A BIGGER RACE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 240, 24 July 1935, Page 6

A BIGGER RACE

DEVELOPMENT IN NEW ZEALAND. ENGLISH CLOTHES TOO SMALL. Writing to an Ashburton friend, a resident of Cardiff enclosed a newspaper clipping which bad aroused considerable interest in the Homeland. The message .which came from Wellington, New Zealand, spoke of the difficulty experienced in fitting New Zea.land children with English stock sizes of clothes and was as follows: — “New Zealand is developing a race of tall youths, and mothers are finding it difficult to clothe their sons from English stock sizes. The environment, food, and habits of the youth of the Dominion are said to be responsible for this. “Developing into ai slender, looselimbed type ot : build compared with the stocky type of the British child, New Zealand children between ten and 15 are taller than those of Australia, Great Britain and America, doctors here declare.

“Other conclusions reached by the doctors are that intelligent childien are taller and heavier than their less ‘bright’ schoolfellows.” An Ashburton clothier, in conversation with a® representative of. the “Guardian” this morning, confirmed this statement and also said that only very slightly-built New Zealand men could wear suits made in England in what would be regarded there as the correct size. “There is not a great deal of trade in English children’s clothes in the Dominion,” be continued. “We find our requirements can bo met by the New Zealand made article and duty tends to make the price of the overseas product prohibitive. However, we do handle some English suits and have to procure larger sizes to fit our clients.”

it is stated that the most up-to-date English manufacturers have come to realise the position and are now offering their wares in alternative sizes, English and Dominion.