Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-09-06
GIRL SW|MS EDD|ES
Miss Adelaide Trapp Conquers
He'll Gate.
FIRST WOMAN TO SUCCEED
Many Men Give Up the Fierce
Struggle.
SoUALL IS NET on THE WAY
Twenty Swimmers in All Survive
the Annual Test Of Life
Savers.
soUALL IS NET on THE WAY

NEW YORK. September 6-Adelaide
Trap. an eighteen-year-old Brooklyn
school teacher. accomplished the feat Of
swimming through He'll Gate yesterday.
Many men have successfully negotiated
the dangerous eddies and troublous wa
tiers OF this part Of the East river. but no
woman has ever before succeeded In COM
plotting the task, although many have
made the attempt.
With a twenty-knot wind blowing and
the water unusually rough. Miss Trapp,
with Priscilla Higgins. also Of Brooklyn.
started with forty members Of the United
States Life saving Corps from the
corps station, foot of East seth street,
through Hell Gate to Classons Point, a
distance OF about eight miles. Miss Trap
covered the distance in two hours and q
half. but Miss Higgins was seized with
0amps after swimming FIVE and one-half
miles. and was compelled to withdraw
from the race.
At no time during the long swim did
Miss Trap show signs of distress. She
breasted the currents and stuck gamely
to her self-imposed task. while one by one
the men were forced to give up the eff
fort. Fifteen Of the original forty start
ers were lifted out Of the river, worn out
and exhausted, but this fact did not
cause MISS Trap to weaken.
Her Determination Wins.
with q determination born OF a firm re-
solve to swim the entire distance. the
plucky Brooklyn school teacher set at
defiance q hard squall which blew up
when the swimmers were or Rikers
Island. She reached Classons Point just
as the last man was drawn out Of the
water. Miss Trap underwent the ordeal
in splendid style. She did not seem even
exhausted when the end OF the journey
was reached.
The test was an unusually severe one
and several OF the contestants were res
cued in state Of collapse. The swim
mees were each accompaniedsin boat In
which there were two attendants ready
for emergencies. Owing to the fact that
three men were In imminent danger Of
drowning In the last endurance s-vim Of
the corps the committee gave special in
structions to those In the boats following
swimmers, and 1t Is probably due to this
that there we're no serious accidents.
william Bratton. who lost one OF his
legs some time ago In an accident. was
bitterly disappointed at not finishing. De-
spite his handicap he succeeded in SWIM
ming to within q quarter of mile OF the
der ' on Rogers Island. but continued Ito to
follow the other contestants. Nearing the
goal. though, he had to hang out signals
Of distress: He was completely exhaust
ed. Fighting against the inevitable he
he had more than he could do. His con-
dition was noticed by the occupants Of a
passing launch, who rescued him as he
was sinking.
4 Hard Fight.
/. Leaving the pier at East seth street the
two girls and the men fought their way
through Creek Gate and out to Hoggs
Back and Scaley' Rock. Here the cur
rent was at It's worst and the swimmers
were tossed about in the eddies like bob
bing cofks. As they reached Rikers
Island the squali which had been threat.
ening for some time. came up in full
force. The swimmers troubles increased
and 1t was only the strongest among the
contestants who could make any head
way.
The strong cross tides in the vicinity Of
Berriens Island were another source Of
trouble, but most Of the swimmers brave
ly stuck to their task. They were nearly
exhausted on reaching the comparatively
their arrival at the finish dozens Of will
ing hands lifted them from the water and
attended to their wants.
More than forty hardy swimmers
fellow fired the pistol Thousands Of
interested spectators cheered. and all
along the river throngs watched. the
progress Of the race. Benedict May Of
the City Island station was the first to
get clear Of the other contestants. He
swan a powerful breast stroke. and
made splendid progress. He was fol-
lowed by Clifford Benedict Of South
Norwalk. Conn.,. and Alois Auderly Of
Stamford. Conn. These three men kept
well out In front. The rest were strung
out in the water over a long distance.
When half OF the course had been
covered ten Of the men had given up
and had been taken into their attending
boats. May stili retained the lead. with
half dozen men within quarter Of
a mile OF him. Meanwhile Adelaide
Trap and Priscilla Higgins were hang
ing on doggediy and outswimming many
OF the man life savers. When the rough
water was reached Miss Higgins began
to drop behind. and presently was COM
PEELED to signal for her boat. She was
lifted out Of the water exhausted but
quickly recovered. Then she was In
consolidate over her failure. Miss Trapp
ried her stroke from the breast to the
side.
Five More Drop Out.
In the second half Of the journey Ave
more men dropped out May continued
to increase his lead. He finished first
in l hour 80 minutes 80 seconds. He
was nearly half mile In front Of Fred
Benedict. who was second: time. l hour
IS minutes 80 seconds. Auderly was
third, occupying a tribe less than two
hours In covering the course. The 9TH
ers finished In the following order:
Jack Bisby. George Forester. Max
Greenberg, Fred Linpenkohl. william
Packingham. Fred Friese. Henry Smoo-
en-. Jack Gilday. Edward Flynn. John
Mccauley, N. Levy and William Meyer.
Joseph Enright, q one-armed man,
swan the entire distance. finishing fif-
teenth on the list. He defeated q num-
Der Of powerful life savers. Following
the last man. Miss Trap completed the
distance. Several thousand persons who
were at the finishing point gave her q
rousing cheer. which continued until
she reached her dressing room.
The swim was for endurance and not
for speed. the twenty-six survivors re-
ceiving the corps endurance swimming
medal
MANY YORFEIT C0YHATERAY.