The New York herald., 1922-01-26
At Hearing She Admits Tell
ing Some Fantastic Tales,
but Seems Unshaken.
DENIED BY HER MOTHER
Parent, Weeping, Contends
Daughter, Falsifying, Was
Influenced.


Richard. boxing promoter and lessee OF
Madison Square Garden. with having
attack her on various occasions since
last August. told her story yesterday
before Magistrate George w. Simpson
in West Side Court. The case was ad-
journed until next Monday night at 5
O'Clock. when further witnesses will be
heard.
For more than three hours the girl,
unkempt and dishevoled. withstood 81
cross-examination by Max ID. Steue-
without being shaken in her story 10
any OF its essential features. Her ac-
quaintanceship with Rickard. she said.
had begun in Madison Square Garden
last summer. Then followed visits to
the famous tower, then to apartments in
West Forty-seventh street. These vis-
It's, she asserted, continued up to last
New Years Day.
The girl recited the details of what
occurred in a sort of monosyilabic
formula as she was led from one date
TO the next by Ferdinand Pecora. Chief
Assistant District Attorney. Her recol-
lection concerning the furnishings of
the Forty-seventh street apartment, the
amount of money she and her chum,
Anna Hess. IL. referred to as Dolly
had received from Rickard vera posi-
tive and clear.
Denies Her Daughters Tale.
Mrs. Mary Ruck, mother of Alice.
who is a domestic in Mount Vernon
household. sat weeping as Alice told of
her various visits to Madison Square
Garden and to the Forty-seventh street
place. She threatened to disrupt the
proceeding at ono stage, when. pushing
between opposing counsel, she addressed
the court:
Your Honor. my little girl has been
influenced. She never had anything to
do with Mr.. Rickard. She doesn't know
Mr.. Richard"
The woman was quieted and assured
she would have a chance to testify later.
Mr.. Steuer did succeed in getting Alice
to admit she had oeen the author Of
more than one fantastic story and fan
ciful idea. She was a devotee of the
films. she admitted. and recalled vividly
when heroines of the screen had drunk
poison, then torn their clothes in the
throes of agony. only to be saved at
the last minute by tho hero.
The witness admitted that before she
and the Hess girl went to Bellevue on
the night of January IA, with a false
story that they had drank iodine they
had torn and slashed their clothing to
add to the effect. Alice owned up also
that the next story she told to the Belle
vue authorities, that she and the Hess
girl had been kidnapped and chloro-
formed by man with an automobile,
and ended UP sitting on bank of snow
somewhere along the Hudson River,
also had been a fake"
Rickard Listens Closely.
Throughout the hearing Rickard sat
at the counsel table. his ear cupped in
his left hand and listening intently to
every word uttered by the star witness
against him. Alice seemed to be fasci-
mated by the stenographer pencil. as
she was compelled by the District At
torney to recite the details of each
occasion on which she charges Rickard
mistreated her She was clad in a
cheap blue dress. greenish coat and
black tam o. shanter that only par
TALLY covered scraggly hair of uncertain
color. Her ungloved and neglected fin
gers toyed with a locket suspended from
her neck on chain. and she frequently
nsed sadly soiled handkerchief. but
not to wipe away tears She replied
to Mr.. Steuer's questions wherever pos
sible in monosyllables. volunteering
nothing, offering no explanation. She
knew she had been doing wrong, she
said. but continued to do so.
Lost Pebbles sliding on Ice.
The visit TO Bellevue a week or more
ago which resulted in her apprehension
by the Children's Society came about
as a result OF a trivial misfortune. said
Alice Her grandmother. a Mrs. King.
with whom she lives i'm 225 East
Twenty-flfth street. had sent her across
to Fifth avenue to buy pebbles TO put
L.. Ii.
a Chinese lily. Crossing Madison Square
Park, having accomplished her errand,
Alice said she met her two chums. FL
vira Renzi and Anna Hess. The three
youngsters began sidi ing on the ice.
when her package fell. broke, and the
pebbles scattered In all directions She
was afraid to return home without them
and had no money with which to pur-
chase more.
Mr.. Steuer wanted to know if it did
not occur to her that with Mr.. Rlckard
at the Garden so near by---a man whom
she testified had given nearly $40 in
cash to her--she could approach him In
her difficulty. She said Anna Hess hac
suggested the idea. but she had re.
jected Il. Then in despair the two girls
went to an ice cream vender in Twenty.
seventh street. near Madison avenue
and borrowed 20 cents with which they
bought theNiodine to paint their mouths
ais an excuse to get into Bellevue.
Alice Ruck's sophistication appeared
TO be fairly complete for n girl OF Is
DR.. Gibbs of the Children's Society
testified concerning her physical condi
ton. She spoke glibly of Rickard hav.
ing slipped her n paper with the ad
dress Of the West Forty-seventh street
apartment on II and genuine surpris,
showed In her face when Mr.. Steucr or
one occasion asked her what sho mean,