Evening star., 1925-10-04

thing was all right. if any obstacles
were in sight. or if help We're needed
at the same time he took care not to
expose his head unnecessarily or to
keep his eyes too wide open. Further.
the boy was often forgetful and would
fail to provide himself with the scrape
or the brush, as the case might be-
SO the man always asked If he had
forgotten anything; and as a matter
of form, to be on the safe side at law,
the man invariably cautioned the boy
to be careful, and stated to him the
approximate distance to the bottom;
he also inplored him not to tarry, as
they had many more jobs to do before
nightfall.
While the boy scraped and brushed
and puffed and puffed and brushed and
Scraped, now and then calculating,
! Gee. but it's hot up here the man
| extracted a book from his pocket and
on its finger-printed pages put the
number of the house. the date Of his
| call and the next one due. and the
| charge for the chimney sweeping. He
remained near the chimney so they
could yell messages back and forth to
| each other, and when the boy had con-
| cluded, the man called the housekeeper
| to witness good job, collected his
| money toften handed to him on plat
| teri and went away.
Occasionally boy would get stuck
| in the fiue and be in such distress
of mind and body that he would re
quire immediate assistance. If he
was near the base Of the chimney, the
! man would pull him out by the legs,
| but if about the middle, would clam
| ber TO the roof and pass him a rope.
! A broom attached to a long handle
| would be used to complete the job.
After his superhuman eXertions. the
| ,rZ.1-.
| tuCkered out, and the superintendent
or master sweeper would allow him
! to climb down and rest, so he would
| be good for the next house.
| Now and then the man below would
| go out for loaf of bread. a mug of
! beer or something he needed in the
/ sweeping, and a member of the fam
! lily. returning home unexpectedly,
| would start fire in the CRATE, almost
suffocatins the boy, warming his pants
! thoroughly and sending him to the top
| putting like grampus.
Staying in the chimney without fall
| ing was a matter of friction. The
| boy had only to arch his back. stretch
| out his feet, rest his knees and elbows
! against the sides. and sweep for his
| life. If he wanted to hang at par
| ticular point, he spread himself out
! abraSionS on his body. and SCOT and
dust worked themselves into the
ward in all directions; if he wanted TO
| descend at good pace. he stretched
at full length and held his hands over
| his head, but this usually caused
wounds.
| 1t should be remembered in appreci-
| ating the difficulties encountered by
| these youths that they could not send
| all the SCOT and dust down before
| them, but must brush and scrape at
a point generally above their heads, so
a soodly portion came on top of them
and filtered through their hair, eye
| lids and loosetit clothing in manner
| that the reader can we'll imagine
| Much of the dust was taken into the
| lungs, but a sneeZe only stirred UP
| the SCOT all the worse, and prepared
| 1t for taking back into the lungs
again.
| The chimney still has his
| day in London. On May day he pa
rades noisily with brush and pan in
| the finery of his clan, and meeting
the milkmaids, who turn out with
, fiddles. dances until time to milk the
| cows in the early morning He Is
! gone from Washington, but the mem
I ory of his war on SCOT and dust still
abides with the other Inhabitants