Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-11-25
WOMAN'S PATIENCE.
Mrs. Sweetbrier's Tinkering Eforts-in-
valuable Testimony to Female Persever-
anee and Equaninrity of Mind.

other morning. 1.-THE water tank to tn,
cook stove needs fixing; it leaks"
Something always leaks" gruffl,
responded Swectbrier. well, VIII,
don't you mend it?"
Me mend it. dear. how can I?' sale
meek Mrs. 5.
with your mending stuff. of course
didn't you buy some wonderful solder
of peddler the other morning. thai
needed nothing to go with it but hole?'
Sweetbrier answered sarcastically
seeming request for him to take
the tank to u tin-shop.
''Well-but''-gently acknowledged
the lady. ''that was for mcnding such
little holes as come in tin basins and
pans: not for copper vessels"
If you've any gumption at all YOU
can mend anything with il" What S
the Use of buying things if you can't
use EN-? It's easy enough, | could dc
it in two minutes. Just hold it over a
lamp fame till it : warm, then stick on
the solder.
Well" sighed Mrs. S, .I'll try,
but | think it will be pretty heavy to
hold up over lamp with one hand
while the other is busy soldering. You
know the article mended wants to be
hot
Hot nothingr' returns Sweetbrier,
.'you can do il in five minutes; and
don t forget to scrape the spot first TO
get it clean" With this parting bit OF
advice he put on his coat and went
down town.
After doing the household .'must-be-
dones," Mrs $. got her materials all
ready and started bravely in. Seeing
that the tank would stand no show OF
becoming hot enough over a lamp. she
tried getting the poker-that favorite
utensil of woman-rcd hot, and applied
it to the spot to heat it up, first having
dug out the hole with pin, and find
ing the seam at the edge of the tank
was opened a little. Making no head.
way with the poker, she had recourse
to live coal, and after numerous mar.
row escapes of finger and table from
uui mn X sHt louiiu iht pliCt nol
enough and began to rub over il a
stick of solder about an eighth of an
inch thick and four inches long.
Repeated trials by pouring water in
the tank showed only dismal failure.
A happy thought struck her; why not
mend the thing on the inside with
putty, letting it dry on. Action fol.
lowed thought. and she hunted out Il
hunk of old. hard putty left from the
last fixing" of the window, and pro-
ceeded with the hammer to knock off a
piece. Seeking her machine-oil can
she oiled up, working it in with the
hammer. As soon as il was sof; enough
she plastered the corner for two inches
each way, on the inside With sigh of
relief and a prayer for the success Of
the job, she put the tank on the back
Of the stove to dry.
At dinner Sweetbrier casually re-
marked: did You tix the tank?'
Il did. or think l did," answered
Mrs. S., without any enthusiasm and
with secret hope that he would let it
alone till she saw if it would hold
water.
But before she left the table Sweet
brier was up and looking it over for
turning it around till he spied
the solder
"JuSt like woman-went at it
t'other end to. Didn't you know
enough to put the solder on the inside?"
and after knocking it off with his knife
he held the tank to the light to find the
hole. What's this stuck in here?"
he exclaimed, making a dive at the
putty.
Its putty, dear" said Mrs. s.. in 4
tone, now that all had been
found out.
"Well. well," shifted Sweetbrier,
.'women are terribly foolish about some
digging the offending SUBJ
stance off. Now its Just as easy to
tiX this thing as can be, if you only go
about it right. Just scrape everything
off clean and put your solder inside.
Some folks don't know much anyhow"
he sniffed again, putting the tank down
on the floor pretty hard.
Silently Mrs. S. and the little SIS
looked around. From experience she
knew that when her other half was in
that trim the less said the better, and
she onl Y ventured the remark that there
was no good way of heating the thing.
Set it on top of the stove or put it
On the grate-fire.' snapped Swectbrier,
Is he put off again. Once more Mrs.
5. buckled to. and this time determined
to ..do or die She did stick the
corner of the tank on the bright CRATE
Goals, revealing streak of lisht all
through and around the corner. Piece
after piece of her precious solder
melted away, running through the OPEN
ng and on to the Goals and hearth. till
heated herself by the fire and effort,
she gathered some of the drops of
solder that had cooled on the hearth,
and heating the poker again in the
glowing fire, first placing the drops
over the holes, she ran the poker over
hem till at last she thought success
lad crowned her efforts.
Telling Bridget to fill the tank and
place it in its position in the stove, she
lrew long sigh of thanksgiving and
old Sweetbrier at night the thing was
lone.
No remarks being offered, congratu-
atory or otherwise, by that gentleman,
he rested easy. On coming down to
breakfast the next morning and looking
ntO the kitchen she discovered stream
Il dirty water across the floor. Bridget
aid: ut leaks, num-" and so it did.
After Sweetbrier had left, she in
estigated. The tank was emptied Of
he small quantity of water remaining in
!, and observing some drops and
freaks about the back of the stove, she
old Bridget to open the cleaning holes
4 the stove. About half pailful of
lack, sooty water was drawn out, and
Vhen the muss was cleaned up Mrs.
'weetbrier's face wore settled look Of
etermination, and when she informed
'NeetlEier at noon that il she HaSte1