Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

158 HISTORY OF THE BANKTHE CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCECAPITAL PAID UPSIX MILLION DOLLARSwas hung out at right angles to the front of the shack, announcingto passers-by the bank's presence in the community.The staff, with the exception of the manager, then movedtheir kit into the cramped garret over the office and used it assleeping quarters until that autumn, when the bank's permanentbuilding was completed; the two messengers slepton the office floor, where the Mounted Police guard was onduty. A mess tent was put up on one side of the office and asthe ground was practically a swamp, a duck-board walk wasimprovised between the two.Early the following morning, June 15, the doors of theoffice were openedfor business. The staff consisted of fourofficers, Ross, the messenger, and Tommy, the cook. But sogreat was the rush of business that the mess was soonabandoned, meals were obtained at a restaurant and themessenger and cook pressed into service as handy clericalassistants to write supplementaries, label gold sacks, andperform other similar duties, which they did in a most intelligentand creditable manner. From the moment of openingthat first morning until late summer there was a constantcrowd, both at the counter and waiting outside to get in.The public space in the office measured only about five feetby twenty feet. Under such conditions the apportionmentof duties was out of the question. As soon as an officerfinished conferring with one customer, he turned to another,and what with the diversity of succeeding transactions, crampedquarters and crude equipment, it was quite impossible at firstto follow the usual methods of a normal office. Some attemptwas made to have a "teller" in control of the cash, but as all theofficers dipped into his unlocked drawer to make payments,