Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1902-01-16
The click OF

! the telegraph and the clatter of type
writer bells, of telephones and eleva-
tors ringing impatiently penetrated
! from floor to floor.
And among all these throngs or men
| and women amid all the hum and buzz
of business, a buxon Irishwoman
moved from floor to floor, from hall to
hall, and swept and scrubbed and
busted, in undisturbed tranquility
No one knew the name of this
happy Irishwoman. She was called
THE Scrubwoman." Her position
was one of dignity. She went her
humdrum way regardless of every one
and in the way of no one. From the
regular tenants Of the building she re-
ceived a morning greeting, from young
stenographers and book-keepers, a
smile as well. To these she returned
a smile and top Of the marnin' to
yez," or some bit of Irish wit in strong
Irish brogue that they could not I'M
derstand.
Tenants moved to another building
and tenants moved in. Tenants
failed and tenants consolidated Clerks
lost their positions or gained them,
fell i'll or married, and set up house
keeping elsewhere, but the Scrub
woman" remained. Of her it might
we'll be said, Men may come and men
may go, but l go on forever"
Calm as the placid bosom of shall
low pool, on still August days; seem
ingly as happy as minnow in a brook,
the sc-ubwoman washed and swept
and busted day in and day out. Her
face was broad and her features thick.
Her scant yellowish-gray locks were
strained away from her forehead and
| twisted in a tight knot at the back Of
her head; her dress was of bright
calico, and over it she wore a ging-
, ham apron and a cardigan jacket At
her side hung a pondsrous bunch Of
keys, and her wand of office was
feather buster. Such was the woman
who scrubbed the floors.
II wish I was the scrubwoman,"
said the pale stenographer to the man
of business. Then" said she, IT
should be happy. l should have
achieved the utmost of which l was
capable and fulfilled the measure OF
my highest ambition. She doesn't
look for anything better than a steady
job of scrubbing floors. 1t is the
best she can do and she is happy.
Her position is secured and all that
she cares for besides is a warm place
n hnr a. 5Yin hoYs ~
'tay.' I wish l had no higher ambi-
lions than she and was in her place"
"You would not if you were she,"
said the sage man of business, looking
up from his check-book 'FYou would
then find there was something you had
not and wish for it just as much as
you wish for higher things now"
81 don't agree with you. She must
be happy. She looks it," averred the
stenographer. as she sat down at her
desk
Appears another scrubwoman on the
scene. One who does private offices,
and who is vastly different from her
mate of the halls. She is as lean as
the other is fat, her features are thin
and sharp and her nose is red. Her
skirt of crepOn has long since seen it's
best days and is full of holes and very
much soiled. Her sleeves are out at
elbows and her cloak of a long by
gone date. She looks as unhappy, as
forlorn and as wretched as her mate
looks happy and clean, and moreover
her language, strange to say, is of the
best of English, almost "highfalutin."
She tells her employer that she had
almost forgotten it was his day till
she looked on her book" She speaks
of her business and talks about seeing
gentleman in another office. Ito en-
gage his cleaning, we presume) She
says she has some washing to do for
young lady down stairs. 'The lady
that formerly did it didn't put starch
enough in the clothes"
Then the stenographer who happens
to be watching sees a little by-play in
the hall. Plump scrubwoman appears
with her buster. Lean scrubwoman
sees her, and going out, whispers to
her with sympathetic accents, and
lcdFeS uSI Will d LenO6I Tap on LQ6
arm, and plump scrubwoman gees on
busting.
"I'm so sorry for that poor woman"
says Mrs. Forlornity. "Why?" asks
the stenographer. 'Why, she's in such
trouble. Her niece that she brought
up from a baby, and all the relation
she has, is dying with consumption.
The other night they thought she
wouldn't live. She takes care Of
herself daytimes, and nights this wo-
man takes care of her, and then comes
here and sweeps day times | just
think its awful sad, and she feels so
about it; poor woman" Thus says
lean Mrs. Forlornity, and the stem
ographer thinks the plump scrub
woman isn't so enviable after ALL
And when she overhears her. the
day after Thanksgiving, thanking her
employer for turkey, she wonders il
the poor dying niece could eat a bit,
and is glad that the poor woman has
the turkey, if with it she can only
tempt the poor girls appetite. And
she thinks that we seldom know what
the skeleton is in our neighbours cup
board and takes wee moral for her
own use.