FROTH BLOWERS’ ORDER

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3633, 3 May 1927, Page 1

FROTH BLOWERS’ ORDER

ENGLISH ORGANISATION

MONEY GIVEN TO CHARITY.

The recently-formed organisation known as the Ancient Order of Froth Blowers was the subject of a question asked in the House of Commons recently by Mr. Kirkwood, socialist member for Dumbarton.

When it became known that Mr. Kirkwood had given notice to ask the Home Secretary if he was aware that the balance-sheet of the society showed receipts totalling £16,545, and expenditure amounting to £11,139, leaving a sum of £5406 for charitable purposes, and whether he proposed to take steps to have the accounts of the organisation inspected, a statement was made by Sir Alfred Fipp, King’s Surgeon and “Grand Typhoon of the Froth Blowers.”

Sir Alfred, or Froth Blower No, One as he is known in the order, said:—

“To anybody who does not know, the size of the expenditure may seem extraordinary. But, really, it is not. Every Froth Blower _gets in exchanges for his five shillings a pair of silver cuff links and a booklet.

“These things cost money. It is made perfectly plain in the booklet that 1/6 out of the 5/- goes to charity; the rest goes in the inevitable expenditure. Now that the number of Froth Blowers has topped the 300,000 mark, the mass production of the links and booklets will probably mean that we shall get 2/- for charity out of every Blower. There is no question at all of anybody making any money out of it. Over £20,000 has already gone to charity, and this, of course, will be shown in the next balance-sheet.”

Mr. Bert Temple, a city man, who thought of the idea, when recovering from a serious operation, to express his gratitude, said the order now had two offices in Lon-

don. [Fourteen ,c(|erks were employed in them. “We get more than 3000 letters a day,” said Mr. Temple. “Those clerks are the only people who are getting a farthing out of the order —and, as we realise that each clerk swallows up a thousand sub--1 scriptions, we do our best to keep the staff down.”