| The Death of Tex Rickard Submitted by Lucille Glasgow Another session at the microfilm reader at the Wichita Falls Public Library yielded copies of the final chapter in the life of Tex Rickard, literally; therefore, let's peruse these clippings before we return to the chapters in his autobiography, several of which have already been printed in this column. The January 5, 1929, issue of the Wichita Daily Times ran this article: "Miami Beach, Fla., Jan 5, UP-Tex Rickard, New York sports promoter, was reported in a critical condition at the Allison Hospital Saturday, where he has been confined since Tuesday night when he underwent an operation for acute appendicitis. "An attempt has been made to bring Dr. Will Mayo, of the Mayo Brothers Clinic at Rochester, Minn, here to take charge of Rickard's case. Dr. Mayo is attending a medical convention at Havana, Cuba. "The condition of Tex Rickard 'remained unchanged,' the Allison Hospital announced at 7 a. m. "The famous sports promoter's condition, following an appendicitis operation, took a turn for the worse late Friday. At midnight the condition was reported critical by Dr. H. E. Adkins, physician in charge. "The United Press correspondent spent the night at the hospital and said attendants informed him before dawn the Rickard 'was very slightly improved.' "The millionaire promoter was operated on New Year's night and his appendix removed. Earlier in the day he had complained of pains, and doctors ordered him rushed to the Allison Hospital for an emergency operation. The next day he evinced an interest in sports news, and a quick recovery for the ex-cowboy was expected. "Jack Dempsey arrived here Friday night. He had planned to confer with Rickard on his proposed return to the ring. "Rickard has failed to show expected recovery since the operation and his wife, who is at the bedside, feels that specialists should be called in for consultation. "The promoter came here last week to take charge of preparations for the heavyweight fight next month between Jack Sharkey, Boston, and Young Stribling, Atlanta. He planned to erect an outdoor arena here and make the bout the first big outdoor fistic attraction of the year. "Plans for the bout now lie in abeyance, awaiting his recovery. In cases of this kind, doctors say, the patient is usually able to be about within two weeks. Unless Rickard shows marked signs of improvement very soon, however, it is probable that he may be confined longer than that, it was said. " To continue the story of Tex Rickard's fight for his life, as printed in the Wichita Falls Times, January 6, 1929, headlined "Plans for Spring Bout will Go on As Promoter's Aides Hurry to Miami Beach Scene." "Miami Beach, Fla., Jan. 5-Tex Rickard lay in a critical condition on a hospital cot Saturday night while specialists sought to stave off inflammation that followed removal of a gangrenous appendix five days ago. "At midnight the following bulletin was issued at the hospital: 'Practically the same condition existed tonight as this afternoon. Mr. Rickard's resistance was possibly slightly lower. His temperature remained at 103 and his pulse had increased from 132 at 4 p.m. to 140 at this time. (Signed) Dr. E. H. Adkins' " 'Mr. Rickard is about the same,' Dr. S. W. Fleming, of Palm Beach, who was called into the case Saturday, said late Saturday night after a consultation with other physicians. "The seriousness of Rickard's condition became more apparent when a bulletin at 4 p. m. said, 'Mr. Rickard's condition is still critical. The patient is very toxic with a temperature of 103 and pulse of 132. The outlook is grave, but not entirely hopeless. (Signed) E. H. Adina, J. W. Snyder, C. Panettiere' "The bulletin showed a slight rise in the patient's pulse and temperature since the more favorable 8:45 a. m. announcement, and increased anxiety. "A dramatic touch in the fight to save Rickard's life came during the day when Jack Dempsey, excited and hand waving, appeared at the hospital and insisted that a conference of doctors be called immediately to determine Tex's condition. "Equally dramatic was the flight of Joe Rose, another friend of the maker of champions, to Havana and Santiago, Cuba, in a search for the distinguished surgeon, Dr. William Mayo. Rose hoped to locate the Rochester specialist and bring him by plane to Rickard's bedside. "Rickard apparently had only a nap, for at 2 p.m. Dr. Adkins came from the sick room and said his patient 'was slightly improved.' "Jack Dempsey was allowed in to see Tex for a moment and returned to say the promoter told him, 'Jack, I've got this fight licked.' "Dr. S. W. Fleming of New York, Mrs. Tex Rickard's personal physician, arrived here Saturday night in an airplane from Palm Beach, where he is spending the winter. "Attendants said he was taken to the hospital where the promoter is critically ill after an operation for appendicitis and went into consultation immediately with Dr. Adkins in Rickard's room." "Bout Goes Ahead" 'New York, Jan. 5- The executive committee of Madison Square Garden decided Saturday to carry out Tex Rickard's plans for a heavyweight match between Jack Sharkey and Young Stribling in Miami Beach, Fla., Feb. 27, despite the grave illness of the promoter.' "Flight Postponed" 'Curtiss Field, N. Y., Jan. 5 - A proposed airplane flight by