The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-08-27
Bed.Bugs.

have had another bout with these
pests. How do they come? wish they
made noise like mosquitoes; but no!
they come upon you like thief in the
night, while all is quiet. am thankful
that a bite wakes me at once, else 1
might not have known to this day that
the enemy was in our midst 1t was
more than two weeks after felt the
first alarm, and lit a lamp to kill the foe,'
before Twas able to clean the suspicious
chamber. Every day [ turned up, the.
corners of the mattresses and exam
ined the bedsteads, and scrutihized all
the bedding and walls, but never bug
did | see except in the night. Only a
few, nights before the cleaning ! found
the first small bugs, half a dozen adults
having preceded them in previous
nights. l never sleep soundly when /
suspect bed bugs, but light lamp and
60 to, hunting whenever. L hear a child
chamber by examining all the clothing
as took it down from the hooks; all
the articles of furniture as / removed
them from the rooms; then every arti-
Gle of bedding, but with no success until
| came to the mattresses. On two cor
ners Hound the clusters of tiny white
eggs with some newly-hatched bugs, and
in two or three places in the spring bed,
nests which promised a prolific increase.
| All of the time was very careful not to
scatter them, preferring to hunt them in
the bedsteads, and hoping to run no risk
of getting them into the walls or under
the mob-boards. One slat at a time was
taken out carefully, watching at each
end, and then examined in every por-
ton before putting back. The whole
! bedstead was cleaned, and then the
cracks and joints brushed with am
monia. | like to use this because it kills
the bugs and Il belteUe, but am not GER
tain from my owp observatory destroys
the life of the eggs, but its powerful
smell brings out in dismay any bugs that
have escaped my eye. / use a fine knit
ting needle to poke out the cracks. |
kill all of the bugs, and crush all the
eggs that l see, and dose well with am
monia where | can not see. l found
only few full-grown bugs, and it
seemed to me / did the hunting and
destruction business very thoroughly,
but never feel sure that the work is all
done, and continue to watch and search
for some time after the big hunt. Ii
see another bug / shall try the new
remedy recommended to me by "a neigh
Dor. She says there is nothing like alum,
as she has learned by experience. Her
directions we're: FiDissolve alum in
water, using little more alum than the
j water will take up. Wash over every
possible place for bugs with this strong
solution, using rag or brush, as IS
most convenient" This remedy is safe
kand cheap, and is said to'be very effect
uaLl For log house, or in unfinished
rooms, how would it do to use "a white
wash brush, and 90 all over the walls,
floors and ceilingsp Alum is cheap, and
it is easily dissolved in water. y" f''1'
| | asked, q" How do they comepnl We
Iean not tell in each particular case, but
i by great care we can usually keep free
i from them, though the case is a hard
one when one moves into a house with
I infested wallis My neighbor lent an
umbrella, and when, after week or so,
It was returned, she opened it while
4 carving it to its place. She had no
thought of bugs, but there was poor
I. bungry-looking bed-bug in the folds of
: the umbrella! A hired man came to q
4 place to work, and the, next morning q
bug was found on the wall near his
yaiise. An overcoat was borrowed in
I storm, and in its folds was found a
bed bug y People who are very careful
never lay the outer clothing of visitors
!, upon bed, but upona table or chair
Il seems unkind to be so suspicious, but
my mother tells of seeing a great bed ped;
|, bug on the shawl of a visitor, as it was
handed to her, which so Disconnected
her that she impulsively started to carry
both bonnet and shawl into the wood
She'd. A very neat and lovely lady told
me of finding one of these repulsive
insects on the white stringsof her Leg
horn bonnet on her return home from
, church. Cor. american AgrEeuIt'trfst.
! LtRice Muffins.2Boil soft and dry
one.half cup rice, stir in three spoonfuls
7, sngar.l piece of butter size of an egg,
: and little salt, one pint Of sweet milk,
one cup yeast, two quarts flour. Let It
rise all night. If sour in the morning,
Il n Z. .saA