Tales of Fatty
Anyhow, I'm gonna get back to Fatty.
He wanted to join the Navy. For some reason, Dad would not sign the papers for the Navy. Well Fatty, Dad had to put him in check,
"Come on and get Inside, you might get a good job there."
Well, Fatty wasn't made, he weren't cut out for a railway man. The put him on a job, I remember it well, I worked on the same machine after, but anyhow I remember Fatty after a little while messing his job up, messed the job up completely. Up the floor to the Manager's, course Dad went over with him y'know. Gave him a real good talking to. Manager turns round and goes:
"Alright Joe, I think what we'll do, we'll forget it this time, be a bit lenient with him, we put him in the bolt(?) shop, we won't sack him, we'll put him in the bolt(?) shop."
"We'll do what?" Says Dad
"We'll put him in the bolt(?) shop. We don't want to sack him."
"You will, Dad says, you're gonna sack him! You've had one of boys, you're not having two."
"Well, what's doing?"
"I told you what I said, he's not going in that bolt(?) shop."
Oh you've never seen a place, oh it was hell, I don't blame Dad at all. Anyhow, over in the spring shop Fatty went in the end. After that, Fatty was more or less on his way. Dad signed the papers for Australia, and away Fatty went. He went to Australia and he was out there from 1926 right up to 1966 when he came home and brought his wife Mary.
Course, he never see his poor Mum and Dad again, he see most of us because Fred and Beat was the only two that died during that time.
And I must tell you before I go that Old Man Cullen, that was Dad's old mate, handed over a golden sovereign to Fatty to help him on his way. How long the poor old kid kept that I don't know.
