The Forrest City times., 1899-06-30
CONCERNING CLOTHES MOTHS
some Valuable Information as to Protecting Furs ana Wcolens
 from Their Ravages.

The month of June is that in which
 he depredations of the clothes moth, Jhat most destructive of household pests, arc chiefly to be dreaded. Never safe from it, in the steam heated atmos- phcre of our city houses, the warm, damp evenings of the early summer, when furs and woolens, though little used, are still kept out in case of pos sible need, arc those in which it finds its greatest opportunities and works its most appalling mischief, mischief often not discovered until months later, when the cherished garment is found to be a ghastly wreck.
 Entomologists tell us that this inno- cent looking little silver gray insect, smaller than the ordinary house fly, lays 500 eggs; therefore it is no wonder that tine progeny of single moth miller is sufficient to destroy a whole garment and a large one at that. Your costly fur cape is lying on your lap in the carriage, as you take your drive, or tossed down on chair as you come in. In amongst it's silky hairs creeps Mime. Tinea Microlepidoptera and deposits her eggs where her offspring will find comfortable quarters and abundant food. Nature has provided her with the means of fastening the infinitesimal eggs securely at the very root of the hairs. Therefore when you give your furs cursory examination and lay them away until fall, alas and a-lack-a- day, when the fall comes the fur flies, and Ichabod is written above your beau- tiful wrap. So if you wish to escape such catastrophe, be careful. Pounds of tar and camphor will not preserve your garment if the moth eggs have al- ready been deposited when they are laid away. Practical experience proves that while the moth miller objects to strong odors of. any sort, the worm which does the mischief has apparently no oifactory organs, and will do it's deadly work in the midst of tar and camphor galore. If there are no moths in the garments when laid away, and you wrap them securely in newspapers moths, like other evil docrs, object to printers ink-you may feel reasonably secure that they are safe. The thing is tc make sure that no moths are in them, and that none can get at them.
 A cedar chest is nice thing to have, more especially if you live in a flat and it takes the shape of box lounge, but good packing trunk, lined with two thiclnesses of newspapers laid between the clothing at every layer is just as efficacieus for the preservation of the goods. Indeed, if you like, you may | keep your rugs on the floor all summer | and your wraps in the wardrobe, and if | you beat and brush them regularly twice week they are as safe as though packed away.
 | l once asked well-known furrier what moth preventive he preferred. | His answer was: "A man with stick" Then he went on to explain that all the garments in his shop were kept hang l ing in cedar-lined closets, and once a week, all the year round, were taken out and well beaten and examined. This proceeding rendered them per fectly safe. Nowadays the large houses use cold storage, and your costly furs which they insure for the summer are kept in rooms where the air is as dry as bone and many degrees below freezing. Any venturous moth who should gain access to the safety deposit chamber would be at once frozen stiff. This is also good for the furs, since
 warm weather is injurious to their
 beauty. A months wear in warm weather is harder on fine furs than years of use with the mercury at freez- ing.
 As the moth miller has a supersensi- tive nose, it rarely attacks any fur with scent, however faint. Sealskin is com. paratively safe from their ravages, and the beautiful skunk fur, which, how ever carefully deodorized, still retains a slight scent, is never molested. But in laying away your sealsllins be care. ful to see that every hair is in its correct position. Carelessness in this regard is certain to produce rough and rubbed effect which can only be rem edied by visit to the furrier and ex- pensive treatment at his hands.-Chi. cago Tmes-Herald.