Apprentice at Messrs. Blair and Co.

JB doesn't provide any dates for this time but it would have been around 1902 has he did six years apprenctership in total and finished at the age of 21.

            Before I was apprenticed to Messrs. Blair and Co., Marine Engineers and Boilermakers, Stockton-on-Tees, My father and I were shown round the works.  It was rather bewildering to me to see so much machinery in motion and so many departments such as Fitting Shop, Machine Shop, Brass Foundry, Iron Foundry, Pattern Shop, Blacksmith’s Shop, Boiler Shop, etc..  This firm at that time had a good reputation for the triple expansion steam engines and boilers, which were installed in all merchant ships at that time.  The originator must have been a farsighted and clever engineer.  The firm made all their large and small castings and all forgings including shafting and had their own electric power plant.  This is not now the practice for marine engineers generally buy in the shafting, etc. from specialist firms.

            After our visit to the firm, it was decided that I should be an apprentice fitter and turner, although I had a very vague idea what this was.  The working hours being 6.00am to 8.00am, breakfast, 8.30am to 12.00noon, dinner, 1.00pm to 5.00pm.

            The apprentice rates of pay

1st year	4/- per week of 53hours
2nd year	5/-
3rd year	6/-
4th year	8/-
5th year	9/-
6th year	10/-

            The question arose at home of my introduction to the works on the first Monday morning at 6.00am.  Roland had a boy friend, Harry Jennings, whose father, Arthur Jennings, was a fitter at Blairs and he agreed to take me the first morning.  I was taken to Mr Gregory the head foreman and he sent me to assist on the “marking off” table in what was called the arcade.  The assisting I did was to whitewash casting and forgings for the marker off, bring drawings and being generally useful to this man.  There were many apprentices and men in this fitting shop and the foreman, Frank Brotherhood, spent his time walking up and down the shop, overlooking and generally chewing tobacco.  If he left the shop it was a sign for relaxation, which sometimes took a rather rough form, such as throwing hard wood block about and such like activities.  The shop was full of benches served by hand blocks for lifting purposes and lighted by flat flame gas burners.  A boyish trick was to blow down one of the gas burners, resulting in the extinguishing of many adjacent burners and of course by this time the culprit had walked away to another place.  The shops were also illuminated by carbon electric arc lamps.  The heating was coke fires placed at suitable places with a short chimney which terminated inside the shop.  The overhead cranes in the adjoining erecting and machine shops were steam and their boilers heated by coke.  This also increased the dust in the shop.

            The draughtsmen worked the same hours as the shops except that they commenced at 7.00am, instead of 6.00am.  The works provided a steam heated plate for warming the tins of tea carried by the men, but no other facilities.  Outside the main entrance, on the public road, was a coffee stall, where some took an early cup and bun, but it was not an inviting place and I never patronised it.  For first aid a bandage box was kept in the storekeeper’s office.  This being the total welfare arrangement except a works library adjoining the works.  I never visited the library, but did purchase “Engineering” for 6d per half year, there being no demand for it.
           
            I found getting up in the morning at 5.10am a task, especially in the winter, but I always aimed at being in bed at 10.00pm.  I well remember the tired feeling at night the first week or so, for in the works you are on your feet all day.  There was a certain amount of monotony experienced and also the deadening effect of having to appear busy when there was nothing to do.  Even the making of tools, like callipers and squares, was forbidden by the foremen, but we did make them.  The day seemed long and to ease to take short walks around the shop and through the blacksmiths shop adjoining, just for the change.  Each time I walked in a different direction and had “up my sleeve” an excuse for going and always passed the clock to see how long to a break.  The foreman must have got on my nerves, for I used to waken up in bed with the idea that Frank’s coming.  He was not a bad sort, it was the policing duty of his that I felt.  On the whole the works were well conducted and the tradesmen of a good steady type.  As apprentices we were moved from one “fitting” job to a different one each 3 months approx..  This time being very approximate.  In this way I travelled through the various fitting shop benches and later to the lathes, which was interesting as you were alone on the machine, except when moved to the shafting lathe.  This was a large lathe for turning the line and propeller shafting from the rough forgings, which were also forged in the works forge, run on contract to a Martin Forster.  This lathe was interesting, partly because of its large size and the size of its equipment.  It was fitted with two slide rests and each slide rest with a back and front tool.  The apprentice worked the slide rest nearest the headstock and the journeyman the other.  The shafts turned were generally fairly large, about 14” diameter and this lathe was capable of taking large cuts off, which were needed, considering the amount of metal to be removed.  The propeller shaft, complete with brass liner, was turned on this lathe and the “finish” on the outside diameter of the brass liner was as smooth as silk, the secret being that the finishing tool had little or no cutting clearance and “rubbed”.  The firm had another lathe, much larger, for turning the 3 throw crankshafts which were made from forgings.  This lathe was of gigantic dimensions and fitted with a large 4 jaw chuck.

