USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan > Part 68
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" The Sho-wae-cae-mettes from the first had felt no fear for the formidable English crew, and it was not until the morning of the second day that their enthusiastic confidence was staggered by the sudden and violent ill- ness of Joseph Nadean, the No. 3 man, who had rowed in every race since the crew's debut at Toledo, in 1875, when they won with a coxswain against several coxswainless crews. He had always been considered one of the strongest men in the boat, while his pluck was undeniable, and when he was seized with a violent diarrhetic attack on the morning of the decisive day, prospects for the first time began to look blue. His grit kept him up, however, and he insisted that he could pull through, but the result proves that he was mistaken .- Old Joe Sadler, ex champion of England, who was coaching the Jesus crew, and exhibited a lively interest in the Sho-wac-cac-mettes, shook his
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
head when he saw the sick man stripping for the race and urged a withdrawal. The latter course had been discussed by the crew, but Nadeau would not listen to it. It was finally decided that defeat was preferable to a withdrawal, which might be attributed to cowardice or some improper motive, and the crew pulled out, grim, determined and bound to do the best they could. Messrs. Edward Kanter, John V. Moran and T. H. Hinchman, of Detroit, who had witnessed the first victory of the Sho-wae-cae-mettes, and had come back from London that morning to see the final heat, were apprised of the condition of affairs by the writer just before the race; several members of the London press were also given the facts, but this did not prevent them from publishing willfully false reports next day.
" As before, the Sho wae-cae mettes had the worst, or outside position. In their eagerness they made a false start, but on the second attempt the boats got off well together. Gulston, of the Londons, who has ro ved here for years and knows every inch of the course, kept in the smooth water inside, while the Sho-wae-cae-mettes toiled against the current in mid-stream. At the half mile London had got a length the lead, but the Sho-wae-cae- mettes, fighting desperately against fate, slashed away at 44 and 46, and at the bend had pulled up, inch by inch, until they were less than a quarter of a length behind. Here the severe strain began to tell on the powerful Londoners, and they began to weaken and show signs of going to pieces. Even the her- culean Gulston exhibited distress, and the grand form in which his men had been rowing became impaired. Here it was that the Sho- wae-cae-mettes had expected to win by forcing the pace and rowing London down in the last quarter, relying upon that superior endurance which has always been regarded as their chief characteristic. But for the last half mile of the terrible struggle the port side had been steadily growing weaker. Once before Joe Nadeau had cried out that he was fast going, but his brother Moses, in the bow, begged and implored of him to keep up. The plucky fellow shut his eyes and struggled on, and Moses, bent upon holding up the port side of the boat, pulled with a strength born of despair. Dusseau at stroke and Durell, No. 2, were working grandly, and so long as the sick
man kept his oar moving, they hoped against hope. But when the bend was reached and the critical moment had come, the bow called for more power for the final struggle and Nadeau broke down. He made two or three convulsive strokes and then stopped short, half blind and half unconscious. It was all up then, and while London was left a walk-over for the finish, Mose Nadeau and Durell slowly paddled their unwieldy old shell up to the boat- house. The three well men were good for a while more of such hot work as they had done, but Nadeau, faint and weakened by his unfortunate condition, was completely done up. There was no expression of reproach for him, but on the contrary words of comfort from every source. The delight of the Lon- doners and their adherents, about 200 members of their club being present, found expression in the most enthusiastic manner, and the English countenances which had been elon- gated by Columbia's victory in the final heat for the Visitors' cup, just previous, shortened as if by magic. Among the townspeople the Sho-wae-cae-mettes had a host of sympa- thizers.
" Naturally enough when a crew stops short in a race the great mass of spectators jump to the conclusion that they are 'pumped ont,' and without stopping to make inquiry people upon every hand wagged their heads and said they knew 'the fast stroke could not last.' Indeed, if the real canse of defeat could have been generally made known, few persons would have believed it. They would have regarded it simply as one of the flimsy excuses which a defeated crew is always ready to put forth. The public would invariably rather believe the worst that can be said of their fellows, and in this instance they were very willing to believe that the Londoners had rowed their American rivals to a stand-still. Of all the papers, daily and sporting, pub- lished in London next morning, only two-the Sportsman and the News-were fair enough to even allude to Nadeau's illness as having anything to do with the defeat.
