St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-12-27
SWEEPING AND BUSTING.
Common Operatives Reduced to an
Exact Science.
Practical Hints Of Special Interest to
Housewives.

Housewives.
Written for the Globe by Chrlstine Terhune
Herriok.
"But, Monsieur" said q harassed scholar
one day. after toiling YEARLY through the
miracles Of a collection Of impersonal
French verbs, ''what Is the good of having
all these moods and lenses when they are
seldom or never put into usep" The
teacher, more frank or less discreet than
the majority of his confreres, raised eye
brows and shoulders. "Eh, Msdemoiselle,
pour le rendre plus dificllew The phrase
comes involuntary to ones lips in reading
some of the lengthy and Intricate instruc-
lions given for performing what to an I'M
prejudiced observer would seem to be
among the simplest household tasks.
One Ia startled sometimes into vivid real
ization of the fact that there is nothing new
under the SUM- by finding Biblical phrase
recorded thousands of years ago that ex-
presses so aptly state of affairs of to-day
that it would seem to have been written for
that purpose. When Solomon said that
man had been made upright, but had
''sOught out many inventions" he probably
had little thought of tile latter clause being
applied to the proper methods of sweeping
and busting. Eut modern thought Utilities
all things, and no other words describe so
cOmpactly the directions given on these
topics by some doubtless .f.j,~-
EXCELLENT HoUsEKEEPERs.
One of them enlarges with great diffuse-
ness upon the urgent necessity of busting
every article in room carefully, then car
rylng them all into another apartment.
sweeping the emptied chamber. and after
returning furniture and ornaments to their
places. busting them once more with no
less minuteness than if they had been
suffered to remain during all the sweeping.
Few mistresses have the time to devote to
this multiplication of duties, and no servant
could be found who would follow such a
program. And indeed, what gain is there
in this ultra-nicety? In the natural reac-
ton from superscrupulousness the danger Of
too little tidiness is to be assiduously
avoided.
Like nearly all the duties of life. sweep
ing may be made either difficult or a
simple matter. In many homes sweeping
day holds place hardly second to blue
Monday in horror. The mere word calls
uD vision of open windows, draughty
halls. flying dust and general disturbance
with no place Of refuge until the domestic
whirlwind is past. 1t seems impossible
for some minds to disconnect the idea of
thorough cleanliness from proportionate
discomfort while the purifying process is
being. carried on. To quote Sin Saxon in
THE Other Girls, Monday always has to
be rather awful. But after that we do ex-
pect to live. We couldn't hold our breaths
till Thursday.
IT rs BAD ENOUGH
to have, one day in the week that brings
more pleasure with it's sunset than with its
sunrise. To institute repetition of the
misery is to .:pile on the agony" beyong pa
tient endurance. There are excuses tor
Monday being a trying day. Household
economists have conscientiously struggled
to solve the problem of washing day. The
Germans settle it to their own satisfaction
by letting soiled clothing accumulate for
three months and then giving themselves
up, body and soul, to tremendous scrub
bling that sets them in order for another
quarter year. American housewives have
not yet come UP or down to this order OF
affairs. Their laundry work must be done
hebdomadally. With the desire So
well known to every earnest worker to get
bad piece of business out of the way,
they attack it at the beginning of the weeh
and get rid of it as soon as possible And
washing is something that must be done all
at once. No thrifty woman can bear to have
wet clothes standing about the house fol
two and three days at a time. They must
| be dried, ironed and returned to theil
proper places before neatness can be fairly
| restored. =ass1 80
WITH SWEEPING
| the case is entirely different, There is nc
adequate reason why there should be gen.
eral sweeping day. in which the whole
| house must be in state of turmoil. 1t is
far better to have the sweeping done little
by little, taking one room to-day, another
tomorrow. until by the end of the week the
whole house is sweet and clean.
The advisaDility of giving every apart
ment vigorous ''broom cleaning at least
once week has been so strenuously in
sisted upon by some notable housekeepers
| that it has by many been converted into all
imperative duty. But looking at the mat
| ter in an unprecedented light, one cannot
| clearly see why drawing room, inhabited
| perhaps only for few hours of the after
noon and evening, or an unoccupied guest
chamber should require the same amount
| of publication demanded by sewing.
| sitting or dining-room. The dust-pan and
brush are labor-saving machines that dc
not receive due appreciation. By their aid
in removing little dust here and little
there, the business of sweeping whole
| room may be deferred at times, when at
| the first glance anything less than a COM
plete routing out Of furniture and dirt to-
| gether ~
| WOULD SEEM IMPOSSIBLE.
| Careful and. thorough sweeping is by NO
means to be moderated. The living rooms
| of house should never be allowed to re-
main long unswept. Still less should the
sleeping rooms be neglected. Accumula-
| tons of dust and fluff are not only unclean.
but positively unwholesome. They are &C
tive agents in receiving and propagating
disease germs, and should never be dis
posed of in any other way save by burning.
In sweeping room few simple rules are
all that are needed. Let all ornaments.
toilet Articles and the like be placed on the
bed and that entirely covered with sheet
1t is well to have sweeping covers of un-
bIeached cotton sheeting, large enough to
| drape each piece of furniture as cannot be
conveniently moved from the room.
All chairs, ottomans, light tables
etc.. should be busted and set in the hall OF
an adjoining room., Loop up curtains and
draperies SO that they will clear the floor.
| Have rugs or mats removed first and shaken
| in the open air. Shut the doors and raise
| the windows, unless the weather should be
exceptionally cold. In that event the air
ing may be deferred until the sweeping is
| finished.
THE FRESH EXERCISE
| generally creates glow that makes cool air
desirable. Let the sweeper, attired in an
old gown made conveniently short Ia wash
dress is to be preferred), her head tied up
in good-sized handkerchief or covered
with a sweeping-cap. attack the work
bravely. Sweep from one side of the room,
leaving space into which to push the fur
niture. as that opposes the progress of the