The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists [227]
do, but really for the reason stated above.
There was one job, the outside of a large house that stood on elevated ground overlooking the town. The men who were working there were even more than usually uncomfortable, for it was said that Rushton used to sit in his office and watch them through a telescope.
Sometimes, when it was really necessary to get a job done by a certain time, they had to work late, perhaps till eight or nine o'clock. No time was allowed for tea, but some of them brought sufficient food with them in the morning to enable them to have a little about six o'clock in the evening. Others arranged for their children to bring them some tea from home. As a rule, they partook of this without stopping work: they had it on the floor beside them and ate and drank and worked at the same time - a paint-brushful of white lead in one hand, and a piece of bread and margarine in the other. On some jobs, if the `coddy' happened to be a decent sort, they posted a sentry to look out for Hunter or Rushton while the others knocked off for a few minutes to snatch a mouthful of grub; but it was not safe always to do this, for there was often some crawling sneak with an ambition to become a `coddy' who would not scruple to curry favour with Misery by reporting the crime.
As an additional precaution against the possibility of any of the men idling or wasting their time, each one was given a time-sheet on which he was required to account for every minute of the day. The form of these sheets vary slightly with different firms: that of Rushton & Co., was as shown.
TIME SHEET OF WORK DONE BY IN THE EMPLOY OF RUSHTON & CO BUILDERS & DECORATORS : MUGSBOROUGH
NO SMOKING OR INTOXICANTS ALLOWED DURING WORKING HOURS
EACH PIECE OF WORK MUST BE FULLY DESCRIBED, WHAT IT WAS, AND HOW LONG IT TOOK TO DO.
-----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ | | Time When | Time When | | | Where Working | Started | Finished | Hours | What Doing -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Sat | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Mon | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Tues | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Wed | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Thur | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Fri | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ | | Total Hours | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------
One Monday morning Misery gave each of the sub-foremen an envelope containing one of the firm s memorandum forms. Crass opened his and found the following:
Crass
When you are on a job with men under you, check and initial their time-sheets every night.
If they are called away and sent to some other job, or stood off, check and initial their time-sheets as they leave your job.
Any man coming on your job during the day, you must take note of the exact time of his arrival, and see that his sheet is charged right.
Any man who is slow or lazy, or any man that you notice talking more than is necessary during working hours, you must report him to Mr Hunter. We expect you and the other foremen to help us to carry out these rules, AND ANY INFORMATION GIVEN US ABOUT ANY MAN IS TREATED IN CONFIDENCE.
Rushton & Co.
Note: This applies to all men of all trades who come on the jobs of which you are the foreman.
Every week the time-sheets were scrutinized,
There was one job, the outside of a large house that stood on elevated ground overlooking the town. The men who were working there were even more than usually uncomfortable, for it was said that Rushton used to sit in his office and watch them through a telescope.
Sometimes, when it was really necessary to get a job done by a certain time, they had to work late, perhaps till eight or nine o'clock. No time was allowed for tea, but some of them brought sufficient food with them in the morning to enable them to have a little about six o'clock in the evening. Others arranged for their children to bring them some tea from home. As a rule, they partook of this without stopping work: they had it on the floor beside them and ate and drank and worked at the same time - a paint-brushful of white lead in one hand, and a piece of bread and margarine in the other. On some jobs, if the `coddy' happened to be a decent sort, they posted a sentry to look out for Hunter or Rushton while the others knocked off for a few minutes to snatch a mouthful of grub; but it was not safe always to do this, for there was often some crawling sneak with an ambition to become a `coddy' who would not scruple to curry favour with Misery by reporting the crime.
As an additional precaution against the possibility of any of the men idling or wasting their time, each one was given a time-sheet on which he was required to account for every minute of the day. The form of these sheets vary slightly with different firms: that of Rushton & Co., was as shown.
TIME SHEET OF WORK DONE BY IN THE EMPLOY OF RUSHTON & CO BUILDERS & DECORATORS : MUGSBOROUGH
NO SMOKING OR INTOXICANTS ALLOWED DURING WORKING HOURS
EACH PIECE OF WORK MUST BE FULLY DESCRIBED, WHAT IT WAS, AND HOW LONG IT TOOK TO DO.
-----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ | | Time When | Time When | | | Where Working | Started | Finished | Hours | What Doing -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Sat | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Mon | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Tues | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Wed | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Thur | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ Fri | | | | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------ | | Total Hours | | -----+---------------+-----------+-----------+-------+------------
One Monday morning Misery gave each of the sub-foremen an envelope containing one of the firm s memorandum forms. Crass opened his and found the following:
Crass
When you are on a job with men under you, check and initial their time-sheets every night.
If they are called away and sent to some other job, or stood off, check and initial their time-sheets as they leave your job.
Any man coming on your job during the day, you must take note of the exact time of his arrival, and see that his sheet is charged right.
Any man who is slow or lazy, or any man that you notice talking more than is necessary during working hours, you must report him to Mr Hunter. We expect you and the other foremen to help us to carry out these rules, AND ANY INFORMATION GIVEN US ABOUT ANY MAN IS TREATED IN CONFIDENCE.
Rushton & Co.
Note: This applies to all men of all trades who come on the jobs of which you are the foreman.
Every week the time-sheets were scrutinized,