Sharp County record., 1881-07-14
How to Destroy the Moth.


from the worst of all pests, the moth.
Moth preventives are numerous-or
they are advertised and talked about as
preyentives-camphor, tobacco, pep
per, snuff and the various insect pow
ders, and even liquids. These are all
recommended and all of them are en-
tirelv Intellectual, so far as destroying
the germ of the insect, from which the
larvae is hatched, which alone does the
harm, is concerned, and many OF them
are positively injurious, especially to
fabrics of delicate colors and to furs OF
extra value. Some of them rot the gar
ment or fur, and others stain while the
most of them fill the garments with
terribly diSagreeable odor. VINO does
not remember last fall, when the furs
and seaskins first came Out-in the
churches, the concert halls and in the
street cars-the horrid odor of camphor,
of filthy snuff and worse tobacco? One
Boston lady filled her sealSkin so full OF
pepper that when she came to put it on
she sneozed until she was lame. Every
one who came near her for several days,
when wearing her garment, was sure to
begin to sneeze, till the lady was so an.
moved that she laid her sealskin aside.
A friend came to her relief, however, with
the suggestion that the troublesome
sack be whipped with rods like a
naughty child.
The druggists have sold a vast amount
of camphor every year as moth pre-
ventive, beside other anti-moth nos
trums. Without any desire to injure
their trade let it be said that the idea is
all nonsense. Camphor, the best of all
the nostrums to Simply keep the parent
moth, when she comes to deposit her
eggs, away, is not at all sure, and very
often the trouble begins with the eggs,
which are already in the garment when
it is put away for the summer. Ask
the furrier who has had years of expe-
rience, and who insures furs against
moths, if he has any confidence in
camphor, or any of the rest of the pre-
ventives, and he will tell you no. He may
say that he sometimes puts camphor into
his packages containing furs, as itmay
help to keep the winged moth away, but
he places no reliance upon it whatever.
Well" asks the perplexed owner of
nice fur garment, "what does the fur
rier do? What are his remedies?" 1t
is Just here, lady reader, that you are
getting at the pith of this article, and
for the sake of putting you on the right
track, several of the Boston furriers of
long experience have been called upon,
and you shall have the benefit of their
experience.
The furrier who offers to insure your
garment will pursue the following
method He has a closet provided, 1t
is made of matched boards, as tight as
the carpenters can make it. The door
shuts tight against rubber bands like
weather strips. But this is not all.
The closet is lined with tarred paper,
and all the joints are sealed up with
tar or wax. The closet is air-tight-
moth-tight, unless the moth gnaws
through the wood like rat, and even
then, when he got to the tarred paper
he would stop. Moths do not like tar.
The closet is lined again with other
paper, so that the garment will not be
stained, Your garment, lady readers,
is hung up in this closet. Now you have
the idea. The door is shut and kept
closed The moths are shut out
You can take care of your own furs
Just as well as the furrier, and save the
expense. You can preserve them just
as another lady did last summer, who
was the owner of nice muff. She hit
upon the furrier's plan. She would
shut the moths out. A tin pail struck
her eye. She would put her muff into
that. The mutf was put into the pail, the
cover was put on and sealed around the
joint with wax and warm iron. The
muff was hermetically sealed. No out
side moth could get at it. The lady felt
safe about it, and she hung the pail
away in the closet with due confidence
till fall Then she opened the pail with
the help of hot iron. Her muff was
eaten to shreds, and about 10000 little
white-winged ghosts flew away. How
did they get in there?
Now, ladies, you have asked another
important question. They did not get
in at all. The lady shut them in, or
rather the eggs that made them. AL
ways shut up your furs perfectly tight,
but do not shut in the nasty little worms
that eat them, or rather a plenty of
eggs that they will hatch from. "But
how shall we get rid of these eggs"
you ask. Take the furriers method.
Provide yourself with two little whips,
switches of rattan, about three feet
long. Take your furs in hand just as
soon as you are done wearing them.
Do not let them hang in q warm closet
Or room over one night if you can avoid
it. Lay your fur or wooen garment on
a table before you, and 90 at it with
your two whips, and everlastingly pun
ish it, on all sides and in every direc-
ton, till not larvae nor an egg can ex-
ist. Every stroke with your whips will
not only help to destroy the germs of
the moth, but will help to free your fur
or garment from dust. Furs are partic-
ularly benefited by this whipping proc
ess. The furrier whips furs to liven
them up and polish them-every stroke
of the rattan makes them the more
glossy, and any loose fur is removed by
the same action.
When you have thoroughly whipped
out your furs or woolen garments then