BEATEN TO THE PUNCH -

Bessie Stewart worked at the Great Western Hotel in Coolgardie. Bessie was known as ‘The Belle of Coolgardie’ and young men tried to win her affections with gifts and small gold nuggets.

Bessie was the cause of many fights between these ardent suitors and the most ferocious of all was between Jimmy Reid and ‘Bull’ Bennett.

Both men regarded themselves as accomplished boxers and both wanted to marry Bessie. For reasons of her own, Bessie did not make a choice one way or the other and the two men decided to fight it out.

They fought with bare knuckles behind the Club Hotel as a large crowd looked on and gave them encouragement.

After two hours the men were covered in blood and exhausted so their ‘seconds’ stepped in and stopped the fight with no clear winner.

The fighters decided to spend three weeks recovering and then fight again to try and resolve the issue.

Jimmy Reid went off to the coast to recover and do some serious training. He returned in time for the next fight only to find that in the interim, Bennett had used his time more wisely and was already married to Bessie.

(From the book Daughters of Midas, Norma King, Hesperian Press.)

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