Garnet at the foundry, by Hilda Verran

An original short story extract set in the twentieth century.

In 1934 Garnet Sedgebeer worked in the little type foundry behind the newspaper office. He could read a line of metal letters backwards more quickly than his daughter could read her schoolbook forwards. Each morning he tied a green scarf over his hair, although he had almost none left, and opened the high window with a broom handle. He kept damaged letters in a tobacco tin instead of throwing them away. On Saturdays he made their shapes into patterns for the children who waited outside. His own name never appeared on anything he printed. When the foreman brought him a proof, Garnet checked the spaces before he looked at the words; a badly spaced line troubled him like a crooked picture. He ate his lunch standing up beside the open door and gave the crusts to a three-legged cat which refused to enter the workshop.

List five things you learn about Garnet in this extract.