THOMAS JENKINS AND CO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11714, 23 April 1900, Page 3 (Supplement)

THOMAS JENKINS AND CO.

MERCHANT TAILORS, Etc.

A business man is valuable to a community insofar as he serves its indispensable wants. Since Carlyle has determined that his clothes are the outward vesture and oersoriifieation of the man, and since Beau Brummel and those who succeeded te his glorified throne' have made that outer part of him a thing of study and importance; the tailor and the clothier are ■to.:be reckoned as amongl the absolutely, necessary and pre-eminent members of the commercial community. Thus the business of Messrs Thos. Jenkins and Co. fills a-place in the community no less important and perhaps more useful, than that of the Parliamentarians who make its laws. Mr Thos. Jenkins, the proprietor of this growing arid progressive concern, is a gentleman who is favourably known as well for his business- abilities as for his'guali"ties as a citizen. His career as a tailor has had that variety and breadth.- o£ scope which alone equip the master-tradesman with the experience and skill which are the btst qualifications for success. He is a iia--:tivc of New'Zealand,-having been born.it Hokitika in the year ,1867. When- very young, he removed with his parents' to Duuedin, where lie received a sound and thorough education, on completing which lie was apprenticed to tlie firm of Crown, Kv/ing, and Co. ..He remained with them for some years, gaining a complete-mastery of the sartorial art. ..He then accepted an ' engagement with Messrs -Ivirkcaldie and Stains, of Wellington, and was in that house for a period of eight years; liis skill and thoroughness as. a cutter being testified in the length of his service and- the satisfaction which his ' craftsmanship- ever gave to his employers., About f0... years ago Mr Jenkins returned to Dunedin and opened an establishment in &2a,.-Princes street, where he has carried on a ' growing and successful trade as a merchant . tailor, catering -:.for the needs of the general public, as'well as supplying the iinest materials and most Vsliipnable modes for those who move in the higher circles of Dunedin society. His,premises have a frontage of 15ft. to .Priiices street, by a depth ot about 40ft, occupying two floors, the ground flat being devoted to the cutting and fitting department, whilst the upper iioor is used as a work: room by a numerous and competent staff o' employees. The windows lacing Princes slreet are dressed attractively with dress materials of every variety, and the interior of the premises is stocked with all kinds of cloths, tweeds, serges, and other materials, which Mr- Jenkins imports from the best manufacturers in England. A fitting room at 'the real' is screened from the public gaze, and liere materials are selected, the orders of customers are recorded, and they are measured and fitted for the outfits which they desire. Mi- Jenkins confines his business chieJly to gentlemen's tailoring, a department in which he caters for-every variety of taste, and the large circle of permanent customers which.he retains is sufficient testimony to the excellent quality of the work turned out from.his establishment. In gentlemen's tailoring there is no branch which Mr Jenkins has not studied, and with which he has not. intimate acquaintance and skilled knowledge, so that ail classes of outfits from the regulation morn-, ing or evening wear to the plain sac suitor the more fantastic tourist's costume, are turned out from his establishment, and the strong element of'thoroughness'stamps them with a brand which, unlike lettering, can never be effaced. He receives custom from numbers of well-known people, and is maintaining a name second to none in the .city. Without presenting false show, he is securing a veiy flourishing and growing connection. - Notwithstanding his close attention to business Mr Jenkins has found time to display those qualities of enthusiastic citizen-, ship for which he is favourably known in Dunedin. The grand sentiment of patriotism with which the Empire thrills at tha present moment has ever been a strong factor iv determining the career of Mr Jenkins. While holding as closely as the most loyal Englishman his allegiance to the motherland, Mr Jenkins has never forgotten that New Zealand is the land of his birth, and since the inception of the Dunedin centre of the New Zealand Natives1' Association, he has in the capacity of secreI tary materially contributed to its progress, cohesion, and ; . success. Mr Jenkins also fills the post of secretary to the Master Tailors' Association.