Dr. Robert Emory Brannan, new York surgeon, to the bedside of Tex Rickard in a Miami Beach hospital, was postponed until Sunday because of bad weather over the route south.' " After last week's account of Tex Rickard's fight for his life, today's account printed the next day in the January 7, 1929, issue of the Times tells of his body being taken back to New York from Miami: "Rickard Funeral Cortege En Route To New York Home" Miami Beach, Fla., Jan. 7. (AP) - George L. (Tex) Rickard, maker of boxing champions who traveled an adventurous road from cowboy to millionaire, was on his last journey today. "Rickard died in a hospital here yesterday on the sixth day of an illness which followed an operation for appendicitis New Year's night. The body of the promoter was being borne to New York, scene of his greatest triumphs, on the Havana Special, of the Florida East Coast Line Railroad. "Mrs. Rickard, who had kept a faithful vigil beside her stricken husband; Jack Dempsey, who loved the promoter as his 'best pal'; Walter Field, Rickard's friend, and Steve Hannegan, representing the city of Miami Beach accompanied the body. Over the bronze casket, so heavy that 12 men were required to lift it into the hearse, lay a blanket of roses given by Dempsey and Field and which bore the tribute, 'To Our Pal.' "Rickard died gamely fighting the vicious inroads of peritonitis which followed the operation. He remained conscious until about two hours before his death at 8:37 a. m. yesterday. Shortly before lapsing into the coma from which he never rallied, he turned to the faithful wife and friends who gathered at his bedside with the assertion that he was 'getting a tough break, but I'll fight.' "Then the dying man grasped the had of Mrs. Rickard and the feeble voice inquire solicitously about his 8-year old daughter. "When told that Maxine was all right and wanted her father to get well, Rickard said, 'Help me over this, sweetheart, I'm fighting my -' He did not finish the sentence and in two hours he was dead. "A certificate issued by Dr. E. H. Adkins, who attended Rickard, said that death resulted from 'an overwhelming infection following acute gangrenous appendicitis.' "Dempsey, rugged ring warrior, became a nervous, unstrung boy as he realized that the man who had lifted him to a high place was dead. 'I've lost the best pal I ever had,' he declared. "It was Dempsey and Field who sat with Mrs. Rickard by the bedside of her husband as Rickard passed. When Dempsey left the room and sought the reception hall, he struggled to control his emotions. His face covered by a two day growth of beard, Dempsey choked as he said, 'It must come to everyone, but it's mighty hard to see Tex go. We can only carry on as he would have done.' "Grief stricken and on the verge of prostration, Mrs. Rickard was forced to go to bed where she remained all morning, but she was able to attend brief funeral services in the afternoon. "Rickard was not a church member, but Father William Barry of the Catholic Church, to which Mrs. Rickard belongs, officiated at services. "Traveling via Jacksonville, Savannah, Richmond and Washington, the funeral train is expected to arrive in New York at 10:19 a. m. tomorrow where the body will lie in state to be viewed by thousands of Rickard's friends. "Another touch of pathos was added today when friends made public a telegram received Saturday night from Rickard's aged mother in Seattle, Washington, in which she expressed her willingness to come to Miami Beach and help in every was possible. "The Rickards came here Dec. 28, where they have a winter home and where the promoter owned extensive real estate and a new greyhound track which he intended personally to open on New Year's Day. "Rickard also came to arrange details for another heavyweight championship elimination contest, a match between Jack Sharkey and W. L. (Young) Stribling, the winner to battle Jack Dempsey for the crown relinquished by Gene Tunney. "With three members of the Madison Square Garden staff en route to attend to the preliminary work which Rickard's illness and death halted, it was learned that the bout would be carried through as planned. To continue the newspaper coverage of Tex Rickard's death, the following was in the January 7, 1929 issue of the Times: "Many Old Settlers of Northern Texas Mourn Death of Rickard" "Many old-timers who knew Tex Richard when he punched cattle in this section and served Henrietta as town marshal today mourned and expressed regret at his passing. 'He lived square' was the verdict of those who knew him best. "In those days he was known as 'Dink.' No one seemed to recall just how the name originated but he was always 'Dink' to his friends in Northwest Texas. Tex, or George Lewis, Rickard came to Henrietta when very young after brief residences in Kansas City and Sherman. In those days Henrietta was known as Lick Skillet and Cambridge was Pinhook. While he was still very young, the head of the family died and he became the breadwinner riding the ranges of Clay County as a cowpuncher. There are many pioneers around Henrietta who remember days when he blacked boots for a nickel and waited on the cowboys' games for spare change. "Later he was elected city marshal of Henrietta and many prominent citizens of Henrietta recall when Dink used to admonish them to 'go home and be good.' He never established a reputation for being quick on the trigger or beating them to the draw because when he told them to 'go home to bed' they usually went, old timers here recalled. "It was while wearing the peace officer's star in Henrietta that he fell in love with his first wife, Leona Bittick. Miss Bittick's parents objected to the match so the pair eloped and were married at the home of L. B. Upham. