The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1878-03-01
That Kitchen Floor.

more of my time, patience anu anna
bIlitv. and gave me more backache, stiff
Joints, and rasped temper than any
other part Of the house, to say nothing
of skinned knees caused by scrubbing il
on the same when / wanted IL to look
particularly nice. / greatly admired
clean kitchen floor, and / did my best
to be able to show one; but it was al
most as hard a task as carrying water
in a sieve, to keep it clean for one-half
day.
You see, was trying to ecOnomize.
Times were hard who ever knew them
otherwise p and the servants weekly
wages, together with the difference in
the household expenses when she reigned
in the kitchen, was quite drain upon
the weekly income. With our small
family 1 thought | could dispense with
her services by putting out the washing
and ironing; but l reckoned regardless
Of the kitchen floor.
1t so happened that one entrance to
the house, and the one most commonly
used, was directly into the kitchen, and
consequently the door was kept swing
ing by somebody going out and In, a
great part of the time. Just so surely
as ] had got that floor spick-span clean,
and turned my back upon it for oue-half
minute, Just so sure was to find tracks
upon it when faced about again. The |
respected head Of the family was sure to /
leave the imprint of his No. 1l's way |
across il, up and down, and in a circle, /
and our growing future president left |
photographs of his boots wherever there |
was a vacant space. 1t was quite Won
derful how he would always hit the
clean places, and never by any chance
step into one of his fathers tracks. The
rregularly-shaped places left by these
two were. well filled in by our two dogs
and one cat. At such times that floor
was perfect triumph Of art, a mosaic
Of wood and mud constructed by both
the higher and lower order of animals,
with about, apparently, an equal amount
of intelligence.
At first, used to scold, coax, plead,
and threaten by turns-that is, the man
and boy. For the others, kept an old
clothes stick handy, and only those re-
cording angels who keep an account Of
good deeds and resisted temptations
know the superhuman efforts l made
to refrain from applying that stick to
backs covered with cloth instead of hair.
But as / never did approve Of punish
ment, and was by no means backward
in saying so, l was Obliged to make my
practice agree with my theory; and two
more difficult things TO bring to an
agreement l never encountered.
Sometimes, by dint of watching by
the door, and reminding Ddter fdnliIids
of the scraper and dOOr-mat, in a sweet
and amiabie tone, of course-though in
a high key, as he was apt to be deaf at
times-his boots would be put into a
condition that did not Oblige me to fol-
low him on my knees and wipe every
place where he had set his foot down.
Pint Gnu1af hiuor a1aa Er-ae ctrro TO
For instance, it was necessary to put
coal in the stove; and who ever saw a
man who could perform that operation
without spilling at least half the con-
tents of the hOd over the floor? He was
sure to- and not only that, he was also
sure to trample it all to dust and grind
it into the boards in his efforts to get
out OF the way, so that / could clean
it up.
There was a small wagon with a big
squeak, owned by the youthful part of
our Iamllyi and that squeak had to be
conquered occasionally with grease. II
was always the loudest Immediately
after had cleaned the floor, and so ne
cessitated the carrying out of lard or
oil. When L acted as boy-guard, the
transfer was safely made; but if / did
not happen TO be on the spot, "the trail
OF the grease was over it allr-that is
the floor, aud not unfrequently some
small clothes also. Or that same wagon
would meet with some mishap which
made an immediate mending necessary.
and it was accordingly dragged, with
its accompanying mud and dirt. into
the middle Of the floor while a shout
was sent up for "mother ~ and blows
of a hammer helped TO distribute the
mud little more plentifully before she
could arrive on the spot. By that time
it was about an even chance whether
the wagon would be mended and the
10Y comforted, or both be sent flying
together out Of the door. The odds were
apt to be in favor of the latter.
But il would take weeks TO relate the
various vexations that floor caused me.
My naturally sweet and amiable temper
" was fast becoming spoiled; it was too
much to expect that / could look with
equanimity upon the fruitless work of
my hands land knees), rubbing sore
places the while; at least IL seemed IN
me too much to expect, although the
rest OF the family evidently considered
IL matter OF very small moment and
thought made much ado about no,b-
ing. n''n-
1 at length made up nv mind tho,
much as 1 liked a clean floor II ~
better for me TO put up with a .'trackedii
Oue tEAu 70 wear out my patience and
strength 10 efforts to keep il spotless.
ana that conviction was brought home
to my mind in this wise: I was Qoino, -,
have company, and that same company
would, i knew, be sure to notice NV
kitchen. She Gt was a feminine friendO
used 10 say: "You cannot Judge of a
wOman's neatness by her sitting-room;
I want to see her kitchen before I make
up my mind.n Consequently l was
anxious that that portion of my domi-
cile should be in first-class order. Didn't
1 work over that floor till the perspira-
tiOn rolled from my nose aud back Z?
Didn't I scrape every individual crack
and corner with a sharp pointed stick
till the point Of my pen-knife wouldn't
have held the dirt they contained
Didn't / scOur every grease spot till I
bad conquered it? The floor was simply