The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-02-21

(Note-This is the fourth chapter of a series of articles which MT. Corbett is writing on John l.. as I Knew Him." It relates many heretofore unpublished incidents in the life of the great war rior. The next installment will appear tomorrow.)
 The historic John l.. Sullivan Paddy Ryan battle was staged February [, 1882, in picturesque spot on the Mis- ssspp shore of the Gulf of Mexico. The original plan to put it on in the vicinity of New Orleans had to be abandoned because of fear of nterfer- ence by Louisiana state authorities. So the 2000 sportsmen who had gathered in the Crescent City were put aboard a special train which made run of several hours before it reached it's rural destination-Mississ City, or Scott's Landing. as it then was called.
 Just as the fight was about to start, a wrangle came about over the referee question. Sullivan insisted upon one man, Ryan upon another The argu- ment was finally settled by permitting both Alexander Brewster and Jack Hardy to officiate. It was one of the rare instances in ring history where two men were permitted to officiate in a single battle.
 Although Ryan was champion, Sulli- van was slight favorite in the bet ting. This was due to the fact that he was in superb condition and his record was such that the gambling fra ternity felt that he had more than an even chance to triumph. Nevertheless, Ryan had many supporters in the crowd, and thousands of dollars were wagered at the ringside.
 The battle was fought in 16-foot ring with London prize ring rules gov erning. This permitted wrestling as well as hitting, and every knockdown constituted round. No round was over until one or another of the fight CTS had been floored After being sent down, the seconds of the fallen man were permitted to drag him to his cor ner and revive him, if possible, within the 30-second limit.
 Ryan rushed Sullivan with the call of time for the first round and shot left to John l.. s face. Instead of attempt ing to block the punch, the Bostonian sent his left into Ryan's guard and then swung his mighty right for the head. But the blow missed it's target by fraction. Ryan backed away and Sulll- van rushed him. Another rush by Sul- livan ended that round, for John l.. sent hard rightt handler to Ryan's neck, flooring the champion. The round had lasted less than one minute.
 After minute of fighting in the sec- ond round John l.. landed his famous right on Ryan's jaw. To the surprise of the crowd the only effect it had upon Paddy was to anger him. He rushed a. Sullivan like wild man, but John D. met him in the center of the ring Scorning to wrestle, the pair stood there, to to toe. slugging with terrible power. Finally came a clinch. The men tugged around, lost their balance and fell to the ground. That ended the round. Sullivan happened to be on top when they landed, so he was accorded the honors in that round.
 Ryan rushed from his corner in the third and swung a left for the head. But John beat htim to it. A fraction of second earlier he had started a right off Ryans jaw. Paddy's blow never landed. John LIS did. It struck it's target and Paddy dropped as though struck by an ax handle. And the round-which had lasted only 20 sec onds-was over. It was the shortest of