The Editor will gladly answer queries pertaining to individual problems of interior decoration and furnishing. When an immediate reply is 
desired, please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope 
For Damp Corners 
UAIEROUS devices have been re¬ 
sorted to in the attempt to sweeten 
musty places in cellars, or in closets that 
back against a brick or stone wall which 
becomes damp after rainstorms. Food 
kept in such places is unfit for use wdien 
there is any indication of mustiness or 
mouldiness. Charcoal and quicklime are 
known to be the best purifiers, and dry 
copperas and plaster and borax are also 
appreciated by the practical housewife in 
absorbing dampness and sweetening and 
purifying musty corners where it is some¬ 
times impossible for sunlight (Nature’s 
best purifier) to penetrate. It frequently 
happens, however, that even the most 
practical of these conscientious home¬ 
makers does not understand the best de¬ 
vices for applying the various remedies. 
The best plan for utilizing charcoal in 
the food closet, or in the cellar bins w’here 
fruits or vegetables are kept, is to suspend 
it in a net bag. Any coarse open net will 
be satisfactory. Make a number of bags 
sufficiently large to hold several large 
lumps of charcoal. Do not powder the 
charcoal, but fill the bags with the lumps, 
and after they have had an opportunity to 
display their marvelous power to absorb 
all sorts of bad smells and mustiness, and 
leave the atmosphere pure and sweet, their 
usefulness wdll not be over. 
It must be remembered that the power 
of charcoal to serve its purifying purpose 
is strictly proportioned to its freshness; 
and the freshening process is restored by 
heating. At least once a week take the 
charcoal bags down, empty them in a fire 
pot kept for the purpose and heat the char¬ 
coal very hot. The freshened lumps may 
then be restored to the net bags and serve 
a new period of usefulness. 
The most ingenious device for absorbing 
dampness from cellar and closet walls is 
found in a simple home-made contrivance 
in the form of a plaster-and-lime pad. 
Boxes of lime and jars of plaster are fre¬ 
quently set in damp corners, or near damp 
walls, with good effect; but their useful 
properties are not fully secured unless 
these disinfecting and purifying absorb¬ 
ents can be placed in the best form to be 
effective and easily handled. In the form 
of a pad with the layers of lime or plaster 
(or a combination of each) evenly dis¬ 
tributed. their absorbent qualities will be 
more than doubled. 
Tbe simplest plan for making these pads, 
for equal distribution of contents, is in the 
form of a quilted bag. Bags a foot or 
more square will be a convenient size. 
Simply make a number of cheesecloth or 
thin muslin bags, on the sewing machine, 
leaving one end open. Then run row's of 
stitching about tw'O inches apart the full 
length of each, and with a small funnel 
fill these compartments wdth the lime and 
plaster. Run a string through the upper 
section of the pad and hang by the tw'O 
upper corners, keeping the pad even and 
smooth against the wall. Only those who 
have tested this device can realize the 
value of the lime and plaster pad as an 
absorbent. 
A Useful Key Chest 
SMALL piece of furniture that will 
prove particularly useful in country 
houses where there are numerous doors to 
be kept locked, is a key chest that is de¬ 
signed to hang on the wall. It is only 
about fourteen by sixteen inches in size 
and is fitted with double doors which may 
be locked. The four rows of wooden 
pegs will hold any number of keys, all that 
are likely to be used in the average house 
at least, and as a permanent receptacle for 
these easily lost articles, the key chest 
should prove a decided factor in the sav¬ 
ing of time and temper. 
The chest shown in the illustration is 
quite an ornamental bit of furniture. It 
is made of rather heavy wood and the 
doors are decorated with a number of 
panels in different shapes, outlined with 
small strips of willow. The same idea, 
however, could be carried out in a much 
simpler chest, put together by any ama¬ 
teur carpenter, and fitted with hooks that 
screw in instead of the wooden pegs that 
require more expert work. Whether pro¬ 
vided w'ith doors that lock or not. the im¬ 
portant thing is to have a definite place 
wdiere the keys are kept, and w'here they 
may be always found. 
Steam Heat Precaution 
T HAVE found that some people run 
with very little w'ater in their steam 
furnace, thinking that it steams better 
with a small amount. This may be so. but 
it is a dangerous practice, for it will aston¬ 
ish the average person to learn how fast 
the water will disappear at times if there 
are any leaks in the radiator valves which 
allow the steam to escape without con¬ 
densing and so returning to the boiler in 
the form of water. Then there is also the 
likelihood that a person will forget to put 
the water in. and if it is always kept at a 
A useful key chest, which has pegs enough to hold all the keys needed in the ordinary house¬ 
hold, and which should prevent the awkward situation of a lost key 
(48) 
