It may be pretty accurately said that the faster and bigger the ship, the less likely one is to speak to strangers, and yet—­as always—­circumstances alter cases.  Because the Worldlys, the Oldnames, the Eminents,—­all those who are innately exclusive—­never “pick up” acquaintances on shipboard, it does not follow that no fashionable and well-born people ever drift into acquaintanceship on European-American steamers of to-day—­but they are at least not apt to do so.  Many in fact take the ocean-crossing as a rest-cure and stay in their cabins the whole voyage.  The Worldlys always have their meals served in their own “drawing-room” and have their deck chairs placed so that no one is very near them, and keep to themselves except when they invite friends of their own to play bridge or take dinner or lunch with them.

But because the Worldlys and the Eminents—­and the Snobsnifts who copy them—­stay in their cabins, sit in segregated chairs and speak to no one except the handful of their personal friends or acquaintances who happen to be on board, it does not follow that the Smiths, Joneses and Robinsons are not enlarging their acquaintance with every revolution of the screws.  And if you happen to like to be talked to by strangers, and if they in turn like to talk to you, it can not be said that there is any rule of etiquette against it.

=DINING SALOON ETIQUETTE=

Very fashionable people as a rule travel a great deal, which means that they are known very well to the head steward, who reserves a table, or they engage a table for themselves when they get their tickets.  Mr. and Mrs. Gilding for instance, if they know that friends of theirs are sailing on the same steamer, ask them to sit at their table and ask for a sufficiently large table on purpose.  Or if they are traveling alone, they arrange to have one of the small tables for two, to themselves.

People of wide acquaintance in big cities are sure to find friends on board with whom they can arrange, if they choose, to sit on deck or in the dining saloon, but most people, unless really intimate friends are on board, sit wherever the head steward puts them.  After a meal or two people always speak to those sitting next to them.  None but the rudest snobs would sit through meal after meal without ever addressing a word to their table companions.  Well-bred people are always courteous, but that does not mean that they establish friendships with any strangers who happen to be placed next to them.

In crossing the Pacific, people are more generally friendly because the voyage is so much longer, and on the other long voyages, such as those to India and South Africa, the entire ship’s company become almost as intimate as in the old clipper days.

=THE TACTICS OF THE CLIMBER=