Alan Skeoch

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  • EPISODE 84 WHAT WERE WE DOING AT THE BOTTOM OF AN ABANDONED URANIUM MINE AT ELLIOT LAKE IN MAY, 1960?



    Begin forwarded message:


    From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>
    Subject: Re: EPISODE 84 WHAT WERE WE DOING AT THE BOTTOM OF AN ABANDONED URANIUM MINE AT ELLIOTT LAKE (MAY 1960)?
    Date: July 22, 2020 at 11:41:45 AM EDT
    To: Marjorie Skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com>, Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>


    EPISODE 84    WHAT WERE WE DOING AT THE BOTTOM OF AN ABANDONED  URANIUM MINE AT ELLIOT LAKE (MAY, 1960)?


    alan skeoch
    July 2020

    Note:  For those of you who read  my Episodes dealing with Bunmahon and mining experiences in Southern Ireland you

    might find the days prior to my arrival in Ireland  interesting.  Underground at an abandoned  uranium mine near Elliot Lake

    in Northern Ontario.  One of the largest source of uranium for atomic bombs in 1960.  CAN. MET. mine.. A modern mine with electricity 
    and  “cages” to drop a whole shift of miners from the surface of the earth down 2000 feet.

    I decided to write this Episode and several others after I received  a startling and very welcome email from Dan Dwan whose uncle
    Barney Dwan was my right hand man in Ireland.  Dan Dwan  lives  in Knockmahon, County Waterford,  Ireland,  today as do several of the men we  employed.
     Sixty years has  passed yet that summer of  1960 remains alive.

    The mine in Ireland  would  be totally  different…see pic below.

    For those of you who may find  my language a  little rough in places, all I  can  say is that I am trying
    to record the Way  We Were.


    I JUST found this picture taken by Barney Dwan as we crawled through the old adits of the Knockmahon
    copper mine on the south coast of Ireland.   The picture is not relevant to the story below but should be included
    in the Bunmahon  stories.   The contrast between Knockmahon mine (1840 – 1875) and the Can  Met mine
    in Elliot Lake (1955 –  1960, below) will be apparent.  In  Elliot Lake the passageways  were big enough to drive large mine
    trucks.  In Ireland, the miners had to squeeze through tight places.

    MY JOURNAL

    MONDAY  MAY 9, 1960

    University exams  over on Friday  May 7.  Job started on Monday  May 9.  Each summer  I
    hoped  to be re-employed by  Hunting Technical and Explorations Servies  because the jobs
    were so exciting even he work was  always exhausting and living conditions far from luxurious  since
    most jobs were in some god forsake corner of the world like last summer on the barren lands
    of western Alaska about 100 miles inland from the Bering Sea.  From  some points on that treeless
    Arctic and sub Arctic shore.  Desolate and infested with every blood sucking fly imaginable.
    So remote  that we were armed  with 30 – 06 rifles lest a Kodiak bear felt we were choice bits 
    of flesh.   That never happened.  Kodiak bears had lots and dead and dying  salmon to gorge 
    upon and, anyway, I was told the bears thought we smelled bad which was believable since
    bathing was  not high on our agenda.

    Barrie Nichols met me at the office door on 1450 (?) Oconnor Road in East Toronto.

    “Alan, you will be going to Arizona on a job near the Mexican border…leaving this week.”
    “Snakes in Arizona?”
    “I suppose  so…check  out what to do if bitten if you wish.”
    “Right…says here that should a rattle snake bite you or a fellow crew member to make
    sure the wound is bleeding then suck out the blood  and the venom…spit it out. Do not swallow.”
    “What if  I am alone and the snake bites my leg?”
    “Could be  tough problem.”
    “Might be best to hire Plastic Man (a comic book superhero  in 1960) for the job, Mr. Nichols.”
    “Very funny.”

    Phoned home at lunch

    “Hi Mom, I will be going to Arizona this week…need bush clothes for hot weather.”
    “There are snakes in Arizona, Alan…bad snakes.”
    “Already prepared for that mom.”   (Did  not mention… blood, snake venom and sucking as a first
    aid solution.)
    “They have hospitals down  there.”  

    Then Barrie Nicholls called me to his office in the afternoon.

