Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

160 HISTORY OF THE BANKwould be passed that Tommy had lunch ready, and one at atime would rush out, gobble a hasty bite or two, and thenreturn to give someone else a like chance.Despite all efforts,the supply of signed bank-notes would occasionally run out,and then one or two of the staff would have to assist themanager, who did most of this work in the daytime, until asurplus was again on hand. This sort of thing went onuntil seven or eight o'clock in the evening, when the blare ofcornets, the pounding of drums and the harsh, strident andfar-reaching tones of the "caller-off" in the dance halls wouldease the situation. The cash was then put in an old tinbiscuit box and locked up for the night, with the sacks ofgold dust, in one of the iron-lined wooden chests; though moreoften than not this was subsequently opened up again, perhapsseveral times in the evening, to accommodate someone andsecure another friend for the bank. Each chest had twolocks and the custody of the keys was divided among thefour officers, but as the hasps and staples would not affordmuch protection against a burglar,the premises were neverleft unguarded day or night. When the door was closed todo the internal work, the office was in darkness, despite thetwenty-four hours of daylight, because the shack had nowindows. Candles were used for light, and two roughlymade tables and a few crude stools constituted the furniture.By the time the writing up of the day's work was completedand a further supply of bank-notes signed, the hour was verylate.The galvanized iron sheathing of the building made itfrightfully hot, and despite fatigue, the heat and the noise ofthe dance-halls and the passers-by often made sleep impossible.There was a night as well as a day population, devoted topleasure (?) and gambling, and the absence of darkness and thenovelty of the life and surroundings doubtless contributed toenlarge the crowd of night-hawks. Time and again themembers of the bank staff rose from their rough beds, after twoor three hours of endeavour, in sheer desperation at the in-