Stefani KooreyFirst published in December/January, 2005, Volume 2, Issue 6, The Hatchet: Journal of Lizzie Borden Studies.
The Boston Globe, Monday, December 5, 1892 – 1, 5.
HENRY G. TRICKEY DEAD.
Tried to Board a Moving
Train and Fell.
Although Only 24 Years Old, His Life
was Most Eventful.
The Globe Loses a Most Loyal and
Devoted Member of Its Staff.
Henry G. Trickey is dead.
He was killed by accident at Hamilton, Ont., Saturday morning.
Mr. Trickey was on a business trip in the interest of THE GLOBE, and being late attempted to board a western-bound train, when he stumbled and fell beneath the cars, the wheels of which passed over him, killing him almost instantly.
Members of his family were immediately notified, as was a brother-in-law in the West, and all that is mortal of the energetic young man will arrive in Boston tomorrow.
Funeral arrangements will be announced later.
Death is always sad.
But it is especially sad when it comes to a young man, in the full vigor of his strong manhood, a young man brimming over with vital forces, which quicken a well knit physical frame and fire a virile brain.
Death comes to all; princes and peasants have to die, and so have newspaper men.
It is the daily work of a newspaper to tell the world of those who pass away into the shadowy beyond.
But deaths which occur far from our own circles are scarcely felt at all. They are merely incidents in the routine of life.
The rain, however, sometimes pours into our own household. And in chronicling the death of one of its faithful employes THE GLOBE has to perform a very sad duty.
Mr. Trickey was associated with the paper, and was part of the mental machinery which goes to make up the many-sided, multifarious and important relations which it represents to the world.
To speak of him, as dead, who but a short while since was in the enjoyment of a busy, healthy life, touches the heart which speaks and the hand which writes.
He was a thoroughly
Good-Hearted Young Fellow,
of a generous nature and an impulsive spirit. He was quick-tempered, but he was forgiving, and was popular with all who knew him.
One conspicuous trait in his character was his loyalty.
He was a loyal husband, a loyal citizen, a loyal friend, a loyal fellow-worker among newspaper men.
But above all this was his tremendous loyalty and stern fidelity to THE GLOBE. His loyalty to the paper was unique, it was pathetic. It was not the loyalty bought by the paltry dollars paid in salary; it was a devotion, a worship, a fealty born of conscience and honor.
Indeed his loyalty was almost a failing, it sometimes outrun his caution. But then he was young and ambitious. He was enterprising and imbued with the newspaper spirit. One of the hardest workers on an assignment, with a tireless energy, a winning disposition, and a keen appreciation of the value of news, no wonder that caution sometimes halted and the man erred.
Yet the man made but few errors.
In the long line of criminal cases, from the Mellen case to the recent Borden case, which is even now startling the world, Mr. Trickey was conspicuous as a writer and a reporter.
He worked as few men work, unless inspired by more than ordinary loyalty and intelligence.
He was such a tremendous worker, too. His energy never flagged, his power of endurance was wonderful and his readiness to answer the call of duty was remarkable.
It need scarcely be said that THE GLOBE appreciated this genuine
Warm-Hearted Loyalty,
and the management trusted him with much of the important work of the paper.
Other traits he had, traits which endeared him to his coworkers. There was a touch of buoyancy and cheeriness in his makeup, which gave an alertness to his disposition, a quickness to his movements and a decided elasticity to his step.
Henry had a personality which made itself felt. The boys in the office knew Trickey’s step afar off, and they always had a welcome for him. And the boys always knew when Trickey was in the office. He delighted in conversation and was fond of telling stories, cracking jokes and making merry generally.
Then he always had such a fund of experiences to draw upon. He had worked on so many important public cases, scandals, suicides, murders, failures, he had interviewed so many great men and women, he had travelled so extensively, he had seen and heard so much, that his active brain was full of interesting things and readily formulated into speech and story.
If he was not seen about the office for a day or two, it was immediately understood that a big case was on, or that some startling story had soon to be told.
Then he would come in, his face stern, with fire in his eye, his body animated with exuberant spirits, his cheery tones stilled for the time until his copy was ready.
Then, when the story was printed, it was soon evident that he had been at work, sober, serious work.
He was also a keen analyst of men and things, deeply interested in current events, and alive to all that pertained to the life of humanity.
In the ordinary acceptation of the word he was not a religious man. He had pronounced views as to creeds and faiths,
Using His Reason,
on all such difficulties. He would not dogmatize, but preferred rather to investigate, both in things physical and spiritual.
With his wide and varied experiences, not alone on the sunny side of life, but in the seamy, hard, grovelling, competitive side, he was full of questions as to the truth of things.
In this line, of course he made mistakes, and was sometimes the victim of those whose only purpose was to mislead. But he never went far wrong, either in work or play, and he was always open to the presentation of a truth.
Another trait in his character was his readiness to help others, whether by money or advice.
The charge of penuriousness could never be laid against Mr. Trickey. He frequently inconvenienced himself to satisfy the needs of a brother worker. He spent money freely, but when a loan was possible, and it would do some good, if he had it, Trickey’s hand was always open.
He had all the weaknesses of newspaper men, but many of their good qualities. This was one of them, a generous openhandedness, and if he had a dollar it was at the disposal of the man who needed it at the time more than he did.
Henry G. Trickey was a native of the old Granite State. His birthplace was Dover, and he was born July 7, 1868. When quite young his parents removed to Belmont, Mass., and there he continued to reside until he was 16 years old.
