Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-05-05
An Economical Experiment.

An ECOuOullC8l EAUtElluCutO
"We'n stain the floor this summer"
said Joan Van Rensselaer,; "it's cooler
for hot weather; everybody's doing it."
sWho'H do the staining?" said DARBY
Livingston.
"OR, I'll do it. Mrs. Dye did hers,
and ever so much cheaper than the
painter. She's given me her recipe.
Now, I'll tell you what you must get
for me at the paint shop"
Darby groaned internally.
.'First coat-Half-and-half of burned
lumber and sienna; also, half-and-half
linseed oil and turpentine, with a little
japanese dryer. That's the first coat.
That must dry. Then fill all the cracks
with red putty. The second coat is half
and-half burned sienna and lumber to
one-third oil and two-thirds ~turpentine,
with q great deal of japanese dryer.
Then varnish. There!"
Darby was next seen carrying manyp pint
bottles from a paint-shop and emitting
in the street-car strong smell OF tur-
pentine and varnish. He was then re-
quired to search for sundry tomato cans
in which to mix the stain. AT any other
time hundreds of empty tomato cans
would have been seen kicking about the
streets. He had for years been pursued
and waylaid by empty tomato cans.
Now, not a tomato car could be found
all gone. Not a neighbor or friend
had an empty tomato a A full day
was required to hunt up two empty
tomato cans wherein to mix the floor
stain. When these were found all the
absent tomato cans again appeared.
Now that they were not wanted, they
lay insultingly about his door and got
under his feet. The ashmen put every
thing in their carts but tomato cans
Darby picked up half a dozen, deter
mined never again to be out of tomato
cans.
Then it was Joan's turn. She did
the staining and vanishing. A friend
loaned her a brush; it was a small
brush, too small by half. A bigger
brush would have painted twice as much
in half the time. There was a great
deal of mixing the first day of burned
lumber, sienna, oil and %turpentine. Joan
stained, first the floor, then herself, then
the washboards, in patches and blotches,
then more of herself, and, finally, more
or less of the hard-finished wall, in spat-
tiers and blotches.
"HelloH' cried Darby, breaking rude
ly in on the poor girl, hard at work on
her knees. Who's been squirting to-
bacco juice on this wall?"
"It's the brush which spatters,n said
she.
"Makes you freckled, don't it?" said
he.
"Oh, do shut up!" said she.
"But, see here" he continued, "the
stain don't seem to ~equalize. 'Tisn't an
equal thing. Here is a part of your
floor butternut color, part yellow, part
mahogany. How's that? Looks like a
map Of Europe"
"Well, you see the cans were so small
l had to make so many separate mix.
ings of the stuff, and every mixing
somehow makes a different COLOR"
ooh, dear! how my knees do ache!''
said Joan. Joan stained all that day
the floor and herself, the washboards
and the ceiling. Everything had to be
taken out OF the two rooms being
stained. They dined in the kitchen
wherein chairs, sofa, parlor table, extra
c~oal-scuttles, sewing-machine, trunks
tubs, bedsteads, boxes and other furni,
ture tried to mob the happy pair anl
get on their table.
The floor was not dry next day. At ear.
" morn Joan, going forth to inspect he,
work, discerned through the two rooms
a double line of male foot-tracks i'm.
printed on the still sticky surface.
81 told you not to go in the rooms TIL
they were dry said She, reproachfully
to Darby.
"'Twasn't me-" he said, stubbornlv
"Who else could it have been? Dc
you mean that mine are those huge foot
marks?" said she.
cit was the cat!" said he. "Pshaw,
I must have walked in my Sleep"
On the third day she puttied the
cracks with red putty. She had no idea
before how much putty some cracks
wanted. They seemed hungry for rec
putty. Darby was kept on the trot at
ter putty; also. more ~turpentIne, oil
lumber, sienna, japanese dryer and
yarnish. Darby smelled like a paint
shop. So did she. So did the house.
The third COATS now going on. Darb,
is buying extra pints Of turpentine a
the drug store at . high price. Joan's
back feels as if it had broken in the
middle. Her knees have spawned, and
she can't get up without help, but she
is resolved to stain or dye in the at.
tempt.-Prenticc Multord, in San Frau.
cisco Chronicle.