MOTHER'S DOWN-HOME COUNTRY LORE

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First drag out your muffin tins and fit each cup with a paper liner. Then melt down a batch of paraffin In a doubleboiler and mix enough sawdust into the liquid wax so that the blend Is thick enough to spoon Into the paper-lined tins. Press the mixture down and let !t cool until it's solid . . . and you'll be ready to start up a flame "quick as a wink" in the lowest of temperatures that winter has to offer.

The next time you come in frostbitten from wind and snow or awaken in the middle of the night shivering in your fire's fading glow, just toss a "paraffin muffin"-paper and all on your fireplace grate or your hearth's dying coals . . . add some kindling wood . . . give it all a light

. . and in no time flat you'll have a roaring flame that'll keep you warm and toasty.

Or . . . you can light the same tire with recycled corncobs, report James and Billie Harper of Clinton, Kentucky. Pour about two Inches of kerosene Into an empty three-pound coffee or shortening can, stand five to six cobs in the tin, and let the whole thing sit for several hours. (Always handle kerosene with extreme care, James and Billie wisely warn . . . and keep this

highly flammable substance far from the reach of children.)

In the few short hours that your ears of corn sit steeping, they'll absorb a considerable amount of fuel . . . and, once they do, your flame starters will be ready for use. Just put one petroleum-laden corncob on the bottom of your hearth or fireplace, top with small sticks, then larger chunks of firewood . . . and touch a match to the saturated ear of corn. The cob will bum briskly for several minutes . . . plenty of time--you'll find-for your fire to perk up and get going hot and strong!

"Here's a good way to get more wear out of those winter long johns with the worn-out elastic waistband," write Michael and Luisa Tschetter of Rocheport, Missouri. "Just turn down the old elastic and stitch it to the garment to form a 112-inch casing. Leave a small opening in front

Then run a drawstring through the casing and you're all set for a few more years of warmth. It beats us why they don't make 'em that way in the first place!"

Out in Grants Pass, Oregon, Bruce W. Lytle has been using what he calls a "quickie dustpan" for over 50 years now. Whenever Bruce gets to feeling as if his house could use a good sweeping, he gathers together [t) his broom, [2] an old piece of newsprint, wrapping paper, or other such parchment, and [3] some masking or Scotch tape. Then after some brisk whisks of the sweeper-Bruce tapes the paper to the floor near his amassed pile of dust and brushes the dirt right over the adhesive strip and onto his improvised dustpan. Finally, he lifts up the tape, wads the whole shebang Into a ball, and disposes of the accumulated debris.

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