Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-01-05
AN EXCITING SCENE.

storm, which it is quite likely to do.
Mrs. Tibbs lifted her hands from the
suds and felt of her crimping pins to make
sure that none of them had slipped out,
for the sewing society met that afternoon,
and she wanted to look well, and she re-
marked with emphasis that s'she wished
to heavens that it didn't always blow like
sixty on washing days. And she added.
as meteorological fact, that sit blowed
fast Monday and a week ago last Monday
too.''
Mr.. Tibbs was reading an article on the
tariff, the writer of which had proved con
clusively to Mr.. Tibbs' mind that if the
present tariff continued the bottom of all
things would tumble ont inside of six
months, and the paper he had read before
breakfast contained an article which had
shown i'm just as clearly that if the exis-
ing tariff should be changed creation
would go to everlasting smash in the twin
king of a cats tail
Tibbs scratched his head and gave vent
to his perplexed state of mind by exclaim-
ing, ''Waal, by jimby, l don't see what a
man can do"
''I'll tell you what to do said Mrs.
Tibbs, whirling the clothes wringer round
with will as she ground out the grist of
Tibbs' shirts and drawers into the clothes
basket, ''you go and put up that clothes
line and hang out them clothes. The wind
blows enough to take Il woman right off
her feet"
Tibbs rose reluctantly. All men dread
the clothesline racket. 1t is trying to the
masculine nerves. Tibbs put his hand to
his back and volunteered the information
that he guessed he WAS going to have an
other spell of lumbago into his spine"
Mrs. Tibbs was not in the slightest de-
gree interested in Mr.. Tibbs' gloomy an
ticipations, but went on wrestling with
the clothes v'ringer and scattering the
soapsuds in every direction.
Mr.. Tibbs put on his hat, buttoned his
coat, tied his neck up in Il red muller and
shivered. "Seems to me. he remarked,
'that feel Il touch OF that old scatica in
my hip joint
''Now, you put that clothesline up
tight!' said Mrs. Tibbs, entirely ignoring
his observation. Last week the sheets
dragged OF the ground, and had to rinse
'em over! Pull it tight. Mind textbooks
don't come out of the posts! Be careful
of it where it's tied. Put up the oldest
part of the line under the pear tree for the
towels, and don't go to hanging out them
clothes in none of your slipshod ways,
Tibbs. Hang all the stockings feet down.
Put Annie's flannel petticoat in the sun
and hang it square. Pull them tablecloths
out around the hens after you get 'em
onto the line. Pin the colored things on
with them Oldest clothespins, for they'll
mildew the white things. Hang that rag
ged sheet under the shirts. SOS the holes
won't show. Folks is allus staring at a
clothesline. Put that embroidered night
gown of mine next to the street. Mind
now, and not set the basket SOS it, tip
over
And in the midst of it Tibbs went out,
with bag of clothespins and the line in
one hand and the basket balanced on the
opposite hip, and the water which the
wringer had not squeezed out running
down over his leg in little rills. There had
been some snow, and then, by way of va
rety, there had heen some rain, and then
it had frozen, and the footing was exceed
ingly slippery and insecure. Tibbs soon
found that beyond doubt that passage of
Scripture which tell us that 'the feet of
the wicked stand on slippery places" is
true. He had great difficulty in prevent
ing himself from going down the side hill,
where the clothesposts were located faster
than he wanted to. OF course the line was
full of kinks, which is family trait of
clotheslines, and Tibbs skinned his hands
by pulling the line through them to get
out the kinks, and when be got mad and
banged the board on which the offending
line was wound against the woodpile he
barked his knuckles and tore off one cor
ner of his thumb nail.
NIrc fTibic and her pOI1Sin Sally Green
who had dropped in for a morning call,
were looking out Of the window to see how
be was getting along, and they both laugh
ed at his mishap and said that was just
like a man.
Mr.. Tibbs got desperate. He took his
pocketknife and severed the line in its
kinkiest part, and having tied up one piece
of it he began to hang up the clothes. He
had his mouth full of clothespins, just as
he had noticed Mrs. Tibbs always had her
mouth on such occasions, and he slapped
the clothes onto the line with will.
Up flew the kitchen window, and Mrs.
Tibbs stuck out her head.
"Turn that shirt t'other side up! Don't
hang them sheets by the cornersl Put the
towels on that old line! Don't hang them
flannel drawers of Toms ny by the legs!
Pull out that cdging ON Mary Gnn's skirt
Look out there!-you've stepped right into
the clothes basket What fools men arel
knowed you'd make mess of it! wish
I'd hung 'em up myself, if had blowed
to Guinea in doing it.'
Tibbs discharged the clothespinsand be-
gan to swear 1t relieved his mind. He
rot the other piece of line and fastened one
ind of it to the post, then he gave a good
bull on it to make sure it was tight, and
1t parted amidships, and the sudden "let
go'' upset Tbbs' equilibrium, and in spite
of himself he went rolling down the icy
hill like an empty flour barrel.
Mrs Donovan's pet goat was enjoying
little feast on batch of old tomato cans
and some discarded oilcloth carpets half
way down the hill, and when she saw
Tibbs a-coming she quit the oilcloth and
charged on him with all her batteries
open, SO to speak.
1t was an exciting scene. and 1t was
made still more so by the appearance of
Mrs Donovan, with the mop, and Dono-
vans two dogs, barking their loudest, and
they took samples of Tibbs' pantaloons.
Tibbs don't hang out clothes now.-Ex-
change.