I am an avid genealogist. The past is very important to me. I spend a lot of time in cemeteries photographing tombstones to upload on the website FindAGrave.
I enjoy recognizing long dead people by putting memorials to them online. However, every once and a while something grabs me about a specific grave. It could be the name, or the dates or a ceramic photo. In those cases, I feel compelled to dig a little deeper. That's what this series of blogs is about: The tales behind those graves. Some of my subjects will be heroes. Some will be villains. Some will be victims. And some will linger in between, like most of us. However, don't be surprised if the tales are inherently tragic. These are grave tales. They all end in death.
I found Philip T. "Pinky" Kandell in Ohr Knesseth Israel Anshe Sfard Cemetery. Usually I am drawn to a grave by a photo or a name. That wasn't the case this time. What made me want to dig deeper was his age. What killed Philip Kandell at the age of youthful age of thirty? Well, I found out and I also discovered he was a self-made man in the horse racing circuit and quite a character! His untimely demise was chronicled in papers all around the country.
The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 25 October 1935:
By Paul V. Craigue
"Pinky" Kandell has put together more rolls than the town baker of Pequaket, N.H. Horse racing is his bread and butter. He is in the dough one month and in a jam the next. Life is just a sandwich to "Pinky" and he isn't in the middle very often.
He accumulated a wad of $50,000 in less than a week last Winter, but went through it before the New England season was half over. He left broke, but not discouraged. Now is back with a fresh roll, to wind up the Fall campaign at Narragansett Park.
His string consists of three horses -- a good 2-year-old named Clarksdale, a 3-year-old named Marion and a mare named Hut. These three are responsible for the turn of "Pinky's" fortunes. Hut has been particularly kind to him. He didn't bet on her until she had run under his colors five times, and she didn't win. But she has now won two straight with her master aboard for a sizable profit each time.
Since "Pinky" quit the newspaper game to devote all of his time to the horses, five years ago, he has been up and down the financial ladder some dozen times. But he had never before hit the peak he struck in Florida last Winter, nor sunk to the depths he hit on the rebound.
He had just $5 and three horses when the climb started. Bye Bye Mary, Legionary and Grainger were to run on successive days and it was all for nothing. Bye Bye Mary came through at a goodly price, with "Pink's" last $5 on her nose. The purse money, along with the wager winnings, went back on Legionary's delicate nostrils. Another bonanza. Back went the entire roll on Grainger. Whoopee--$50 grand.
The fall wasn't as sudden, but it was just as complete. Nothing he did in New England turned out right. Things went from bad to worse and kept right on going. Finally, he just managed to get away with shipping money and enough to chase a purse on another track. Clarksdale won at Saratoga and that kept the stable in feed and betting money for a time.
"Pinky" was still on the ragged edge, but he had a good foothold and the nerve to keep plugging away until the turn came. The Maryland Fall season got under way and the depression was over. It wasn't long before "Pinky" was able to trot around in the style to which he had been accustomed and to reengage his old sidekick Mickey Reynolds as stable agent. "He handles everything but the money. I take care of that," says the Pimlico plunger.
The entire outfit has come on to 'Gansett and "Pinky" plans to add two or three more horses to his string before shipping to California for the Winter. Freight money has been set aside and this trip to Narragansett is little more than an excursion. "I love New England tracks and I wanted another crack at them before shipping South," "Pinky" explains. "We don't figure to make much here -- or lose anything."
The Laurel Lancer watched yesterday's fifth race from the press box. Walter O'Hara's Undulate got away on top and the Marlboro Mauler murmured: "He certainly looks like a winner." As they thundered into the final turn, with the O'Hara youngster still ahead, the Havre de Grace Hoofhound said: "Eddie's Brother's home if he can run in the stretch."
Eddie's Brother ran in the stretch and came home first. "My horse won," said "Pinky" coolly. The win pay-off was $11, and it's a safe bet that "Pinky" had a sizable bet on his chances. There was neither elation nor excitement in his voice. Five years of ups and downs have taught B'rer Kandell to accept Fate's gifts and her blows with equanimity.
The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), 5 December 1935:
Philip T. Kandell, known to the track followers as "Pinkey," was instantly killed in an automobile accident in New Mexico this morning. Details of the accident are rather meager, but it is known that Mr. Kendall was en route to Santa Anita, where he planned to campaign his stable this Winter.
The young and popular Baltimore horseman was well known in New England, having campaigned his horses at three New England tracks the past season. Hut, Clarksdale, Mario and Can Takit were some of the winners he saddled at New England tracks.
Mr. Kandell was 32 years old and started life as a newsboy in Baltimore. He frequented the nearby race tracks of Pimlico, Bowie, Laurel and Havre de Grace and was a familiar figure there for years.
