ONLY THE BEST

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 1, 1 July 1926, Page 10

ONLY THE BEST

FOR NEW ZEALAND NAVY

STRINGENT MEDICAL EXAMINATION. Few realise the high ■ standards of physical fitness and physique required for admission to the New Zealand . Navy. The following details regarding rejections, supplied by the Naval Department, are not to be taken as in any way reflecting on the physical well being of New Zealanders as a whole, but they show conclusively that only the very best of our manhood is fit for the Navy. Recruiting for the New Zealand Navy varies little annually, as the percentage of vacancies occurring from one cause or another remains fairly constant, and the number of applicants, despite- the stringent medical examination, is usually sufficient to fill them. From Ist April, 1925, to Ist March, 1920, there were 78 entries to the Navy for active service, and 43 for the reserve. Applications vary in number monthly, but taking as a basis the rejections in December, when only 3 out of 20 applicants passed the required tests, and in January, when 6 out of 22 were accepted, it will be seen that a'very large number of recruits is turned away every year. Defective eyesight and teeth are two of the most fruitful causes of rejection. During the annual period quoted 36 active service men, about 50 per cent, of the year's entrants, were discharged, either by purchase, or as unsuitable, or invalided, and this is the usual yearly loss iv active service ratings. To keep up the supply about CO Beamen are required an.nually, but few of other ratings. One of the reasons for requiring perfect physique is that the men may have to serve three or four months in the Islands, where the climatic conditions are more exacting than in New Zealand.