NEWS BREVITIES.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 369, 25 February 1937, Page 5

NEWS BREVITIES.

Company Office. . The Wellington Tow* Hall is now a company office. A plate affixed to the wall at the main entrance announces that in the building is the registered office of the ’New Zealand Centennial Exhibition* litd.

Not Understood. That. the. title Clerical Worker* 1 Union should have been chosen for the union of clerks and typists wa* unfortunate, said Mr W. N. Pharazyn, secretary of the union, addressing members of the Wellington Chapter of the Institute of Secretaries last night. Many people, he said, when they heard of the union, gained the impression that members belonged to a body of church workers. (Laughter.)

"Paid Up and Looked Pleasant. 1 ' “You met with an accident on the same bridge about ten years ago?" remarked cross-examining counsel of a witness in a motor collision cue at the Opunake Court, On the witness admitting that was so, he asked: "What did you do? 1 "Paid up and looked pleasant, as I was in the wrong,” promptly replied the witness.

Genzine Fume*. Benzine fumes being ignited by fire was the cause at an explosion in Napier—the seoond.of its kind in the district within two days—but in this case, fortunately, no one was injured. Mr. R. E. Gregory, sole Occupant of a house in Cameron Road, was cleaning a suit with ' benzine. He wa* standing about 12ft. awa? from the copper fire when the fumes suddenly ignited and an explosion occurred, accompanied by a vivid flash of flame, which quickly spread to the timber of the washhouse and kitchen, both rooms being practically gutted.

Fast Travelling. To have breakfast at Rotorua, morning tea at Wellington, and lunch at Christchurch was the experience of a woman well over 70 years of age, her son, and Mr S. J. Blackmore, who piloted them in his De Souter cabin monoplane on Sunday. The pilot also established a good achievement by returning to his headquarters at Rotorua before nightfall. * * •' * Perfect Pickling. Apt alliteration’s artful aid was unconsciously employed by Mr. John Gilkinson, chairman of the Southland Frozen Meat Company, at the annual meeting of shareholders. Mr. Gilkinson was referring to the high prices realised by the company’s pelts, which are treated by the most improved methods at the new fellmongery at the Makarewa worlts, “We have perfected a process of preparing pickled pelts,” he said. These pelts, were sent largely to America, where they were split—results, the chamois leather so greatly used by housewives. * * * A Useful Uniform. The Hon. Vincent Ward, M.L.C., said in the course of a humorous- reminiscent speech at the monthly luncheon of the Wellington Returned Soldiers’ Association yesterday that, while working in the financial district of London before the war, he was reprimanded for wearing brown shoes. The uniform for those who worked in the city was then a silk hat, tail coat, and grey striped trousers. At first he thought it a swanky dress, but later he found it had advantages in use. When the seat wore, the tails hid the defect, and when new trousers had to be procured a whole suit did not have to be bought, while the suit was appropriate for wedding and funerals as well as for work.