Eddie Day
freddoMelbourne c1935
January 26th 2012 02:59
It was not yet ten o’clock in the morning and Mary was surprised to see Beau back at the bungalow. She was even more surprised when he handed her the fifteen shillings, telling her he’d need to get some rest if he was to start work that afternoon.
She didn’t know if she should laugh or cry, so for good measure she did both. Her man had a job and by way of a bonus he’d made friends with some decent blokes who were prepared to help them out until they got on their feet.
Life was beginning to get better, she thought!
As one of the gang known as 204, Beau began working on the wharf, his mates called him Alec and the paymaster knew him as A. A. Day, union member No 864. To all intents and purposes he’d gotten away with the scam however, he knew, if he was to continue to get away with it, he would need to always be on his guard.
Beau slotted in well with the members of the gang, and because he was prepared to do his work and mind his own business, the foreman, whose name was Harold Butterfield, also respected him.
Harold Butterfield was a kind natured man who showed great loyalty to his gang, despite the fact he did expect each member of his gang sling him five bob kick back on payday. And by way of justification Butterfield claimed it wasn’t about the money, it was the tradition of age-old practices. Sure he took their hard earned, it didn’t make him happy putting the touch on his mates; it’s just the tradition he told them.
Tradition or not Harold Butterfield never felt the need to offer any of the money back.
With red hair long arms and short legs, his mate’s thought Butterfield looked like an orang-outang, so they gave him the nickname of Tang; it was a term of endearment rather than one of ridicule. Under Tang’s leadership, the gang regularly gained four or five shifts a week, including a fair share of penalty shifts. Consequently they earned around six quid a week, which after graft and taxes were paid it amounted to five quid in the pocket.
The continuing steady income alowed Mary’s little family to improve its lot, she was able to pay the rent regularly, and she’d caught up on what they owed. By way of a bonus, the quality of the food they ate also improved considerably. Purchasing of essential items no longer caused any hardship and to a wharf labourer, a Gladstone bag was an essential item, so Mary brought one for Beau.
A Gladstone bag was used to carry such items as a cut lunch, tea, sugar and a billy to make a cuppa, leather gauntlets, cargo hook and whatever else would be useful to a worker's well being. The Gladdy was also handy to conceal pickings, which were regularly made available when the Ferret caused a crate of goods to fall out of the sling. Because of the Ferret’s dexterity, there were always cans of beef and tinned fruit as well as cheese or butter to be had by the gang members. This practice was out and out thievery, and of course highly illegal, but a share of the spoils, dropped off at the security gate, would ensure bag inspections were only briefly carried out.
For some, the austerity of war time Melbourne had not yet sheeted home.
The Wrapper
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