Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1885-12-20
SULLIVAN AND THE MINER.
Hitherto UnwIitten Incident In n
Life of the Unconquered Boston Push-

A Hitherto UnwIitten Incident In the
Life of the U~nconquered Boston Pugh-
Ist.
N. y Nal dad EtpreSS.
The story of the tour of the John L.
Sullivan Continuation in the wild West Il,
AN interesting one, but the chief actor in
many of the occurrences are not ANXIOUS
10 make them all public. Snllivsn's
business manager, however, is fond OF re-
lating the story of how the great pugilist
came near meeting hs match in Colorado.
1T was in one ofthe mining towns" the
manager said. "You gee, whenever We
gave an exhibition we advertised that IT
anybody in the country wanted to spar
with Sullivan, with or without gloves, he
would be accommodated. Well, when We
arrived in this little place We found q ehal'
lsuge already waiting. There was Q miner
there who was anxious to meet Sullivan on
the stage and spar four or FIVE rounds with
bare fsts. l found that the other miners
had made up q purse Of $500 and were
willing to back their msn to that amount.
Of course, l covered it, perfectly confident
that Sullivan would win. We were going
to exhibit that night and Sullivan had
been drinking pretty heavily for two or
three days, though he had not missed
any performances. Our rule was to haVe
some of the other members OF the combine
ton give exhibitions of wrestling and spar
ring; and then conclude by letting one OF
them wind up with Sullivan, unless there
wa somebody in the audience who wanted
to try (which did not occur very often.
Upon making inquiries in the village dur
ing the day, l heard 80 much OF this man
the miners had backed against Sullivan
that l made up my mind to go and haves
look at him. They called him the hair
man.
II found him training in q whisky
saloon, and for the first time on that tour
| wa scared. He was six feet three
inches tall, weighed 220 pounds without
having an ounce of superAuous flesh, and
be was covered over with thick black hair
like a Newfoundland dog. His arms were
as hard as bars of iron, and oil the miners
said that he had q great deal Of science
aud struck a terrible blow. l found
hat he had q reputation for miles
around, and that there had even been
talk about raising money to send him East
TO challenge Sullivan. Sullivan had been
drinking 30 much that ! feared he would
meet his Waterloo, unless / could induce
the other to give up the fight. So | told
him hat Sullivan had been drinking, that
he wss very ugly, and that it would not be
cafe to fight with him that night. The
hairy man only laughed and said that =,
Sullivan could stand it he could, His
confidence scared me, because ever pueil.
ist-no matter who he is-VbI has ever
fought Sullivan has been ~ery nervous
about meeting him, and this fellow was
happy about it. / fpr.Itiy told them that
Id forfeit the $500 Il they'd keep the hairy
man of the staS,e that night, of course put,
ting it on tie ground that Sullivan might
kill him. But it was no use; they said Sui.
iivan must fight or they'd all get together
aud tar and feather him.
When / told Sullivan that Id tried to get
the fight of, he was furious, and | actual
ly thought he'd assault me. He accused
me Of trying to destroy his reputation, and
said that he was never in better fighting
condition in his life. BE was 30 mad that
it sobered him, which was one good effect
anyway. We gave the exhibition in q hall
that was made to hold 1000 person, but
over 5000 we're in it, and hundreds
of persons had come scores Of miles for the
occasion. | found that all the betting
was on the hairy man, and / was entirely
prepared to see Sullivan get whipped.
When they came on the Stage Sullivan
could hardly wait for time to be called, and
he glsred at the hairy man like q tiger.
The hairy man was as conidentSs ever, and
his friends yelled themselves hoarse in ad-
mirstion. When time was called Sullivan
made q furious rush at the hairy man,
struck him once between the eyes and
knocked him senseless of the the stage
into the auditorium. I was 30 cure be was
killed that ! made Sullivan get cut of the
hall and prepare to leave the place In q
hurry for fear he'd be lynchsd, 1t took Us
twenty minures to bring the hairy man to
himself, and we only managed it then
by cutting Of his thumb nail and making
incision in the quick of the thumb under,
meath. And if you ever Jaw Q humbled
and admiriDg gang, it was the friends Of
that miner. They we're all down at the
train to see Sullivan off in the morniD[
and the hairy man shook hands Will, him
without saying q word absolute, speecb.
less with admiration. ThS', was The ONLY
time I feared that Splp, wan had met bis
no,ch AS