WHITE RIVER VALLEY — One very chilly September day, caused by Big Al’s global warming, I was thinking back over the wide range of stories I have written in my columns. Uncle Mort might say, “Boy, ye shore plowed a rat smart piece of land.”

No doubt the Valentine Day columns that ran a few times got the most comments. Several women said they enjoyed those, and one cute teenage girl clipped it and put it on her bedroom wall. I also got some “death” threat from boyfriends and husbands when the lady in their life swooned because of it.

The column on various kinds of gravy was well received and several commented on trying some of the recipes. And, folks, people can’t seem to get enough of the old hill sayin’s and folk lore. So by request I would like to share some of the home remedies used by hill mamas of the past. Some of them are still used, although they may be altered because certain ingredients can’t be found.

Sprinkle dry coffee grounds on raw fish to keep the odor from effecting the ice box (or cooler). The coffee is easily washed off and will not discolor the fish.

After removing fish from a frying pan, fill the pan with hot water and add some vinegar. Let simmer awhile and that will clear away any odor from both the room andpan.

To remove warts, apply coal oil (kerosene), lemon juice and castor oil two or three times a day for a week.

Another wart remover: mix yolk of egg with enough salt to make a stiff paste. Put paste on wart and wrap it up. Repeat daily for a week.

When ripping open flour sacks, save all the string and roll into a ball. This is good better for patching overalls than store bought thread.

Hang a two or three foot piece of heavy string (like what is used in wrapping things at a store) in the center of a room. Light the bottom end and blow out the flame. Smoke from charring string will remove odors from a room.

If wood table has marks made by hot bowls or platters, a paste made of salt and olive oil will remove the mark.

Better than lotion for raw hands is vinegar rubbed into them well. This is also excellent for treating hands before and after scrubbing clothes or doing outside chores.

Juice form ripened black walnut hulls will cure ringworm.

To remove dandruff, steep a few dried peach tree leaves and apply thetea to scalp. Then add a cup of tea to the rinse water when washing the hair.

Use flour to bait mouse traps (my mom used bacon grease).

If you have a felon (pus filled infection around a nail), on a finger, pour out some gun powder, shake the powder down and add a few drops of camphor. In a few hours the pain will be relieved and a perfect cure will result. Warning! Don’t get the finger near a fire while treating it.

Folks, before good roads and vehicles made it possible to run to a doctor or drug store when injuries or other needs arose, mom or grandma was the one people looked to for treatment of an injury. Those remedies must have worked at least once or they would have stopped using them.

See you all again soon, Lord willin’ and my bandaged felon don’t explode and blow my writing finger off.

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Leonard Dunn covers a wide range of subjects from historical to fiction to amusing, but by his own account, most times writes from a Christian conservative, common sense, politically incorrect point of view.

Opinion, Pages 9 on 10/15/2009

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