While it was being made, a workman at first drilled the hole for the front tote screw in the wrong place, covered up his error by filling the hole with clay, and then flowed solder over the clay plug.  It was then japanned, concealing the error for perhaps 100 years.  Inevitably, water got underneath the japanning and lifted the poorly adhering solder. I opened up the mess to find out this story.

The flat bottom of the hole confirms that this was an inside job. The frog has a B casting mark; so does the Y lever; there are some minor pits  in the sole and some bigger pits in the right cheek near the tote. There are no cracks in the metal, 80% japanning, a repaired tote 
(http://www.georgesbasement.com/fixatote.htm)
and tight cracks around the base of the knob. The patina is a dark blue black. An inch of life remains on the "Stanley Rule & Level Co." blade.