" Notwithstanding the howl that was made by the Turf, Field and Farm and other eastern papers concerning the non admission of the Sho-wae-cae-mettes, no trouble was encoun- tered. The stewards received their entry, and the seven days allowed for protests passed by
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without a word of objection being offered. The crew came backed by the official certificate of the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen of America, and they stood prepared to show their eligibility beyond all question if any controversy had arisen. It is but justice to the young men who compose this crew to state that by their own conduct they have given the lie to the slanderous reports concern- ing them set afloat by certain malcontents in America. For temperance, morality, gentle- manly behavior, carnest hard work, self- deprivation, and rigid adherence to those rules of training which they believed to be the best, they have not been surpassed by any four men who pulled an oar at Henley. Overcoming the prejudice which at first cropped out against them in certain quarters because they were Americans, they have won friends upon every band, and a large majority of the Henley people sincerely regret that they could not have taken home the coveted prize. On the evening of the last regatta day the crew were hospitably entertained by the Thames club at the Royal Hotel, when several complimentary speeches were made. Capt. Hastie, of the Thames club, referred in high terms to the pluck and gentlemanly conduct of the Ameri- cans, and Capt. Gulston, of the London four, was manly enough to say that they had given him the hardest race he ever pulled in his life, and that for a time he felt very uncertain how it would terminate.
" The Sho-wae cae-mettes and Mr. Lee ap- preciate the fact that they are only themselves to blame for their reverses, and that they have received fair play and kindly treatment from the officers of the regatta association and the people of this hospitable little village, which they so earnestly desire to visit again another year. E. D. P."
The following is the comment of the New York Herald's London correspondent, upou the Sho'es defeat :
" The Sho wae-cac-mettes were beaten by a 'stomach '-that is to say, in the great race, the race, the race in which the four Americans whom most of us held to be the fastest, met the unquestionably fastest amateur four in Europe, were beaten, one, and probably the toughest and most enduring one of our four, going to picees in the middle of the fight. They had shot to the front as promptly as usual ; they
were rushing ahead at the terribly fast stroke which no other crew has yet pulled success- fully for any such distance as they have. But London, old, experienced and wary, followed the sinuosities of the Berks shore, kept out of the slight current which the 'Sho'es' could only breast, and finally drawing level, began to go by. Then came the call for a 'spurt,' the sharp, shrill, unearthly call of the now far famed ' Sweet Waters,' which no man having heard could soon forget. But that 'stomach' said 'no' It had been upset some hours back, but its owner, Capt. Nadeau, whose con- fidence at Henley seems to have been as freely outspoken as it was at Watkins-and there it was marked-thought he could row in spite of it, and he did, and lost, lost for ahnost the identical cause which broke Will Simmons nine years ago on the Putuey course, before Harvard had rowed half way. Unfortunate as it all is, and especially that they cannot have another trial, they must stand by their accidents on race day. The 'Sho'es' now know defeat at the hands of the London four abroad, as they have from the Emeralds at home. They have fought gallantly, grandly, in a boat it was a shame to let them row in, in such an import ant fight, and they have been beaten. If London would only reconsider, and race them over the Putney to Mortlake course, that would settle conclusively where lies the supe- riority."
The London Times account of the final heat :
STEWARDS' CHALLENGE CUP.
FINAL HEAT.
