Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-10-29
FOUGHT A PANTHER
Man and Animal Fight to the Death
With NATURES Weapons.

Man and Animal Fight to the Death
With Natures Weapons.
From the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.
Probably the only man who ever killed
panther with no other weapon than the
strong hands and brawny arms nature gave
him Is a resident of Memphis.
He is an Australian native, born in Sgd
ney. and gives his name as John l.. Sulli-
van. He stands feet 5 inches in his shoes,
and weighs 2l5 pounds. not All ounce of
which is surplus flesh. His colossal frame
is one solid mass of bone, sinew and mus
Gle. and if fighting were his trade he would
he ready to go into the ring at a moment S
notice. Had he been reared pusiiist he
would have cut no mean figure in the his
tory of the ring and in all probability have
proved a match for Peter jackson in his
palmieSt days.
But this modern giant says he never
fought man in all his life. The only
light of note he ever had was with a
He will remember that fight to his dying
day.
1t occurred nine years ago. Sullivan was
then fireman of a construction train on the
Louisville, New Orleans and Texas rail
road. One day his engine stopped in the
woods near Shelby. In Bolivar county,
Miss. and having hours leisure he got
off, intending to snatch an hours rest on
as he was preparing to lie down he saw L
PANTHER approaching through ravine that
concealed him from the construction crew.
Sullivan gave the alarm and the crew fed
leaving him alone the field. The pam
ther turned on Sullivan. whose presence it
was ignorant of until it heard his warning
cry.
The animal which proved to be of formid-
able size, made a Spring and landed on
sullivan with an impact that. would have
leiled an ordinary man. the Australian
stood the shock without a stagger, how
ever, and pushed the beast off with pow-
erful shove. but not before its terrible
claws had buried themselves in his flesh
and torn off the skin and tissue from the
neck 10 the waist. Then with a blood
curdling snarl it attacked his legs, clawing
off section of his thigh and biting through
the calf, where its teeth remained until
Sullivan, with Il powerful effort, kicked
loose" as he himself described it.
ihen the battle began in earnest. The
animal, now reused to fury, reared himself
on his hind legs and came on with a rush.
sullivan caught him by both forefeet and
held them in a grip like iron. furious
battle followed 1t was a hand-to-hand
fight between man and beast on equal
terms and with life as the stake.
Sullivan tried to throw the beast. but the
ground was slippery with his own blood
and prevented firm foothold. AT last,
inch by inch, he forced the animal toward
the root of a big tree and with a mighty
effort threw IT down and fell on top of its
PROSTATE body, never releasing his hold Of
those mighty forearms.
Then came a struggle that Sullivan long
remembered with a shiver. He knew his
only chance lay in keeping his clutch on
The brute's forearms, extending. them as
Wide as he could force them. After brief
breathing spell he crawled up the brute's
body and planted one of his knees firmly
on its chest. All this time the panther was
using his hind legs to great advantage,
tearing chunks of flesh from Sullivan's
pGt tlfh he rfrhf If
other work before him. How to kill the
beast was a question that puzzled him as
he kneeled there, painting, half fainting
with loss of blood his nerves almost over
come by the fetid odor of the brute's car
cass, inhalIng its hot breath and almost
feeling the fire of its eyes.
At last he thought of n way, and nerving
himself to the task he dug his knee deep
down into the animals chest summonine
all his strength to the effort, and feeling
its bones crunching under him. Then using
the spot on which the knee rested as a
fulcrum, he drew the animals head to-
ward him so as to break its neck. The ami
mai OWNED his motive and resisted with
all its strength, but the man prevailed. and
the neck broke with a snap that might
have been heard block.
When the conductor and engineer came
along half an hour afterward they found
Sullivan lying unconscious in pool of his
own blood, almost in the arms of the beast
he had slain The animal weighed SO6
pounds. and measured feet 3n inches
from tip 10 tip.
Sullivan is fifty years of age. His name
is probably assumed He has lived in the
United States for twenty years and is en-
ployed by the Memphis Street Railway
Company as a trackman. reporter for
the Commercial-Appeaf saw him last night
and took his measurements. His height
is 6 feet . inches his arms outstretched
measure feet 10 inches. 64. inches more
thar those of Robert Fitzsimmons; the
reach of his right arm is 31n inches re-
laxed and 10 inches when tense; Fitzsim-
mons biceps are only II inches; forearm
IL inches an inch and n half more than
Bob's; his chest measurement is 80 against
FitZsimmons' Al
Sullivan used to wear No. IL shoe, but
after his encounter with the panther H.,
teet which had been badly clawed swelled
SO that he now has to squeeze into a 13.
Not long ago. 1t will be remembered that
local shoe dealer put out pair of shoes
with placard stating that anybody the
shoes would fit might have them The
shoe dealer had no idea there was such a
foot on earth. Sullivan came along and
soon proved that his title to them was in
disputable
Sullivan is afraid to fight man for fear
of fatal results to the other fellow a blow
from his right arm might kill an OK