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. J. F. Young, a Baptist pastor, now living in Ardmore, Okla. "About a year later Mrs. Rickard and her young baby died and 'Tex,' attracted by reports that flour was selling for a dollar a pound in Alaska, resigned as city marshal and went to the Klondike to investigate its possibilities. With a cowboy companion he struggled over the Chilkoot Pass and across the 300 miles of frozen country to the headwaters of the Yukon, where they struck it rich in the famous bonanza. With his first stake Rickard opened a gambling hall at Dawson but 'miner's luck' closed him out in a few days. "There's a story that he and Rex Beach cut fire wood together to replenish the lost fortune. With a small stake he reopened the gambling house and made good. Most of his enormous winnings, however, were lost in speculation on worthless claims. "He was attracted later to the Tonopah field, where he established the Great Northern saloon at Goldfield. The stake which he made there financed his ranch venture in the Argentine. Glenn Cunningham and James Frazier, Henrietta friends, were partners of his in the adventure and when the project failed he brought them back to Henrietta. "Through all of his colorful career, he never forgot his friends and many Texans have had tickets to all of his big fight promotions. He returned to Texas at every possible opportunity and some of his fondest memories of Henrietta pioneers are of parties at which 'Dink' was welcomed home. "In April 1926, when the contract for the first Dempsey-Tunney fight was signed in Fort Worth, he made his last visit to Henrietta and spent several days there. More than 50 pioneers of this section joined in welcoming him at a celebration at the St. Elmo Hotel. August Bevering, Les R. Hamm, W. F. Suddath, Dr. J. F. Farris, L. H. Koethe, and a number of other close persona friends always arranged the welcome for 'Dink' when he came home. "These visits were always occasions for much reminiscing. He remembered and called all of his companions of other days by their first names and nothing seemed to please the famous promoter more than this association with his first friends. "He enjoyed recalling the times when he and his father hunted buffalo on the site near where Wichita Falls now stands. One of his favorite stories of pioneer days was of a trip on horseback when he drove cattle from Henrietta to Honeywell, Kansas, when there were no fences to delay progress. He often chuckled over his first promotion scheme, the Blue Grove picnic, and recalled the fight when Henrietta took the county seat from Cambridge and men fought over the mail and the location of the post office. These and numerous other stories were always told and retold when 'Dink' came home. "Sporting events which he promoted also afforded him a chance for association with his friends of cow punching days. One of his closest personal friends in this section is John Turbeville, Archer County rancher and oil man. Mr. Tubeville has been Mr. Rickard's guest at many of his sporting events ands has kept in close touch with the famous promoter during his entire career. Their friendship began when both were cowboys on the Harold Brothers and East Ranch near Archer City. "It is probable that several of his friends from this section will attend the funeral services in New York". To continue with the story of Tex Rickard's death, another article in the Wichita Times on January 7, 1929, "Fistic World Fails to Find Answer to Problem of Taking Place of King of Promoters," shows the veneration of the sports world for this native Clay countian: "By Davis J. Walsh, International News Service Sports Editor. New York, Jan 7 - Boxing literally is tottering on its throne, a prey to the uncertainty that inevitably seizes upon any institution from which the steadying hand of its master has been removed. "Rickard is dead! "All the night long, as the body of the world's greatest promoter sped northward for burial on Wednesday, that three-word refrain has been dinning in the ears of those who knew him and respected him and, in many cases, loved him. Rickard is dead. Only by constant repetition can the fact be made acceptable and credible to the world of boxing. "Rickard wasn't merely associated with boxing; he was boxing itself. He took it out of the back rooms and dropped it into the laps of millionaires. He established a monopoly by cornering its star performers. He made it the biggest money business of all professional sports, a monument of marble where once it was a hovel of weather- beaten shingle. He held the unseen strings that made its puppets dance and he held them alone. This man had to die to make one fully realize how complete was his domination of the sport. "So today, with the master gone, the aides are in a state of flustered confusion, while plans that he made for the future are marking time, awaiting