The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-06-26
TEX Richard Promoter Of Title Match Has Made Fortunes
In Gambling Halls Oil Wells Ranchng and Big Prize Fights
Nv n. z. BROWN

TOLEDO, o., June Astonishing
like twenty-five years ago one George
Lewis Richard, then an adventurer.
gambler and fortune seeker, climbed
on board q boat at q Pacific port,
headed for Alaska. He picked up an
ACQUAINTANCE with another gentleman
OF the cards. George Lewis Richard
happened to drop the word that he
hailed from Texas. When he bumped
into card game on deck little whilc
later his new found friend called out
invitingly, Come on, Tex, sit in"
The handle TEX" replaced the
George Lewis part of Richards name
right then and there. II you'd ask
anyone today II he knew George Lewis
Richard he'd say no. But TEX" Rick
ard Is known around the world as the
biggest fight promoter in the game
a man who will gamble with hundreds
Of thousands Of dollars to stage big
tight
Richards whole life has been one
big gamble. s.
Had Little Schooling.
His father died. when Tex was elev-
en-. The family was poor Tex didn't
go to school day after his fathers
death. He picked up the education he
has. He tells laughingly that he has
"a system" of his own for figuring.
The Richard family was living in
Missouri when Tex's father died. The
mother moved her family to Texas to
raise 1t.
Tex pays frequent tribute to the
hardships she suffered in raising her
children. The land where they lived
was known simply as good cattle
grazing land in those days. No one
knew that it covered oil worth billions.
Richard rode range for time when
he grew up. Later he became q pro-
fessional gambler. He opened several
big gambling houses in the west AMI
made them pay him.
He won many fortunes-and lost a
few. He went to Alaska-joined one
Of the Yukon rushes for gold He
went to Mexico, to Cuba, Central and
South America, Europe and then Afrt-
ca. He has hunted big game and for
tunes in all these places-with sue
cess. He modestly admits that he
owns $4,000 acres of wonderful graz
ing land in Paraguay-where he spent
just four years Of his life in getting
that land. The land is we'll stocked
with cattle. He has big interest in
one of the great packing houses in
Paraguay.
To the sporting fraternity, though.
he is known more for his United
States oil holdings than his cattle, as
far as business goes.
Promoted Many Battles.
Richard saw big money in staging
championship fights and has been the
~ a. In o. Of ha To- Z
in the last two decades He promoted
the bouts at Goldfield and other places
| in the west when Battling Nelson,
! Joe Cans and others Of their time
were in the limelight With Jack
Gleason he staged the tragic comeback
battle of Jim Jeffries against Jack
Johnson at Reno. New, in 1910 The
purse hung up for that fight was
! $101, 900. The sporting world marvel.
ed at theSchance Rickard took. The
i fight netted him a fortune-what with
| the gate receipts, the motion picture
returns and the other concessions.
Rickard said at the time that the
limit hadn't been reached as far as
] the magnitude of the finances connect
ed with the mill were concerned.
Richard has refereed, too. He ref
erred the Jeffries-Johnson mill but
little effort was needed on his part
that day Jeffries was beaten when
he entered the ring
Shrewd and coId-Blooded.
Richard today is what his life would
tend to make him-a shrewd, cold
blooded plunger- with a diplomacy
and bearing acquired by years of con
tact with the world in general He
! roaIi1od oorIv in his with
/ the fight game that what he needed
most was publicity, and he has be
come a postmaster in getting it. Hs
figures out the. publicity angle in
every move. The referee situation II
/