Broomstick

“ The stick is an ordinary broomstick in the end of which is a sharpened nail. In use the end of the stick is held in the left hand and the point is pressed into the board at any required height. The right hand, holding the tool, is rested on the stick just as the hand of a painter rests on the mahl-stick. ”

“ There is a feat, however, which does not require any very great strength, but is sufficiently startling to excite much surprise and some inquiry—viz., the one of cutting in half a broomstick supported at the ends on tumblers of water without spilling the water or cracking or otherwise damaging the glass supports. ”

“ Broom′-corn, a species of plant resembling maize, cultivated for its seed and its spikes, of which brooms are made; Broom′-rape, a parasitic plant found adhering to the root of broom, clover, &c.; Broom′staff, Broom′stick, the staff or handle of a broom.—adj. Broom′y, abounding in or consisting of broom.—To marry over the broomstick, or To jump the besom, to go through an irregular form of marriage, in which both jump over a broomstick. [A.S. bróm; Ger. bram.]
Broose, brüz, n. (Scot.) a race at weddings in Scotland. ”

“ Sometimes he will ride a broomstick still, though there is nothing to keep him, or it, up but a certain centrifugal force of whim, which is soon spent, and there lies your stick, not worth picking up to sweep an oven with now. ”

“ The gates swung open, and out they flew
“Where are our broomsticks?” the beldams cried.
[68]
[69]
“Here are your broomsticks,” an imp replied.
“They’ve been in—the place you know—so long
They smell of brimstone uncommon strong;
But they’ve gained by being left alone,—
Just look, and you’ll see how tall they’ve grown.” ”

“ In Bombay, some old Hindu woman, to cure a child affected by the Evil Eye, waves salt and water round its face and strikes the ground with a broom three times; and among the Bani Isrâîls of Bombay, when the midwife drives off the blast of the Evil Eye, she holds in her left hand a shoe, a winnowing fan, and a broom.129 In Italy, the broom is an old Latin charm against sorcery. The Beriyas, a gypsy tribe of the Ganges-Jumna Duâb, drive off the disease demon with a broom. In Oudh, it is said, when a broomstick has been done with, it should always be laid down, and not left standing. ”

“ Burns, in his "Address to the Deil," makes his witches and warlocks "skim the muirs and dizzy crags" on "ragweed nags," "wi' wicked speed." Witches notoriously ride swiftly and easily through the [117] air astride of a broomstick. [24] Hence this superstition may be said to personify the light scudding clouds that pass rapidly across the sky, and herald squally weather. Dr. Kuhn regards the broom as the implement used by the Aryan demi-deities in sweeping the sky ”

“ Fig. 4. Journal Block.
First of these is the magnet-winding reel, a plan view of which is shown in Fig. 2. This, for our present work, will be made wholly of wood.
Select a plank 11⁄2 inches thick and 8 inches wide, and from this cut off two pieces (A) , each 7 inches long, and then trim off the corners (B, B) , as shown in Fig. 4. To serve as the mandrel (C, Fig. 2) , select a piece of broomstick 9 inches long. Bore a hole (D) in each block (A) a half inch below the upper margin of the block, this hole being of such diameter that the broomstick mandrel will fit and easily turn therein
p. ”

“ Smuggled cigars are to-day a mere commonplace of the ordinary custom-house officer’s experience with private travellers, and no doubt a great quantity find a secret passage through, in the trading way. For some years there was a considerable import of broomsticks into England from the Continent, and little or no comment was made upon the curious fact of it being worth while to import so inexpensive an article, which could equally well be made here. ”

“ The boys and girls did not grow rich very fast at broom-making. Throughout Vermont, fifty years ago, the uniform price paid to the maker for these brooms was but six cents apiece, and as he had to work at least three evenings to make one broom,—to say nothing of the time spent in selecting and cutting the birch-tree,—it was not so profitable an industry as gathering beech-nuts at a dollar a bushel. ”

