Huntsville gazette., 1889-07-13
THE SULLIVAN-KlLRAIN FIGHT.
rain Knocked Out in the Seventy
fifth Round.


fight is over. Kilrain has been fairly,
squarely, honestly and honorably whipped
in contest in which the beaten man has
no cause to be ashamed Of his defeat.
There is no manner of doubt that Jake Kill
rain is a game man and good fighter,
and the men who saw him fight to- day will
put up their money on him the next tlme
he enters the ring against any. living man
except Sullivan. No account Of this much
talked-of contest will be complete unless
the thread of the narrative is taken up at
the time Of the departure Of the first train
from New Orleans Monday morning at
O'Clock. The rush for admission to the Sl5
coaches was something Indescribable. A
thousand men surrounded the depot Tor
hours before the announced time of the de-
parture and madly jostled each othe" for
favorable position. When the doors were
fairly opened the crush was fearful, ana
200 men were lifted off their feet and sus-
pended in the air by the mere force Of for
ward and backward pressure. 1t took
nearly two hours to seat the SD ticket
holders, but there was not room for all OF
them and some had to occupy camp stools
in the aisles. The anxiety to see the fight
amounted almost to frenzy, and those
who were without the means to pay SlO or
So, the price of transportation and. admls-
sion, took their chances Of losing their
lives in attempting to steal ride. just
before the Sl5 train started from New Or
leans, it was discovered that scores Of men
and boys had concealed themselves in the
cross beams connecting the wheels, while
Lon, Jpg11 l1G n
Meeting the trucks. The greater number,
however, were perched on the roof of the
cars, in some cases as many as twenty-five
TO each coach. These interlopers were dis
covered and driven off by the police before
starting but once the train in motion they
swarmed back like 50 many flies, and re-
mained to tue end Of the journey.
The remarkable feature of this daring
performance is that 90 per cent. Of the
foolhardy actors il it were beardless boys,
ranging in age from IS to 80. But the most
reckless deed Of all was that Of three young
rascals who concealed themselves on the
inner side of the catcher and were
never dislodged
The ring was pitched at Richburg, Miss,
in clearing on the edge of a pine forest,
near the little village, which is 102 miles
from New Orleans and SO from Meridian,
on the Queen and Crescent road. The ring
was pitched on a path Of green turf and
surrounding it on three sides were tiers OF
seats ten feet high put up by an enterprls-
ing local speculator, who charged " for
/ the privilege of a seat. Unfortunately,
however he occupied the space set aside
for the inner ring seat holders, and those
who had paid So for accommodations
there claimed the right to sit in the i'm
provised amphitheater without extra
charge. The local man who had taken the
risk Of receiving - for the occupancy OF
the seats appealed to the crowd to pay
him, and made the point that gentlemen
who were occupying them were IN honor
bound to accept his terms. The crowd
ieered at the suggestion, and those who IN
their anxiety to get seated had paid y re-
pented their rashness. -fifths of the
seating capacity was filled by the $l3
crowd, some 1000 in number, who arrived
on the battle-ground an hour before the Sl0
people came along. Outside OF the ring
the villagers sat on wood and on wagons
piled with lumber, while others enjoyed
| the sight from rudely-coustructed plat
forms six or seven feet high. The small
boys, as usual, had the best view from
elevated perches in the surrounding pine
| trees.
It was S O'Clock when the first train
reached Rich burg, but even at that early
| hour the three upper rows ot seats were
| found occupied by Richburgers, who mad
sat on their elevated perches since day
| light, waiting for the show to begin.
Kilrain was the first Of the gladiators to
put in an appearance. He was accom-
panied by Charley Mitchell. They were
| both received with applause and cheers, IN
acknowledgment of which Mitchell tipped
bis derby. Kilrain's appearance dismayed
| his hackers He was unshaved, and looked
! hageard, worn and weak. In short, he
| looked scared. He was white under the
gills, and behaved like man being led to
execution. He was not stripped, but wore
a striped shirt and striped pants. lie af-
terward disrobed in the ring. Soon after
! Sullivan came, accompanied by the ever
vigilant Muldoon. Sullivan wore a long
ulster or sweater" as it is called, eX-
tending from his neck almost down to his
/ ankles. I1io dppCdA HANO "Nt' N-o = ? -NN
for a tornado Of applause and cheers, 2
demonstration not without its depressing
effect in the Kilrain corner. Both princi-
pals were lead to seats in their corners, di-
agonaly opposite each other, and were
| surrounded by their friends, bottle mold
ers. seconds, hackers and a miscellaneous
tbrong OF partisans. The tanning process
seemed to have an invigorating effect on
| Kilrain, and he began to brighten under
| its influence. Sullivan looked flushed, but
not particularly buoyant He also sub
mitted to being famed with patient meek
ness. and seemed to realize that his destiny
hung upon the issue Of the contest.
In the sixty ninth round Kilrain was
knocked down by a right-hander in the
law. From this until the close OF the sew
entv-fifth round Kilrain pursued his run
ning-away tactics, dropping on every at
tempt Of Sullivan's to administer punish
ment. At the close Of the seventy fifth
round. Mitchell went over to Sullivan's
corner and asked to have the fight declared
draw, to which Sullivan and his seconds
resD0nded: "No, Mop Donovan then