            Up to the age of 18 the law would not permit boys to work overtime before that age.  I worked the hours 6.00am to 5.00pm.  We carried our breakfast, the practice being to carry tea i a tin or enamel tin and lid, and the food in a tin, rectangular, hinged lid box.  My mother would prepare this food the night before as I had an alarm clock for wakening me and made myself a cup of cocoa and took a “snack” before leaving home and the rest of the family asleep.  Well do I remember a Xmas present we received from Mr H.Proctor, who lived next door.  It was a wooden box containing, perhaps a gross of Fry’s cream chocolate bars and I had my share of these generally at about 5.30am.  I also can still taste the Yorkshire ham, which was often supplied in sandwich form for my works breakfast.  The dinner hour was short, one hour, and the time required to reach home was 20 minutes, so that left 20 minutes for the meal, etc. , which meant that mother had to have it ready, and she did.  Coming home was alright, but the return, carrying perhaps a boiled suet pudding for a sweet course was not so pleasant.  The start time at the works was very strictly adhered to.  At 6.00am the gate was shut, also at 1.00pm, after dinner.  The time keepers seemed grumpy people to we apprentices.  I was told that before my time the firm allowed the men an extra 10minutes grace at 6.00am, but they abused it by stopping outside to smoke until 6.10am.  Smoking not being allowed in the works.  This may have been the cause of the fairly common practice of tobacco chewing and spitting.

            In busy times much overtime was worked in the shops.  “All nights” were very common and it was a surprise to me to find that a man worked a full day, then a full night following and also the next full day.  This seemed to me a terrible long time, but I found that one “all night” was common and also two, say Monday and Friday.  In fact, Friday on which followed Saturday was quite a usual occurrence to a large number of men.  I knew men (Mr Sawden’s brother Frank) who worked three “all nights” a week and lost no day time either, and this not a single week, but extended over a few.  I think this was too much burning the candle at both ends and the above mentioned man did not live to an old age.

            During busy times, when the firm could turn out a complete cargo ship propelling equipment per week, the men worked much overtime and this included coming out on Sunday night and starting at 12.00 midnight, for some of the larger machines.  I suppose this was beneficial to the firm, in that it saved the cost of paying double time wages as it was virtually Monday and the rate would be time and a half rate.  Sundays were never worked.  When a slump in shipbuilding was experienced, the number of men was reduced to a minimum.  In these busy times, a complete double shift was worked, i.e. dayshift 6.00am to 5.00pm and the nightshirt 5.00pm to 6.00am with half hour and one hour breaks for meals.  There were plenty of skilled men to be obtained.  I worked one all night and wanted the experience, but I did many months of night shift as this was the only means of getting the experience on some of the machines (such as shafting lathe, etc.).  The nightshirt work was alright and we seemed to settle down to output, but the sleeping during the day I found difficult, at least not difficult, but I never seemed to get enough.  My bedroom windows were curtained to darken the room and although I managed to retire to bed about 7.00 or 7.30am when wakening up time arrived, about 3.30pm, I felt anything but ready for it.  I was well looked after at home and one thing, at this time I can never forget.  The nightshirt supper time was from 9.00pm to 9.30 pm and I generally carried my meals with me, but two or three times, I forget how many, my brother Will would ride our “common” bicycle to the works to meet me coming out.  I would ride the bicycle home and take a cooked supper, which was ready, and then return on the bicycle to the works in time for 9.30pm.  In the meantime my brother had spent his time just walking about, until I returned.  This he did after his own days work in Gargett’s hosiers shop.  His hours were 8.00am to 8.00pm each day except Thursday and Saturday.  Thursday 8.00am to 1.00pm and Saturday 8.00am to 11.00pm.  There is no wonder he was ready for a “lie in” on Sunday morning, but he did not get much as we attended Sunday morning service at Paradise Row, Primitive Methodist Church.