“ In the first place, the most noticeable defect in the tenderfoot's work is the manner in which he handles his broom and wears the broom out of shape. A broom may be worn to a stub when properly used, but the lopsided broom is no use at all because the chump who handled it always used it one way until the broom became a useless, distorted, lopsided affair, with a permanent list to starboard or port, as the case may be.
To sweep properly is an art, and every all-around outdoor boy and man should learn to sweep and to handle the broom as skillfully as he does his gun or axe. ”

“ A rack to hold a large and small broom, dust-pan, and brush, should measure three feet long, three inches wide, and be made out of a seven-eighths-inch board. Bevel the edges and place four brass hooks in the front, as shown in the drawing, from which to hang the broom, dust-pan, etc.
Brooms should always be dampened and put away, handle down, according to the advice of an old broom-maker, who claims that by so doing the straws are kept from becoming brittle and the broom lasts much longer. ”

“ But to their horror, John Broom kicked off his shoes, after which he spat upon his hands (a shock which Miss Kitty thought she never could have survived) , and away he went up the willow.
It was not an easy tree to climb, and he had one or two narrow escapes, which kept the crowd breathless, but he shook the hair from his eyes, moistened his hands afresh, and went on. The farm-bailiff's far-away heart was stirred. No Scotchman is insensible to gallantry. And courage is the only thing a "canny" Scot can bear to see expended without return.
"John Broom," screamed Miss Betty, "come down! ”

“ They carry their brooms, not under the left arm, but upon it, as they would children, upright between the arm and the side, with the heads in front of the shoulder. One, and one only, of the brooms is invariably held in the right hand, and this is elevated with the sharp cry of 'Buy a Broom?' to any one likely to become a purchaser, till it is either purchased or declined. ”

“ Broom in hand, his trousers rolled above his knees, and his shirt flying open at the neck, his face glowing with the exercise, the late typewriter salesman darted in and out among the other scrubbers, leaving the spot he was working on to pounce upon any fresh space of planking sluiced by the water. Getting in everybody's way, tripping himself with his own broom, hopping like a cat in a puddle when his toes were jabbed by the bristles, he displayed three men's energy and accomplished the work of a one-armed boy. ”

“ No broom that nowadays grows on the brae, so yellow as the broom—the golden broom—the broom that seemed still to keep the hills in sunlight long after the sun himself had sunk—the broom in which we first found the lintwhite's nest—and of its petals, more precious than pearls, saw framed a wreath for the dark hair of that dark-eyed girl, an orphan, and melancholy even in her merriment—dark-haired and dark-eyed indeed, but whose forehead, whose bosom, were yet whiter than the driven snow. ”

“ Every housekeeper takes advantage of the advent of the escobero (broom-maker) , to lay in a stock of brooms sufficient to last until his next visit. It was two months before an opportunity of buying a broom, even from a " wandering Bavarian," was afforded me, and during that time I came to regard Doña Pomposita's gift as the apple of my eye. ”

“ So far as I have it in my heart to use my new broom for the cleansing of my home and the comfort of my fellows, my new broom may be a means of grace to me and them; but, so far as I view the new broom merely as a possession, and irrespective of the service in which it should be worn out, my pride in it is bad as bad can be. ”

“ But in this case, as indeed with the ruby light, care must be taken to guard against too much light. Development should be conducted at a distance of several feet from the light, and when almost completed, the tray can be brought close under the light to enable the worker to stop it at exactly the right moment. Ordinary bromide paper is about as sensitive as the process or slow dry plate or the average lantern-slide plate, and requires as much care as either, but not nearly so much as the most rapid dry plates. ”

“ The Juliana and the Bridget were fighting for the broom!
I comprehended the situation intuitively. The kitchen-cleaning, for which the Fiend had been “set,” had reached a point that demanded the broom, and that subtle, attractive affinity, which my friend’s genius had known how to produce, but had not learned to regulate, impelled the unerring automaton towards the only broom in the house, which was now in the hands of its fellow-automaton, and a struggle was inevitable. ”

