DEAR SUN SPOTS: Recently there was a writing about how to get rid of a wart. I lost the paper that told how to do it. Could you put it in the newspaper again? Thank you so much. — No name, Auburn.

ANSWER: Sun Spots recommends speaking to a medical professional about health concerns.

Sun Spots responded to a request for a “good old-fashioned home remedy to remove plantar warts on the foot” in the column on March 11, 2017, (tinyurl.com/j8rtsbl). The following is part of that response:

According to the Mayo Clinic, many people have removed warts with:

Peeling medicine (salicylic acid). Nonprescription wart removal products are available as a patch or liquid. Usually, you’re instructed to wash the site, soak it for up to 20 minutes, gently remove dead tissue with a pumice stone or emery board, and apply the solution or patch. Patches are usually changed every 48 hours. Liquid applications are generally used twice a day. You may not see results for several weeks;

Freezing medicine (cryotherapy). Nonprescription medicines that freeze the wart include Compound W Freeze Off or Dr. Scholl’s Freeze Away; and

Duct tape. You use this by covering the wart with silver duct tape for six days, soaking the wart in water, gently removing dead tissue with a pumice stone or emery board, and then leaving the wart exposed for about 12 hours. You repeat the process until the wart is gone.

According to the article, study results have been mixed on the effectiveness of duct tape in removing warts, either alone or with other therapies. More information from the Mayo Clinic about plantar warts can be found at tinyurl.com/jprxygn.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: In August 1909, Edwin A. Grozier, publisher of the Boston Post newspaper gave 700 New England towns a cane, to be presented with the compliments of the Boston Post to the oldest male citizen of the town, to be used by him as long as he lived (or moved from the town) and at his death handed down to the next oldest citizen of the town.

The canes were produced by J.F. Fradley and Co., a New York manufacturer, from ebony shipped from Africa. They were cut to cane lengths, seasoned for six months, turned on lathes, coated and polished. The canes’ heads were 14-carat gold, hand-decorated and engraved with the inscription, “Presented by the Boston Post to the oldest citizen of (name of town). To Be Transmitted.” The cane would belong to the town and not the man who received it. In 1930, after considerable controversy, eligibility for the cane was opened to women as well.

With the passing of Marion Additon at age 100 this March, the Leeds Historical Society, in conjunction with the Town of Leeds, is trying to determine to whom the Boston Post Cane should now be presented. In order to be considered the town’s oldest citizen, you must have resided in and/or been eligible to vote in Leeds for the past 20 years. If you think you are, or know of someone who might be the oldest citizen, please contact the Leeds Town Office at 207-524-5171.

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