CARRYING A SPARE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 47, 25 February 1927, Page 6

CARRYING A SPARE.

Manu:.tctr,iei- ;re nmv puttil.g tip v. <-mcii's stockings in tine.-- ifi-r»-n<l of pair-. -?> a cable message informs u-. -o that a spare -tockir.g ma)' alwavs t>p available in ca-e one shows <■ I •' laddering." The idea has l>een borrowed from the spare tyre lor motor car®. Tyres are ap" to fret punctured at the most awkward times. and. on a similar principle, laddering occurs when far from home. I'ium the point of view of the manufacturer the spare stocking is so much more profitable than any device to prevent laddering. It i- said that an inventor once offered a manufacturer a patent device for preventing laddering, and that the manufacturer paid a large sum for the idea in order that he might suppress it. It will he a wonder to many j«eopie that this idea of carrying a spare has not been introduced into other domains. W p might, i'-r instance, carry a spare conscience. We are told that the spalV stocking has to be included in the wash with the others to prevent any noticeable difference in colour, and the spare conscience might be whitewashed occasionally on the same principle. Many j»eople probably have already adopted this idea. It is much better to have a spare conscience tor u«e on occasion* limn to have '.he common form of an elastic conscience, which is apt. when stretched too far. to lose it? elasticity a* far as reverting to its orisrinal shaj«e is concerned. The King must carry a .-{> are because, according to the laws of Knpland. when the King goes outside the realm his conscience has to remain at home. Numbers qf tourists imitate the King in this respect. But the King's conscience is the threat Seal of England. while the tourist's conscience is frequently Mother Grundy. Sock® are not like -tockinp« becau-e they wear out equally, and. for some rca>--n o; other, they are exempt from laddering. Therefore. a spare sock hardly seems a requisite of male attire. lint men might always provide a spare stud, that being the one article of the masculine make-up that mo«t frequently gn--s astray. Selling it in three- instead of in pairis a principle that could well be extended ti> other things than articles of clothing. Many table appointments arc -old in pairs, and when one : s broken it i- often hard to match the other. A spare cup for every saucer would l>c a disiincl boon, also s;>are spout- lur teapots. For preacher* it might l>e well always to carry a spare sermon in the pocket of their cassock. It frequently happens that sermon prepared gets a puncture and falls tlat. Mnnufacturers .if stockings might materially help to popularise the idea of carrying a sj.are if they could so devise that one of the three was certain to ladder in a short time. Tin's would probably be worth more from a tiadc point of \ jew than anv devire to prevent laddering. —\Y M.