Evening star., 1945-11-26
Readers Clearing House
ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

ANSWERS TO QUERIES.
(From G. O. w., HyattSuille.)
Travelling by car: If you build III
the back seat level for the babies
be sure the doors and windows ar,
fixed so they can't fall out. I mad,
a four-day trip alone with two, ther
IA and 10 months, leaving the old
est in the back seat. She slept mos
Of the time on the seat and stooe
up looking over my shoulder wher
she was awake. The baby ratified
around the front seat and usually
draped herself around my neck like
q fox fur to 60 to sleep. JUS
eased her down beside me wher
that happened. Neither of then
will use baby car seat, and neither
got a bump the whole trip. Thi.
was at the height of the polio epi.
demic summer before last and hac
to 60 to khe hospital in the center
OF it for business reasons on the
way to Norfolk. I carried all fooc
and water we used on the entire trip
The children had baby food, cookies
canned fruit juice and boiled water
I sterilized about fifty 3-for- dime
nursing bottles, filled them with
boiled water, and sealed them. Wher
I made the baby's formula, poured
out the top half of the water for q
drink for the oldest child and filleo
the bottle from small can Of
evaporated milk.
The trip took about a day longer
than usual, since it was necessary
to stop the car while feeding the
children. Also had to stop while
it was still light as I was afraid
to drive at night by myself in case
the car gave up the ghost somewhere
in the wide open spaces. How
ever, the children seemed to get
along all right. They had few toys
but didn't use them much. If they
fretted I gave them a cracker till
we were all covered with crumbs
Il do not advise soda crackers fol-
trips. Animal crackers are less
brittle)
4 wish some of the people who
write smart articles on travelling
with the baby with one small neat
bag and keeping hand-boxy in the
process would try to do it for about
three or four days. If possible, ]
would provide them with a baby
who was not house broken and got
car sick and was just old enough to
refuse to stay in one place. I think
they would give up writing or give
up the baby-one or the other.
Cleaning Venetian Blinds: know
of no way to get them clean but
the time-deyouring method of dust
ing each slat from end to end with
a dust cloth in the hand. I have
tried the fingered wool busters made
for the purpose, but they merely
exasperated me. For quick dust
ing just slant them shut and dust
them down with either the floor
dust mop-which does not soil them
as you might expect-or a ceiling
brush. In a real cleaning, do one
section from top to bottom, move
over, and do the next. Use a cloth
large enough. and the same stroke
will do the bottom of one and the
top of the next one.
The finish of the blinds has a
great deal to do with the ease of
cleaning them. I had some with a
dull, chalky finish that I used soap
and water on with poor results
Then I had new ones put in with
what the maker called dust
proof" finish-evidently very high
gloss enamel-and they stayed
cleaner and busted clean. When
they got rained on I just wiped the
water off with cloth and they
cleaned again. I hope I can get
the same finish if I get any here
for my present quarters.
Curtains and Venetian Blinds: It
is evidently a matter of personal
choice whether the blinds are used
with glass curtains and draperies
or simply with the latter. I have
seen them both ways in lovely homes
and have seen them illustrated in
magazines and leaflets on curtains
as if it depended entirely on per-
sonal taste.
Mildew on Leather: I had a blue
leather jacket that had a light coat
of mildew over most of it. I used
can of light shoe polish on it after
hanging it in the sun for a day and
it was as good as ever. I have read
that saddle soap should be used
but never tried it,
II