Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-05
SOME INNER HISTORY.
John L. Sullivan by no Means as
Black as Sometimes Painted.
HIS MANY DEEDS OF KINDNESS
That Are Now Related for the First Time in
Public Print.
He Is CHARITABLE EVEN TO A FAULT
his MANY DEEDS OF KINDNESS
HE Is CHARITABLE EVEN TO A FAULT

On next Monday John L. Sullivan will
in all probability engage in the battle of
his life. Heretofore he had for opponents
men who, through fear or doubt, were al
ready defeated before entering the arena.
but now he will face one who will stub
bornl' contest every inch of ground. and
yield, if yield he does, only when tickle
nature refuses further allegiance.
For several years Sullivan has enjoyed
the honor OF being the premier fistic gladis-
tor of the world. Upon him have been
showered wealth and favor unequaled in
the annals of pugilism; the wealth has been
dissipated and the favor unquestionably
abused; so in his case the coming encounter
takes the form of "last chance" Should
he win, he may regain portion Of his los:
prestige, but should Kilrain prove the vic
tor II means tbs total eclipse of his already
waning star.
Probably no man was ever subjected to
more systematic and somewhat undeserved
abuse. 1t is rare, indeed, that press or in
dividual have spoken a word in his favor.
And the writer feels that whatever may be
the outcome of the pending contest that
there are
CERTAIN GOOD POINTS
in his character that should De brought for
ward. 1t was while connected with the
Boston Post during the years Immediately
succeeding the Sullivan-Ryan fight when
the Boston man so easily disposed Of the
Troy giant, and when one can say without
exaggeration that he was the idol of the city,
not alone with the sporting fraternity but
with those who had previously taken no
interest whatever in sport of this kind, that
] first met John L. Sullivan and learned to
admire q certain sturdy honesty and inde-
pendence Characteristic of the man.
Many and many we're the acts of kind
ness and genuine charity 1 personally wit
messed for which he received no credit, and
which are now published for the first time.
On one occasion l remember going
into the Office OF the Associated Charities
A case of extreme poverty, whose in
digency required immediate attention had
Just been repeated, and none of the special
agents being at hand, l was requested to
look it up and report On arrival at the
Z address given, a miserable tenement at the
north end of the city, was surprised to find
table in the center of the room covered
i, with provisions
On explaining my errand the occupant
OF the room, an aged woman, in the last
stages of consumption, said: "Why, one of
your men was here moment ago; God bless
hin. He brought those'-pointing to the
provisions Mentally anathematizing the
stupidity of the officials in sending two peo-
pie on the same errand, 1 was about to
retire when terrible tumult arose from the
backyard. THAT must be him now." said
the woman. "He went out to get some
wood to make me a fire." Out of curiosity
went to the window, ard imagine my sur
prise to see Sullivan with his Goa. of, and
his silk hat stuck on the back Of his head,
engaged in splitting mp an old -four barrel,
an operation which, to judge from his exer-
tions end ceaseless flow Of verbiage was
giving him considerable more trouble than
the knocking out" process. took a seat
and in few moments the door opened and
ne entered with an armful of slaves.
JOHNS MoDEsTY.
As his glance fell on me he changed color
And ysz apparently as abashed as q child
caught in a naughty action. Here was q
man, whose drunkenness and brutality were
the topic of daily censure, performing an
act of charity and fearful lest il would be
discovered. An old Frenchwoman, almost
acentenarian, whose husband had been deco
rated for gallantrv by Napoleon l., formerly
ground a dilapidated hand organ on Ire
mont street, but one day, owing to COM
plaints from the residents of the vicinity,
the police were ordered to remove her. This
the officer was doing with unnecessary harsh
ness.
On the old creature objecting, he pushed
her with sufficient force TO throw her from
her feet into the gutter. The next instant
he was seized, lifted bodily into the air, and
tossed into the middle of the street. One
glance at the rescuer, and he rushed for the
station to make complaint. Sullivan as
sisted the old woman to arise, shouldered
the organ and tucking her arm under his
own, accompanied her to her miserable
home, and, from that time until her death
he provided her with a weekly pension, suf-
fcient for her needs.
AT the caving-in of the old Highland
sewer, in which IL workmen were buried,
Sullivan was the oaly man with sufficient
courage TO again and again descend into the
filthy, disease-breeding hole and rescue..the
sufferers, bringing out seven men alone. A
horse attached to cutter in which an old
gentleman and boy were seated got beyond
their control and was in imminent danger
of colliding with a street car From a
clothing store Sullivan observed the dam
ger to the occupants of the cutter, and DASH
ing out he seized the animal by the bride
and twisting his head around dealt him b.
blow behind the ear with such force as to
drop him to the ground, breaking the shafts
and spilling the riders into the snow.
KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.
Observing that the horse did not rise,
Sullivan, totally ignoring the old gentle
mans thanks, proceeded to make an in
yestigation, and finding, as he imagined,
that the animal was badly hurt, handed a IS
bill to boy and directed him to bring a
veterinary surgeon to look after the horse.
This done the big fellow returned to the
store as coolly as ii he had just done some
thing Of everyday occurrence.
No beggar ever asked aims from Sullivan
and was refused-in his flush days he was a
victim of continuous swindling. 1 have
known him to 60 several streets out of his
way every morning to give charity to an
old soldier who sold lead pencils on Boyl-
ston street. .
He may be gambler, a rough, drunk
ard, an outcast from society, pariah, to
whom the respectable may point as an ex-
ample-but he was never a coward or a
thief. never wronged fellow-being, and
though the world may not receive it, his
friends know that the heart that beats in the |
huge frame is one of the tenderest and no