CLOSING YOUR HOUSE DURING A SUMMER HOLIDAY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXII, Issue I, 7 January 1899, Page 27

CLOSING YOUR HOUSE DURING A SUMMER HOLIDAY.

It seems to be quite the fashion nowadays to close up our houses while we go away for our holidays, and 1 think it is a very good plan indeed. Of course, if we just close our windows and doors and cover nothing up we shall find our furniture in a sad condition when we come back. I think just a few words of how to leave home will be useful to those who intend to close their houses soon.

First of all have all the fire grates cleared out; rub grease or vaseline on the steel and brass ornamentations of the fireplace; pull down the registers. All lace and stuff curtains must come down, and the lace ones sent to the cleaners, and the stuff ones folded up and put away. The furniture must be covered up with dust sheets or newspapers. Hang newspapers over the windows before the blinds. Pull down the blinds. If you have gas, be sure and turn it off all over the house. Have your dustbin emptied. See that all your window bolts and locks are secure. All your silver and plated goods should be packed in a box and either sent to the bank or you should ask a friend to take charge of it. Send all your plants to a friend, and ask her to look after them for you. Leave nothing in your larder. Put all your china and glass in cupboards. The day before you leave home go to the nearest police-station and tell the officer in charge that you will be absent so long from home, and he will instruct the policeman on your beat to look after your house. You can give the policeman a couple of shillings on your return. Have all the bed clothes folded up and put under cover on the beds. Leave plenty of lumps of carbon scattered about your rooms to prevent moth. If you do all this, you will find when you come back that your house is in good condition, and that one day’s hard work will make it look as nice as you can wish.