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Show FARManiHOMEKa UTAH 8TTE EXTENSION SRKVH'K AGKICL'LTtRF. BOMB FroNjHi By Mary Lois Reicherl Home Demonstration Agent HOLIDAY SAFETY Every good' hostess nowadays considers safety when she plans for holiday parties and house guests. The Christmas season is the' busiest time of the year for entertaining. Haste, crowds, confusion con-fusion and fatigue may all be accident ac-cident hazards at this season. It pays to plan against them. For safety against fire, buy or make Christmas decorations that are fire-resistant. Place Christmas greens away from candles and electric Light bulbs and away from heat or sparks from hearth fires. When arranging a dinner table centerpiece, remember that fires have been started by a combination combina-tion of greens or paper decorations close to lighted candles. The family Santa needs a fire-safe fire-safe costume. Sometimes Santa suits of untreated napped fabric, or whiskers of untreated cotton batting have proved hazardous. For fire protection have plenty of good-sized, steady ash trays around any room where a crowd will gather. Most people know that it pays to buy a fresh tree and keep it fresh by keeping it standing in a container of water. But the tree also needs to be anchored firmly so' that It can't topple. Place the tree out of the way of traffic lanes and doorways where people won't brush against it. Also, for fire-safety fire-safety place it away from the hearth and away from any up- draft such as occurs in a stairwell. Christmas trees that have toppled over in doorways have sometimes blocked exits when fire has broken brok-en out. Check the string of Christmas tree lights before, the holidays to be sure they are in good repair with tight sockets and all insulation insula-tion intact. Make sure not to plug too many lights into a single' wall outlet. Falls' are other accidents to plan against. The Safety Council stresses stress-es keeping walks and steps outdoors out-doors free of ice and snow or well sanded and having them well-lighted. well-lighted. All steps and stairways indoors need to be well-lighted too, and free of toys and other items that might turn an ankle or catch a heel and cause a fall. It's well to remember that visitors don't know their way around your house as your family does, so they need extra protection against any possible pos-sible fall hazards. If you wax floors before company comes, use a thin layer and polish so thoroughly thor-oughly the floors won't be slippery. slip-pery. Ee sure there are no skiddy rugs, hazardous especially to the older people. Avoid any extension wires that can be trip hazards or fire hazards. All familiar rules about safety in the kitchen apply especially to the' holidays when this room gets heavier use and often is more crowded. To avoid falls, wipe up promptly any' food that happens to spill on the floor, especially grease. Make sure that young children chil-dren are well away from the stove when the oven door is opened for the Christmas ham or turkey to come out, or when there's considerable con-siderable cooking on top of the I stove. The holidays are the time for I many traffic accidents which don't need to happen. Holidays travelers, -ven those driving only a few miles', need to take precautions against goins? too fast, especially at dusk or after dark, in a crowd. or in bad weather. |