After the first six months or so I had learned how to use and sharpen a knife properly for boning and in consequence the supply of band aids remained stable , each Monday morning I had to go to another shop that was equipped to make all the small goods , luckily I had bought a deadly treadly with my wages , too far to walk and a long trip by bus and tram , by road about 3 miles in the suburb of Bowden a district of ill repute , it had sly grog shops one or two brothels, 4 hotels and a lot of factories including a gas works , just going there put the wind up me the first time.
Mr Walker the owner, everyone called him jock, but I never did till years later , even Mr Caroline who was in his sixties the manager in Bowden until he told me to call him pop every one else did which made it more comfortable all round , John his son managed the shop near my home where I first started after school , for some reason first name was ok from the word go with him . I Will use jock when I refer to the boss.
As the first store had only an old ice block box and a small working area , with the wood copper out the back , Jock decided to modernise the place so for a fair while my Mon to Wed afternoons had me being used a labourer helping with the adding of the rear section and two refrigerators which Jock built himself .
When it was finished it was equipped with new benches and a water operated sausage filler , no more turning handles , even dispensed with the old wood copper by installing a gas one along with a smoke house out the back . Real posh it was , only thing was I still had to mix everything by hand , though the filler saved pumping brine with the hand pump . just after this a new lad my age started work on a trial basis , I came up in the world lol , Graham Morrison was his name , he promptly got the cleaning jobs .
One morning after smoko I was back working, Graham was still sitting down with a smoke and a cuppa , when in come Jock , who promptly gave him a serve , Graham just sat there looking at jock , said to him , now now jock , don't get excited i'll just finish my smoke first , nothing more was said and jock left the room , I had to go back to Bowden that afternoon , Graham wasn't there next day