Ruby Robert’s first job, his relatives recalled, was in Reid’s and Grey’s Foundry in Stafford Street North, a short distance from where the Dominion Hotel now stands. Boxing had far greater appeal for him than any other sport, and he took to it like a duck to water. One of the old settlers I interviewed remarked: “There’s many a time when Bob, left alone in the shop, would go down the alley to have a little go with the gloves. He didn’t have much difficulty getting some one to spar with him while another kept a lookout at the blacksmith shop.” “Did the family ever speak of Jem Mace who is credited with having taught Bob the finer points of boxing?” I inquired of blind Jack Fitzsimmons. (A steel splinter had penetrated his right eye while he was working as a smithy.) He’d talk for hours about boxing and the prowess of his uncle if he could get a listener. “Yes,” he replied. “His sister Catherine had a vivid recollection of Bob’s early days and often told us of the celebrities with whom Bob associated. Mace, she told us, was Bob’s teacher and a mighty good one. He had a night school where he taught boxing and Bob attended it after working hours.” Continuing after a short pause, Jack said, “She told us that Uncle Bob began boxing at the age of fifteen, and our father said that Bob had engaged in three bare-knuckle bouts with heavyweights when he scaled only 142 pounds. Father, you know, was Bob’s brother and he, like Bob, was strong and vigorous. He had thin legs—a family trait, I believe; from the waist down, they were similarly built. “I recall Dad saying that it wasn’t long after Mace took charge of Uncle Bob’s training that he was fighting all comers of any weight class in South Canterbury. Bob’s fame spread, and stories of his prowess drifted to Australia; at the age of twenty, he left Timaru for Sydney, where he fought in matches arranged by the great Larry Foley.” I was amazed at the boxing knowledge of Jack Fitzsimmons. Blindness hadn’t affected his memory. He recalled dates and places which normally require research in _The Ring Record Book_ for accuracy. I was shocked upon my return to America to learn that Jack died shortly after I had left for home. Discussing Ruby Robert’s sense of humor, Jack Fitzsimmons remarked: “Aunt Catherine told us that he grew up with plenty of it in his make-up. And from what we learned from our father and read in _The Ring_ and elsewhere, his antics in his training camps and in his social gatherings portrayed the picture well. He was full of pranks and never was disturbed when they were played on him, Dad said. It was his easy-going temperament that enabled him to make friends wherever he went.”