Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-04-29

HOLD
| lINTS

Madam Moth. the willy water bug, the
avant couriers OF the fly family and other
creatures of the insect world still more
to be abhorred, are one by one making
their appearance on schedule time and
the housewife who would circumvent
them must be up and doing. 1t is another
case of the early bird catching the
worm" Vigilance at the outset Is far
and away more efficacious for their I'M
doing than the most strenuous efforts to
cope with them once fairly entrenchsd
and doing each their part to replenish the
earth. And first
BEWARE THE MOTH MILLER.
Even now she is house hunting from
cellar to garnet, and the only way to dis
courage her is to smte her hip and
thigh"
She loves the darkness. She is partial
to grease spots and soiled farments, and
If she belongs to the Buffalo branch of
the family she has fine taste in scarlet
that leads her to follow line straight
across a breadth of carpet cutting as
clean with knife Let the air and
sunshine into every room as much as You
possibly can. Wash or dry clean every
thing that is soied then pack away Sc
curely all small wool articles that you
are not going to use through the summer.
Large garments and furs are preferably
left where they can be examined once a
month. Oriental rugs are better used
straight through the season. but nev,r
turn them upside down. thinking that Will
save wear on them. Instead of that 1t
Injuries them, for any oriental rug grows
silkier and finer with wear on its face but
walking or beating on the back tends to
break the threads of the warp and damage
the rug. If you have a summer cottage,
take your rugs along and use them on the
floor, the porch, or even the lawn. For the
housekeeper tied to heavy stationary car
pets the danger from moths is much greet
err; especially when the house is closed for
the summer. In this case the carpets
should be taken up, thoroughly beaten,
then sprayed out of doors with benzine,
and allowed to air for several hours before
being returned to the floors. Meanwhile,
sweep and dust the rooms, wipe down the
walls. wash the floors with hot water, care
fully cleaning out the cracks, then spray
under baseboards and in cracks with Kero-
sene or benzne If the cracks are wide, IT
is advisable to fill with plaster of paris IN
a liquid state, or some of the numerous
crack filters now in the market. This
lessons the number of harboring places
for insects. Before relaying the carpet
place upon the floor, in addition to the
regular carpet pads, layer or tarred
roofing paper or several layers OF news
paper, for moths have small liking for
printers ink. Then, when the carpet is
relaid, tack lightly around the edges, 81
that it can be occasionally retitted ana
examined. If at any time there seems 10
be a suspicious spot, in either rugs or car
pet, lay damp cloth over the spot d a. ~
adjacent territory and press with hJl
iron. The escaping steam will kill both
eggs and larvae.
To Care for Furs.-There is growing
practice among possessors of handsome furs
to send them for the summer to the large
fur stores. where they are put in cold stor-
age properly safeguarded from thieves ana
fire, and all this for a comparatively small
sum. This is a sensible idea, especially II
there is any repairing of furs to be at
tended to. Not only are the turner's
re- n q
when work is slack, but there is no extra
storage for the furs. Still other thrifty
souls claim that the cheapest, safest way
to care for their fUrs is to take them TO
some of the large pawn shops, where they
receive the best of care and can be re-
claimed in the fall. For the great major
ity of women, however, VINO prefer TO care
for their furs at home, a vigorous beating
with a rattan furniture whip, slender
cane or stout switch is the thing to con-
jure with. This is the advice given by the
most reliable furriers and the method they
themselves employ. Spread on bare Ia
BILE, where the light is good, and beat long
and vigorously. This dislodges eggs as well
as larvae. If furs or other garments are
put away with the eggs already secreted,
no amount of tar paper, cedar chips, to-
bacco or moth balls will suffice to stay the
ravages of the hungry newly matched lar
vac. After the whipping and airing mot
in the sun, however, which is disastrous TO
fine seaD, go over them with a furriers
comb or whisk broom, brushing up and
down. If soiled about the neck, get fine
white bird sand heat in the oven until as
hot as you can bear your hand In it, then
rub through the fur up and down When
quite clean brush with a soft whisk. Turn
pockets inside out and brush carefully;
then replace with little packages of moth
balls, cedar or camphor done up in tissue
paper. Neither moth balls nor camphor
should be laid in next to the fours. Wrap
them in tissue paper first Now pack in
newspaper, boxes, paper bags, moth bags
or new cotton cloth, whose odor they also
object to; then lay smoothly in boxes or
barrels, also lined with heavy tar paper.
or else layers of newspaper. In packing
these have all the heavier articles at the
bottom, but each one plainly labeled with
its owners name and the name of the ar
ticle. After the box is closed atfix list
of contents to its cover, where 1t can be
easily seen and contents noted without
overhaulins. A few bits of charcoal scat
tered among the contents of box that is
not to be opened for some time viii pre-
vent the musty odor that frequently hovers
clothing from which the air has been
long excluded
Upholstered Carriages and Furniture
Where cloth lined carriages and uphol-
stored furniture are to be left for the sum-
mer, brush we'll especially about the tufted
portions, then spray generously with naph-
tina or benZine, using, If you like, small
sprinkler such as is used for house plants.
Neither naphtha nor benZine will spot the
most delicate fabrics, and the odor Will pass
IN q rev hours. vi course, every one SHOULD
understand that no light, even from pipe or
cigar. should be allowed while this work is
going on. as the vapOr from these fluids is
exceedingly infiammabe. For carriages 1t
is well to repeat the spraying again in
June and August. After furniture has been
well sprayed, wrap the legs with soft paper
and old muslin and cover the upholstered
portions with tar paper, then old muslin
which has pieces of camphOr gum tied in at
intervals.
Cockroa ches or Waterbugs.-W these
are sometimes designated as clean bugs"
meaning that even the most careful of
housekeepers can never be sure of remain
ing immune from their catholic attentions,
they not to be encouraged to remain.
Their favorite habitat is about the station
airy tubs around the water pipes, kitchen
boiler. sinks and pantry shelves They, too.
love darkness and the approach of light
sends them scurrying to cover. While roach
salts and other patent foods intended for
their delectation and consequent immola-