ht inches long, having the four sides deeply grooved, thus
making the edges very prominent. These edges are so sharp that but
little pressure of the knife on the steel is required. The handle has a
large guard to protect the left hand from the edge of the blade.

But few people know how to use a steel properly. It is difficult to
describe the process,--so easy to a natural mechanic and so awkward to
others,--or to instruct one in the knack of it, by mere description.
Hold the steel firmly in the left hand. Let the edge of the knife near
the handle rest on the steel, the back of the knife raised slightly at
an angle of about 30 deg.. Draw the knife along lightly but steadily, always
at the same angle, the entire length of the blade. Then pass the knife
under the steel and draw the other surface along the opposite edge of
the steel, from the handle to the point, at the same angle. Repeat these
alternate motions the entire length of the blade, not on the point
merely, until you have an edge.

Some persons prefer to turn the knife over, drawing it first from the
left hand and then toward it, sharpening each surface alternately on the
same edge of the steel. This is more difficult to do, as you cannot so
surely keep the blade at the same angle,--and this is the most important
point. If held at any other than the proper angle, either no edge is
made, or it is taken off as soon as obtained.

It is bewildering, if one has any intention of buying, to examine the
assortment of spoons, knives, forks, etc., displayed at the
silversmith's.

There are ladles for soups, sauces, gravy, and cream; shovels for sugar
and salt, and scoops for cheese; tongs for sugar, pickles, olives, and
asparagus; spoons for sugar, jelly, fruit, sauces, salads, vegetables,
and macaroni; slicers for ice-cream, cake, and jelly; knives for fish,
pie, cake, and fruit; forks for fish, oysters, pickles, olives, salad,
and asparagus; scissors for grapes and raisins; crackers and picks for
nuts; and rests for the carving knife and fork. Some of these are really
useful; some as little so as many of the hundred and one novelties
designed particularly for wedding gifts. But in neat and careful serving
it is essential to have a soup-ladle, a gravy or sauce ladle, a pair of
tongs or shells for block sugar, a slender-tined silver fork for
pickles, a plentiful supply of large and medium-sized spoons, a
carving-rest, a crumb-scraper, and at least one broad silver knif