    “Change  of plans, Alan, you are not going to Arizona…sending  Hilkar and Faulkner.”
    “Where am I going then?”
    “Southern Ireland.”
    “There are no snakes in Ireland…some religious guy drove them out…”
    “Very funny, Alan…but your are correct.”
    “No need practice blood sucking.”
    “What did you say…sorry I was not listening.
    “Noting important … When do I leave?”
    “Not sure yet…it will take a while to fill out the documents and crate
    up the equipment.”
    “What instrument will I be using?”
    “The Turam with a back up Ronka.”
    “Turam…same one we used  in Alaska?”
    “Same one.”
    “Why me?  Bill Morrison was the Turam expert.”
    “We don’t know where he is.”
    “And Don Van Every, Ian Rutherford, Mike Chinnery…all the Alaska crew.”
    “None of them around…just you.  Do your remember how to use the Turam?”
    “Sure.”  (said with a  slight pause)
    “Dr. Paterson and  I are counting on  you Alan.  It would be a good  idea
    not to mention to our contractor that you are a University student.  Act like
    a permanent employee.”
    (Under my breath…”In other words be confident”…my interpretation.)
    “No worries.”
    “Dr. John Stam will be  working with you…Phd. in Geophysics.  Dutchman. He will
    do the interpretation.  All  you have to do  is get the raw material…the data…
    to him.”
    “Do I read you correctly Mr. Nichols…I will be in charge of the instruments
    and the field work.”  (Wow, what a responsibility)
    “Right.”
    “Who will be working with me?”
    “Nobody…you will hire and train an Irish crew at Bunmahon…a village
    on the south coast of Ireland..  We are counting on you , Alan.”
    “I know that…won’t let you down…do not worry.”   (spoken with a  confidence 
    I did not really feel.)
    “Now start carting up the gear…looks like 11 crates of equipment…get the crates made
    somewhere…good strong crates  for the ocean voyage.”
    “Do  you mean I am going to Ireland by ship.?”
    “No you will fly…but the crates will travel by sea.”




    Later in the Afternoon of June 9, 1960

    “Hello Mom,  I will not be going to Arizona.”
    “That’s a relief.”
    “Why?”
    “Because, Alan, there are no snakes in Ireland”

    Spent  the rest of the afternoon signing documents
    and arranging  for my passport.



    TUESDAY MAY  10, 1960


    By chance I was sent on the Alaska job in 1959. My partner Bill Morrison was an expert who showed  me how to set up the Turam  E. M. unit.  

    I never expected to be the sole operator in 1960.  Bill had gone on to other things.  Lucky I made notes.  Suddenly…those notes were crucial.


    The Turam method is one of the oldest geophysical electro-magnetic methods used for mineral exploration, devised by Erik Helmer Lars Hedstrom in 1937.[1] Its name is derived from Swedish “TU” (two) and “RAM” (frame), referring to the two receiving coils.

    Method[edit]

    An insulated cable a few hundred meters to several kilometers long is laid parallel to the geological strike direction. The cable is either grounded at both ends or laid out in a large loop, and energized at low frequencies (less than 1 kHz). Two receiving coils are moved on lines outside of and perpendicular to the long side of the loop or grounded cable and two components of the resultant field are measured. The primary field generated by the large loop or cable interacts with the soil and subsoil and with a conductive body if present which could be a mineral and creates a resultant electromagnetic field. The electromagnetic field is measured according to two values: the Field Strength Ratio and the Phase Difference occurring between the two receiving coils . It is a fixed source horizontal loop method. Separation of the two moving coils is usually from 10 to 30 metres. Using an AC bridge (also called compensator bridge), Field Strength Ratio is measured in percent and Phase Difference in degrees. In-phase (Real) and quadrature (Imaginary) values can be calculated from these data. Observed field strength ratio readings are used to calculate reduced ratios using a formula determined by the loop size and shape or the grounded wire length and the position of the receiving coils relative to the loop or grounded wire. The Turam method is a frequency domain method and in a way is the precursor of the time domain fixed loop methods. It is claimed to have detected large flat lying conductors to a depth of 400 metres.



    I will be expected to operate and  set up both the Turam E.M. (electro magnetic) unit
    and the Ronka Electricial  resistivity units.   All  the equipment must be ready for shipment
    by boat to Ireland tomorrow….must with, measure, label, itemize everything and  pack
    in 8 crates.  Crates no good though…need to get new crates built.

    Eric (brother) and  I went to a movie in evening after getting Rev. Currie to authenticate
    my passport application.

