The care of a fine rug is everything. Just as thoroughbred racers have luxury and affection lavished upon them, so thoroughbred rugs should be treated gently and tenderly. The broom should be used daily on them and they should be swept with the nap. Every third day after the sweeping, sawdust that has been slightly moistened should be sprinkled over the rug, which should then be gone over with a carpet-sweeper. Be careful to have the sweeping precede the application of sawdust, as otherwise the moisture will turn some of the dust into mud that caking itself in the threads will ravel the fibres. Once a week the rugs should be taken out on the lawn, spread surface down and then gently tapped – gently, mind – with a flat rattan beater.

50 Years Ago, 1956

An attempt to bar the press from most meetings of the Lewiston Board of Health and Welfare was scuttled last night.

Jules G. Goudreau, junior member of the board, picked up no support from fellow members when he sought approval of his suggestion that all but the last meetings of each month be held behind closed doors.

He moved for the change in policy at an executive session held in the building. It fell through when other members refused to second the motion.

25 Years Ago, 1981

The warning by the Army Corps of Engineers that there are 2,300 non-federal dams in the United States which are unsafe calls for remedial action on the part of the states. The nationwide inventory was initiated by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 after a dam owned by a Georgia college collapsed with a loss of 39 lives.

Four dams in Maine and 10 in New Hampshire were branded unsafe by the Corps of engineers. Their exact location has not been pinpointed publicly, but the information must be available to state and local officials. State officials should take action on the Corps report before another tragic accident takes place.