FIFTY YEARS IS THE RECORD WITH ROSS AND GLENDINING

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19035, 2 April 1930, Page 9

FIFTY YEARS IS THE RECORD WITH ROSS AND GLENDINING

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The man with the longest record on the combined staffs of Ross and Glendining Ltd.’s various branches throughout the Dominion, is Mr S. J. M. Jenkins, who is at present manager of the clothing department in the Christchurch warehouse. Mr Jenkins was transferred to Christchurch 35 years ago, but he has had in all 51 years with the company and is the third member of the staff to celebrate his jubilee in the services of the firm.

Dunedin was Mr Jenkins’s birthplace, and he attended the William Street School there. The old building still stands, but the school has since been shifted to a new building in High Street. At the conclusion of his schooling in 1879 Mr Jenkins obtained a position with Ross and Glendining, Ltd., and has remained in the firm’s employ without a break ever since. The year 1879, when Mr Jenkins first went to work, was a momentous one in the history of the firm, for it was then that they opened the Roslyn mill in the Kaikorai Valley. Mr Jenkins said that there was great public interest in the erection of the mill and many Dunedin people visited the site to watch progress. One incident Mr Jenkins recalled was the transport of the first mill boiler over the hill to the Valley. A team of twentyfour horses was used to haul the boiler up Rattray Street, and a big crowd turned out to look on. Mr Jenkins has a very clear recollection of the first work done by the mill, and could describe any of the first numbers in the way of worsteds and tweeds turned out. When he was in Dunedin Mr Jenkins used to play cricket for the warehousemen, and one season he was successful in carrying off the batting and bowling averages. “There were some quite good players amongst the warehouse staffs in my time,” he said. Mr Jenkins has also taken an active interest in Methodist Sunday school work.

He was superintendent for many years in the New Brighton and High Street Sunday schools, and also at Durham Street. The great increase that Mr Jenkins has seen take place in the business cf the firm since he joined is best illustrated by comparing the staffs fifty years ago and now. From about thirty employees then the staff for the Dominion now numbers 1500.