St. Paul daily globe., 1892-08-07
@SssA, SHcA

u ~ saw the immense
&~A crowd that wrlth-
MP ed and wriggled
i&LI and struggled TO
get into the gal
lery entrance OF
the theater to see that idol of the peo-
pie. John l.. Sullivan, l yielded to that
desire and mingled. l mingled not
wisely but too well, as the sequel
showed. l began at the fringes OF the
mob. crowded my way through the
tassels to the closer weave. crowded
through weo aud woof into the
very center OF the fabric. Each
individual of ali that mighty
fabric groaned and struggled with
passionate haste to secure all advantage
over his fellow i'll the full license OF de-
sire to get the first glimpse OF the fam
Gus man. Thanks to the sharp elbow
nature gave me and my obstinate I'M
pervousness to the curses and epithetS
of the mob, L succeeded in getting with
in reasonable hailing distance of the
box Office before it had opened, and
thought | had mastered it, when the
Office opened, and with roar like the
waves of a rock-boand coast the crowd
moved as one man, and | moved with It
from that time forward as helpless as
chip on the f0amy main.
With crushed hat and hopes scarcely
in better repair l succeeded in getting
q position i'll the center OF a crowd OF
choice spirits. AS sat down L crowded
my neighbor slightly and he groWled,
Young feiler. yer wants ter step care
full, am not make no rash breaks" That
was promising, and | decided at once TO
stay where L was and cultivate my
kindly neighborS acquaintance.
A companion said to him: SAY, joey,
old lad, wouldn't yer like ter see Snlli-
van spar wild JakeSy Wickie?-'ak kinder
reckon de buffers kinder quit chewin'
der rag fer week er two, eh, me boy?"
Joey vouchsafed only nod in reply, las
he was busy biting off a very large
hunk Of plug te'baccer. l ventured to
make so bold: 5@
"Wouldn't Sullivan and John Sher-
man make a great fight?" ! wanted to
test a little fancy of my own that Sher-
man was unknown to my cOmpatriots
who were so we'll up in Sullivan's pedi-
gree and points. "Who de = is Sher-
man?' growled Joey. Yer don't mean
amt in it," mo, no; l mean Sh er
man, John Sherman, of Ohio, the feI-
low that knocked Foraker out in one
round with a sOckdologer in tine winde"
"Yes, | remember" says JOey's COM
panion, "dey's a couple OF bum fight
ers over de Rhine in Cinc!nnaty, dey
aint nowhere 'Iongside O. the Boston
boy-guess you don't know much about
prize fghtin', no how" whereupon L
lapsed into silence.
After this cold rebuff it was some
time before ventured to ask my neigh
Dor if he didn't think Sullivan was the
| best known living American. The sud
denneSs and pronptltude of his answer
startled me. and again l lapsed into
silence.
Joey espied friend across the way.
'Hi dere, Spike: did yer git in wldout
dyin' on der way?" he asked. 81 dom
look like no corpsey, doc I?' answered
Spike. Just then three burly Irishmen,
looking about in vain for seat leaped
down to the front row, coOlly took the
best seat available. 1t subsequently
took three policemen and two uSlierS to
disodge them. Then the leader got up
and seated his men on the steps of the
aisle with the injunction: ''Stay Whur
yeZ air!' And they stayed. and neither
force nor persuasion could move them.
From my uncongenial friend Joey l
turned to my neighbor behind and in
terrogated him.
"Yon l.. Sullivan hae bane purity yoot
man; hae leek Yon Sherman, Ae tenk.
What yo tenk?" said he. "Ae tenk SO,
| tewe." | answered with great gravity.
Ole'S neighbor was a kentuckian, and
he said that Swedes couldn't be ex-
| pected to know anything; that John
| Sherman had whipped more men in ten
| minutes than Sullivan could in years.
| Ole got angry and offered to bet, where
| upon the Kentuckian said to me: Bah
| Code. sab, the igno'ance of foh'eners is
| disgraceful, sah." At this point the
curtain went up on the first
| act of that fearful and wonder
fnl play, Honest Hearts and
Willing HANDS," and in moment a
| hush fell like a pail or pillow over the
gallery. Presently it became necessary
| for Sullivan to show himself. The gal
speak, a very large and competent yell.
| momentarily expecting to be able to
launch it full at the breast of its idol, its
| here. the man whose name they
breathed with an ecstatic tremor of de-
light. He came and the yell went. 1t
struck him below the belt and doubled
him up. He recovered himself quickly
and put up his dukes for second
round, but the gallery forebore, having
made the champion duck his nut for
once.
AL, QClG llS 10, Sdlu dill
front of me, ''ain' he a beaut? Say,
dere's man kin knock out de worp on
| a square scrap" =
He's got too much paunch now: he
wants to take about twenty pounds of
leaf lard off'n himself responded a
| neighbor.
''Dey's some people whut needs ter
tackle de man; say, wouldn' he do 'em?
well, | guess notl Lookee Slavin-de
marks buffer an he wouldn' be in it
for more'n about twenty minutes" +,
jess waith Ontel yez hear the mon
sing, they do be sayin' he's mosth en-
chantin' singer, am can warble NC
Sworley's Birthday Party to perfier
tion.'
''Do he sing?'
''Troth, an he does that"
At this juncture in his lines Sullivan
found it necessary to say in bluffO
profundo voice: 'Look here, Arthur
Dare, If you speak again until you are
spoken to, Pll choke the life out of
you." This gem of thought and feeling
touched tender and responsive chord
| in the hearts of my friends in the gal
lery. and, inasmuch as it was accom-
panied by threatening gesture
of the trip-hammers Of the cham
pion, they went into paroxsm
of delight, which, they expressed in
vociferouS exclamations: "Hit him one
for luck!' Put i'm to sleep, john. !"
"Rush him! Rush him, Johnp'