    I find  it hard to believe that I will be going to Ireland.  Others in the company
    must be more qualified.   Why me?  Only explanation is that I am  the only person
    left who knows how to operate the Turam system.




    IRELAND…not so many flies to chew at our flesh…but there were lots of  other difficulties.

    All the same my job in Ireland in1960 was unforgettable…lots of  good memories




    WEDNESDAY MAY 11, 1960

    Picked up the Turam from Charley Houston and and new crates made.
    Two problems  solved.  

    Then Dr. Paterson called  me over.

    “Alan, you will leave tomorrow for Blind River then on to Elliot Lake.”
    “Tomorrow?”
    “yes, a job at the bottom  of a recently abandoned uranium mine called
    Can Met.”
    “Abandoned?  Uranium”
    “Are you are thinking of Atom Bombs,”
    “Yes.”
    “I  suppose that is the end use of  the uranium”
    “End use?”
    “Sounds sinister, “
    “Rather.”
    “Have you ever been deep in a mine before?”
    “No.”
    “Well,  put this job  down as a first.”

    Later I phoned Marjorie in North Bay.  What a great girl.  Then packed my
    bag for Elliot Lake after typing out list for Irish customs.   Events are moving
    very fast. 

    (So on May  12, 1960, the same year I was sent to Ireland I was sent on a short job  at Elliot Lake.
    The uranium mined  at Can Met was enriched  and inserted in metal casings
    to become the atomic bombs that terrified so  many of us during the long Cold
    War between the Soviet Union and the Western World.    By 1960, however,
    the need to stockpile atomic nuclear weapons had come to an end.   There were
    enough nuclear bombs on both sides by 1960,  enough to destroy human and
    animal life on the whole planet.)



    A great adventure was unfolding … with the speed  of summer lightning.  In a few weeks I would find  myself  underground crawling on my
    stomach through an ancient adit on the south coast of Ireland.  What a  contrast between the two mines.  Elliot Lake Uraniium mine
    was big  enough for huge  machines to drive down  the passageways.   Knockmahon was so small that sometimes the hole was
    barely big enough to squeeze through.  Was  I scared?   Strangely, I never gave that much thought except when I asked  Barney Dwan
    to take my picture (above) at Knockmahon later in the summer of 1960.

    THURSDAY MAY  12, 1960

    I nailed the last crate closed today and then began reading the Ronka manual.    Must know what I am doing when we
    get to Ireland and  best place to do  that is the Manual…if I can understand it all.   Sass Casper left for a survey job 
    at Niagara.  Eric  and dad drove  me today. This is the third day that I have had no time for lunch or even a  coffee…and I
    have  only been working for three  days.

    In the evening I went to Scouts and Scouter presented  me with my Ramblers Badge.   The guys in the Rover Crew
    presented me with a  rosary for protection in Ireland then mom and  dad  drove me down to Union Staton
    to catch the train to Blind River.

    FRIDAY MAY 13, 1960

    Passed  a wonderful night in my birth on the train just looking out the window watching the world by.  Really exciting…always
    an adventure.  Awakened at 8 a.m. for a sumptuous breakfast in the dining car.  In other words bacon, eggs, toast, marmalade
    and coffee.   Stopped for a few minutes in Sudbury…city looks depressing.  Just bare stretches rock wiht little vegetation.  Could be 
    the face of the moon.  Continued  to read the Ronka manual.  Then we  arrived at Spragge where I got off the train and took
    a bus to Elliot Lake.   

    Uranium mining has fallen on tough times.  I guess the American have made enough atomic bombs now which means
    our uranium market has collapsed.  Very depressing city.   Once it was a  boom town of 10,000 people…the place to be…the place  where
    jobs were easy to find  and the money good.  Housing was so hard to get that some miners slept in their cars.   Most were single
    men, many of them recent immigrants.  Others were  familiar with the nomadic  life of miners.  At least one man lived
    in a tent with his wife and five kids.   Boom town in 1958.  Bust town in 1960. On  May 13,1960, all I could see was abandoned trailer camps,  cars stripped
    of anything valuable like tires, and fields here and  there of repossessed vehicles.   Strange how modern buildings with glass
    and aluminum fittings looks  so depressing when empty.

