THE REGATTA
There was still one great event before the closing of the academic
year of the Diana Seminary Seniors, in which the class had taken
extraordinary interest. It was the first time in the history of
the Seminary that students were to take part in aquatic sports
against male contestants. The day for the great handicap regatta--a
four-oared affair--between the Senior class of the Seminary and the
Sophomore class of the West Point Military Academy followed directly
after graduation,--the class grade being the handicap allowed to the
Seminary girls.
Aurora and Margaret, after their avowal and covenant, were again
in normal condition, cheerful as of yore, and as they were the most
available pair for the aquatic contest, from the beginning they had
been chosen unanimously as the exponents of the class of 1960, and
they went into the execution of the sport with vim and enthusiasm.
As the event was a unique one, it had become the most lively topic
of conversation among the people, and long before it took place had
caused widespread interest in the country. Having been advertised
and exploited extensively in the daily press, it is needless to say
that an unusually large concourse of visitors had arrived by land
and water to witness the classic and unusual contest.
The course of the race was laid near Poughkeepsie and was in the
shape of a heart, that is, starting at a given point, side by side,
they raced about half a mile abreast, then one crew turning to port
and the other to starboard, diverging in a parabolic circle, passed
each other in the center within a short distance of the starting point,
and making counter-circles started on the home run, again abreast. (See
diagram, page 90.)
The personnel of the Seminary crew consisted of the following young
ladies: Aurora Cunningham, coxswain; Margaret MacDonald, stroke;
Horatia Seymour, number one; Eunice Ward, number two; and Norma
Southworth at the bow.
When the preliminary signal to make ready was given, both the crews
rowed gracefully to the starting ground and began to manoeuvre. At
the sharp report of the signal gun, the two shells shot past the line
almost abreast, amidst deafening acclamation from the spectators on
the shore and the shrill tooting and whistling of the sailing craft
of every description that had formed almost a compact circle around
the course.
The calm and pleasant weather had allowed the waters of the Hudson to
run as smooth as a looking-glass, except for the turbulence caused
by the ever restless pleasure boats thronged with sightseers,
each endeavoring to get a better vantage point of the impending
struggle. As the contest progressed, the interest of the watchers
began to increase. Thousands of field and marine glasses and lorgnettes
were leveled at the racers as they sped along the course.
The teams had now reached the point of divergence, and had begun to
recede from each other at every stroke on their parabolic circuit,
the boys turning to port and the girls to starboard. But alas! Hardly
had the Seminary shell advanced half a dozen strokes when, by some
unexpected and inexplicable accident, Margaret's feet slipped off the
foot guard and, in an instant, she was thrown into the waters of the
Hudson, the shell meanwhile gliding swiftly by.
Instantly the air was filled by a deafening cry of dismay from the
throats of thousands of eager spectators, coupled with piercing
whistles of the steamboats. What a moment of anguish for the Diana
Seminary girls! What a shocking sense of humiliation for the fair
contestants! To think that in an event so crucial for their honor
and standing, such an unforeseen disaster should overwhelm them!
But fate was with them. It was decreed that such a catastrophe
should happen in order to heighten the grandeur of their ultimate
victory. While the spectators were still paralyzed with the awful
situation before them, there was activity and heroism among the Diana
mermaids in the shell. The instant Aurora with her alert eyes saw
Margaret's mishap, she realized at once the situation and before
the shell had glided past, she leaned over and caught Margaret by
the hair. By the same impulsive and almost animal agility, Margaret
grasped Aurora's arm and in another moment, with less loss of time
than would seem possible, she was again in the shell. In a twinkling
of an eye the breathless girl had resumed her place at the oar as if
nothing had happened.
Aware of the loss of distance by this untoward accident, which was,
in fact, more than four boats' length, but undismayed and as if
invigorated by her impromptu bath, in order to recover lost ground
Margaret set the pace at a higher speed and forged ahead with might and
main. When the throngs on land and water realized what had happened
the din of exultation and cheering was beyond description and this
did not abate until the race was finished. Overwrought by the sight
of this heroic exploit of the girls, men and women had become madly
hysterical. When the shells crossed each other at the half-mile
stake it was seen that the Seminary girls had recovered considerable
ground, leaving a margin of less than two boats' length. Encouraged
by the splendid showing made, and goaded to endeavor by the rapturous
applause of the populace, Margaret and the rest of the crew seemed to
gain new strength. And when Aurora with the megaphone gave the order
of thirty-six strokes a minute, they set the pace with marvelous vigor
and precision, causing consternation among their masculine antagonists.
On the completion of the second parabola of their circuit and when
coming on to the line for the homestretch, it was noticeable that
the Seminary shell was only a trifle behind.
The crucial moment had come.
They were now almost abreast on the homestretch. The intensity of
the exciting scene had for a moment cast a profound silence upon
the spectators. Every one was straining his eyes and neck to see
the momentous finish, only to break again into a bedlam of rapturous
shouting when the girls were seen to be in the lead. It was indeed
a sight never to be forgotten, when the Seminary shell shot past the
finish line a full boat's length ahead, and the girls were acclaimed
by the populace as victors.
The intensity of the joy of the throng, and the plight of their
utter abandon, can be conjectured when it was discovered afterwards
that eight hundred and ninety-one ladies' and two thousand three
hundred and seventy-nine gentlemen's head-gear were picked up in the
Hudson. The next day and through the week following, divers reaped a
good harvest by bringing up from the river's bed one thousand three
hundred and ninety-four field, marine and opera glasses, and two
hundred and seventy-five lorgnettes, besides innumerable parasols
and canes which the people in their abandon had thrown about.
This episode was the crowning glory of the Seminary and the beginning
of a new epoch in the history of this institution.