No. 1-Berks-LONDON ROWING CLUB 1
S. le B. Smith 11 2 | A. Trower 12 12
F. S. Gulston. 12 9 | F. L. Playford 12 2
No.2-Centre-MONROE, SHO-WAE-CAE-METTE B.C.2 M. Nadeau. 10 4 | J. Nadeau 10 6
W. H. Durell 10 9 S. Dnsseau 12 0
"This race excited the greatest interest of any event on the programme. The American crew went off with an extraordinarily rapid stroke of nearly fifty a minute. The London rowers, although not so fast in stroke, were as speedy, and for the first half of the course no advantage was gained by either. Then Lon- don, keeping a little too elose in, jeopardized their chance by grazing with stroke's oar a projecting, grassy point. The delay was but momentary, for their stroke was hardly put out, and they went on with scarcely any per- ceptible loss of speed. From this point the
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
race was neck and neck, and the Americans on crossing were exactly abreast of London. So they kept till close to the point, where London crept half a length ahead, and the Americans finding that, with the outside station, their chance was gone, and being moreover com- pletely rowed out with their rapid stroke, suddenly stopped, to the great disappointment of the spectators. As it is almost an unknown thing for a crew thus to give up there was a slight hiss from the bank at this seeming want of pluck, but this was promptly checked by the consideration that the visitors probably did not understand the English point of honor of rowing a race out to the end, and the Americans were greeted with a cheer for the fine race they had rowed. London received a really enthusiastic greeting on reaching the winning.post. The Americans paddled slowly in with two oars only, showing how completely they were pumped out.
" As a rule, the interest of Henley Regatta is far less upon the second than upon the first day. Upon the first day there are nearly twice as many events upon the card ; the excitement never flags, and the races succeed each other so rapidly that the umpire's launch has to return the instant one event is decided in order to start the next. Moreover, the rowing in the heats generally affords so accurate a criterion as to the chances in the final heats that the interest of the second day's rowing is altogether discounted. Yesterday's racing, however, suffered less than usual from this cause. The races decided on Thursday were, for the most part, so closely contested that no broad distinction could be drawn between the varions winners. The Sculls certainly were looked upon as a certainty for Edwardes- Moss, but the Goblets was considered likely to lead to a close struggle, while for the Chal- lenge Cup and the Stewards' splendid races were anticipated. In the latter race particular interest was felt, not only because the struggle was between the best American four and the best English, but because the style of the two boats was so diametrically opposite that the triumph of the Americans would have been a defeat of all the principles of rowing believed in by English oarsmen. The London four may be taken as the absolute perfection of rowing. For seven years this club has held the Stewards' fours without once suffering
defeat. Their style is almost faultless, and it was difficult for any one accustomed to Eng- lish style to believe that the Americans with their short, snatchy stroke could have a chance with such a crew as this. Still the surprising speed which the American crews displayed on the first day showed that, ugly as they were, they were very formidable oppo- nents, and although the Londons were the fa- vorites the Americans found many sup- porters."
The following account of the return of the Sho-wae-cae-mettes is taken from the New York Herald :
" The Sho-wae-cae-mette crew, their substi- tutes, and George Lee, the single sculler, arrived in the city yesterday morning on the steamship Utopia, from London. They were met on the pier by the crews of the Eureka and Triton boat clubs, of Newark, who accorded them a warm reception, and cordially invited them to make Newark their headquarters so long as they may remain in this vicinity. Thisinvita- tion was accepted, and late in the afternoon George Lee and the four 'Sho'es' went to Newark. They were received with salutes from a small cannon, and welcomed by a crowd of people at the station. George Lee was as warmly greeted on all sides as though he had come home victorious ; and strangers strove to shake hands with him as though he was an intimate friend. The 'Sho'es' were also heartily welcomed and made to feel at home. They are strongly urged to remain in Newark until the 20th, and participate in the national regatta on that date, and have been told that they can do so without expense to themselves. They are, however, anxious to get home, and are hardly in a condition to do themselves credit at present, having been out of training for so long. George Lee will at once go into training, with a view to making some pretty time in the coming regatta, and showing his fellow-townsmen what he can do.
