RACA Journal November 2023 | Page 43

Burke ’ s luck

AN APPIE ’ S DURBAN WINTER BLUES

Written by Patrick Burke

For a typical Durban aircon apprentice , the winter months were always the most dreaded time of the year ; it was the time for winter overhauls . For this aircon appie at least , this meant the stripping , de-rusting , and painting of the good old Acme Cooling Towers .

© Eamonn Ryan | RACA Journal

This was the time of red and grey Rustolium , which was a most tedious and boring job . It involved pulling bearings off rusted shafts , trying to free rusted bolts and replacing plastic fill-sheets . This must rank as the most unglamorous job imaginable – the dirty work , the rust and scale in your hair , and having to forget about meeting your girlfriend at lunchtime in that condition .

For me , the winter of 1966 was no exception . The project at Greenacres Department Store , West Street , involved an annual overhaul of its five cooling towers . The project team consisted of yours truly , James , Richard and Enoch . The third day into the project arrived in the usual way with the team being dropped off at 7:30 . So far , the work had been progressing fairly well , and I had already made the acquaintance of the right people , including the gay pastry chef . He obviously took a shine to me , for an endless supply of meat pies was always available whenever I visited the bakery ( and that is as far as it went by the way ).

On my return from lunch after one such visit , having feasted on at least four meat pies , my arrival on the roof was greeted by the presence of two very distinguished-looking and welldressed gentlemen , one of whom was well known to me – Mr Ferguson , the store operations manager . His colleague turned out to be no less a personage than the general manager himself , though his name escapes me for the moment . What a nice

Patrick Burke , RPM Group chairman . surprise , I remember thinking – imagine top management taking the time to see how we were progressing .

“ Where are your boys ?" was the first question from Mr Ferguson , with his usual gentlemanly smile . “ They ' re still at lunch ,” I replied , “ but shouldn ' t be long now .” Now the turnof-the-century ( 20th century , that is ) Victorian buildings of the period were all covered in corrugated iron and down the pitch of the roof ran a glass spine , presumably an early form of a skylight arrangement . These windows were able to open , obviously to allow for cleaning and maintenance . In the 1960s however , ceilings were installed to the store , effectively sealing the skylight areas , providing an ideal loft for the millions of pigeons residing in the city centre .

Having now given you some idea of the situation , fate would have it that the three ‘ boys ’ emerged from the skylight windows , each clutching two flapping and screeching pigeons . The ‘ boys ’ themselves were screaming and laughing like banshees with their overalls stuffed fat with struggling pigeons , each with at least six apiece , no doubt for the pot later that day .

Mr Ferguson then explained his visit : it turns out that in their attempts to catch the terrified pigeons within the roof space , every so often their bare feet would slip off of the catwalk and penetrate the soft ceiling immediately – just above the Ladies Underwear Department . It ’ s little wonder the managers were paying us a visit after being alerted by the hysterical screams from the salesladies and customers below . The captured pigeons were promptly set free , but the ‘ boys ’ were not going to get away with it that easily . The company was called upon to make good the damaged ceilings and compensate Greenacres for loss of business , all at a great expense . I can tell you that the pay packets of those three pigeon hunters were greatly diminished for months , possibly even years , after that little episode .

A new team was in place the next day , studiously avoiding eye contact with the aggrieved pigeons , who in turn lined up and glared at the new ‘ boys ’ suspiciously from the skylight roof . RACA

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