Evening star., 1954-12-25
BY GrontIond Rice

and the SIlouting.D
By Grontlond Rice
In 1928. Ring Lardner and !
bought a four-acre tract Of sand
and sod facing the Atlantic
ocean at East Hampton, Long
Island.
The late Edward Gay. who
erected the majority OF East
Hampton Beach homes. handled
the construction. and the sum-
mer of '29 was indeed lovely.
Perched on our porch on our
dune, we could stare straight out
and into the bull rings OF Lis
bon or perhaps it was the
clearness of the gin cocktails. At
any rate, nothing but gulls,
whales and water separated US
from Portugal and Spain.
During the first week Of March.
1881. Kit and I had arrived In
Florida to cover the baseball
camps when we learned that high
seas around East Hampton, with
waves 80 feet high, had done
damage estimated at nearly
5000. 600. We then learned that,
fthe Rice and Lardner homes are
taking the brunt of 1t =. have
been already undermined 10 feet
below their foundations, and now
are hanging to the banks by q
thread" However, bulkheads
were somehow being built despite
the loss of piledriver and other
heavy apparatus to the storm.
Several days later. on March
4. another northeaster hit. doing
a million dollars worth OF dam
age from Fire Island to Mon
tauk Point. Those bulkheads had
saved what remained Of our.
homes. On March IL, Joe Miller.
the house-moving man. came In.
threw out his anchor and didn't
halt work until both homes had
been relocated some 200 feet be-
hind the dunes where. praise be.
they still stand. Lardner and ].
It seems, got 90 per cent OF both
barrels.
Many Wonderful Guests.
When the big ''move" at East
Hampton had been completed !
found that the good Lord had
left the Rice family with an acre
of turf, minus sand and sea
grass, upon which we decided to
build an all-round sporting club.
During many wonderful summers
we had a number of interesting
guests and neighbors. ready for
membership at no cost to any
one.
Along with the Lardners there
we're the Irving Cobbs. the Percy
Hammonds. the James Prestons.
the Arthur William Browns. the
p. Hal Simses, the Merlyn Deke)
Aylesworths, the John Goldens,
the Henry McLemores, the Jesse
Sweetsers, the Clarence Budding
ton Kellands, the Jack Wheelers,
the Gene Tunneys, the Reed
Kilpatricks, the Harold Rosses.
Frank Crowninshield, and many
others.
In our limited space. the men,
bers had their choice Of flve
sports. There was q 9-hole chip
and putt course =. q croquet
layout q horseshoe pitching
setup an archery land and
swimming in the ocean only q
few rods away. Plus beverages.
AS q result, each Sunday after
noon we could count on from
80 to so people who engaged In
these weekly frolics.
The sport was very pleasant,
but to me the various contests
were not to be matched with the
conversation that cracked over
the sea grass on those occasions.
Lardner, the tall and silent
one, had more to say in fewer
words than any one ever knew.
I remember one day intro
ducing Cobb to John Lardner,
Rings oldest son, then about 16.
John has since developed into
one of our finer writer's. worthy
son of q brilliant father. Cobb
spoke to John, who had nothing
to say. "Oh," said Cobb, ''an-
other one Of these garrulous
Lardners."
don't believe any one could
locate as many brilliant minds
as we used to assemble for golf,
archery and other sports. There
have been many other friends,
but these have contributed more
to the happiness of my wife and
me over past years than perhaps
any others. For they came to
us when the sun was just above
the meridian, before sunset was
due.
Ring Passes On.
1t was late In September, 1888.
I had come up to New York to
pack a bag for Philadelphia,
where was to cover the Jack
Sharkey-Tommy Loughran fight
on the night Of the 27th, when
the phone rang. It was midnight
and Kit was at the other end.
Granny" she said quietly.
"Ring died o little while ago.
Young Ring came over to tell
me. I've been with Ellis (Mrs.
Lardner) and I've Just this min
ute returned"
The news didn't come as o
shock rather as q heavy
wrench. Rings death had been
expected for some weeks. The
combination Of q bad heart
weakened perhaps through an
LITTLE SPORT