"From Mr. Price, of the Detroit Post and Tri- bune, who accompanied the Sho-wae-cae-mettes to England as their business manager, the fol- lowing account of their trip and the races was obtained last evening. He says : 'Our pas- sage over in the Alsatia was not unpleasant, though several of the boys were very sick, George Lee notably so. We experienced no difficulty in reaching Henley, but there we
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found no one to meet us to help us in obtaining quarters, or to assist us in any way. We were obliged to find things out for ourselves. We obtained very comfortable rooms in a private house, for which we had to pay five dollars apiece per week. We did our own marketing, and had our meals cooked for us by a cook whom we hired. Altogether our board cost us ten dollars apiece per week, instead of five dollars, which we had been told would be suffi- cient before we left here. The Columbia boys, living at the hotel, paid twice that sum. We found everything in England more expensive than in America, and had to husband our re- sources very carefully. In traveling by rail we always went third class, and even then paid the same rate per mile as we do for first-class passage in this country.
"' We had anticipated some possible trouble in making our entries for the regatta on account of the unkind articles in some of the American sporting papers that had followed us, but met with none whatever. Our application was left open seven days for objections, but none were made, and we were treated with uniform kind- ness and courtesy by the Henley stewards. The Henley people rather took a fancy to us, too, after the first, and would not have felt badly bad we won the race; but the general feeling in London, and in all England, seemed to be "anything to beat the Sho'es." We saw but little of the Columbia men, though our boats were kept in the same house. They kept aloof from us, and seemed to desire none of our company.
"'Our living was not particularly good, though we had the best of everything. The beefsteak that I had in the hotel to day was better than any that I have eaten since we left here. We were only in Henley twelve days before the regatta, and the boys had not time to become properly acclimated. In their prac- tice pulls they lacked the vim and life that they had exhibited in America, and I felt very anxious for them. George Lee was especially affected by the change of climate and diet, and was bilious all the time we were at Henles. His race with Moss was a beautiful race, and he would have had it, beyond a doubt, but for his own mistake at the finish. George had the inside position, and led Moss beautifully to the end of the first mile, where the river makes a sharp bend to the left. At this point he was
four or five lengths ahead, and we all thought that he was sure of a glorious victory. Then Moss put in the most beautiful spurt I ever saw. He pulled thirty-eight, and gained rap- idly on George. The latter hugged the Berks shore very closely, and when he stopped row- ing, having, as he supposed, crossed the line, he was a good half length ahead. If he had pulled three strokes more he would have won the race. As it was, he went to the boat-house and dressed, supposing all the time that he had won. When told that he had not won he was nearly heart-broken, and couldn't believe it for some time. We had been told by all the Henley watermen that a large stump, standing prominently on the Berks bank, was on the line of finish, and in all practice pulls the boys had stopped when opposite it. The stake or post marking the real finish some twenty feet beyond the old stump, was only placed in posi- tion on the morning of the race, and Lee stopped when opposite the stump instead of keeping on to the line of the post. Edwardes Moss is an English Jew, the son of a baronet, and a strapping big fellow, almost as large as Courtney ; but I still think that Lee did beat him, and can do so again.
"' Asto the Sho-wae-cae-mettes, they beat the Columbia crew easily, and can do it whenever the latter want to row them. When Columbia fouled Dublin the " Sho'es " were two lengths of open water ahead and were taking it very leisurely. On the morning of the second day, when they were to row against London, Joe Nadeau complained of feeling ill, but there was no one to take his place and the race had to be rowed. They had the outside or worse posi- tion, and their plan was to keep as close as pos- sible to London to the bend, and then draw upon their own wonderful supply of endurance and row the others to pieces with one of their famous, long-continued spurts. This plan they carried out to the end of the first mile, keeping their bow tip within five or six feet of that of London all the way, though London pulled tremendously, running their stroke up to forty- four, a faster stroke, as Playford said after- ward, than they had ever before attempted. Joe Nadeau said several times to the boys that he was sick and couldn't keep up much longer, but they urged him to keep on and do what he could, and his brother, who pulled on the same side of the boat, pulled with the strength of two
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
men and turned the rudder so as to favor Joe. It was terribly exciting to us on the banks, and the several hundred Americans who were there with red, white and blue ribbons in their buttonholes, yelled themselves perfectly hoarse urging on the " Sho'es." The bend was reached with the two boats side by side, and then Mose Nadeau called on his men for one of their famous old-time spurts. They had taken but two strokes more when Joe Nadeau doubled over his oar with a groan, and began to vomit. Then the race was lost, for he was perfectly gone, though the others were as fresh and as well able to pull a fifty-stroke to the finish as they were at the end of the three mile race at Watkins last May. They didn't pull to the finish, for Joe couldn't lift his head, and Mose told Durell to stop rowing also, and he and Dusseau pulled the boat home. They kept up their spirits before the crowd, and made light of losing the race ; but afterward one of them came into my room and cried like a child, and we all felt pretty sore over it. As for the crew being pumped, as some of the London papers say they were, that is all nonsense, for, with the exception of Joe, they were as fresh as daisies.
