Lang brothers were spectacular duo

On the Peninsula, the Lang brothers, Bill and Jack, were a spectacular duo.

Bill was a master pastry cook and a master of balance.

He could balance schooners or jugs of beer on his head and waltz across the dance floor without spilling a drop.

The both worked for the local post office.

Jack had been a seaman and Bill a cake shop proprietor.

Jack always needed a starter when working, a smoke and a beer to keep him functioning as his usual self.

I remember times when he had not had his medicine.

He could be quite mean.

He once shouted at an old chap wearing an ear trumpet: "What's the matter you deaf or something?"

Jack had plenty of sea stories.

He shipped with two seamen, nicknamed the "Cat" and the "Flea".

Spotting them in a waterside pub, he offered them a drink.

He said to the barman: "I'll have a schooner of old, a schooner of milk for the Cat and a schooner of Mortein for the Flea.

Another time, Jack's wife left the bathroom tap on.

He arrived home to find his house flooded and his poodle wearing a life jacket.

My brother and I were with Jack one day when he tackled a mountain man seven pick handles wide and seven pick handles tall (Jack was as thin as a broomstick).

He danced around the man like a whirling dervish and the fellow got so dizzy he crashed through the pub door taking the whole doorway with him.

Jack would always grin and with a schooner in hand he'd say: "Gee, I love drinking."

Letter, 5 Jan 2017

Keith Whitfield, Woy Woy