He acquired his racing stable during the past two years, and was credited with running a $5 bill, which he picked up in the gutter in Miami, to a $50,000 bankroll in 1934.
The Deming Headlight (Deming, New Mexico), 6 December 1935:
Phillip Kandell was killed Wednesday afternoon in an auto wreck about 30 miles west of Deming, near Wilna. He was riding in the car with a friend Mike Reynolds, who suffered minor injuries. Both were from Baltimore, Maryland, and were en route to California. Kandell owned a string of race horses that had been shipped to a California track.
Details of the accident were not available. Kandell died as a result of a badly crushed left side.
The body was shipped today to Baltimore.
The Times Union (Brooklyn, New York), 9 December 1935:
A car left the road near Deming, N.M., last week and a life became a statistic to be waved at surviving motorists. To many, P. Kandell, who had his last tickets torn up in that spill, was just a name on a racing program. Some were annoyed because they pronounced it with the accent on the second syllable and then wondered if the candle that split the racing jacket fore and aft had anything to do with the owner's name. It did.
To a lot of others, those really of the racetrack, Pinkey Kandell was a real guy. He laid it on the line and picked it up without flourish and often left it there without a squawk. Once he picked up $100,000 that way and it took him six months to leave it there, but that was unusual.
Pinkey Liked Action
How it was with Pinkey when he came out second best in the race of his life last week, I couldn't really say. He was well up there last spring, went bad during the summer and finally hit the half-milers for a scratch. He built this up, went sour again and a few weeks ago bounced out of Narragansett while the meeting was going full blast. "I'm going to Maryland," he announced as he blew through town. "I'll be back with a bundle." He was, too, and won races in New England, but that was a few weeks ago. Pinkey liked action.
When he came down, Pinkey had gasoline money anyway. He was on his way to California, no better or worse a spot to try one's fortune than another. Mike Reynolds was taking his horses out there, so Pinkey had feed money too. Whether he was otherwise in action isn't known as yet.
Jim Brady without a front. Pittsburgh Phil without a system. The Keenes without a farm. Alfred Vanderbilt without a crest. That was Pinkey Kandell. He bet like the famous plungers, only proportionally more. His system was like that of the unsung Lonnie Tryon. He picked a horse he liked and bet all he had. He knew horses and had a real feeling for them. Once this year he had six platers and was in heaven. He never won a stake race, because his horses weren't that kind, but he belonged to the nobility of turf. He made friends and liked to see them win. They all thought he was cuckoo at the mutual tracks because he never tried to steer anyone off his horses and most of the winners were favorites or second choices. Pinkey really felt better about his hat when the price was short.
Crack Hustler
Sometimes, particularly when on a winning streak, Piney must have dreamed of himself as the lord of vast acres, supplying his stables with thoroughbreds for racing as needed.
Pinkey, as a matter of fact, was one of the best hustlers in the business. This was probably because he didn't mind working, too. He did everything he could to make money, including work, and he never wanted enough to get along on. In other words, a small scratch didn't count. He had a real faculty for making money and he was by no means an old man when had a bankroll together and bought some horses.
Last spring he came to Jamaica with Bethlehemstar, the horse somebody there called "Beethel Master," and the steed and others were among the numerous winners sent out there by Trainer Pat Brady. He had Mario and Clarksdale then, too, and it was Clarksdale that put him back in action at one of the half-mile tracks this summer.
It's really a crime that Pinkey, of all people, had to become a statistic. He had to wind up with either a million or nothing. It would have been very good to see Pinkey with his million. He wasn't afraid of having nothing in the first place and in the second one of the many bankrolls he was forever putting together would have had to have been a big one. If it should turn out that he died a trifle short, that is no proof that gambling doesn't pay. Pinkey had a full life. He enjoyed his luck and didn't take it hard when it was bad. He knew he had nothing to worry about. He should have headed for Deming a little sooner and let the story come to a more satisfying conclusion.
Sadly, there was no local death notice so I learned nothing about his wife and kids. However, it is clear that he lived life to the fullest during his short time!
Remember, there is a story behind every grave. You never know what you're missing when you walk past one....
My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Chapel Street is the tale of a young man battling a demonic entity that has driven members of his family to suicide for generations. It was inspired by an actual haunting.
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 2, The House
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 3, This Is Us
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 4, Arrival
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 5, Methodology
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 6, Clara's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 7, Clara's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 8, My Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 9, My Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 10, My Tale, Pt. 3
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 11, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 12, Natalia's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 13, John's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 14, John's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 15, Come Inside!
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 16, Marion's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 17, Marion's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 18, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 19, Jeanne's Tale, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 20, Lisa's Tale
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 21, Recap, Pt. 1
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 22, Recap, Pt. 2
The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 23, Recap, Pt. 3
No comments:
Post a Comment