"' We staid at Henley for two or three days after that, and George Lee went down and took a pull over the four-mile course from Putney to Mortlake. He wanted to enter for the Winfield sculls in the Metropolitan regatta over that conrse. Here he would have met Playford, the English amateur champion; but they would allow none but Englishmen to enter, so he was barred out. We found that there was no steamer from London until the 17th, and so, finding that I could do so as cheaply as to keep them where they were, I took the boys over to Paris, where we staid five days. We did not meet any of the French oarsmen, though I believe some of them were looking for us one day. We went to the Expo- sition, of course, and enjoyed it thoroughly. It does not impress one as so grand an affair as that at Philadelphia, nor give one so large an idea of the vastness of the world's productions, but I rather think there is more in it. The American exhibit does not. compare favorably with that of European nations, except in the matter of machinery; there I think she is ahead. She is very far behind in her exhibits of painting and statuary, and if what we saw
there is the best that American artists can do, I think they had better stop painting. I see by the papers that medals have been awarded to two of the American paintings, but the judges who made the awards must have dif- ferent eyes from minc. After all, though, I suppose it is absurd for a Showac-cae-mette to pretend to art criticism.
"' Well, we returned to London from Paris, and sailed on the 18th, and have had a long, tedious passage, with poor accommodations all the way home. I think a strong effort will be made in the West to send the " Sho'es " to Eng- land for the Henley regatta again next year, and if they are sent they will go long enough beforehand to get thoroughly acclimated. I am glad we went, for we have learned many valuable lessons, and have had a good opportu- nity to test our powers against the best oars- men that England can produce.'
" The Sho-wac-cae mettes have brought their old, well-tried shell home with them, but can probably never use it again, for in transit across London from the Paddington railway station to the ship, it got badly wrenched and broken. George Lee sold his new boat to Lec, of Boston, and brought his old one home. It was also considerably damaged in London, and he sent it to Troy yesterday to be repaired, so as to be ready for the national regatta on the 20th.
" They all unite in condemning the lack of courtesy on the part of the English oarsmen, who failed to extend a single invitation of any kind to them during their entire stay on the other side. They say that there was almost no betting on their race with London, as the chances were considered too nearly even ; but on the race between George Lee and Moss there was considerable money put up, with the former as the favorite. By many people he was afterward charged with having sold the race, and claims to have been in imminent danger of being mobbed. The present plan of the Sho wae cae-mettes is to leave this city for their homes to-morrow morning by way of the Erie railway."
The following account of their reception at Detroit and Monroe is taken from the Detroit Post and Tribune :
" The Sho wac-cae-mettes and their business manager, E. D. Price, sporting editor of the Post and Tribune, who returned to New York
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from England last Wednesday, arrived in this city via the Canada Southern Railway at 9:40 o'clock Saturday morning. There was no formal reception, and only a small number of persons, including three or four local oarsmen, were present to greet them. The crew at once took a carriage to the Russell House, leaving their battered old shell in the passenger coach. During the afternoon they were met by numer- ous boating men and others, who listened with interest to the story of their varied experiences abroad.
" Mr. Price, who has been a much inter- viewed young man since his return to America, in a conversation with a reporter of the Post and Tribune afforded considerable fresh infor- mation of interest concerning the visit of the Michigan oarsmen to England.
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