Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-05-27
Moving.

A woman's idea of moving is to wear
a pair of odd shoes, her husbands linen
duster, damaged hoopskirt, and a last
years jockey turned hindside before.
Thus formidably attired, with pocket
full of screws, nails and picture-cords
and limber-bladed case-knife in one
hand and broom in the other, she is
prepared to believe that something is
about to be done. The first move she
makes is at the parlor carpet She takes
up two tacks in about fifteen minutes,
puts them in pint saucer in the middle
of the floor where it will not be in the
way Then she goes into the hall to tell
the carman to be careful in bringing
down the large rocking-chair, as her
mother gave it to her. After that she
darts into the kitchen, stops suddenly in
the middle of the room and says: Now,
what is it / was going to do?" and then
races upstairs with great hustle on
suddenly remembering that pair of
vases were not packed away in the bed
ding. But they were packed away, and
then she comes back saying that she has
so much to do she don't really know what
she is about. Afterward she draws up
the glassware to put in barrel, and
after packing away couple OF tumblers
and salt-cellar takes down her dresses
and examines them with as much care as
if she was going to bali and the car
rage was already at the door. In the midst
of this survey she suddenly thinks of
something else, and rushes off to attend
to il, the knife-case in one hand, the
broom in the other. When the stove is
taken down she is there-when the bu-
reau is being lifted she is in the exact
way of the man who is going backward
when the carman gets up on the best
chair to take down frame she is there
to rebuke him. She attends to every
thing. She makes her husband go out
doors and clean his feet She gets in
the way when they are moving the ice
chest. She leaves the dust-pan where
the carman's assistant can step on the
handle and have it turn with him at a
most unfortunate time. She gets the
broomstick entangled with her husbands
legs, which makes him swear. She trirs
to lift q two-bushel basket of crockery,
and finding she cannot do it tells the
carman she is not so strong as she used
to be, and then contents herself with car
rying down an Old wooden chair which
has jus. been brought upstairs to be used
in removing things from the walls, and
WHICH HAS W DC lOuuu dDd up
again by some one else. But it is load
ing where she makes herself conspicu-
Gus. She brings out ten-inch looking
glass and wants 1t laid on the bottom Of
the cart, and she don't want any
thing else to go on until she Can
get to her work basket. She thinks
the stove and the bedroom set
should ride together, and is quite conf
dent if the bureau is permitted 10 stand
on the cart as 1t does it will never again
be fit to be seen. The carman steps on
her and walks over her, and is swearing
all the while down his throat, but she
don't mind him. She knows that load
INIT put on as it ought to be and there is
room for lots OF things yet. She brings
on clock, and length of damaged
stovepipe, and pair OF Old boots covered
with mildew, and small basket of
empty spice boxes, and an old gaiter, and
the back of a WORKOUT vest, and wants