The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-08-20
John C'$CHe
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never Ecst PcpHIaFifV.

never Ecsf PcpHIafifV.
Through the New York Herald, John L.
! Sullivan, who has deserted the stag. to
keep a tavern, makes the following an
nouncement:
Live and let live has n ways been my
motto. / have had a Yariel experience
| and have made many friends. and there
/ is not a friend among them all who will
say that John L. Sullivan did not go into
| his pocket when there was aes1 Of assist
! ance, for 1t has been my pleasure to be
| a good Samaritan where l had the
| chance.
Fighting is all changed since the days
when / was a youngster. 1t Is on a
higher plane. and 1t began when stood
| forth as an American and announced my
! willingness to meet any man In the
| world. Americans like manly deeds and
| they took pride in one of their own
| countrymen challenging men of all ma
tons. was always ready to fight. The
/ preliminaries were short and quickly
settled. Every man knew where TO find
| John L. Sullivan. and every American
/ knew that his heart was true. Had I
! been a fighter of today I might have had
the same opportunity in New York to
! show my prowess as others have had.
81 am glad that the championship OF
! the world is once more held by an Ameri-
| can. When lost it took pride In the
| fact that 1 was defeated by an American.
| 1 would never have lost 1t to a foreigner.
| have had my ups and downs, but wher-
! ever go find that still hold as warm
| place as ever in the hearts Of my fell
| low citizens. They knew me to be hon
| est and sincere They knew that when
| John L. Sullivan said he would do a
| thing he would do 1t, and I thank them
for their kindly and sincere good wishes"
Twenty-Five years ago a stalwart. fine
| ~ developed boy of sixteen played with
| the amateur mines about the city of Bos-
ton. AS a fielder he was fair and as a
batter quite expert. His arms were mod
els of muscular development, his legs
thick at the thigh and round and bulglns
! at the calf. His companions called him
Strong Boy Sullivan"
Eight years later he stood in a ring IN
| Mississippi City, Miss, chamion heavy
weight pugilIst of the world, while in a
corner opposite to him the seconds %
Paddy" Ryan were vigorously trying to
revere man who had received one OF the
| most severe beatings in the history of the
! prize ring 10 to that period. Ten years
/ elapsed and Sullivan tasted all the sweets
| in the champions cup. Then one fateful
night at New Orleans, after an encoun-
/ ter with n younger and nimbler man, he
/ was robbed Of much of the glorS that
7 I,o1 lit L.. L, g,1I-
recovered from the state o! unconscious
! ness into which he had been beaten, he
/ staggered to a post by the side of the
ring and said, mournfully: 81 have
! fought too often. ! am glad the cham
| pion OF America Is still an American"
But though the sun Of his prowess set
| that night. the sun OF his popularity has
never dimmed. John l.. Sullivan is the
| only athlete of modern times who Is as
! great II not a greater favorite after de-
feat than he was before. In all the CIR
! Gle of athletics, amateur or professional,
there Is no man more a public idol than
this deeP-voiced. big chested. prodigal
| fighter. who has thrown away fortunes
to enjoy the idle pleasure of a few hours.
During his day he has been athlete,
/ fighter. politician. actor, though truth to
! tell. not an Overwhelming success. ex-
/ cept from n money making standpoint, In
any of the latter roles. Now he Is n
Boniface an inspiration that was colnci-
dent with almost his first success in the
! ring, for he said many years ago TO a
reporter for the New York Herald that
he should like to be the proprietor Of a
hosiery Of some kind. were 1t not FOR
!
prietors to drink.
Many persons have believed that John
/ L. Sullivan was foreign born. On the
contrary. he was born at the Highlands.
in Boston. on October IS. 1858. During all
his public career. IL he has been nothing
else. he has certainly been consistent
American. He is patriotic as his heart
Is big. and Sullivan's generosity has al
ways been without limit. He would give
until his purse was as bare as old Mother
I Hubbard's cupboard.
He was educated at the Boston public
schools He went to Corners Business
College for a time and he spent several
terms at Boston College. an institution
connected with the Church OF the I'M
maculate Conception. 1t was here that
he learned the rudiments Of elocution. anC
during his after life nothing has given
him more satisfaction than that he knew
how TO talk in public. In fact, the great
fighter has been more happy over his
elocutinnarv attachments than over his
success in the ring.
Sullivan the boy who ran away from
school to play baseball. Later when he
began. TO work as a day lahorcr ths
charm Of the diamond often proved toe
much for him. and he would quietly take
French leave when there was bail game
in the nelghborhood. One day. while
working for n contractor near Boston, nd
failedtto put in an appearance. he Yves
playing hockey" on the bali field again
The contractor concluded that the only
way 10 bring about a reformation was q
: chastise the young man on his return
He attempted to do so. The other en-
pIoyes subsequently picked the contrac-
tor out of a bed of soft earth and sough
to restore him to consciousness. su'li
F van. horror-stricken. fed from the scene
Subsequently he returned TO beg th'
mans pardon. That might be called hi!
first fight. for he was a peaceable young
s,er. and never was known TO bully his
playmates.
As he has expressed It. he was willtn:
enough to work when boy, but neve'
could find work that seemed exactly 4
. his liking After whipping the contrac
, tor ne drIfted around from one place -
another. and finally was prevailed upol
to enter some amateur boxing contests
He had shown ability in boxing when a
. school.
While using the gloves one day wei
|. known citizen OF Boston, who knew