Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-01-25
An Ancient
American Art
We'll Lost
It's Carpet Beatine-and
No One Nouns
BY DAMON RUNYON

III tne west rltleS anu saw
man engaged in beating a car
pet that was hung over a clothes
line. 1t was the first time in a
long residence in New York that
we had ever beheld a spectacle
of this nature and as an old
carpet beaten of parts we
watched the man with nostalgia
interest.
He was using a short fiat
stick and it struck us that he
was not putting much enthusi-
asm into his work. He was beat
ing only in fits and starts and
pausing frequently to rest.
He was not getting those vast
clouds of dust out of the carpet
that mark the expert carpet
beaten and his improvised fail
did not give off those resounding
rhythmic thumps as il hit the
swinging carpet that used TO be
sweetest melody TO the ears of
loving housewives.
His technique, or rather lack
of it,. annoyed us. So we went
around the next day to see that
man, thinking we might be able
TO give him a few pointers on
carpet beating.
In our heyday as a carpet
beater, we could play The Stars
and Stripes Forever" on a Brus-
sells carpet and The Blue DAN
ube" on a rag rug. We always
used a full length broom handle,
though a bed slat would answer
in an emergency.
WELL, the man said his name
w was Grimes. He said he
came from Troy and had lived
on Manhattan Island only a
short time and, that he did not
want any tips from us or carpet
beating because he considered il
a passe art with absolutely no
future.
He said his lack of interest
in heating that carpet which we
had noted was due 10 the fact
that even while beating he was
lost in gloomy contemplation of
the fact that he was probably
the last surviving active carpet
beaten on the Atlantic seaboard.
Mr. Grimes asked us 10 stop
and think and see if we could
recall another. We had to admit
we could not. We could not even
remember the last time we had
seen carpet being beaten,
though we are inclined TO believe
it was in Denver. Colo. around
1908. Mr.. Grimes said he con-
sidered his status somewhat en-
barrassing. especially since COM
ing to New York. because the
younger neighbors could not
understand why he was beating
the carpet and suspected il was
evidence of a mental condition
warranting investigation by the
authorities.
LIE SAID he was married to a
IL lady who was a stickler for
tradition. Her mother and her
mothers m OF her and her
mothers mothers mother had
beaten carpets TO free them of
dust and she felt that if this
method was good enough for
them it was good enough for
her.
She refused TO give into a
vacuum cleaner. Mr.. Grimes said
Mrs. Grimes was a fine wife but
a little old fashioned and was
still deploring her failure 10
bring with her TO New York the
foot scraper that was attached
TO the front door stoop of their
home in Troy.
We told Mr.. Grimes that we
could see his point, but that Just
the same we could not condone
his anaemic carpet beating and
his failure to put more zest into
his efforts. We said that even
conceding that carpet beating
might not now be all that il
used to be. that was nc excuse
for an experienced carpet beater
like himself neglecting the fine
points of the business. We sug-
gested that by example he
might bring back carpet beating
to its old time place among the
great American diversions.
LIE SAID not in that ward.
II He said the narrow canAHas
of the premRs restricted the
full free strokes required in
thorough carpet beating and be-
sides he was tired.
His attitude struck us as
somewhat unreasonable. SO we
left him without further discus
sion and went home and fixed up
a clothes line on the terrace and
hung rug over il and set about
beating the rug just to see if
our hand had lost any of its
cunning.
We used mop handle for the
beaten but somehow we could
not get any tunes out of that
rug nor did the echoing thumps
seem TO have the old vitality of
our palmy -days-as- carpet
beaten.
Besides the next day we had
pains in the back and sore arm
and chest muscles and had TO
stay in bed awhile. which we did
not mind so much. at that. as
the sound of the vacuum cleaner
working on the carpets as the
maid u,ent- ahnttt-hnr dniI,- eli