The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1874-06-05
MRS. SLIPPERKIN AND MRS. COP
PERTH.
Playing at Housekeeping and its Many
NeXatiOnss

Playing at housekeeping and its Many
Mrs. Slipperkin is eight years old;
just eight, too, although, when she is
asked, she takes pains to say that she
will be nine her next birthday. It is a
harmless delusion of Mrs. Slipperkin's,
that such statement makes her seem
considerably older, while it has the adj
vantage of being strictly true.
Mr.. Slipperkin is said to be travelling
IN Europe, and his wife sometimes ne
ceives small letters, bearing a foreign
post mark, which she says are from her
husband. Button examining these letters
closely, we were of the opinion that the
only part which has seen the post office
is the stamp; and we have frequently
remarked to Mrs. Slipperkin that her
husband writes a hand resembling her
own IN most surprising degree we
think, but do not say, that the letters
are fat, and the It's and is neglected.
She lives with her dear friend,-her
sister, in fact, though she does not usu-
ally call her so, Mrs. Coppertip, in our
attic.
This latter lady is ski beg her
pardon, will be seven her next birthday,
and she also has a husband travelling
in foreign lands. Mr.. Ooppertip, how
ever, does not attend to his family as he
should, for his wife has received but
one letter from him, and that was writ
ten on a piece of old writing book, in
hand strongly resembling Mrs. Slip
perkins and not written in her best
style.
Mrs. Ooppertip is one of the gentlest of
human beings. She has little, soft hands
which are often cool and kind, on aching
heads; she has gentle brown eyes, and
not l.,T,. l. i
very easy to care for. / believe she
loves everybody, and 1 am quite sure
that everybody loves her, because I
know they cannot help it.
Mrs. Slipperkin's eyes are likewise
brown, but they have more snap in
them than Mrs. Coppertip'5. Her hair,
too, IS brown, and and very pretty, be-
ing full of snarly curls, which she loves,
but which are quite dreadful to brush.
know she doesn't love everybody, for
she goes to school, and have heard her
say that she "hates' Laura Brown, and
despises" Amelia Lake, and 90 can't
endure" somebody else and so we Judge
from this that Laura and Amelia and
somebody else, do not love Mrs. Slip
perkin either.
Mrs. Coppertip has three children, all
of whom have been extremely unfor-
tunate.
One has lost an arm, another both
legs, and the youngest, shocking to say,
once lost her head, which was afterN ards
found, and is now very insecurity fast
ened on with white wax
In spite of their misfortunes, they
are very still and well-behaved, and
their mother loves them dearly. She
does not believe in dressing them too
finely; she does not think it is good for
children to be so much interested in
fashion and then, besides-this is be-
tween ourselves-she is not much of a
sewer, and really finds it impossible to
put many stitches in their dresses so
they are made of calico, and all the en-
broidery is done with the scissors.
When her youngest child, Evelina,
was baptized, she attempted a little
more, and actually hemmed the skirt of
her dress all around but every stitch
was marked by drop of blood, where
the cruel, sharp needle pricked the pa
. tient little finger, and / counted three
great big stains on it, caused by the fall
of three great big tears.
The SlIpperkin children, on the con-
trary, are always decked out in the
finest of clothes.
1 clnnot positively state that Mrs.
Slipperkin is fond of sewing, for we
have to quote the old saying, GA stitch
IN time, saves nine, great many times
IN the course of year. But, though
she can endure rents in her own dresses
with perfect calmness yet she must
dress her children we'll, or be wretched.
If the sewing will not bear inspection.
can affirm positively that the long
stitches are all on the under side.
She says, with great pride, " My chill
dren haven't got one calico dress TO
their pames-sOW
"How many children have you, Mrs.
Slipperkln ?" said particular friend of
hers to her one day.
"Three, and baby" was the an
swer but why the baby, poor innocent !
is not called a child, have been unable
to discover.
The only difference I can perceive be-
tween it and the remainder of the fami-
ly, is that it wears long clothes and
as it has lost both legs, 1 always sup
posed that long clothes were a necessity.
Mrs. Slipperkin has a brother, Joe, a
big boy, who wears cowhide boots,
which make a perfectly fearful noise (;
and he has no conception of the sort of
thing a headache is, never having had
one himself.
The two ladies wanted Joe to take
the house next to them IN the attic,
adopt a family, which they offered to
give him 90 for nothing" and call him
self Mr.. st. Clair, whose wife had re-
Gently died.
But Joe said it was "girls' play"
and he wouldn't try it after the first
.dav. Then he took the plaster-of- Paris
children, poor infants and fed them to
J,;e oISobaue - 81 NjcbOf0S