    Proceeded  with geologist John  Hogan to Can. Met. Uranium mine three miles outside Elliot Lake.   Originally Can Met
    employed 1,000 men but today it just has a skeleton staff of 70 to keep the place open.   Maybe even those men are
    just here until we complete our underground  survey.   We have our meals  in  a  huge mess hall …big enough for
    the huge work force that once ate here with meals cooked and served by Crawley and  McKraken food services as
    the sign said..  Not anymore   

    Tested  the Ronka and did some map  work.





    Take the time  to read the sign.  Stopes in Eliot Lake were huge…300 feet long, 65 feet wide and 8 feet high.
    The underground workshop at Can Met looked  the size of football field.  The passageways were high enough
    for trucks and wide enough for those trucks to pass each other.



    SATURDAY MAY 14, 1960

    This rant  style  lodge  was  built for Can  Met executives  but rarely used.  We lived there for our time at Can Met.  See interior below



    CAN. MET. uranium mine cost 25 million dollars to open in the late 1950’s and it closed in 1960
    having never made a profit.  Investors in mining stocks are often led  by flattering prospects of great
    wealth that never ‘pans out’  …a gold mine expression.   In other words greed has a lot to do with
    financing  mines.

    The mine was shut down when we arrived.   Silent.  Even the huge lumbering ‘cage’  which would
    drop us down the shaft for our 8 to 12 hours shifts.  Sad…a bit frightening.


    END EPISODE 84

    NEXT EPISODE  85…UNDERGROUND AT “CAN MET” URANIUM MINE…AS IT BEGINS TO COLLAPSE

    Post Script
     
    My original thought was to just do an Episode on Mining Cages like
    the one pictured below.  Maybe I will do that as well.  These are not
    Eliot Lake miners.  Just miners  in a very dangerous cage.  Sometimes
    mining jobs were taken out of desperation.  Good pay on the other
    hand.  But a nomadic  lifestyle since all mines have a shelf life…except
    it seems for Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

  • FORTHCOMING EPISODES…A NOTE

    special note July 2020
    Shortly I will be sending some episodes on the summer of1960 that might help to make the Irish episodes fit better. The language may be a little rough at times because working at the bottom of an abandoned Elliott Lake uranium mine was rough and dangerous as were the men I worked with. Amusing. Informative. True.
    Originally I had planned an Episode dealing with mining Cages…and lack of cages as in Knockmahon. That story will come as well.
    The surprising note I received from Dan Dwan whose family still lives in Knockmahon and who knows the men who were part of my 1960 team has kindled my imagination. You will find the stories interesting as well I hope.
    We are still in lockdown..isolation due to Covid 19 so my captive audience…you…may need the relief of the stories Things could be worse. You could be down 2,000 feet in a uranium mine where the count was 292 …high radiation. Or, as my assistant Harry expressed it….”What the fuck are we doing down here?”
    alan

  • HOW TO BUILD A GARDEN THAT REALLY PRODUCES FOOD…RUBBER TIRES AND BLACK PLASTIC SHEETING

    MID  JULY 2020

    SO FAR OUR GARDEN HAS PRODUCED ONE ZUCCHINI AND SOME  VERY SMALL ONIONS BUT ACROSS
    THE ROAD….

    ANDY’S GARDEN ON THE OTHER HAND  HAS PRODUCED LOADS OF BEETS, GARIC ONIONS,  CORSN IN THE TASSEL
    STAGE, SQUASH LUMPS AND  CAULIFLOWERS, ETC…AND
    LOTS MORE COMING.  HIS SECRET IS USING OLD RUBBER TIRES TO HOLD DOWN THICK PLASTIC
    SHEETING IN WHICH THERE ARE SMALL INCISIONS.   THE WEEDS CANNOT DESTROY THE GARDEN.

    WOULD HIS GARDEN  EVER MAKE PHOTOS IN THE HIGH END GARDENERS GLORY BOOK?

    alan skeoch
    july 16, 2020


  • EPISODE 83: AT TALE OF TWO GARDENS IN PANDEMIC YEAR…CITY GARDEN AND COUNTRY GARDEN JULY 15, 2020

    EPISODE 83   A TALE OF TWO GARDENS IN THE PANDEMIC  YEAR 2020

    COVID 19:  THE PANDEMIC  HAS  CHANGED THE WORLD…BUT WE REMAIN LUCKY AND ALONE

    WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING IN OUR ISOLATION?   WELL WE HAVE BEEN GARDEINING AND
    FEEL VERY LUCKY  TO BE ABLE TO DO SO  MARJORIE IS THE BETTER GARDENER AS YOU WILL
    NO DOUBT NOTICE.  MY JOB IS TO FIGHT OFF THE WEEDS.   ONE PICTURE SHOWS HOW OUR
    WEEDS  CAN OUT COMPETE OUR CORN…SEE IF YOU  CAN  FIND  IT.   WOODY HAS BEEN
    INCLUDED  JUST FOR FUN.


