Reader May Have to Play Second String

Mrs. H. S. Weir of Laguna Hills would like to find a bead-restringing kit for her Venetian-glass and other costume-variety jewelry. Can you help with a few pearls of wisdom, or will she feel she’s being strung along because nobody wants to draw a bead on a source?

Because of a medical problem, Alice Zrodlo of Valencia needs old-formula Questran , as made by Mead Johnson. The changed medication, now manufactured elsewhere, does not seem to do the job as well. Can you spell relief the old way for Zrodlo, or perhaps even come up with the name of a laboratory that will make the formulation, or will Zrodlo just have to grin and bear it?

Ann Shelton of Arleta cannot get her hands on Plasti-Tak , a reusable adhesive that’s used like putty and was manufactured by Brooks Manufacturing Co. of Ohio; you roll it into a ball and press it between surfaces that you want to join together. (If it’s no longer on the market, she’ll settle for something similar.) Can you help without pressing the issue too hard, or will Shelton not have a ball until she puts the squeeze on another manufacturer?

Reader-to-Reader Help Line: Mrs. Witman at (714) 984-7220 needs a Marsh Farms Mini Incubator Model TX6 for hatching desert tortoise eggs; the company seems to have moved. Please help before these tortoises take their place in the pecking order, or else Witman will know she’s laid an egg. . . . Speaking of deserts, Claire at (619) 347-8656 wants a copy of “Desert, the American Southwest,” by Ruth Kirk, which has long been out of print. Please see to it that Claire gets her just desert. . . . Frances at (818) 344-3685 needs several Melmac dinner plates ; because these are her everyday dishes, almost any pattern will do. Because Frances is hungry for information, let this request be food for thought. . . . Priscilla at (213) 863-3508 needs five books of Green Stamps and is willing to exchange Blue Chip stamps for them. Please do something colorful for Priscilla as soon as you’ve read this.

Note: The Reader-to-Reader Help Line is only for one-time items or for products no longer available in stores. And you must give us written permission to publish your telephone number, so that others may contact you directly.

For our many readers looking for all-cotton clothing, we have an additional source: Deva, Box S-89, Burkittsville, Md. 21718, is an 11-year-old cottage industry, with all-cotton products crafted locally by home-based stitchers who sew their names into the garments they make. Everything is unconditionally guaranteed. Send for a catalogue. The toll-free number is (800) 222-8024.

Virginia Lessing of Palos Verdes Estates got a letter from Maybelline, stating that they expect to have their Cake Mascara in the stores this fall. For more, contact Dianne Brunner, Maybelline Cosmetics, 3030 Jackson Ave., Box 372, Memphis, Tenn. 38151.

Anitra Earle of the Perfumerie, who specializes in difficult-to-find and discontinued fragrances, has moved. Her new address is 1026 K Street Mall, Sacramento, Calif. 95814, telephone (916) 442-8338.

Hain cannot answer mail personally but will, space permitting, respond in this column to readers who need--or have--helpful information. Write (do not telephone) to You Can Help!, You section, the Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles 90053.