The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1901-02-07
WHIPPED ALL
WEST POINT
Bold John Sullivan, the Fight
ing P1ebe.
FOUR FIGHTS A DAY
Considered the Best "Scrapper" That Ever
Attended the Military Academy.
Fell Down on Mathematics.
From st. Paul Globe:


The hazers of West Point ran up
against a hard proposition" whe1
they encountered John Patrick Sulli-
van, of Louisiana, says the New York
Press. He is the youth of muscle
and Drawn who, as a plebe whipped
thirty cadets of the "yearling" class
who called him out. He was so busy
with fights that sometimes he had as
many as four in one day. and he
never lost a battle. He was the best
"scrapper" the military academy ever
saw, and. as a plebe, used to whip up
per class men as fast as they appear
ed before him. When the committee
Of congress asked if a "plebe' was
not always called out to be 'liicked,"
and asked further if that was not al
ways his fate, the statement that a
former plebe had whipped every man
with whom he had fought was testi-
mony that astonished the investisa-
tors and injured the case against the
az adelny
Sullivan was found in math" in
January 1897. Found in math"
means found deficient in mathemat-
les" 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 four in one
dav. Then the first class was weigh
ed in and met the rapid plebe," one
by one. Sullivan won all the fights
and kept the doctors at the hospital
busy. Scarcely day but some man
reported at the hospital with disfgured
face which he had received by run
ming into tree Before July was
over Sullivan was no longer the rap
i'd plebe," but the terrible plebe."
He was raw-boned youth from
Louisiana, and eminently built for
fighting. He was not quarrclsome
fellow by any means, but his name
and his prowess caused him a lot Of
trouble. It was case of fight with
him as soon as he went into barracks
as beast" Several yearlings paid
Sullivan the customary visits and
asked usual questions. When the
festive yearlings found that his name
was Sullivan they asked: "Are you
John l.. Sullivan?"
mo-" replied the candidate. 81 am
John P. Sullivan"
After the usual instructions about
the use of "Sir" and Mister" the
yearling asked, Can you fight, Mr..
Sullivan"
81 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 name?"
Sullivan said he would fight II
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 the
barracks was the first one he whipped
1t can be imagined that he fought his
first fight at the Point with a good
heart. After that it was a matter
of duty with him and he knocked
out" thirty of the yearling class be-
fore he tackled the first class. After
Sullivan had beaten all comers he was
not "deviled" by the upper class men,
and in the fall was the only man in
his calss to whom was given place
on the football team.
Sullivan got his share of hazing at
first, and took it without murmur
Once they told him to stand at the
door of his tent and whistle for rain
He did so cheerfully, and whistled long
and loud. He never resented any
of the usual tests which were applied
to cadets, but the readiness with which
he accepted challenge and the rap
idity with which he put his OppOn
ents out of commission were traits
which made the upper class men rath
er wary of deviling him. The youth
from Louisiana was respected at the
Point for his physical qualities, even
if the academic board had doubts as
to his mathematical ability. Perhaps
he would have done better in ''math'
If he had not had SO much fighting te