Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-25
YOUNG WOMEN AT THE OARS.
Staten Islands Pride Defeated by Her
Jersey Rival.

Jersey Rival.
In EliZabethport, n. j., saws the New
York San of Aug. %, every boy can swim
after he is s years old, and nearly every
girl can row. Staten Island is opposite
Elizabethport, right across the sound, and
over there they think that their boys are
the better swimmers and that their girls
begin to row younger and do it better.
Mrs. Nellie Nolan, the wife of a tug
owner, was brought up ON Staten Island.
and has practiced rowing ever since she
could hold an oar. Miss Mamie Mooney
was reared in Elizabethport. She has
known how to row all her life. too, and is
champion of ElizabethpOrt, as Mrs. Nolan
is of Staten Island. Yesterday thew had
a race, and the whole town turned out to
see it.
At $3.50 in the evening several thousand
persons had assembled, and the crowd
stood eight and ten deep all along the
water front. But the race didn't begin
right away. Neither of the ladies was
willing to arrive first. Both waited till
the last moment. The managers got
desperate and rushed around frantically.
Their efforts were rewarded. and at 7
O'Clock tugbOat which had been sent to
Staten Island returned with Mrs. Nolan,
at the same time hack drove up with
Miss Mooney, all in black except her
cheeks, which were rose color.
Four men from Staten Island held an
ordinary rowing boat while Mrs. Nolan
got in, and four EliZabethpOrt young men
held another boat for Miss Mooney, while
dozens of the friends of both parties
crowded into two tug boats that had been
reserved for the occasion.
Both ladies' had been ROWING moro than
usual during the past three weeks, and
were in prime condition. Miss Mooney
was much the larger, and many thought
she would win on that account; but Mrs.
Nolan looked solid, and the knowing way
in which she pulled and feathered her
oars meant business. 1t was thought by
the Staten Islanders that she was sureito
win, and they offered two or three to one
on her, which the Elizabethport boys took
as long as they had any money left. Mr..
Nolan had put up a great deal of money
on his wife, and he was busy up to the
last moment trying to bet more.
The officers of the race couldn't get the
Oarswomen side by side. Each wanted to
be little ahead, and they kept edging |
along until they were far ahead of the |
Arthur Kull boat house, from which they |
were to start. Two men IN rowboats |
finally backed the ladies up to where they |
belonged, and then James Manning |
shouted, "One, two, three" and they |
were off. They went before he got through |
saying one. The excitement was very |
great, and both caught crab together.
"GO it, Mamiel Gather yourself upp' |
yelled Judge John Brady.
$50 it, Nellie! you've got her sure" |
shouted Mr.. Nolan.
The crowd yelled all sorts of things at |
once. The tugs whistled, and the racers |
got under way in fine shape, with Miss |
Mooney little ahead. Mrs. Nolan caught |
up to her right away, though, and then |
they threw their hats INTO the stern, |
brushed back their bangs, and seemed to |
row about sixty strokes to the minute. |
They kept side by side, and everybody on |
shore and on the boats shouted at them to |
do something. Five hundred yelled 'sPull |
with your right, Mamie!" and as many /
more said just the contrary. Miss Mooney |
paid no attention, however, but kept |
straight on.
Mrs. Nolan wasn't so wise, and her
friends advice took her a long way out |
of the straight line. Mr.. Nolan was fol- |
lowing Behind her in one of his tugs, and /
he gave her good advice, but she wouldn't |
hear it.
They had to row one mile straightaway.
1t was getting dark, and the red light |
that marked the end of the course was
plainly visible, but it didn't occur to
either OF them to look at it. They only
looked at each other, and then bent low
down over the oars and pulled straight
back, bringing their oars out of the water |
with vim that made the boats lump. |
Several gentlemen had undertaken to row |
their lady friends alongside the racers, but |
they found they couldn't do it, and were |
very glad to get a hitch behind the tugs.
A good many rowboats did that, and there
was soon string of fifteen or twenty |
boats behind each tug.
Mrs. Nolan was rowing splendidly, bet
ter even than Miss Mooney, who was get
ting tired, but she was far out of the |
straight track, and, being out of the |
channel, did not get the full force of the |
tide as heroppOnent did. 1t was almost |
PLAIN that the race, which was nearly |
over, was Miss MONEYS. But Mrs. |
Nolan kept right on, all the same, and |
her husband, who had kept his neck |
stretched far over the side of the tugboat. |
never once ceased encouraging her, and /
assured her to the very last that she had |
MISS Mooney sure. Judge Brady was /
just as enthusiastic on the other side, and |
begged his friends to help him yell for |
Mamie, as his voice was almost gone, Mr.. |
Nolan's friends rallied around and helped |
him, and neutral young man from New |
ark took hold of the whistle string and |
kept it going all the time.
But Mrs. Nolan was bound to be un- |
lucky. just as she was six lengths away |
from the stake, with Miss Mooney almost |
even with her, tugboat that had no bus |
mess there came along and sent wave |
after wave right across her course. This |
was too much. Mrs. Nolan drew in her |
oars, put on her hat, and pulled her bangs |
back in place, while Mamie Mooney shot |
past the stake, and half of Elizabethport |
jumped and stamped with delight.
Both ladies We're taken on board the
tug Bauer, where Miss MONEYS friends
clearly demonstrated to her that she was
the better rover, and Mrs. Nolan's friends |
were equally successful in persuading her
that her luck was the worst ever seen.
and that Miss Mooney couldn't hold a |
candle to her. Her husband is sure of it, |
and wants to bet tugbOat that his wife |
can beat any one in Jersey if she has half |
chance.
Mrs. Nolan wants revenge, and Miss
Mooney is willing to give it to her.