His early education was received in the public schools of his adopted town, and in June 1884, he was graduated with honors from the Belmont high school.
His father having died, after his graduation his mother removed to the Granite State, and young Trickey came to Boston to begin his life’s battle.
He started out to study law, entering the office of a prominent Boston lawyer, where he remained less than a year. The study of the abstract science of law did not fascinate him, and he forsook the monotonous life of legal drudgery
To Enter Journalism.
Even thus early, and before he had decided to permanently enter the latter field, he added materially to his income by correspondence for country papers.
For a time he was employed as a reporter on the Cambridge Tribune. In 1884 he received an appointment on the staff of THE GLOBE, and he was first assigned to “cover” the district which included Arlington, Lexington and Belmont. His meritorious work in this capacity soon earned for him a promotion to the city staff, and for the past seven years he has almost constantly been engaged upon special work.
His first prominent journalistic success after his transfer to the local force of the paper was his elaborate expose of the opium resorts in this city in 1885. Next he did splendid work on the famous Mellen-Coolidge conspiracy case in Baltimore.
Later he won more honors as the writer of the provincial life of Abner I. Benyon of the Pacific National Bank, and still further added to his fame by brilliantly describing the presence of the great bank defaulters in Canada.
In July, 1886, he wrote up the fishery troubles with Canada, and in the same month he graphically detailed the home rule affairs in Nova Scotia.
November of that year he was found in the home of Jefferson Davis in Mississippi, whence he sent a bright and entertaining interview with the ex-leader of the confederacy. The next spring he journeyed in Utah, writing up his impressions of the effects of the passage of the well known Edmunds bill on the Mormon question.
The unsolved Mitchell mystery, the Sawtell and Almy tragedies are only a few of the more prominent murder cases upon which he was engaged and which served to win for him new laurels.
He was THE GLOBE’S correspondent in the late
Barnaby Mystery,
and went to Denver, Col., to serve as a government witness in that important trial.
The special work he has done for THE GLOBE has always been of an especially noteworthy character.
In the spring of 1890 he married Miss Gertrude Melzar, the handsome and talented daughter of the late Dr. Melzar of Wakefield. Their married life has been an exceptionally happy one.
Mr. Trickey was a popular member of the Boston Press Club, and the Press Cycle Club, and in addition to his regular work on THE GLOBE was for a considerable period press agent of the Gaiety Bijou Theater. Later he served in a similar capacity for the Grand Dime Museum.
Mr. Trickey had a charming home at 51 Monadnock st., Dorchester, and his domestic life was peaceful and bright. Beside his widow he leaves a mother of whom he was very fond, and for whom he cheerfully toiled, and a brother, Mr. N. E. Trickey, who is station agent for the Boston & Maine railroad at Newburyport.
In the midst of a buoyant life Henry G. Trickey met his death. The restless hand of fate, which none may stay, laid hold of him, and he is dead.
Dead, with all his faults and all his good qualities, and is now at rest, free alike from the pressing cares of a busy newspaper career and the stings that always torture a strong personality and a warm humanity.
Life anyhow is but a floating haze which passes into a desucinde [sic] of silence.
And into that silence we shall all be borne – and we must go alone.
JOHN COLLIER.
______________________
DETAILS OF THE ACCIDENT.
Satchel in Hand, Mr. Trickey Attempted
to Board a Moving Train.
HAMILTON, Ont., Dec. 4. – Yesterday a man supposed to be Henry Melzar, a New York traveling man, was accidentally killed at the Grand Trunk station.
The unfortunate man came here Nov. 24 and registered at the Royal Hotel as “Henry Melzar, New York.” He did not appear to be here on business, as he did not call on any local firms; in fact to those whom he met he stated that a private matter brought him to Hamilton.
Yesterday morning he arose late, and going down stairs at 9 o’clock, said that it was important for him to catch the 9.25 o’clock train for Guelph. So anxious was he to catch it that he left without his breakfast, taking a trolley car for the station, where he found the train just moving out.
With his satchel in one hand, he made a run for it. Grasping the rear handle rail of the car behind the smoker, he tried to swing himself on, but in some way not clearly defined, he slipped and fell between cars, the wheels of two of which passed over him.
When picked up he was still alive, but unable to speak, and in a few minutes death claimed him.
Before leaving the Royal, Melzar directed that any mail arriving for him be forwarded care E. P. Melzar, 624 Ridge av., Evanston, Ill. On his person, after the accident, were found a gold watch, some jewelry and a sum of money. In his satchel there was little to identify him by. A package of letters in a large envelope bore the address, “Mrs. H. G. Trickey, 51 Monadnock st., Dorchester District, Boston, Mass.,” and from some other writing on the envelope, signed “Henry,” it was supposed she was a relative, possibly a sister.
Other letters in the satchel bore the imprint, American Shoe Tip Company, Summer st., Boston, Mass., and it was supposed that was the house he travelled for, but as he attempted to do no business here that could not be determined accurately until his friends were heard from.
The sequel of the story is that “Melzar” was Henry G. Trickey, a Boston GLOBE reporter. His identity was revealed this afternoon, when the body was claimed by his brother-in-law, E. P. Melzar of Evanston, Ill.
Mr. Melzar took the body to Boston for burial this evening. An inquest was opened by Coroner Woolverton, although there was no necessity for it, and after viewing the body the jury adjourned until Wednesday.