“ They come inevitably as the alarm clock; when the hands of circumstance touch the hour, the bromidic remark will surely go off.
But, lest one make too much of this particular symptom, let us consider a few other tendencies. The Bromide has no surprises for you. When you see one enter a room, you must reconcile yourself to the inevitable. No hope for flashes of original thought, no illuminating, newer point of view, no sulphitic flashes of fancy—the steady glow of bromidic conversation and action is all one can hope for. He may be wise and good, he may be loved and respected—but he lives inland ”

“ And what have you brought home with you?"
"A sack and a stick, and a very valuable stick, too," said the son.
"What!" cried the old man. "A stick! Why, you can cut a stick off any tree!"
"Not a stick like this, for I have only to say, 'Come forth, Stick!' and it immediately slips out and lays about the shoulders of anyone who would injure me, so that he has to cry for mercy. By the aid of my stick I have got back the magic table and lucky ass which the thief of a landlord stole from my brothers. ”

“ To be sure we were glad to go, and he did as he said he would, and explained every particular, even to the cost.
“The broom-corn comes from the West,” he said, “though a good deal grows in the Mohawk valley, and the largest broom establishment in the United States is at Schenectady.
“It often grows, if thriving stalks, ten or twelve feet tall; it can be cultivated here, but not so profitably. It comes in large bales, weighing anywhere from one hundred and fifty to five hundred pounds. Where I buy mine in Boston it costs me six cents a pound, though the price varies. ”

“ Captain Broom was [24] in the lead, followed by the mate, then Cales, with old Pete bringing up the rear. Just as they started Captain Broom extinguished the lantern and they took up the trail in total darkness. Every precaution would now be necessary for they would soon be in a region where the very name of Broom was execrated with bitter hatred, and every bush would grow a poniard if his whereabouts were known.
It was evident that the skipper was as good a guide on land as he was a pilot at sea, for he led his little party at a steady gait by a winding cow-path through the thick undergrowth. ”

“ The evolution from the flag-straw [79] broom used in cabins of the South to the ones now completed and labeled, creates the sensation of the girl-world in the trades school. The wonders brought out in the theory class in connection with broom-making were marvelous. Broom-making has come to remain with our other girls' industries.
Work in the Laundry presents another aspect to the onlooker, and he doubtless decides on the spur of the moment that all is drudgery here. Girls are then assorting countless pieces received on Mondays from students and teachers. ”

“ The broom-millet was grown most successfully on the estate. The stalk had been cut up and consigned to the silos by the ton. Thousands of bushels of the seed, much like sorghum, had been deposited in the poultry-farm granary. The broom fibres—oft blessed by all who ever possessed a foul pipe—were now being manufactured by old folk and children into an article superior to any "American broom." The fibre was quickly gathered together by hand, and bound round with fine wire worked by a spindle. ”

“ She will have to see for herself that the broom is hung up or stood on the handle instead of on the bristle end, that the brushes and dust-pans not only have their nails or hooks, but are kept on them when not in use instead of being thrown into a corner of the kitchen and kicked about by any one who finds them in the way. ”

“ If all the instructions for the development of the bromide print, the bleaching and the swelling have been adhered to, and success is still wanting, then the fault lies in the paper, which was hardened too much in manufacture. The bromoil process is based on the fact that the shadows are tanned more than the high lights, and that then the tanned places take up more ink than the untanned. If the whole film was completely hardened from the start, there cannot be more tanning added by the bleaching, and the ink will take everywhere, in the lights and in the shadows. ”

“ Reverse—Arms!—Lift the broom vertically with the right hand, clasp the stick with the left hand; then, with the right hand grasp the handle near the brush. Reverse the broom, the handle dropping to the front, the broom passing between the breast and right forearm. Press the handle under the arm with the left hand until the right elbow can hold it in place against the body; pass left hand behind the back and clasp the stick. ”

“ They go to mass every morning, and make visits of etiquette on Sundays. They take more interest in political than in domestic affairs. Dust and cobwebs are unmistakable signs of indifference. Brooms are rarities; such as exist are besoms [Pg 83] made of split stick. Since our return, we have sent to a Quitonian gentleman, by request, a package of broom-corn seed, which, we trust, will be the forerunner of a harvest of brooms and cleaner floors in the high city. Not only the lords, but also the ladies, are inveterate smokers. ”