action that may never come. "Does Rickard's death mean that Jack Dempsey will not come back? What will be done about the Sharkey-Stribling fight at Miami Beach, the proposed opening event of Rickard's program to establish a heavyweight champion? What will happen to his heavyweight elimination tournament? Will Humbert Fugazy, Jim Mullen, Paddy Harmen or some other promoter step in and take over the control of the heavyweight situation? "These are only a few of the unanswered questions that arose and demanded attention early Sunday morning when Rickard succumbed to gangrenous appendicitis at Miami Beach. "He had a statement prepared for release late this week on the Dempsey matter, but Jack is accompanying Mrs. Rickard with the promoter's body on the Havana special Monday and what effect his friend's death will have on his plans is not known. He always said that he would fight only for Rickard and, if he really was to come back this year, undoubtedly his decision was to help his friend. But Rickard is beyond all help now. "In any case, it is far from certain that Dempsey will wish to go forward with the plans already formulated, unless the appeal of doing so in honor of Rickard's wishes strikes a responsive chord. It isn't likely, either, that he would care to line up with a rival promoter, a fact which places it squarely up to the Madison Square Garden Corporation to come forward with a man in whom Dempsey has confidence and sympathy. "They say this man may be Tom McArdle, the present matchmaker whose record of achievement in boxing is as lengthy as the years of his experience. Alleged nominees for Rickard's post are many, however. John Chapman is one of them. Even Dempsey himself is prominently mentioned. "McArdle was offered the position of vice president and general manager of the corporation before the post went to Col. John S. Hammond and, after a conference Sunday, this pair was said to be in perfect accord. "Yes, boxing will go on but how far and how well, no one can say. The Sharkey-Stribling fight on Feb. 27 probably will be carried through, as Rickard already has contracted for it with the principals before going south for the annual holiday that resulted so tragically. There may be an announcement on the Sharkey-Stribling affair Monday, the probability being that Col. Hammond will declare his intention of holding the fight as a tribute to the promoter's memory. "For this fight was to have been Rickard's gesture in a new field of promotion, his answer to those critics who claimed that only a big city can support a big match. It was his boast, just before he was seized with his last illness on New Year's Day, that the sharkey-Stribling fight would draw a gate of $500,000 and establish southern Florida as one of the leaders of winter-season promotion. "If the fight is declared on, other hands will attempt to seize the strings that guide the destiny of a big event. They may even succeed, as Rickard would have succeeded and if they do, it will be a further tribute to the man's genius of organization. Some day, too, a hand other than John McGraw's will have to guide the New York Giants but neither institution ever will seem quite the same. "The chances will be dead against it, in both cases. Inspirational genius such as Rickard's is seen once in a century. It isn't created again with a snap of the fingers. The kingdom he built still lives but the king is dead and none fit to don the royal robes is available. So today we have the insistent question without an answer; after this what? Frankly, anything is possible. Another article about Tex Rickard in addition to the last two in this series from the Times of January 7, 1929: "Tonopah, Nevada, Jan. 7. (AP) - Tex Rickard came to the Nevada gold fields in 1903 to retrieve his fortune which had been impaired by a streak of bad luck at Nome, Alaska. "Rickard threw together the frame work of 'The Northern' saloon at Crook and Main Streets and with Ole Elliott and Kid Highley, he reproduced the gambling houses he had owned in Dawson and Nome. "The Northern resort was the scene of what old timers said were the greatest gambling plays ever witnessed on the desert. 'The sky' was the limit and promoters and 'wild catters' were said to have 'got all the excitement they craved,' frequently laying $10,000 on the turn of a card. "Eight bartenders were employed on a shift, making 24 for each day. Each man drew $12 from the till and paid himself as he went off shift. More than 24 dealers were employed and visitors said champagne flowed more freely than water. "Through Rickard's efforts the Gains-Nelson fight was staged as a community affair." On the next day, January 8, 1929, the following article appeared in the Wichita Daily Times. "Rickard's Body Rests in State Until Services" "Priest, Rabbi and Protestant Minister to Conduct Rites Wednesday" by Frank Getty, United Press Sports Editor "New York, Jan. 8 -The man whose sporting spectacles amazed the world was brought home Tuesday to rest in state in the Temple of Sport, which is to be his monument. "Accompanied by his grief-stricken young widow and a few close friends, the body of Tex Rickard came to New York in a bronze, flower-strewn casket aboard a fast express train from the South. "A strong police escort of 100 of Commissioner Whalen's 'finest' waited