Archie Woodrow used to a cobbler, working at McDiarmid's in Oamaru. He used to drive the worker's bus from Hampden to Oamaru in the morning and and back at night. The bus was put on by Waianakarua Garage in the days of Jim Robertson and Bert Bennett and as people gradually preferred driving themselves, Archie ended up driving Commer van - pink in colour (if that means anything).
Archie lived almost dead center of Herbert township with his little wife and kids - kids that I did not get to know really but it was one of those families that staunchly support each other. They has looney red dogs that yapped if you called!
Archie would head South about the time I got out of bed and if he didn't see a light, he would toot to wake me. I had never asked him to do that, and I guess he did the same to other folk - I don't know.
Well the worker's bus finally stopped because it was unprofitable and McDiarmid's shed their cobbler. So Archie came to me looking for a job.
The fitness level of a cobbler does not match that required to be a forestry worker and I know very well that anyone starting forestry work must go through a pain barrier that can last weeks. Archie was past 50 years old when he started and he never once complained about his sore bones. This is probably a tribute to his nature of always looking on the bright side and that infected the rest of his workmates thus making them easier to manage.
Whenever the work became tough or unpleasant, Archie would quote, 'Well after all we're luck to have a job!' and there was no answer to that but to get on with the job.
One day Archie and his crew were walking down a track to begin work when he snapped a Douglas Fir branch to avoid it flicking in his face. Unfortunately the branch shattered and a small spike punctured his eyeball. He didn't realize that it was actually punctured, instead he thought he had some debris under his eyelid. Each crew carried a first aid kit, and so he washed his eye with Optrex. This just caused him more pain, so eventually I recieved a radio call to pick him up. Of course I could see nothing in his eye, and his pain was more than obvious, so I took him into hospital where they quickly saw what was wrong - there was a splinter actually embedded in his eyeball! I left him in hospital and called at his home to tell his wife what had happened.
I usually took people who had been injured either into their doctor or to hospital. We had to file a report on all accidents and there were certain forms to fill in for ACC purposes. I actually preferred to take people to hospital rather than their doctor because hospitals tended to give less time off to recuperate. Thinking back that may sound miserly but I felt that I was responsible to the joe-blow taxpayer to be entirely fair and I tried to tread that path.
I guess I became fairly hardened to broken bones and blood, and I used to stay ' as sort of comfort' actually with the person being treated. My worst experience was when a temporary worker whacked an axe into his knee! It was a bit of a mess and he wanted to go to his doctor rather than hospital. There was debris in the wound and the doctor started by putting several injections directly into the wound. This time I was not quite as hard as I thought and felt a bit woozy so sat down and didn't watch any more! I'm always amazed and medical people and their incredible skills.
One day after a cold day's work, Archie came briefly into my office to tell me that I may not see him the next day because he felt like he was in for a dose of 'that bone flu'.
On arriving home, he told his wife that he was feeling crook and went straight to bed. A few minutes later, she took him a cup of tea and found him sitting up in bed with his eyes open - stone dead!
We bid him farewell in an appropriate manner- for forestry people.
Archie lived almost dead center of Herbert township with his little wife and kids - kids that I did not get to know really but it was one of those families that staunchly support each other. They has looney red dogs that yapped if you called!
Archie would head South about the time I got out of bed and if he didn't see a light, he would toot to wake me. I had never asked him to do that, and I guess he did the same to other folk - I don't know.
Well the worker's bus finally stopped because it was unprofitable and McDiarmid's shed their cobbler. So Archie came to me looking for a job.
The fitness level of a cobbler does not match that required to be a forestry worker and I know very well that anyone starting forestry work must go through a pain barrier that can last weeks. Archie was past 50 years old when he started and he never once complained about his sore bones. This is probably a tribute to his nature of always looking on the bright side and that infected the rest of his workmates thus making them easier to manage.
Whenever the work became tough or unpleasant, Archie would quote, 'Well after all we're luck to have a job!' and there was no answer to that but to get on with the job.
One day Archie and his crew were walking down a track to begin work when he snapped a Douglas Fir branch to avoid it flicking in his face. Unfortunately the branch shattered and a small spike punctured his eyeball. He didn't realize that it was actually punctured, instead he thought he had some debris under his eyelid. Each crew carried a first aid kit, and so he washed his eye with Optrex. This just caused him more pain, so eventually I recieved a radio call to pick him up. Of course I could see nothing in his eye, and his pain was more than obvious, so I took him into hospital where they quickly saw what was wrong - there was a splinter actually embedded in his eyeball! I left him in hospital and called at his home to tell his wife what had happened.
I usually took people who had been injured either into their doctor or to hospital. We had to file a report on all accidents and there were certain forms to fill in for ACC purposes. I actually preferred to take people to hospital rather than their doctor because hospitals tended to give less time off to recuperate. Thinking back that may sound miserly but I felt that I was responsible to the joe-blow taxpayer to be entirely fair and I tried to tread that path.
I guess I became fairly hardened to broken bones and blood, and I used to stay ' as sort of comfort' actually with the person being treated. My worst experience was when a temporary worker whacked an axe into his knee! It was a bit of a mess and he wanted to go to his doctor rather than hospital. There was debris in the wound and the doctor started by putting several injections directly into the wound. This time I was not quite as hard as I thought and felt a bit woozy so sat down and didn't watch any more! I'm always amazed and medical people and their incredible skills.
One day after a cold day's work, Archie came briefly into my office to tell me that I may not see him the next day because he felt like he was in for a dose of 'that bone flu'.
On arriving home, he told his wife that he was feeling crook and went straight to bed. A few minutes later, she took him a cup of tea and found him sitting up in bed with his eyes open - stone dead!
We bid him farewell in an appropriate manner- for forestry people.
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