Dear Heloise:

After reading the comments in your column about things accumulating in the bottom that clog up dishwashers (Heloise here: labels from jars), I’d like to add another thing to check for when one’s dishwasher stops working properly.

I thought I was going to have to replace the dishwasher, which had stopped working. It wouldn’t fill. I don’t recall what prompted me to do it, but I checked the opening from the drain tube that connects from the dishwasher to the garbage disposal. It was plugged with grease. I decided to replace the tube instead of just cleaning it out. A few bucks, a couple of minutes and some elbow grease later, and the dishwasher was working fine. —

North Beach, Md. Clean stovetop Dear Heloise:

I read your column every day in The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va. I was cooking soup and had to bring it to a boil. I did not watch it, and the soup boiled over. It was a cream soup, and it left a mess on the burner. I could not get it clean. Then I remembered baking soda. I made a paste and worked on the mess quickly, getting it clean. —

email C.F., Margaret T., via

Baking soda to the rescue again! Using baking soda as a nonabrasive cleaner in the kitchen is a great hint for all readers! For more money-saving, ecologically friendly cleaning hints using baking Today is Wednesday, Aug. 24.

longdormant Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic ash; an estimated 20,000 people died.

the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre of French Protestants at the hands of Catholics began in Paris.

during the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the Capitol (which was still under construction) and the White House, as well as other public buildings.

the Treaty of Cordoba was signed, granting independence to Mexico from Spanish rule.

Congress passed a measure creating the Alaska Territory. Congress approved legislation establishing Parcel Post delivery by the U.S. Post Office Department, slated to begin on Jan. 1, 1913.

Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, making her the first woman to fly solo, nonstop, from coast to coast.

the North Atlantic Treaty came into force.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

France became the world’s fifth thermonuclear power as it exploded a hydrogen bomb in the South Pacific.

an explosives-laden van left by anti-war extremists blew up outside the University of Wisconsin’s Sterling Hall in Madison, killing 33-year-old researcher Robert Fassnacht.

Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in soda, order my pamphlet by going to www. Heloise.com, or by sending $5 and a long, selfaddressed, stamped (68 cents) envelope to: Heloise/Baking Soda, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001. Use a damp sponge and a little baking soda to clean your kitchen sink and stainless-steel items as well. Make sure to wipe clean when done. —

Heloise Reuse containers Dear Heloise:

Here is a hint for reusing the plastic cups that individualsize applesauce and fruit snacks come in. When making gelatin or pudding at home, these cups make perfect containers to hold them. And they are just the right size for snacking. I even make cups of nuts, trail mix or cubed cheeses, and seal the top with self- sealing plastic wrap for grab-and-go snacks. —

Lisa W. in Indiana Baking hints Dear Heloise:

Idoalot of baking for bake sales and other events. Instead of using toothpicks to hold up plastic wrap away from icing, I use drinking straws. I get a pack of drinking straws and cut them to lengths around 3 inches. Insert them slightly into the cake, and place plastic wrap over the straws. They don’t poke through plastic wrap like toothpicks do.

I also save wraps from sticks of butter and lay them over my fresh-baked rolls. This allows the leftover butter on wrappers to melt over rolls while also helping to cover them up. —

A. Dove in West Virginia Cookie crumbles Dear Heloise:

I save the cookie crumbs that are left behind in the package to use as ice-cream topping. —

Denny T., Lexington, Ky.

prison for murdering John Lennon. (Chapman remains imprisoned.)

Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned Pete Rose from the game for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds.

Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida, causing $30 billion in damage; 43 U.S. deaths were blamed on the storm.

The International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a full-fledged planet, demoting it to the status of a“dwarf planet”; Patricia Tombaugh, the widow of Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh, called the decision“disappointing”and “confusing.”

A defiant Moammar Gadhafi vowed from hiding to fight on“until victory or martyrdom”and called on residents of the Libyan capital and loyal tribesmen across his North African nation to free Tripoli from the “devils and traitors” who had overrun it. Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple Inc.; he was succeeded by Tim Cook.

U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, their longtime friend Anthony Sadler and British businessman Chris Norman were presented with the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Hollande, who credited them with tackling a heavily armed attacker and preventing carnage on a high-speed train headed to Paris. “Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things and I’ll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things.” — Lawrence D. Bell, American aircraft manufacturer (1894-1956).