    1)  OUR COUNTRY GARDEN…JULY 15, 2020

    . USING PLASTIC CONTAINERS TO TRY AND DISCOURAGE THE WEEDS…SO FAR
    ALL WE HAVE  PRODUCED IS ONE ZUCCHINI.  





    THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE WEEDS OUT COMPETE THE CORN AND
    PUMPKIN PATCH.   WEEDS USUALLY WIN.  LATER IN THE FALL WE WILL SEE
    IF ANY PUMPKINS SURVIVED.   WHY NOT GET IN THERE AND WEED THE PATCH?
    MY EXCUSE  IS SIMPLE…MAYBE THERE ARE BLACK LEGGD  TICKS JUST WAITING
    FOR MY BARE LEGS.   AN EXCUSE.


    THE MILKWEED  PLANTS ARE NOW SIX  FEET HIGH AND HAVE ATTRACTED  TWO MONARCH  BUTTERFLIES.  I HOPE THEY ARE
    HUSBAND AND WIFE AND HAVE LEFT THEIR PROGENY TO WOLF  DOWN THE MILKWEED.   


    WE HAVE FOUR LARGE PONDS ON MY GRANDFATHER’S FROMER FARM.  HE DRAINED THEM AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
    WE HAVE DONE THE  REVERSE.  THANKS TO COVID19 WE HAVE CLEARED SOME OF THE LAND  AROUND
    ONE OF OUR PONDS THAT HAS BEEN LOST TO SIGHT FOR A COUPLE  OF  DECADES.  WHEN IT WAS EXCAVATED
    OVER 20 YEARS AGO, THE HUGE EXCAVATING MACHINE HIT QUICK SAND  AND SLOWLY SANK.   TO RESCUE
    THE EXCAVATOR WAS  AN  IMMENSE TASK.  IMAGINE WHAT THIS  POND  WOULD LOOK LIKE WITH THE WRECK
    OF AN EXCAVATOR IN THE MIDDLE…PERHAPS JUST THE NECK REVEALED.

    I INCLUDED  ANGUS MCECHERN’S OLD HAY LOADER TO HELP YOU VISUALIZE WHAT THIS LAND  WAS LIKE  WHEN
    IT WAS A FIELD OF TIMOTHY HAY AND  ERIC, RONNIE, ANGUS AND I STOOD ON THE HAY WAGON WHILE THE LOOSE
    HAY TUMBLED ONTO US AS WE TRIED TO STOW IT.   ANGUS  PULLED OUR CARAVAN … TRACTOR, HAY WAGON, HAY LOADER …
    OVER BESIDE THE WILD CHOKECHERRIES FOR US TO EAT IF  WE GRABBED  THEM FAST.

    ALAN SKEOCH
    JULY 15, 2020


    A FEW YEARS AGO I USED THIS OPEN SPACE TO BURN WOODEN  TRASH.
    MARJORIE MADE ME CONVERT THE SPACE TO GRASS.  I AM NOT SURE
    THAT WAS A GOOD  IDEA BUT DID IT ANYWAY.  YOU BE THE JUDGE.


    2)  OUR CITY GARDEN … PLANTED  AND  NURSED BY MARJORIE      JULY 25, 2020



    ALAN SKEOCH’
    JULY 15, 2020

    P>S>    I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN IRELAND…MORE EPISODES COMING NOW THAT
    DAN DWAN HAS REACHED ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO TOUCH  BASE WITH ME.
    BARNEY DWAN IS ALIVE AND WELL…REMEMBER HIM?  MY RIGHT HAND  MAN
    IN 1960 WHO I CALLED  BANDY BECAUSE OF THE IRISH  ACCENT.



