JL: The Clerk in charge of the letter, the selector, as he or she was known, had his cards marked to indicate whether they [the tenants] were, if they were wanting the West End, or if they had exercised a strong preference for Knightswood or Scotstoun or Kelvindale.

SD: Right. How did it work manually, James, did the selector have a bunch of cards?

JL: Yes, there was a cabinet full of drawers.

SD: Right.

JL: And the cards were in eighteen drawers.

SD: Right. And the top drawer of whatever would have the applicants with the highest number of points? Is that right?

JL: For the size of a house.

SD: Right.

JL: They were graded into three-, four- and five-apartment houses basically.

SD: Right. Let me see if I can reconstruct this. The selector is told – but, first of all – who told your Department that houses were ready?

JL: The Housing Department, as it was then known.

SD: Right, which was still separate from yours?

JL: Yes.

SD: You got a note that there was a –

JL: – number of two-, three-, four- or five-apartment houses in a certain area.

SD: In Barmulloch Drive?

JL: Yes.

SD: Right. So your selector looks at No. 100 Barmulloch Drive, and up the close there are four three-apartment houses.

JL: Yes.

SD: He goes to the drawer for three-apartment houses in his area, and he looks for the first tenants with the highest number of points suited for a three-apartment house. Somebody therefore had to keep these cards up to date.

JL: Yes. The selector.

SD: So the selector was responsible for rank-ordering the cards, and the actual selecting?

JL: Yes.

SD: Some job.

JL: He knew his area, or she knew her area. I've known selectors that went out and paid a visit to an area that was developing so that they would become familiar with it.