Men, as well as women, were springing in to the rope and pulling.

No longer was it team against team, but all Oakland against all San Francisco, festooned with a free-for-all fight.

Hands overlaid hands two and three deep in the struggle to grasp the rope.

And hands that found no holds, doubled into bunches of knuckles that impacted on the jaws of the watchers who strove to tear hand-holds from the rope.
Bert yelped with joy, while Mary clung to him, mad with fear.

Close to the rope the fighters were going down and being trampled.