to accompany the remains to Madison Square Garden; a curious, insistent throng - such a throng as Tex loved - pressed closely about the Pennsylvania station gates; men and women who knew Tex only as a name and a symbol for the spectacular in sport, stood shivering with cold but held by curiosity along the route mapped out for the cortege. "If Mrs. Rickard approved the plans made by James I. Bush and Roy W. Howard, close friends of the late promoter, the body was to lie in state in Madison Square Garden until the funeral services Wednesday afternoon. Because Rickard was a man of no particular religion, those in charge of his funeral services were seeking Tuesday to have a priest, a rabbi and a Protestant clergyman participate in the final rites. "Jack Dempsey, former heavy-weight champion, who assumed charge of the late promoter's affairs at Miami Beach, where Tex died Sunday morning, wired his approval of these arrangements. Mrs. Rickard is a Catholic and services in that faith were held for Tex before the body was placed aboard the 'Havana Special' of the Florida East Coast line, which brought it here Tuesday. "The young widow, who was married to Rickard early in 1926, left their infant daughter, Maxine, at Miami Beach in the care of Mrs. Walter Fields, wife of one of the promoter's employees. Mrs. Rickard bore up bravely under the strain of the long vigil she had kept at her husband's bedside since his operation for appendicitis on New Year's Day." "St. Mortiz, Switzerland, Jan. 8-(INS) - 'My sympathy goes out to Mr. Rickard's family,' said Gene Tunney, retired heavyweight champion Tuesday. 'I feel his death keenly as one of his myriad of friends. The world of sport has undoubtedly lost a genius. There probably never will be another promoter so capable of stirring the public interest. It might truly be said that whatever his hands touched turned to gold.' One last article about Tex Rickard's funeral, before we move back to his autobiography, appeared in the Wichita Falls Times on January 9, 1929: "New York, Jan. 9: Silent as a tomb, Madison Square Garden stood Wednesday a temporary sarcophagus for the dead leader, Tex Rickard, prior to burial Wednesday afternoon. "Carried into the huge sports arena Tuesday, the famous sports promoter's body lay in a bronze casket all through the night while two attendants kept a guard of honor. "Champions of many a sport have had their hour of triumph or despair at the house that Rickard built; turbulent excitement has been its almost-daily lot; never before has it sheltered the dead in solemn dignity. "Under the floodlights which usually illuminate the garden's boxing ring, the dead promoter lay in his casket almost directly opposite his own private box, somber with black draperies. At each side were huge palms. Behind were massed hundreds of floral tributes. "After relatives and close friends had been given their hour or two alone with the dead Tuesday, the doors of the sports palace were thrown open to the general public. "In three hours, some 15,000 men, women, and children passed by the bier to pay their last respects to the dead. In single file that cosmopolitan cross section of New York citizenry filed into the garden, slowly passed the half opened casket and proceeded into the streets again. "It was a solemn orderly throng that sang a silent requiem for the dead." Also in the Wichita Falls Times of January 9, 1929, as the account of the funeral of Tex Rickard, was this article: "Fort Worth, Jan. 9, (UP) The first romance of Tex Rickard, who died in Florida Sunday morning, although a very beautiful and tender one, was short lived and is said to be one of the saddest and most tragic experiences in the life of the famous promoter. "It was in 1894 that Rickard married Miss Leona Bittick, daughter of Dr. S. G. Bittick of Henrietta. The ceremony was performed in Fort Worth. The bride was married in the same gown which she wore a week before at her graduation from old Polytechnic College, now known as T. W. C. A year later the bride and her infant son died of the white plague. "The marriage occurred in May. In August Mrs. Rickard was confined with tuberculosis of the lungs. In February, 1895, their baby was born. The baby was named George L. Rickard, Jr. Three weeks later its mother died and the baby died a few days later. "This marriage was a romantic one. Doctor Bittick opposed his daughter's marriage to Rickard because of her poor health. The couple eloped from the home in Henrietta and came to Fort Worth to get married and then returned home to receive the parental blessing. " 'Their lives together, though short, were sweet and it was a great sorrow to Rickard when he lost his wife and son, who would have been the only one left now to carry on the family name if he had lived,' declared a friend of the Bittick family. "Soon after the death of his wife, Rickard went to Alaska, where he married again. Then he began acquiring what later developed into a great fortune. It is beside this wife that he is to be buried in New York. His first wife and their son are buried at Henrietta, where during recent years Rickard has erected new monuments to their memory. "Those now surviving the first Mrs. Rickard are two sisters, Mrs. Matt Coleman of Fort Worth and Mrs. J. A. Baker, and three brothers, also of Fort Worth." |