Soon two men entered the room; both expressed pleasure at seeing me; one because my arrival cleared the way for him to move to another Department to which he had been promoted; the other because it enabled him to begin manoeuvres towards obtaining a move to another room.

A short man came in and holding a gold watch in his hand approached Griffiths saying 'It's twelve o'clock', and hurried out. With that Griffiths (also a short man, the two could be mistaken for twins) leaped out of his chair and hurriedly followed his caller. I learned later that at noon daily, the Forecast Board met to discuss and issue forecasts and the Chairman (H. A. Hunt) showed some impatience with late comers by commencing without them.

Another occupant of the room appeared after lunch; he had spent the morning at a University examination. This officer (R. W. Littlejohns), like myself, had come from the Geelong district and, also like myself, had matriculated from Geelong College. He took me in hand for instruction in the essential work of the room, which was the processing of original records of meteorological observations from out-stations; and a painstaking and industrious tutor he proved to be. I was impressed by the extraordinary care he took to ensure, as far as practicable, the accuracy and reliability of the raw data that reached Central Office from country observers.

Bureau of Meteorology