Evening star., 1932-08-04
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

One aspect of home upkeep that ha,
! not been mentioned, as far as We car
| recall, is that of very minor repairs.
A great deal has been said about re-
building, and that sort of thing, about
large changes which might be made but
not very much emphasis has been put
on the hundred and one small matters
which need fixing.
Here is field for the extension OF
employment in legitimate way, utterly
without the necessity for resort to bally-
hoo, blubber and guSh.
Tell man he ought to have the face
of his house lifted" he may tell you
he prefers it as it is
If he can feel however. in his own
mind and heart, too, that a broken
pane in a window is a nuisance, and
that the old pillow he has stuffed in 1t
does not look very well, the chances are
very large that he will get it fixed.
Perhaps there are few homes, how
ever well kept. in which there is not at
least one small repair which might be
made, but which the householder, for
some reason or other, is not able to
make with his own hands.
Not every home owner Is his own
plumber, by any means. Or his own
carpenter, glazier, timer.
If he is not, he tends to take off his
hat to the handy householder who can
WELD a big monkeywrench with the best
of EN-. But he cannot.
Some men who can buy houses can
no more take care Of them than a good
sized rabbit could, that is. could not
personally make the necessary repairs.
Screens will stick. window cords
break, or get of<>1e roller; the hinges
on the garage dooAhave a disconcert-
ing habit of refusing to bulge at the
most inopportune time.
There are, no doubt. at least 1000
garage doors out of order in Washing
ton every day in the year.
One has to open them by trickery,
as it we're. II you are in the know" "
they respond only to the fellow who
possesses the secret
He presses down heavily on the right
side, gives it kick, and presses up on
the left.
With much groaning the door finally
opens.
Whenever any one else In the family
wants to take the car out he or she
must call in the master mind" who
possesses the exact combination.
There are at least 5000 kitchen doors
WHICH T6IuSe 10 open WITHOUT uluCn
juggling of the key in the lock.
These locks, in a stubborn mood,
have added little mystery of their
own to take them out of the class of
Just ordinary locks. which "do their
stuff" easily and pleasantly, as all good
locks should.
These particular specimens have to
be coaXed open. Merely turning the
key gets one nowhere at all. The key
must be turned just SO far, then given
q shake
After that 1t must be turned one
fourth a turn backward, after which
it is given another shake.
Then it opens easily enough.
Usually there Is only one member of
the family who has patience enough to
work out the solution of this really
trying problem.
He-or she-is the One who can
open the Kitchen Door.
If any one else wants to go out, he
must set up a clamor for the official
kitchen door opener.
The window cord is broken In the
pantry. A real handy man" could fix
it in few minutes, but Templeton
Jones is no handy man.
Every time he puts that window up
he wonders why he doesn't call in q
carpenter to Ak the blame thing.
In the meantime-and it is a mean
time which has lasted about a year
and half-he sticks a book under it,
to prop it up.
He keeps the book there solely for