The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-05
BARBARIAN BROWNS GREAT FEAT
Made Flying Wedge of 800 Armed Men and Won Big
Fortune.

! and threatened to shoot the first man
I who left.
Brown found that the only way to
/ hold his men was to keep them drunk,
50 Tor five days previous to the open
Ing, whisky flowed like water and the
ringleaders boosted up their cohorts
with bad liquor.
On the day Of the rush. however. no
man was SO drunk as to forget about
/ the flying wedge, which had been thor
oughly explained and illustrated. At
I the very peep Of dawn the great mass
began to push. though the sale was not
until o'clock. Lines were formed. and
the entire gathering was soon engaged
in a vicious free fight. Men emerged
with ears bitten OF, eyes blackened,
noses broken and teeth lOOsened- As
soon as a company got its man TO the
window he was dragged away and
either passed back overhead or nearly
| trampled TO death. Many succeeded in
reaching the spot. but it was impOssi-
I bic TO hold a man there long, for he
was soon borne down by force of num-
be-s.
Brown and his henchmen in the
meantime held their position on the
outskirts II was not until half an
hour before the time appointed TO open
the window that he began to form his
wedge. Probably 5000 men were
massed between him and the goal at
that moment. but this never feazed the
indomitable Yankee. With thongs OF
rawhide he lashed himself to Alec
Love and Jim MalOney. and with his
feet barely touching the ground, gave
the signal to move.
BEGINNING OF THE RUSH.
At the first impact with the human
wall there was a terrific howl of pain.
followed by the most surprising i'm
the crowd with the blood squirting from
his leg. MalOney had run his knife into
him several inches. In a few minutes
these cries echoed on all sides and the
attention of the mob became divided,
some turning TO face une wedge, which
hung together without a break. and
seemed 10 gain in velocity as it neared
the goal. MalOney and Love, with
heads down, darted into every open
ing. and where there was none, made
it with the jab of a. knife Brown was
hustled along, breathless and bleeding,
until within a dozen rods Of the win
dow.
Here several hundred Cornishmen.
great hulking fellows, with plenty OF
strength and grit. made a stand that
bade fare to spoil the rush. They
smashed the apeX and were moving
down the pugiliSts when the rest OF the
wedge broke through and cleared the
way. Brown, though badly bruised,
continued to shout out promises of re-
ward to his men if they pushed him up
or time. There were but a few min
utes left then. and the Office was rock
ing TO and fro with the tide OF human
ity.
BROWN REACHES THE WINDOW.
Pounded and beaten on every side.
the great flying wedge made one last
and many knife thruSts. finally broke
through and fairly hurled Brown
against the Office. With a good right
hand blow a pugilst smashed in the
window and Brown clutChed the frail
partition with death grin. At the
same moment a gun was fired, announc-
ing Q O'Clock and the whole mass. as
one man. heaved up against the little
galvanized iron booth, crushing Brown
almost fat.
Surrounded by a remnant of his fly
ing wedge. however, he continued to
hang TO the window. and was just get
ting at his wad Of Go notes when the
government commissioner threw Open
the door and announced President Kru-
gers orders suspending the opening. It
nearly cost him his life, for bullets
rained in the shanty from all sides and
the mob pushed harder than ever. and
Brown was on the point Of giving up
his position when one Of those happy
inspirations which occur to men Of
quick thought and action, urged him
to demand a license.
Here l am" he yelled at the fright
ened commissioner, sticking through
The window, a face covered with blood.
Here's my good, hard-earned money,
Now give me my license. or III sue the
for Loco. 000.'
A sudden pitch of the mob nearly
pushed the plucky fellow through the
window and shattered his shoulder
blade, but he waited to hear the re-
fusal and have it witnessed, and then
allowed himself to be passed out on the
veldt.
SUES THE TRANSVAAL.
Out of the thousands there. he was
the only one who had the foresight to
do this. and though it took a long time,
he finally received his indemnity. This
amount has been kept secret, but il Is
variously estimated by the Johannes
burg papers between $4,000 and
e. 900
During the entire time that the suit
was being tried. and it passed through
a number of courts. the flying wedge
lowered about Brown, many OF them
not doing a stroke of work all existing
on the hope of receiving their share Of
the award. but as Brown left Jo-
nannesburg before it was granted,
these choice spirits were doomed to dis
ALLEN SANGREE.