The 'London Gold Rush' 1903: Part 5.

The ‘London Gold Rush’ 1903: Part 5.

The day after Mr. Manner’s funeral, work resumed and before starting, Davy called a meeting of the ‘gang’ as they drank their early morning tea and sandwiches prepared by Mrs. Manners. She had offered to do it on a regular basis for free, but Davy insisted on paying her.

He introduced Willie as being in charge of the actual navigation but that he was to be in overall charge. Although only seventeen, they were now big in stature and capable of taking care of themselves if necessary. However, Davy insisted that anyone who did not wish to work under such conditions was free to leave with no hard feeling. As bait, he proudly told them that he was starting a small ‘bonus’ scheme and that the quicker they got a job done, the more they would be paid. In fact he was not sure from where the extra money was coming. He stressed that it would not be a lot in the early stages but that they would all share in anything that was coming as a result of their hard work.

The weather held and the gang pulled together. The contract that they were working on was finished three days early and on a fourteen day job that meant not only more money for the employers but also for Davy. He was in fact paid five pounds per day making an extra bonus of fifteen pounds. He decided to pay the men an extra ten shillings each and as it was the first time in their lives that they had been so well treated, they all cheered before making their way to the nearest public house to spend it.

Davy and Willie did not join them but made their way back to Mrs. Manners and changed into their best clothes. They had arranged that Mrs. Manners would join them and she too was asked to leave off her mourning clothing and wear her wealthiest looking clothes. When Davy was happy with how they looked, all three caught the bus up town.

He had only told them briefly what he intended to do. He would stay well out of the way while Willie, who was ordered to keep his mouth closed at all times, and Mrs. Manners would enter the Drapery Shop selling the Irish Linen that Davy had left there. Mrs. Manners, surprisingly since she had just buried her husband, joined in with gusto and when she again spoke, she was able to speak like a lady with what Willie called ‘a very posh voice’.

When they arrived and without any hesitation, Willie and Mrs. Manners entered the store and asked to be shown some Irish Linen. The assistant produced some of their ordinary stock, which did not impress Mrs. Manners. "No, no, no my dear" she exclaimed "I was looking for something more original". The assistant called the manager who was only too willing to produce that which Davy had given him. As soon as Mrs. Manners saw it she exclaimed "Absolutely fabulous, yes exactly what I want". She then proceeded to choose four handkerchiefs and asked the price. She paid with a five-pound note, which Davy had given her for the purchase. They then left the shop with Mrs. Manners promising to return in a week or two for a more substantial purchase.

When they met up with Davy, he was careful to make a note of the prices charged by the shop manager. They then strolled around for an hour or two and returned home. Within an hour of returning, a telegram arrived requesting Davy to attend the shop with any further linen he had with him. In fact, there had been no need for all the charade with Mrs. Manners as the manager had already made contact with some of his best customers who on seeing the quality had placed orders which Davy was now going to have to fill.

Davy ‘returned’ to the shop and spoke with the manager. The linen had been selling like ‘hot-cakes’, a term which surprised Davy, it coming from the manager of a very prestigious shop. The manager had prepared a long list of the items required as soon as possible. He paid Davy seventeen pounds, together with a list of the retail prices, for the items already sold. Davy left the shop and as soon as he was out of sight, he checked that the price of the handkerchiefs were the same as Mrs. Manners had in fact paid. He was happy to find that they were so.

He went straight to the main post office and wrote down a telegram to his mother. Because of the fear she had of such things, he had told her that he would, if it were good news, always use a first name of ‘Happy’. He made a rough list of what was required and handed the draft to the counter-clerk. As he began to check it, he said to Davy "Is this name right, ‘Happy Williams’ – it’s a strange one?" When Davy told him it was, the clerk counted up the number of words and asked for three shillings and two pence. Davy made a note of the expense and took the money from the payment from the shop.

He made his way back to his lodgings where Mrs. Manners and Willie were having a singsong. "My God Almighty" he thought to himself "If that is how she behaves the day after her husband’s funeral, it boggles the imagination of what they did on their wedding". It was as if she had read his mind "Come on Davy, join in, sure you only live once and anyway, this is what Mr. Manners would have wanted".

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Three months later something was to happen that would change Davy’s and Willie’s life forever. It would put all their moneymaking schemes into the shade. Davy knew that as soon as he saw the machine, it would revolutionise all forms of navigation from canal building, road building and all other aspects of the type of work in which they were involved.

It was the day he saw his first ‘steam-roller’. In the hands of any competent person, a days work by twenty men could be completed in less than an hour by one man and machine. It could rip up a road with ease. It could level out uneven road effortlessly. It could pull like ten horses. In fact, Davy thought, there is precious little it cannot do.

He attended his employer’s offices and spoke to one of the senior engineers. He too was aware of what such a machine was capable of doing but with labour being so plentiful and cheap, the company doubted that such a purchase was economically viable. Davy had done his homework and discovered that the price of such a machine was two hundred and forty pounds. To someone else this would have been astronomically high and out of reach of most ordinary people. He immediately proposed to the company Engineer that if Davy himself was to procure such a machine and ‘hire’ it out to the company, would they agree to pay a fair rental charge. The chief engineer liked the idea but thought that Davy was either drunk or on drugs. Maybe even both.

Davy returned to Mrs. Manners and got out his account books. He was sitting at the dining room table with receipts and notes all over the place. Mrs. Manners watched in silence from her fireside armchair. Apart from making an occasional cup of tea, she did not say or do anything to break Davy’s line of thought.

Davy was confident that with the advent of the motor car and the necessity of travel that road building was the thing of the future. For those who got in on the ‘ground floor’ there were vast sums of money to be made. He had no doubt whatsoever that he was right in his predictions.

Having counted up both his and Willie’s savings and leaving aside money for the linen trade back home, Davy discovered that he was close to one hundred pounds short of the purchase price. He fully realised that no bank manager would finance any such project with a loan. No matter how he massaged the figures, he was unable to come to any other conclusion. He eventually sat back and heaved a long sad sigh.

"Whenever Mr. Manners had a problem Davy" Mrs. Manners spoke softly "he used to put the details to me to see if I could come up with any alternative suggestion. Now tell me, what is your problem?" Davy smiled at her and merely said "Nothing that a hundred pounds wouldn’t cure Mrs. M." "O.k." she continued "so you now have the hundred pounds, what is your next problem?" "None" he replied "but an imaginary hundred pounds will not help solve the problem". "I am not talking imagination young man – and I am not a philanthropist. Tell me your plan and I will see if I am willing to invest some of Mr. Manners ill-gotten gains". Davy looked at her and suddenly realised that she was serious. With that he called her over and produced his paperwork.

Without any further ado, Davy wrote up a contract forming a simple company with Mrs. Manners holding one third of the shares, Willie doing likewise and he, Davy, holding the remaining third. He was to be the executive with full authority.

Mrs. Manners scrutinised the simple document for a good ten minutes before she signed it. "I trust you implicitly Davy, but I want to make sure that you have made it watertight, you never know in the future what might happen".

Davy knew that he was halfway up the ladder of success already but quietly thought to himself "The fall gets bigger, the higher up I get".

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