=Mending Books=: Take out of the covers, press square and solid, then paste over the back a strip of stout thin muslin, letting the edges project unpasted an inch either side. Dry under pressure, so the muslin will be fully rounded. Turn back the loose muslin accurately along the edge, paste it plentifully on the outer sides, then lay on the cover, press firmly in place, and dry under weight. When dry, paste in new fly leaves double fold. Paste the outer one to the cover, the inner one only lightly to the book. Removing old fly leaves spotted or defaced makes a better job of it. =Mending Lamps and Candlesticks=: Fasten loose lamp collars with white of egg and plaster; make as thick as putty and use quickly. Solder broken metal parts. Dust with powdered resin, lay on the stick of solder, and apply the hot iron. Tinkering thus needs only a little knack. It enables you to stop leaks in zinc or tin—as pipes, shields, and so on. Cooking-vessels are quite another story. =Mending Rubber=: This is a parlous business at best, still can be done. Get the best rubber cement, have the break very clean, apply, and let harden for a day at least. Breaks in hose, tubes, and so on had better be cloth-covered—after mending, of course. Indeed, the life of such things is trebled by covering them neatly before they break. Cut strips of cloth wide enough to go round, allow half an inch for turned edges, fold down, and whip together around the hose or tube. A big pipe can have a cover of canvas stitched up. Covering protects the surface and takes up a large part of the water strain. Fill breaks in rubber footgear with rubber cement, let harden, then put inside over the break a piece of strong, thin cloth, shaped to fit and coated upon one side with fish glue. The glue goes next the rubber; after it has hardened it takes the strain. =Darning=: Darning is an art, so much so one may well say there are torn things not worth a darn. If they are woolen things, mend with rubber tissue, smoothing the tear with a warm iron, then laying on the tissue and fixing it with a hotter one. Press again on the right side, and clip close any loose fibers.