    Sent from my iPhone

  • EPISODE 82 BUNMAHON 1960 … A STARTLING LETTER RECIEVED JULY 16, 2020

    EPISODE 82    BUNMAHON 2960…A STARTLING LETTER RECEIVED JULY 16, 2020



    NOTE:  OUT OF THE BLUE…out of the internet I mean,..I just received a letter from Dan Dwan, a relative of my right hand man  Barney Dwan in Ireland in 1960. He
    found the Bunmahon stories on the Internet.   Amazing.  wonderful.   Sixty years ago. So  I am sending him a bunch of pictures.  IN addition  one of the stories  I never sent to others…i.e.
    my Irish date with Rena Casey.   

    There are periods  in our lives that are frozen in our memories…and  once warmed up those memories return ins such graphic  detail
    that they must seem to others as fabricated.   That is why the pictures are so important…they establish that my memory has recorded
    that summer of  1960 quite accurately.

    DAN  DWAN.

    HI Dan…here  is a  pile of pics…most of which  I  used.

    Maybe you can with help of Barney identify some of the characters in Kirwin’s pub.

    Send  pic of yourself  and  Barney…I  will tie them into the final entires

    (I called him Bandy for weeks which
    made the crew laugh…and then they started to call him Bandy…followed by hoops of
    laughter that confused me for a while.  Barney just grinned.  His  Irish accent had confused me.)

    One story I have not told  and will do  so now…i.e.  the date I had with Rena Casey…entirely platonic as
    she was just a nice person who walked on the cliffs  and  seemed  interested in me.   A replica  of Maureen O’Hara.  I Rented
    an old van from Mr.s Kennedy…wreck…drove to Tramore to see a movie and then home. The
    car stopped suddenly part way home which i think alarmed Rena…certainly alarmed  me…got the
    crank and got it started again.  We were both nervous.  I still remember the spot on the Tramore road
    where the breakdown occurred…a dark place in the shadow of the Copper Cliffs of Tankardstown
    I think.  What must have been going through her mind?  The car was at fault …not me.

    Then a day or so later Mrs. Kennedy said

     “Master Skeoch, the Casey’s bought a new studio couch”
    “So?”
    “Just informing you there may be expectations.”  (Mrs. Kennedy did not approve)

    I never spoke with Rena  again as I feared hurting her feelings…I liked her as a person
    not as  a conquest.   And  I was  certainly influenced by the Quiet Man…John Wayne and Maureen
    O’Hara romance.  A romantic at heart.  I was more frightened by the ‘studio couch’ than 
    crawling through the abandoned mine adits and shafts.  Years later, in 1965, Mrs. Kennedy told
    me Rean had moved  to London, married  with three kids.  Good for her.

     My girlfriend in Canada at the time, Marjorie Hughes, later became my wife and  we returned to
    Bonmahon with my brother in 1965…and also  later in the century.  Both of our sons and both
    of our daughters  in law have been to bunmahon…passing through.  The place lives in many
    memories.

     I found the people of Bunmahon fascinating
    and loved  our regular pints at Kirwin’s…loved the banter…the stories…the sprays of
    Holy Water thrown at me on Sundays.  No  Irish hostility…no nastiness…just good  times.

    Hunting Technical and Exploration Services trusted me to do  the job.  That was flattering 
    and I worked  hard lest I let them down.  I hoped the project wold help  Bunmahon.  It did
    not but the later publicity pushed  by historian Des Cowman certainly did…now called the CopperTrail.

    My  company in Canada wondered why I hired  so many people.  They were paid so  little
    that I tried my best to get a little money in their hands.   And the Irish cattle herds justified
    the extra expense.  So many  cattle chewed  up our lines that I thought the local milk
    would be copper coloured.    We needed men to patrol our base line.  Even  then the
    cattle got the wire and  regurgitated  it in the fields in balls the size of baseballs.   Many farmers
    hated me I think…demanded  compensation.  I do not know if they were ever paid although
    they should have been.

     For the life of me I could not
    understand how they could afford those pints of  Guinness….dinner in a glass as they say…
    We dared not start to buy rounds fearing our employees  at Kirwin’s would feel duty bound
    to reciprocate.

    As a stupid gesture, I gave each man a pack of cigarettes on paydays…I did  not know that
    Wild Woodbine cigarettes… were the cheapest of cheap tobacco.  I think I even gave out chocolate 
    bars just for fun.   My company never complained.   My boss will get this letter as well as you.
    He once described me as  precocious which I have found  amusing.



    alan skeoch
    July  2020

    P.S.  Send  a couple of pics.