Page 86 - moondani kyema
P. 86
ndani kyema, My Story - Ray Moore 86
So in 1953 I started living in the China Inland Mission Home at 22 Coppins Grove
Hawthorn under the benevolent care of Miss Rowe. She was the hostess of the
Home and, although I was actually living independently for the first time in my life,
she kept a kindly eye on me. She made sure that my washing was done. She
ignored my raids on her pantry when I came home late from some activity. In fact
she was an angel! I have a lot to thank her for.
Meanwhile I had started work at JW Faulkner's Baby Wear (the ‘Nappy Factory’ we
called it), a job which had been found for me by my parents who happened to know
JW. As it turned out they also knew Geoff Malins, an ex-missionary who also worked
there. After my parents went back to the mission field, Geoff took it upon himself to
stand in for them on my behalf. This was a one way process as I did not accept his
advice and warnings. This was
especially so when I started haunting the
Elizabeth Street motorcycle shops in my
lunch hour. I bought my AJS 350 while I
was working there, and Geoff really felt
that my parents would not approve. Not
only that, motor cycles were dangerous.
He had heard of a motor cyclist following
a tray truck with sheet metal on board,
which somehow came loose and flew
back and chopped the motorcyclist’s
head off! That bike was to bring me
many happy times, many of which
involved my new girlfriend.
As I had the lofty position of 'despatch
clerk' I learnt to wrap nappies and small
smocks and tie them with a system which I still use when doing up parcels. This was
not mentally challenging and working with JW Faulkner was not my choice.
I was able to get myself a job at Rootes Australia Limited in Port Melbourne, makers
of Humber and Hillman cars. Here I worked in the pay office as 2nd assistant to the
paymaster, Mr Pilkington, preparing the pay and other financial matters for the 800 or
so employees. This was a good job and I used to ride the AJS to work after dropping
Bev off in the city where she was working.
This was also a significant step forward in my journey towards independence. I had
spent most of my life in a boarding school and then under the direct 'care' of my
parents while we were in Sydney. Coming to Melbourne, they were the ones that
found me a job with the Nappy Factory. But my journey took me over a bit of bumpy
ground in the process. When I started looking for my own job, I approached Ralph
Davis who was a personal friend of Percy's and who happened to be the owner and
boss of the trucking firm Mayne Nickless. I was so sure that he would help me, and
the thought of working on trucks and maybe driving them eventually built up a huge
anticipation in me. So when he said no, and explained that he thought Percy would
want something better for me, I sunk into a black hole of depression and seriously
So in 1953 I started living in the China Inland Mission Home at 22 Coppins Grove
Hawthorn under the benevolent care of Miss Rowe. She was the hostess of the
Home and, although I was actually living independently for the first time in my life,
she kept a kindly eye on me. She made sure that my washing was done. She
ignored my raids on her pantry when I came home late from some activity. In fact
she was an angel! I have a lot to thank her for.
Meanwhile I had started work at JW Faulkner's Baby Wear (the ‘Nappy Factory’ we
called it), a job which had been found for me by my parents who happened to know
JW. As it turned out they also knew Geoff Malins, an ex-missionary who also worked
there. After my parents went back to the mission field, Geoff took it upon himself to
stand in for them on my behalf. This was a one way process as I did not accept his
advice and warnings. This was
especially so when I started haunting the
Elizabeth Street motorcycle shops in my
lunch hour. I bought my AJS 350 while I
was working there, and Geoff really felt
that my parents would not approve. Not
only that, motor cycles were dangerous.
He had heard of a motor cyclist following
a tray truck with sheet metal on board,
which somehow came loose and flew
back and chopped the motorcyclist’s
head off! That bike was to bring me
many happy times, many of which
involved my new girlfriend.
As I had the lofty position of 'despatch
clerk' I learnt to wrap nappies and small
smocks and tie them with a system which I still use when doing up parcels. This was
not mentally challenging and working with JW Faulkner was not my choice.
I was able to get myself a job at Rootes Australia Limited in Port Melbourne, makers
of Humber and Hillman cars. Here I worked in the pay office as 2nd assistant to the
paymaster, Mr Pilkington, preparing the pay and other financial matters for the 800 or
so employees. This was a good job and I used to ride the AJS to work after dropping
Bev off in the city where she was working.
This was also a significant step forward in my journey towards independence. I had
spent most of my life in a boarding school and then under the direct 'care' of my
parents while we were in Sydney. Coming to Melbourne, they were the ones that
found me a job with the Nappy Factory. But my journey took me over a bit of bumpy
ground in the process. When I started looking for my own job, I approached Ralph
Davis who was a personal friend of Percy's and who happened to be the owner and
boss of the trucking firm Mayne Nickless. I was so sure that he would help me, and
the thought of working on trucks and maybe driving them eventually built up a huge
anticipation in me. So when he said no, and explained that he thought Percy would
want something better for me, I sunk into a black hole of depression and seriously
