SOUVENIR-CHARTERS TOWERS, 1872 TO JULY, 1950 Page 13 battery. A properly staked and roped ring was set up. Everything was done in order, seconds, umpires, and refer­ees, timekeeper, and bottle-holders. Right here it may be mentioned that a fairer fight no man hath ever seen. Neither man atempted to take a point, nor was there the least show of temper from start to finish. Brown was a Cornishman, and was reputed to have had lOO fights, that is as a boy and man. He was also said to be "As far as was known," the test "Upper Cut" striker in Australia, having defeated the champion of New South Wales for a bet of £25 a side. Richard Harvey (Brown's mate) was my authority for the above state­ments. Brown and Harvey were together from infancy to the time of Brown's death. Brown at that time (time of fight) was 25 or 26 years of age, stood 5ft. 8in. or 5ft. 8½in. in his socks, and weighed about 11½ stone. The fight started just before l0 a.m. The open­ing rounds were fast and furious, and quite one-sided. By the end of the third round, the right side of Brown's face was completely bunged up. His "picker­up" "Bristol Bill," first class second, cut Brown's cheek with a blunt knife. The cut bled freely, his nose also, but as round followed round" the swelling be­came more and more pronounced. £7 to £5 was offered at the ringside that ( Easton would win in eight rounds-no takers. Still the fight went on, and up to 25 or 26 rounds, Easton was scarcely marked. The other side of Brown's face was swelling, and had to be cut, and after each round, both cuts were tho­roughly sucked, which had the effect of keeping his left eye open. From about the 30th round the fighting was more even, Easton receiving full change in some of the rounds. In the 52nd round the sponge was tossed up in Brown's corner-against his wishes-after a bat­tle lasting tvwo hours and five minutes, London prize-ring rules. Brown fought till he was stone blind. He was the smaller man of the two, also the slowest with his hands, and not near the boxer that his opponent was. Had all things been equal, Brown must have won. Easton showed the greater skill and bet­ ter judgment; still, Brown was a hard man to fight, as most natural fighters are. Brown was considered to be one of the hardest and gamest men who ever put up their hands, yet, withal, one of the kindest, softest, fellows imaginable. Bill Blakey was, about this time, up North, somewhere about the Palmer, perhaps. Bill was a tall. broad man, about 6ft., and would fight at between 12 and 13 stone; he was not extra quick, but a great ring tactician. William knew every dodge in the game, and gave away no points. He had got over to the Hodgkin­son when it broke out, and hearing of Bill Brown decid,ed to come to the Tow­ers and take the shine off the man who was said to be the hardest nut to crack that North Queensland had seen up to that date. FAMOUS CHARACTERS There were many interesting charac­ters in those days. Ben Green and George Baker, bell-ringers and town­criers, boot blacks, bill posters, etc., were an amusing pair. George the Fid­dler was quite an artist at his game, and usually did the music halls of a Satur­day night. He could, play his violin in any position. Old Mr. Brice of Mill­chester, was a very popular performer on the banjo, and the miners were always glad to hear him accompany his own songs, such as "He Liked the Sound of the Windlass" and the "Cry Iook-out Below," and "Nigger will be Nigger till de day ob Jubilee, for you neber neber can wash a Nigger white." BOXING ON Every Saturday night Mosman Street would be humming again. The coaches would bring the crowd from Millchester and the Queen, and it was a common thing for a box-on and a general mix­up with the clashing of the clans. No hard and. fast rules were observed. It was "all in" and solid going right through, and some times led to indi­vidual matches.