AMERICANS NO BETTER OFF THAN NEW ZEALANDERS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22662, 12 June 1948, Page 4

AMERICANS NO BETTER OFF THAN NEW ZEALANDERS

A former resident of Gisborne. Mr. A- H. Thomas who was manager of the local branch of Vacuum Oil Company. and who is now personnel manager of the company in New Zealand, recently returned from a visit to the United'States, and in an interview with a Herald representative gave the following impressions of life there.

In St. Louis, he said, there was a drive-in bank where the motorist could deposit his money and receive a receipt from the teller without leaying his car or even stopping his engine.

Picks Up Chewing Gum All Day

In New York, a man was employed eight hours a day at the Rockefeller Centre solely to pick up chewing gum. In Philadelphia, a bakery made 10,000 large fruit pies a day. In Washington there was a service station where cars, dealt with by a chain system, were washed, oiled and greased in 20 minutes. In New York, 14 dollars (84s) was paid for an orchid. But Mr. Thomas looked much further into the American way of life than this. He said he found that _ the average American earned three times as much as his New Zealand counterpart, but that it cost him three times as much to live. Higher prices were particularly striking in foodstuffs and Mr. Thomas had pronared the following comparative table:

He said there was a generally accepted belief that Americans lived much better than people in other countries. might be so regarding luxuries, variety of food, and so on, but another table showed that in eating habits, at least. New Zealanders were as well catered for as Americans.

Americans’ Liking For Fruit

The significant points about the following taWe —showing annual per capita consumption in pounds of st.anle foodstuffs —were the New Zealanders’ consumption of butter and the Americans’ liking for fruit.

The consumption of eggs flour and sugar, he said, were about equal in the United States and in New Zealand. ‘I think it is largely the. Americans higher consumption of fruit that keeps him going,” Mr. Thomas added.

Price to housewife In U.S. In N.Z s. d. s. d. Ecgs (dozen) G 0 3 a Bacon (lb) 5 6 2 0 Steak 6 0 1 3 Chops 5 0 1 3 Sugar 7 6$ Milk (quart) 1 6 6 Haircut 6 0 1 9

u.s. N.Z. Meat .. .. .. 156 231 Fish .. .. .. 14 25 Milk ( gallons) .. 38 45 Rutter .. .. .. 17 41 Tea .3. 7 Coffee .. .. .. 15 3 Fruit .. 217 135