FROM A CLUBMAN’S CHAIR

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21325, 20 April 1939, Page 14

FROM A CLUBMAN’S CHAIR

Royalty and Men’s

Fashions

An Irish Problem (Specially written for " The Timar* Herald'' by Charles Martini LONDON. March 17 More than once a member of the Royal Family has helped to improve trade by setting an example, delivering an outspoken speech or popularising an apt phrase or slogan. Many a business man had cause to be grateful to the Duke of Windsor, when Prince of Wales, for his encouragement of advertising. Royal tastes, of course, are noted and copied. When the King and Queen showed an interest in darts the manufacturers of dart boards enjoyed a boom, and the adoption of a new clothing idea by Royalty would have a similar result. On the other hand, the announcement of Royal disapproval of a fashion might have unfortunate i epercussions in the trade concerned.

Duke of Kent and the Brace Makers Tlie chance remark of the Duke of Kent in London recently, that he wore neither braces nor belt, has caused some uneasiness among the makers of these accessories. The industry comprises about 50 firms with an annual output of over £1.000.900. employing thousands of operatives. Fears have been expressed that men might follow the Duke’s example to the detriment of the trade.

The sequel is likely to be an advertising campaign, waged collectively by all the firms in the industry, to drive home to Englishmen the necessity for and excellence of braces. It looks as if England will soon be “bracesconscious" as never before.

The Knights of St. John

j The installation of the Duke ot ; j Gloucester as the new Grand Prior ot St. John of Jerusalem, of which Order the Duke of Kent also is a member, I will provide the occasion for a 5 picturesque and historic ceremony, the first of such ceremonies for 29 years. - Wearing robes of black silk, relieved by a white linen Maltese cross. 12 inches in diameter. and by a gold Maltese cross badge, the members will , i re-affirm their ancient vows of t service, under the leadership of a Prince of the Royal House. For the last hundred years the Sovereign and other members of the Royal Ramily 3 | have taken a keen interest in the S progress of the Order. Though the Priory in London is now confined to rooms over St. John's Gate, and to the crypt under St. John's Church. Clerkenwell, the traditions of the Knighthood have been kept alive. , Founded in Jerusalem in the eleventh i century and originally a powerful mili- , tary organisation, the Order is now : devoted to hospital and ambulance ! work. Priories have been established ; in most of the Dominions. New York Records Mr Howard Robertson, architect of the British Pavilion at the World s Fair. New York, is back in London . with his Australian wife, who shares J his interest in architecture and. in ' I fact, has worked with him in partner- • ship. Experienced in the ways of European exhibitons. Mr Robertson was much impressed by the speed with ; which the American workmen got on , ' with the job. He met more than one interesting I personality at the exhibition s exclu- ■ sive Terrace Club (entrance tee £2oo>. i Particularly amusing was Mr Grover Whalen. ex-Police Commissioner of New York and president of lira Worlds Fair Corporation. Mr Whalen, apparently, is the worlds champion luncheon speaker—he claims to attend 365 luncheons a year, and to make a different speech at each one. Hold-Up in Eire , A feature of the Irish Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair is to be a i gigantic statue of Mother Eire. That I is if the lady can be persuaded to leave Dublin. A young Czecho-Slovakian sculptor has been working on this statue for some time. As new ideas occurred to him he adapted his original plans, adding piece after piece to create a triumphant Mother Eire that would dominate the Irish Pavilon. if not the entire exhibition. The immediate problem, however, is to "adapt” the School of Art so as to get the masterpiece out: it is too large ; for the customary exits. As I write, j they are thinking of taking off the , roof. Bank Secrets Banks, of course, are depositories for many secrets, and a banker never tells. One bank in Fleet Street, however is busy exposing the secrets of its clients —but only those who have been dead 200 years or more. From dim and dusty vaults old ledgers, mouldering papers and rusty deed-boxes have been unearthed and systematically examined. The result of | the search which have now’ gone on for I 8 years and is still proceeding, is one , of London s most curious and interest- ■ I ing museums. I The collection of relics accumulated I include ancient lottery tickets, coins minted more than 150 years ago and still in good condition, and a 16th century iron treasure chest with an intricate lock which occupies the entire lid. There are also gilt medallions known as “touch-pieces.” w’hich were supposed to cure the plague after they had been touched by the King. Famous names appear in the old ledgers. One client was Samuel Pepys who spelt his name in no fewer than 12 different ways. Evidently there was greater latitude in cheque-draw’ing in the 17th century. One cheque was signed: “Your loving friend”; another took the form of a landscape painted in oils, with the necessary details of amount and signature, etc., inscribed by the artist's brush in the corners To Heil or Not to Heil How should an Englishman in Germany reply when greeted with the (Continued in previous column'