The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-10-28
PITIABLB SPECTACLE.
The Alleged Women's Foot
Race at Oakland Rink
1t Is a Gamblers
DeCoY.


A so-called ladies' six days go-as-you
please walking match has been going
very much as it pleases at the Oakland
Rink for the past two nights. 1t began
Monday morning shortly after twelve
O'Clock and ceased about four o'clock. At
eight o'clock last evening 1t started again
and stopped a few minutes before mid
night The affair is disgraceful exhi-
| bition and should not be tolerated in the
heart of great city like Jersey City.
Moreover, it Is nothing more or less than
a sort Of ''capper" for gang of gamblers
of the lowest order.
| Last night five women plodded wearily
| around the sawdust track which has been
laid around the dancing floor of the rink,
and a sorry spectacle they made. No. 1
! was short beefy looking woman with q
| voice like an asthmatic fog horn and a
| pair OF lower extremities as symetrical as
those of an elephant. She was billed
| as Miss Annie Howard, champion lady
racer OF Boston, Mass, the winner of
thirty seven go-as-you- please races, 12, "a,
| 81, ~ and 142 hours. II was also an
| nounced that Miss Howard is now hold
| ing the championship Of the world for l42
| hours, go-as- -you-please. No. Q was billed
as Miss Jennie Evans, champion lady
pedestrian of the world, the winner Of
nineteen short races in different cities of
the United States from Boston to Denver.
Miss Evans was tall, masculine looking
creature, who walked so much like man
In her Jockey cap and blazer of yellow
and blue that several bets were made
that she was male in disguise But
when she threw off her blazer and dis
played her generous proportions all bets
were declared off. No. was a healthy
looking individual, who forged around
the track as though the word fatigue was
unknown TO her vocabulary.
THE GIRL WITH THE TRAGIC NAME.
There was no No. 8, and Miss Lizzie
Macbeth was the tragic appellation that
dumpy little German girl with q long
braid down her back had to lug around
the track. The bills set forth that she is
the champion lady walker of Pennsyl-
vania and has won large number OF
races in as many cities. The prettiest
girl and most graceful walker of the five
was Miss Howarth, who trudged over the
sawdust with large 5 pinned to ner
bosom. She has pretty face, plump
figure and fluffy black hair. Sne was the
| most steady walker and reeled off mile
after mile with persistence that placed
her in the lead early in the evening Ac-
cording to the bills she Is from New
Haven, Conn.,, the winner of twenty one
go-as-you-please races, champion twenty
mile straight away lady pedestrian of the
world, and Is open to race any lady of the
United States for any amount of money
from 500 to s., 900.
A PITIABLE SPECTACLE.
A most pitiabie spectacle was No 6. She
was billed as Miss Ida Reed, champion
go-as-you-please racer of London. and to
give exhibitions Of short racing every
evening. The audience Was exhortet not
TO faii 10 see her. She is Hn undersized
mi ffct <rfx. nxr6 \
streaming down her back. She imped
painfully, and scarcely moved around the
track. 1t was said that she was the wife
of the wiry Individual who was bossing
the show. He explained that the girl
sprained her ankle last eek at Paterson.
He declared that she was in no pain be-
cause she has her ankle braced up with
an elastic stocking, and the physician
attending her said that her constautiug
moving on the foot tended to keep down
the swelling and inflammation. If this
man Is the girls husband and she is only
sixteen years old as was alleged last
night it is a fitting occasion for the inter-
vention of the law.
Eddie O'Brien, nfmble runner, kept
the girls company and performed such
wonderful feaEs as running five miles in
nineteen minutes and ten miles in forty
five minutes. At least SO the wiry indi-
vidual remarked. The girls were neatly
attired in short skirts and there was
nothing unseemly in their dress or con
duct on the track. In fact they seemed
TO mind their own business and plodded
steadily on. AS the evening progressed
the spectacle presented by these girls be-
came revolving, and more than one pres
ent declared that it was shame to keep
them on the track. The only ones who
did not seem to suffer from their tramp
were Nos. and g. Yet No. chad lost all
the color she had in her cheeks when she
started and her face was ashy white.
Lines were beginning to show in No. 2's
face and her gait had lost much of its
sprightliness. No. was resting in the
retiring room, and No. was dragging
her weary way around the track while
the look of pain on her face increased
with every step.
There We're not more than two hundred
persons present and the faces Of the ma
jority or these were more familiar to the
classic Bowery than they were TO Jersey
City. A band consisting of two fifers.
two drummers and com biDation cymbal
and bass drum player, raised a racket
occasionally during the evening and
Coney Island frankfurter sandwich man
did business which made him look as il
life had lost its glitter for him.
THE GAMBLERS GET TO WORK.
The true inwardness of the exhibition
was revealed about O'Clock when the
uniformed policeman left the hall. Two
tOuSil-lUOAluR Sp6CluItuS OL humanity
quickly produced couple of barrels and
boards and soon had an old fashioned
sweat board in full blast.
Their invitation "step up gents and try
de ole fashined army games, tree winners
and tree losers,' was eagerly accepted
and they began to do thriving business
Sergeant Barney Wade was in the rink,
however, and when he saw the game the
sweat board and dice bowl disappeared
as If touched by Hermann's magic wand
A man came up looking for the game and
asked what had become of it.
"Oh, de ward detective was in de hall
and we had to shut down - said one of
the toughs. "De boss has gone over ter
fix it wild de caD'n an we'll be goin' agin
soon. 1t was daisy game, wasn't itPn
feelingly appealed the gambler to by
stander.
1t is evident that the boss found Cap
tain Nose Newton more difficult to fix
than he imagined, for the board did not
appear again during the evening An
other fakir rugged up a board with num-
bered hooks. upon which he hung bogus
watches and fake jewelry. Then he
rugged up d machine, which, when struck
with the fist. sent an Indicator up q
scale numbered to correspond with the
board. The player received the article on
the hook which corresponded to the num-
Der at which the indicator stopped This
game was closed at the same time the
other was.
It is announced that this disgraceful
exhibition will be continued each night of