HOSPITAL DELIVERS NEW LEAD ON FASCINATING CHINESE BOXER

When you  are at  the age of  this  blogger  you   try  to    dodge  the  Grim Reaper's  knockout   blow ,  roll  with  his  punches ,  so  end  up  on  a  seemingly  never  ending  medical  treadmill  with  bits cut out , blood tests , pants  dropping ,  CT  scans , ultrasound  probes, a variety of  pills , etc .    In  this  writer's   case , it   involves occasional   trips  to  the   Townsville   Hospital  where  the  packed waiting   rooms  usually  feature  a   mind  numbing   commercial  TV  channel   polluting  the  freezing   air , the screen  spewing   godawful  adverts  for  exercise gadgets,  weight reducing  offers ,   idiotic   interviews  and   utterings .   

There  is , however,   one positive side  of  such  ordeals  - the  chance to  peruse  two  trolleys  of   books   on  the  ground    floor  of the  building, said to have been  designed in  Canada, capable of  withstanding  a   record snowstorm , which is good to know ,  and  also  protection  from   marauding   polar  bears . Only  joking  re  the  bears  -  dingoes  have  been sighted   in  the  parking  area .   

 While  most  of  the  books  for  sale   are  ubiquitous  crime  paperbacks ,  some   delightful non-fiction  hardbacks  have  been  unearthed...the  Barry Humphries  autobiography , More Please , in a  silver fished  dustjacket , the  opening  piece  headed  Alzheimer Remembers ;  a  large , lavishly illustrated  tome on the  world's mythology (subsequently presented to the  artistic  Queen of the Jungle  ) ; most  recently ,   a real treasure, Blood and Tinsel , The Miegunyah Press,  Melbourne, 2008,   a memoir   of  the  Australian  director of plays, musicals, films  and  operas  here  and  overseas ,  Jim Sharman . The    very   sighting  of   his  name on  the  dustjacket  sent  my  blood  pressure  up  with  the  strong belief   that   it  would   contain     information   about  a  number of  subjects  of   interest . 

 

In particular , I hoped it would  contain something  about  boxer    Rud Key ,  the  subject   of  a post  in  this blog    on  December  1  last , headed  CHINESE  BOXING CHAMPION  OF  THE   AUSTRALIAN  UNDERWORLD  .

 

That yarn  told how  in a  slim booklet , Ravenswood Remembered , by  Mary Crow , born 1915,  there  was  mention  of   a Chinese family which   ran  Lee Gow's bakery in the Queensland  mining  town  . One  child ,  "Choonga ", keen on boxing , had joined   the  famous touring  Sharman Boxing Troupe , fighting under the name  Rud Key  ,  his  ashes  supposedly   returned   and   scattered  about  the   town   by   his  brother . 



Following up  this  intriguing  story  , a search of the  Chinese  section of the Ravenswood Cemetery  listed  storekeeper  Key Jung , 56, who had died   in  1927, a possible  relative ?  

 Further  research  in Trove and  boxing   books  provided  additional  information, unfortunately not very extensive ,   about  Rud  Key / Kee , even billed as the  Champion  of  All  China , fighting   in  numerous  places  in  Australia , including Tasmania . He  had  been with the  Sharman Boxing Troupe  for  35  years  , in various roles , including beating  the  drum  to  attract  people  to   the   fight  tent  at  shows  and  ticket  seller .

On taking   the  Sharman  memoir  home   from  the  hospital , I  stretched out on the bed and began to  read  . On  reaching   page 9 , I  gave a yell , which  caused   my wife   to  ask  what was  wrong . It  was  a cry of exultation , not agony ,  nor  my last gasp  ,  for there  was mention  of   "  Rud  Kee" , described as  the Sharman  ticket seller  and  troupe manager ,  in  print.     It went on to  affectionately  call  him " Old  Rud, " who had been with the organisation   since  1911, through two wars and the Depression ,  his  little  known real   name   Cheong  Lee.  


 Later on  in the  book  , the author   said his  paternal grandmother  may have made an unexpected  cruise on  the Mariposa  to  Hong  Kong and  Japan     due to "wise old Rud Kee  ".   She came back   with  lots  of watches strapped to her body , under  her  corsets .  It  is  a  wonder  brilliant  Jim Sharman  did  not turn Rud  into  a fabulous stage  show  or  musical .      There  is  clearly a  bigger story   to   be   dug   up  about  this   character  Rud  ;  the  hunt goes on .  

Building  from  early  days  of  Ravenswood  where  the  boxer's ashes  could still be blowing in the wind . Stepped  up   mining  in  the   town  will  require removal of  old  chimney  stacks  in   the  area . 

The   palpitations   caused  by   the  Rud  Kee  revelations  in  the book were  minor   compared  to   the  surprise  on  reading  further   that   Sharman's   father   had  sent packing  a  crooked  cop -Terry Lewis -who  became the   Queensland  Commissioner  of   Police ,  eventually   jailed  , stripped  of   his  knighthood.