Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1874-05-23
At about 10 o'clock Mr.. Gelcher drove

the first tack, and immediately there
after commenced to hitch nervouSlv and
feverlshly along one side of the room
pushing the saucer of tacks and the
candle. Ton no account whatever could
he be trusted with kerosene lamp be-
fore him, and driving tacks with des-
perate energy that brought the perspi-
ration to his face and the big veins out
upon his forehead in an alarming meas
ure. Then he turned the corner and
drove tacks along the next side till he
had two of the sides down in Il very,
very thorough manner, fairly wasting
the tacks," declared his wife, who had
by this time recovered sufficiently to
stand around and give soothing direc-
tions
He had now performed the easiest
portion of the work and was making
ready to stretch the carpet into place
She volunteered to hold the candle and
he let her, ut the same time remarking,
that If she held that candle in that
brilliant style, behind his head and
back, so that he could see nothing, it
might be well to blow it out in the start,
as it would do just as much good and
save the candle besides.
Thus refreshed he placed Cdhimselfprone
upon the floor, graspcd the edge of the
carpet firmly in both hands, raised his
body slightly by bracing himself from
his toes, gave little spring to relieve
the carpet of his weight, tugged sud
denly to bring it into place, and losing
his foothold through the treachcry of
his slippers he came flat to the floor with
an " Ugh !" that rendered him at once
breathless and disgusted.
Then he got up and turned upon his
wife face made up of dreadfully star
ing eyes, barked nose and mouth full of
carpet wool, and wants to know what
the devil she was laughing at, and if
there was any joke he wanted to know
it, by thunder.
She replied that she didn't know as
there was much of joke in having to
mend PAIR of pants that had given out
III the back seam, the way his had, and
she wished he'd be little careful with
his clothes the next time he undertook
that thing.
He was desperate looking man, as
he sat upon the floor pulling off his slip
pers and stockings so that he shouldn't
slip again, and vowing that he'd have
things as he wanted them. And when
he lay himself down to that Job again,
he seemed an enraged Hercules, so des-
perately and tiercely did he put himself
to the work.
The perspiration streamed from his
flaming countenance, his jaws and the
seams in his pants flew wider apart, the
cords in his neck stood ont, his shirt
collar went by the board, but that car
| OF b., i I
a Willingness that would have shamed
India rubber. Then he slowly let go
with one hand and commenced to grope
about in an exciting manner after the
hammer and tacks with the other, but
without successfully were at his left
hand of course, and he must get them
himself, as his wife couldn't be ex-
pected to push them toward him while
she had so much to do in holding
that heavy candle. He felt to proud
and naughty to ask hey, so he COM
menced to operate in the direction of
that hammer and those tacks by hold
ing the carpet firmly in place with his
left hand and endeayoring to turn HIM
self completely over in order to reach
the things with his right. OF course
he mustn't lose his foothold, and it be-
gan to took as though he d twist himself
III two somewhere and lose all the ad-
vantage gained. Slowly and sadly he
commenced to turn toward the desired
objects, and with his right hand wildly
waving in the air, and every muscle,
seam and button strained to the ut
most, he gradually turned toward his
wife, who was standing almost over
hlm, III her interest in the transaction,
face so full of mingled pain, earnest
ness, remorse and despair, that that lady
appalled, by 50 startling Il spectacle,
grew somewhat nervous, tilted the can
die trltie and dropped into one of the
eyes that stared at her SO tixcdly con-
siderable amount Of hot tallow. Then
a hammer, which but an instant before
had been so eagerly clutched, went, fly
ing out into the next room among some
pictures and mirrors that were lettering
about IN hopes of being hung up some
time, and Il wild and frenzied man with
one eye starting tiercely from its socket,
went bounding down a long flight of
tack-strewed stairs, came i'll noisy con
tact with various articles of furniture
below, foundered through them to the
kitchen and finally brought up ON his
knees III chair before the sink and
commenced to dash cold water into his
eyes, and TO roar, and groan, and grind
his teeth, and howl, and dance abou
with an enthusiasm that showed that he
entered fully into the spirit of the per-
formance. Then he sat down on a chair
and held out his feet and wrung his
hands and called on all the heather
deities, and howled, and wept, and
roared again, while nervous woman
extracting carpet tacks from the soles
of his feet with the claw-e end of tack
hammer and did them up is salve and
pork-rind and rags.
They got through at just o'clock the
next morning, and Gelcher, blindfo!ded
and smelling fearfully of drug store,
crept downstairs on his hands and knees
to bed and staid there ten days and
when, shortly after this terrible night,
the man came to finish laying that car
pet, it took four strong men to keep
Gelcher anywhere near his bed.-Dan-
bury Ncaes.
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A BEAUTIFUL BALL ROOM ORNAMENT.
At the Dickens ball in San Francisco
recently, was beautiful fountain i'll