American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1876-05-27
Carpet Shaking as a Fine Art.

The prayers of this congregation are
requested for young Mr.. Baringer, who
lives out on Angular Street. You see
Mr.. Baringer has only been keeping
house about year, and they took the
carpets up yesterday for their first gen.
eral house cleaning. Mrs. Baringer's
mother was there. because she said
| Olivia was a mere child at such things,
and she didn't believe that Aristarchus
was much better, and it was better to
have some one around who could man.
age. The young people, however, felt
very confident that they had, by nu-
merous consultations and many well
laid plans, reduced house cleaning to a
perfect science, system that had never
yet been attained by any other house.
keepers, and they were all impatient to
get at work and clean the whole house,
from garnet to cellar, and have all the
pictures back on the walls and carpets
nailed down again before dark. They
were disguised at the way other people
cleaned house, and Olivia thought it
was perfectly wonderful how Aristar-
chus could have such beautifully lucid
and systematic ideas on matters of
which most men, and she would say,
most women as we'll, were SO deplora-
bly, stupid and ignorant.
The stirring notes of the alarm clock
dragged Mr.. Baringer out of bed at 3:15
a. m, and he thought he felt intolera-
bly, sleepy for five O'Clock, but he didn't
look at the clock until he was dressed,
and then he was too mad to swear.
He merely woke Mrs. Baringer up to
tell her that he'd bet II thousand dol
changed the alarm after he set it, and
then he Topped down on lounge to
sleep till daylight. He awoke at half
past seven O'Clock, the hour at which,
by their prearranged system and Gales
lations, the two up stairs bedroom car
pets were to have been beaten and
ready to put down as soon as the floors
were dry. Then the kitchen fire went
out twice, and they finally sat down to
breakfast at half past eight O'Clock,
Mrs. Baringer's mother beguiling the
time during that matinal meal by ask
ing Olivia if she minded how she used |
to be half through her house cleaning |
by nine O'Clock in the morning. But Mr.. |
Baringer bore up very well under it, and !
after breakfast, he took
up the bedroom carpets. 1t was slow
work, jerking the tacks out one at a
time. Sometimes they flew up into his
face; sometimes he pulled the head off
and left the tack in the floor; and when
they got to be rather thickly scattered
around the room he put his knee down
on one occasionally and talked in
manner about certain mill
privileges in connection with house
keeping which Mrs. Baringer couldn't
At last he noticed that by
lifting up the edge of the carpet, gen.
tie pull would bring up half dozen
lacks in rapid succession. Happy
thought. He rose to his feet, grasped
he bound edge of The carpet in both
hands, gave mighty lift and a tremen-
lous pull-k-r-r-r-r-r-t! and when the
lust settled a little, Mrs. Baringer and
Ter mother were discovered standing
n the door, looking in speechless hor-
or at Mr.. Baringer, who stood, like an
mage of despair, holding carpet with
| fringed edge in one hand, and long
inc of carpet-binding in the other.
elbow did you do it?" shrieked Mrs.
'aringer. J
Chow ever did you do itP" echoed
irs. Baringer's mother. l
Then they both said something about S
he general incapacity of a man, and
ir. Baringer endeavored to explain
hat in going across the room for the S
ack hammer he had caught his foot in i
be edge of the carpet, with the result l.
s above Ard ut the conclusion of his t
xplanation, Mrs. Baringer's mother q
ave sniff that blew dust out of the d
arpet, and there was general ex-
ression of incredibly on the faces of
ne congregation. a
1t was u long time before they got Y
ne carpets down in the yard, and on V