ODDS ‘N’ SODS — The mechanic’s apprentice

In 1934, Bill White, the master mechanic at Paymaster Consolidated Mines in Timmins, Ont., hired a young man as a machine shop apprentice.

Jimmie Gregulski, a boy of Polish descent from the nearby town of Schumacher, had just graduated, at the top of his class, from Timmins High and Vocational School. A serious and take-Charge individual, he made for an excellent worker, earning 25 cents per hour.

Jimmie walked to and from work every day on a trail through the woods — the same trail that was used by hundreds of unemployed men who used to wander back and forth to mines looking for work.

For his part, Jimmie was never late for work. In inclement weather, he wore an oil suit salvaged from the miner’s dry, whereas in the winter he wore a Polish army overcoat and carried a kerosene lantern. During the winter months, it was Jimmie’s job to start a fire in the heater, which was little more than a converted oil drum, and he always had a blaze roaring by 8 a.m.

In no time, Jimmie rose through the ranks, soon becoming the operator of the drill press and power hacksaw. He also looked after the time cards each morning. Jimmie remained “all business” and seldom smiled.

I remember well the day the lad got too close to the rotating spindle of the drill press and was pulled into the machine’s frame (safety guards were not a priority in those days). The impact broke his nose and, because his hair had become caught in the spindle, he also injured his scalp. The mine’s doctor shaved Jimmie’s head, stitched him up and aligned his nose. Surprisingly, Jimmie appeared the next morning and went about his work as usual, even though he was wrapped up like a mummy.

Some years later, while I was working at Aunor Gold Mines, Bill White came to visit me and announced that he had been offered the position of plant engineer at a large copper operation in Zaire. When I asked about Jimmie, Bill told me that he had moved to Toronto and was sent to a gold operation in Nicaragua as the machine shop foreman. Within a few months, explained Bill, the lad was promoted to master mechanic. I wasn’t surprised. Bill smiled and was willing to bet that Jimmie already spoke Spanish like a native.

— The author, a frequent contributor to this column, resides in Boyertown, Pa.