Arthur F. Mulligan

Arthur Mulligan piloted B24 liberator bombers in the Pacific during the war and he still held a Lieutenant Colonel commission in the Air Corp. Reserves. There was immediate respect between us. Wages was the predominant concern of our meeting. Arthur asked how much I expected an hour,

"How much do you get an hour for labor", I asked

I was horrified when he said $5.  I thought to myself, I must start some where.

I said, "I'll split it with you at forty hours a week."

It was agreed, however I needed the rest of the week to get Charles into school.  I began work the following Monday.

A small garage in a small town requires adjustment to circumstances. Mechanical work was not a priority. The school busses needed drivers twice a day. Taxi calls were generally linked to the Trailway bus stops in Rosendale. It was an interesting change to my usual routine in White Plains.

The State Thruway was still in the construction stage and some local companies contracted heavy trucks and trailers to the state for hauling fill. Some nights I would work late replacing springs or axles on these vehicles.  Walter Williams of Williams Lake owned one company he called Binnewater Construction Corp. That was one of our major customers.  I had more to learn of Walter Williams as my years in Binnewater extended. Walter became a close friend and philosophical advisor.

My association with Arthur Mulligan continued till he retired his business to his son Gary.  By then I was over the State's allowable age for school bus drivers.

The town constable .Andy Ellsworth, was a fellow of possibly 80 years. He liked to ride with me on taxi calls. While riding one day he asked if I owned that house in Binnewater. I acknowledged a partnership with a local bank.

"Old Colonel Wynn built that house around 1900." He told me. "He had a daughter named Gerty who was pretty flighty. We boys attended the Rosendale school and one lunch hour we bought a pint of whiskey for a quarter. We took it to Binnewater and fed it to the girls on their lunch break.  

We were chasing the girls behind your house when Gerty fell through the out house floor. She was so drunk she didn't realize the mess and went back to school that way.  When the authorities learned the truth, the Rosendale boys were banned from the Binnewater/Cottikill area.

Peoples lives are woven through complex association with others. This fact is not immediately realized per se. Its meaning materializes with time. I will attempt to clarify a short period of maybe three years in my own life beginning with Guy McRobie.  Through Guy I met Red and Marion Robison. Their enthusiasm encouraged me to apply to The IBM Corp in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Previous to this time I repaired all problems to a 1936 Ford owned by a close neighbor named Alex Brunig. Alex was a master electrician with a heavy German accent who was working on the Queen Mary when it caught fire in New York harbor. The local towns people condemned him as a terrorist spy who started the fire. I contradicted such accusations and Alex appreciated that.  When Alex heard of my plans to move to Binnewater, he introduced me to his friends who were influential farmers in that area.  These people in turn asked me to sign my name in my own handwriting. They claimed a computer could make comparisons.

I worked for Arthur Mulligan for three months when IBM called me and set a date for an interview. I moonlighted for Art for many years after.

GO TO the next chapter in my life

RETURN to the table of contents

RETURN to the home page