The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-09
THIS CADET WAS
A BUSY "SCRAPPER'
New York Press

The hazers at West Point ran up
against a hard proposition" when
! they encountered John Patrick Sulli-
van of Louisiana. He is the youth of
muscle and Drawn who as a pIebe
whipped thirty cadets of the year
ling class and every cadet of the first
! class who called him out. He was so
busy with fights that sometimes he
had as many as four in one day. and
/ ne never lost a battle. lie was the
( best ''scrapper" the Military academy
/ ever saw, and, as a plebe, used to whip
upper class men as fast as they aD-
! peared before him. When the commit
tee of congress asked if a "plebe" was
not always called out to be licked -
and asked further if that was not al
ways his fate, the statement that a.
former ''plebe' mad whipped every man
with whom he had fought was testi-
mOny that astOnished the investigators
and injured the case against the
academy.
Sullivan was found in math" in
January, 1897 Found in math'
means found deficient in maizena,
tics" He therefore left the academy.
but the remembrance Of his prowess
still remains there. In his ''plebe
camp" Sullivan was challenged by
every yearling who was Of equal
weight with him and whipped them all
sometimes meeting as many as four
Then the first class was weighed in
and met the rapid plebe." one by one
Sullivan won all the fights and kept
the doctors at the hospital busy
Scarcely a day but some man reported
at the hospital with a disfguTed face
which he had received by running
into tree Before July was over
Sullivan was no longer the rapid
plebe," but the terrible plebe."
., . .
He was a raw-bOned youth from
Louisiana, and eminently built for
fighting. He was not a Quarrelsome
fellow, by any means, but his name
and his prowess caused him a lot of
trouble. It was a case of fight with
him as soon as he went into barracks
as a beast" Several yearIings paid
Sullivan the customary visits and
asked usual questions. When the fes-
tive yearlings found that his name was
Sullivan they asked, Are you John L.
Sullivan"
No" replied the candidate, Il am
John P. Sullivan"
After the usual instructions about
the use of Sir and Mister the year
ling asked, Can you fight, Mr.. Sulli-
camp
I don't want to fight. sir" was the
reply.
But don't you know that you have
got to fight to keep up the reputation
OF your Nance
Sullivan said he would fight if
obliged to do so. and as soon as he had
passed his preliminary examination
and was in ''plebe camp" his fighting
days began. The first man who had
"deviled" him on his first day in bar
racks was the first one he whipped It
can be imagined that he fought his
first fight at the Point with a good
heart. After that il was a matter Of
duty with him, and he knocked OUT
thirty of the yearling class before he
tackled the first class. After Sullivan
- all
''deviled' by the upper class men, and
in the fall was the only man of his
class to whom was given a place on
the football team.
Sullivan got his share of hazing at
first, and took it without a murmur
Once they told him to stand at the door
of his tent and whistle long and loud
He never resented any Of the usual
tests which were applied to cadets, but
the readiness with which he accepted
a challenge and the rapidity with
which he put his opponents out of COM
mission were traits which made the
upper class men rather wary OF devil
ing him. The youth from Louisiana.
was respected at the Point for his
physical qualities, even If the Academ-
ic board had doubts as to his mathe-
NAUTICAL ability. Perhaps he would
have done better in '-math" if he had
not had so much fighting to do. Il is
rather difficult to bone math' and
whip four upper ClaSSmen day. Sulii-
vans name is one which viii long be
a consOling remembrance among the
fourth-class men at the academy, for
though the days of fighting are over
the class feeling is very strong at the
Point, and it is always a consolation
to plebes 20 be able to tell tales of the
physical prowess of another plebe
even though he has fallen from the
ranks. Many officers now in the serv-