Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1862-01-24
.Gbe O5io 9ta'tle's1trttau
From Field Notes, /
out OF Fix.
BY MRS FRANCIS D. GAGE.

NANNY! nanny! there's a great big car
rage coming up the lane" cried out Itl,
Johnny, as he came rushing into the sIttlup
room, his face as cloudy as q November sky
ana ma hair all In a snarl, big holos In the
knees OF n'S pants, and one shoe and one boo
| GA carriage!" exclaimed Ms, Potter Win
ran to the window. =
Goodness gracious Martha Ellen! n there
amt all them SWartouts, that Just bought New.
toms old place. Do for goodness cake iump
ana put things to rlghts. John 20 into the
nltcnen this minute, aud don't you chow your
mead In here till you're washed. Helen Marie!
sweep up the hearth. Dear me! / never did
see such girl aa you are in ell my life, your
dress ell ripped of the skrt, and your hair
nain't been combed for week. Jump quick I
Tell you; get the broom, carry out them old
ooatsi what on earth are these old boots left in
here fort" 'N'' -
"They're at the gate ucw," says Martba.--
"Mother you run in the bed room and put on
clean dress; I'll pick up"
MRS Potter dlsappeared--M kicked the
OLD boots under the sofa, pitched The old coat,
mittens, comforts, towels, sunbonnets and hoods
under the bed, hustled the newspaper, knit
nng work, balls OF yarn, sewing-scraps and
plts' uown Into the bottom Of huge work-bas
ket; swinging the chairs, which were dancing
JIgs III round tne room, up against the wall,
wnile neien Marie was raising o revolution
WIN peck OIL dirt In under the rag carpet, ply
lng ner broom with yigor that would have
|enectually cleaned out the whole thing, had il
oeen swinging over line in the yard instead
OF on the solid floor. -
The cOmnanv wa a. rho joo, E,tLsu % p...
had met them and stood talking and pointing to
his field, and his fine cattle, and lifting the la tch
ana letting 1t fall, as il he was trying to detain
them, Till the tumult should snbside a little
within. % s.t 'I n - '4~.' '''''NN
Martha. f.-....I -.-, :" =, u. w."
"Ddst OFF that mantle quick" suggested
Marie, and gathering up their hands full Of mig
placed articles, they made Q stampede up stairB
just as their mother emerged from the bedroom,
her delaine dress caught up behind, showing a
ifinged skirt aud broken hoops, buttoned all
away iu front, and her collar wrong side out
and half wrong side up, with tWiat in the mid.
die; her cap hastily put on, was sadly askew,
aDd on the whole, looking any thing but the
Personitcstion Of the digniAed, orderly house
keeper. si =
{ Mro. Potter was lady of very good presence,
extremely genial, and always glad to see her
friends, and the Swartouts OF oil others, abe
was glad to welcome, as they we're the rich neigh
nors who had planked down twenty thousand in
goio, Tor the great Newton farm, and aet up
farming on sgrand scale. But Mrs. Potter was
terribly mortified, that this much desired visit
snonid nave been made on this paIticuIaE day
oL 'he year ear Of al others, when they were SO
II was cold, chilly, frosty weather, and the
great parlor in the farm house had no stoye pine
ups because the girls when they cleaned the
room for winter, a month before, waited for
father and the boys to do that dirty job. Marie
declared she "could do 1t If she would, but that
was mems work, and che want going to, If
there was not q mite of FIRE there all winter"
jim did not know where to put the picked seed
corn one night, and finding no place 10 suit him
better, turned it down under the melodeou, in
the parlor. Mrs Pottes scolded some, (she was
too indolent to scold hsrd) and he promised to
take 1t out Tomorrow and hang 1t up in the
porch to dry; but he went to town early next
morning, aud 1t had been left there three weeks.
Jim had the spirit of bis mother. Besides, the
girls bad been fixing over their winter dresses
little; and as they did not want to 90 up stairs
Just then, they were piled up on the sofa and
chairs Tbs centre table, which was q very
pretty one, was In an awful jumbls
types books, pamphlets, gloves, head-dr
emma and glass all tossed up together, the car
pet new one, was spread down, but as Richard
,iorgot the paper OF tacks when he went to town,
y was LETT, the mailing down put of from day to
gay, Gay ana now 70 was turned up, rolled up and
blowsd, till it looked like the waves of the' 'sea,
OF course Mrs. Potter could ONLY EelcomaI
her guests in the great disorderly sitting room
amid cloud Of dust almost suffocating. : -
oh! what nice, sweet, tidy looking lads
was was Mrs Swartout, And how bright and neat
Miss Emma ard Miss Phebe were, They were
not one bit showy orfuEsy, but exquisitely taste,
iul, and every thing they wore looked as bright
as II 1t had just come out of the band-box, No
wonder they stepped dalntily across the room
almost rising on their tip-toes to keen their
clean French merinos out of the dnst, and that
Miss Emma ventured to sweep off her chair
with her handkerchief before she sat down
With her faultless broadcloth upon It's dusty
seat. ..- -
The young ladies soon made their appearance.
hastily dressed, and in sad taste. Poor Mrs Pot.
ter, who really had keen eye for proprieties
when once suspicion was aroused that all was
not right, was wrung with modification, and be.
gan string OF apologies.U'asA rsd,cI -
Father Potter, who would have been glad to
have found his home in good order any day In
the three hundred and sixty-fVe, and who was
as honest as the sun aud industrious to fault,
stopped her, by saying in jesting way, but in
good earnest,-'Dont make any apologies
vile, bout as common. ladies, bout as COM
mon; our girls somehow don't take to house
work, they ars allthe while rigging up their
thing -um -bobs, what-ye-call-umis out of crewel
and zephyrs, and they forgot to raise dust at
the right time. that's ALL" The girls almost
cried, they we're so mortified. ttt
Just then,little John put his head through |
crack In the door, crying out--"msmmy, what
lnall wash NJ NJ .s.sss ii2 ihMary fed the runt
pig his milk 10 thewashbowl this morning and |
ts 80 sssvf boa t- Nt13ass 200 1liF |
Marie had sprung to the door and pushed the
dirty face back intO the kitchen, before the
mouth bad hmc'fpr tho reet Z lfay soigaVa 'aEl
The Swartouts made shortoall. Miss PhegI
oe'declared, when ont of hearing, she never
saw, such plg-pen Of shomealsE NINA said the
girls we're very pretty, gif they Ecould only be
taught to be neat, aGd Mra. SwaftOut. as she
shook the reins over her grey ponies, Getting
them off on q brisk trots only remarked by the
way, that che would not have Dan marry one
Of them with althefr good looks, II the III faith.
er would give them q quarter section of land
apiece, and etock IL to boot, With the best
blood Of biz. Ayrshlres, Devons and Aldernys,
But What time there was at Potter's., Ma
rie scolded Martha, and Martha scolded Dick
aud Dick scolded jim, and Jim scoIded back,
and father said theyought all to be ashamed Of
themselves for letting things get SO out of FIX \
Mrs. Potter kept her temper, and declared they.
were nii TO blame aud they would try and do
better, and assit was only two o'clock they
could begin by putting up the stove-pipe, which,
Martha agreed to do, If Dick would hang -up
bis seed Corn. Marie righted up the books, and
father, having leisure hour. cot his hammer