The dog clothes himself with curses when ho sits down to a cold bono, In ordes to warn all other dogs to keep their dlstanco; and though tho pig gathers with other pigs around tho social trough, it is a mistake to sup-poso sup-poso that ho shares tho aldormanlc fondness for social banquets, slnco his only aim in dining with other pigs Is to apprrprlato, If possiblo, their sharo of dinner. Man, on tho contrary, is forover voluntarily dining with his kind. Tho origin of this custom has not hitherto hither-to been mado clear. We do not ask a friend to come and batho with us, or to mako ono of a nice little party for tho purpose of shaving together; but there Is just as much reason why wo should ask peoplo to do these things In company with us as there Is why wo should ask them to eat with us. To feed a friend, or to bo fed by him, Is thought among civilized men to bo tho chief duties of life. It is doubtful if it is regarded as ono ot tho chief pleasures. Tho average man would, if lie told tho truth, confess con-fess that ho would rathor dine in solitude, soli-tude, with a newspaper prqpped up before him, than dlno In company with anyono except a very Intimate friend. Nevertheless, when we meet an acquaintance whom wo havo not seen for a fow weeks, wo feel compelled com-pelled to ask him to dinner, and ho feels compelled to accept tho Invitation. Invita-tion. Tho truo origin of social dining must bo sought in tho far-off days when tho human race were trying to separato themselves from other ani-unls. ani-unls. Tho Cave dweller perceived that if ho formed tho habit of asking ask-ing tho occupants of tho next cave to dinner, ho would bo doing something some-thing that no other animal would bo willing to do, and honco that ho would provo to all other animals that man bad determined to abandon certain distinctively animal customs. In those days tho man who Invited another man to dinner proved that ho was no longer an anthropoid npo, but a Now Man. Wo havo inherited tho dining easterns eas-terns of tho primitive men without comprehending, their meaning. Is it necessary or desirable that wo should continue to practise social dining, mw that it Is no longer our solo moth-d moth-d of showing that we are not monkeys? monk-eys? o |