Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-08-11
NEW YORK swIMMING-RAcE-
now TIE POLICE STOPPED 1T

Butler and Sundsfrom e''s''
ar Contest for Violating the Sunday
Law New York Times.l
All the forenoon Sunday the excur-
sion barge Coxsackie, towed by the tug
Charles Allen, alternated between Per
No. Q East river and the foot Of Dock
street, Brooklyn, with big sign upon
her side, reading:
.nop,t forget the great International
s,rimming- match for 5000 and the cham
nionship OF America between ffolessor
bennis r. Butler champion OF America;
and Professor Gus Sundstrom, cnhnpplon 70
New York, this afternoon. Admission oV
cents"
Not being able to forget the circum-
stances mentioned with the placard
staring them in the face, several scores
of young men and women were induced
to embark upon the barge, and at =
O'Clock in the afternoon it left Brooklyn
and came over to Pier No. 2 to take the
swimmers on board. Paul x julius,
of the Silver Grill, were both at the
pier, the former having backed But
Ter, while his partner bad pinned his
faith upon Srndstrom, and with
them was big crowd of New York
ers, among them such eminent sports
az Ned Nallahan, Mike Donovan, and
William Ewart Harding, and several
members of the New York Athletic
Club, who had backed Sundstrom, the
SWIMMING teacher Of their club, for all
their spare change. Paul sold tickets
for Butler, and two Of Sundstrom's
brothers looked out for his financial in
terests. On board the barge the men
who bought tickets found bar and a
big pile OF sandwiches, but the acute
Young man who presided behind the
desk said that no beer would be sold
until the barge got out into the stream,
lest the police should deprive him OF
his liberty for violating the excise law.
The articles of agreement between
Sundstrom and Butler were that they
should swim from the Battery, ten
miles across the bay to Fort Lafayette,
in the Narrows. but when they got
ready to start the tide was flowing in
against them at the rate Of eight or ten
miles an hour, and it was decided to
swim ten miles either up the Hudson or
the East river instead. Sundstrom
wanted to swim up the Hudson to Fort
Lee, but Butler preferred to make the
race up the East river to the Harlem
bridge. Ned Mallahan, who was the
referee of the race, finally tossed up a
coin to decide the matter, and the East
river route was chosen.
1t was 4 O'Clock before this decision
was arrived at. and for two hours row.
boats had been arriving and clustering
around the barge ready to follow the
race. One small Whitehall boat con-
tanned ten men, whose weight sank it
into the water almost to the bulwarks,
and. as they had large wicker-coyered
demiiohn from which they all drew
long and frequent draughts, odds were
freely offered on the barge that at least
four Of them would be drowned before
the race was over. One skih, manned
by single oarsman, had two girls with
gorgeous parasols in the stern. One Of
the girls was said to be SundstrOm' S
sweetheart.
Soon after 4 o'clock the two swim
mers went into a dressing-room on the
barge to prepare for the race. Each
was stripped and rubbed thoroughly
from head to foot with vaselne,
Sundstrom being ministered to by his
brother and Butler by Mike Donovan,
who had been training him for the race.
The barge was towed out into the
stream to point off the Ham
ilton ferry landing, and Mallahan,
the referee, got onto the tug. Two
small boats, each with big red flag
to call attention to it, in order to warn
away larger vessels, were in waiting in
the water to follow each swimmer
closely in case Of either being seized
with cramp. Sundstrom's boat wa;
manned by his brother and guide
who was to instruct the swimmer about
the currents and sddies of the river, 81
that he should not lose time struggling
against tides. In Buffers boat were
Mike Donovan and Paul, but julius
was content to view the race from the
tug-bost.
When the swimmers appeared at thu
edge Of the barge there was shout o
applause. Neither wore anything bu
a very trifling pair Of trunks, and thei
bodies glstened like polished cope
from the effects Of the vaseline. Tn
men were of about the same stature, bu
Sundstrom was Of much more powerful
build, although Butler was traine'
down and had not an ounce Of spar
flesh upon his wiry frame. Both mel
climbed upon the bulwark Of the lowe
deck and stood prepared to start.
"Are you ready? Co." shoute'
Mallahan at 4:l3 o'clock.
Both dived at once. Sundstrom be
ing the quicker. took the water first
emitting the surface without a splasl
and coming up twenty feet away. But
Ter was hardly an instant after him, bu
he splashed into the water and rose t
the top at once. With a wild and con
certed shout, the row-boats starte
after the swimmers, and the passenger
on the Bay-Ridge and Staten-Islan
ferry-soats applauded loudly and tric
to get their pilots to give over thei
usual trips and follow the race
Both OF the swimmers started j
at their best, melted by the shout
Of the boat-loads that followed then
Sundstrom led by twenty feet befor
they had gone one hundred yards
lie swan upon his left side, depend
ing chiefly for speed upon swingin
stroke with his right arm over his heaC
although he used his left under water
and thus impelled moved with extraol
binary velocity. Butler also swan
upon his left side, but his stroke wa
entirely different, as he moved bot
arms simultaneously, and disappeare
entirely under water at every strok,
and his course was only indicated
his head bobbing regularly to the SUI
face. The trainers Of both swimmer
shouted to them not to waste the
strength at the beginning of the rae,
but neither paid any attention. and ii
oarsmen Of the boats that followed ha
to pull hard to keep up to them.
AS the flotilla neared the bridge Ion
rows of spectators were discerned lool
ing down upon the race, and a momer