Good News for Husbands.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 3 July 1914, Page 2

Good News for Husbands.

FAMILY DRESS BIL"LS REDUCED BY HALF.

There is hope yet for the harassed husband who stands appalled at the size of his wife's millinery bills and the other everyday bills run up in the household. It is not what we eat that costs, it is what you wear, laments the average husband, but in all this diatribe against the high cost of living, a glimmer of hope is appearing in the darkness for the American husband, and then, probably, for the Britisher, too. The wearing of hats, boots, and stockings made of aluminium is to be made compulsory by Congress. Man, the head of the family, is to be released from some of the bills that come in every month to sadden his life. Someone has discovered that these metal hats can be made for a minimum price. The great Value of this metal when used for feminine garments is that it never wears out. This may seem a disadvantage ro the woman who changes .her gowns ten times a day and her hats every time she changes her gowns. But wait. An aluminium hat, made of soft, pliable metal wire, can be twisted a different shape every time it is put on. And, incidentally, it will be entirely waterproof, a great advantage indeed. Such a hat can be sold for ss. It will last a lifetime, and will always look new. Is it any wonder that husbands all over the country are interested in the "Aluminium Bill ?" Women will object, of course, but merely because they know this metal Dnly in their kitchens. "Wear a fry-

ing-pan on my head ? Never!" the feminine supporters of the milliners cry. Not at all, madam, explains the aluminium expert. The raw material, fresh from the earth, is not made iii|o,_y6ur hats and boots. If it were, the cost of the everlasting hat would be Is. No, the ingot metal has to he rolled out exceedingly fine and drawn into thin, flexible wire, then into twisted threads. These threads are as thin as those that form the strawbraids or the woollen threads that are made up into clothes. Hats made of these threads are exactly as flexible as Panama hats, and very nearly as light. They are as durable as life ; and as tough as hemp. Shoes of aluminium have been proven to be worth their weight in gold, for they also wear a lifetime and are completely, waterproof. When people wear aluminium shoes, say the enthusiasts, we will have no more pneumonia or bronchitis. Hurt the feet ? Not at all. The wires of threads used in boots, while heavier than those used in the hats, are, nevertheless, much softer than many of the leathers already in use.—"Tit Bits."