The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-05-30
A CHALLENGE TO SULLIVAN.
Bill Nyo Proposes to out-taIk the Boston
Boanerges.

Bill Nye, the Staten Island Pet, yester-
day handed to the World the following doc
ument with request for immediate publ
cation and two copies of the paper to be
forwarded to his address:
To Col. John Lawrence Sullivan, Boston, Mass.
SIR: see that at your testimonial last
evening, in Music Hall, you guarantee to
lick the next man you stand up against
/ also notice with pain that for some time
you have been unsuccessfully looking for
your peer, and like Goliath of Gath walk
ing up and down before the regular army
and begging in loud and ungrammahcal
terms for some gentleman to come and
tread on the tail Of your coat.
The only sling | know anything about Is
your best weapon, and so l shall not name
the sling. l want to meet you on equal
terms, and so propose only such condi-
tons as shall be fair for both of US. hate
to see man making a wreck of himself
while waiting for some one to meet him,
and so l have decided to challenge you.
have only been waiting till l could get
trained down so fine that removing my
spectacles and the cotton from my ears
would make half difference in my weight,
and now that | have reached that point l
yearn to get hold of you.
l now challenge you, John Lawrence
Sullivan, late of England aud France, but
now OF Boston, Mass, to meet me any
where in the United States or any foreign
monarchy where fair play will be assured
to both, either in asiXteen, twenty or twen-
ty-four foot ring, with bare knuckles, to
talk into photograph to finish, Tor so,
600 side, the gate receipts andthe cham
pionship OF the world.
l select as my timekeeper large four
pound Waterbury watch and name as my
seconds Noah Webster and Lydia f. Pink
ham.
In case we are broken up by the police,
before the contest is finished, the purse
shall 60 to the one having the best OF 1t at
the time OF the interference.
AS my bottle-holder select ex-Gov. st
John, of Kansas, and as sponger l shall
bringan acquaintance ofmine who borrows
my umbrellas and sells them.
It shall also be the part of the agreement
that the press be fully and freely repre-
scented, each correspondent or reporter to
have his expences paid to and from the
contest by the losing party, whether the
place selected be in this country orin Eu-
rope.
All kinds of talk shall count. Every
thing goes-slang, blow, brag, bluster, old
lectures, secondhand responses TO toasts,
itahcised wind, old Fourth of July orations,
contempt for other pugilests and impas-
stoned appeals for some one to lick will
score. Each man shall strip at less than
lS5 pounds and be allowed a bale of tin
foil and a box of bronchial troches.
The free stshall be suspended, with the
exception of members OF the press, the
Prince of Wales and such of your favorite
wives as you desire to favor with tickets.
The time occupied shall be six days, or TO
afinish, straightaway or catch-as-catch-can.
No profanityt to beallowedand no language
to be used which the press shall consider
improper for publication.
Each contestant shall be entitled to a
copy OF his remarks made during the en-
counter and may copyright same for pub
LEGATION in book form afterwards.
l am no pugilist, but when my pugilism
gets within the reach Ola common CONVEX
sationalist and conservator of Cab, think
it is a shame that you have remained I'M
challenged so long. ! may be no match
for YOU, but if you Will meet me on the
above terms and the BOYS will see that we
have fair play, will guarantee that will
make it Interesting for you, and that so
far as | am concerned it shall be no hippo
drOme. BILL NYE.
New York Nav 16 1898