The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1901-02-01
A FIGHTING CADET.
j. II. Sullivan, who whipped Thirty
Would-Be Hazcrs.

The hazers at West Point ran up against
"hard proposition" when thy enooun-
tered j. r. sullivan Of Louisiana. He
is the youth OF muscle and Drawn who as
plsbe whipped 80 cadets OF the ''yeari-
ing class and every cadet of the first
class VINO called him out.
He was so busy with tights that some
times he had as many as four in one day,
and he never lost q battle. lie was the
bsst "sorappsr" the military academy
ever saw, and, as plebe, used to whip
upper class men as fast as they appeared
before him.
When the co nmistes OF Congr iss ask ID
IL Up ebe' was not always called out
10 be licked" and asked further II that
that former "plehe" had whipped every
man with whom he had fought was testi-
mony that astoniihed the Investigators.
sullivan was found In math" In JAN
uary, 1877. Found In math" means
found dsficient in mathematics. lie
therefore left the nc Idemy, but the remem
brance of his prowess still remains there
In his ''plebe camp Sullivan was chal-
lsngsd by every yearling who was of
equal weight with him, and whipped
them ali, sometimes meeting as many as
four in day.
Then the first class was weighed in and
met the ''rapid plebe, one by one. Sui
Ivan won all the fights and kept the doc
tors at the hospital busy. Scarcely day
but some man reported at the hospital
with disngured face which he had re-
csived by running into a tree'' Before
July was over sullivan was no longer the
rapid plebe, but the terrible piebe.
He was 9 raw boned youth from Louis
lana, and emiDently bnilt for fighting.
de was not "a quarrelsome fellow, by any
means, bat his name ana his proves
caused him lot or trouble. IL was
Gaze Of fight with him as soon rs he went
into barracks beast Several yearl-
ings paid Sullivan the customary visits
and asked Usual que stions, When tie
festive yearlings found that his name vas
sullivan they asked: Are you }. l..
SULLIVAN
mo, replied the candidate. II am j.
r. Sullivan
After the usual instructions about the
case of 'Sir" ana Mister" the yearlings
asked. "Can you light. MIR. Sullivanr'
Il don't want TO fight, sir, was tins
reply. but don yon know that you
have got to light to keep up the reputa-
ton OF your rame?'
Sullivan said he would fight IL Obliged
to do So and as soon as he had passed
his preliminary examination and was In
"piebe camp his fighting days began.
The first man who had "devfle1" him
on his first day in tarracks WAS the first
one he whipped. 1t can be imagined that
he fought his frat light at the Point
with a good heart.
After that It was n matter OF duty with
him, and he Knocked out ~ OF the
yesriing class. Alter Sullivan had beat
en- all comeIs he was not 'deviied'i by
the upper class men, and In the fall was
the only man OF mis- class TO whom was
given a place on the IootbH II 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 long and loud.
he never regented any OF the usual tests
which were applied TO cadets, but the
readin sss with which he accepted q ohal-
lsnge and the rapidity with which he
put his opponents out OF commission
were traits which made the upper class
men rather wary of deviliug him.
The youth from Louisiana was respected
at the Point for his physica qualities,
even IL the academic board had doubts as
20 his mathematical ability. Perhaps he
would have done better in "math' IL he
had not had SO much fighting tn do. 1t
Is rather difficult TO "bone mathh and
whip four upper class men a day.