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SIMMS FUNERAL RITES TODAY Services to Be Held at Mt. Airy, Paris, Kentucky. Raced Modest Stable Recently in Colors of His Daughter, Mrs. Bessie Franzheim. LEXINGTON, Ky., Dec. 7. The body of Edward F. Simms, arived in Lexington, Ky., this morning, from Baltimore, Md., accompanied by Mrs. Simms and Miss Lucy Blythe Simms, sister of the deceased owner of Xalapa Farm. The body was taken to Mt. Airy, Miss Simms home at Paris, where funeral services will be held Thursday, afternoon at 2 oclock, with interment in Paris Cemetery. It had been annouced prior to arrival of the body that the funeral services would be at Xalapa Farm, which is about nine miles, from Paris. Probably the greatest horse Mr. Simms ever raced and certainly his favorite of all those he owned is Eternal, which is now head stallion at Xalapa Farm. In 1918 Eternal defeated the famed Canadian sprinter, Billy Kelly, in a two-year-old match race, for a 0,000 side bet, at Bowie. Under the conditions of the match, the money was to be donated to either the American or the Canadian Red Cross and it was a source of deep satisfaction to Mr. Simms that the American branch was the recipient. Mr. Simms imported the famous stallions, Negofol and Prince Palatine, from France, and England respectively, and they were immediate successes in America. ONLY MODEST STABLE. At the time of his death, Mr. Simms raced only a modest stable, which is now quartered at Santa Anita Park. They are campaigned in the name of his daughter, Mrs. Bessie Franzheim. Xalapa Clown, unbeaten two-year-old is the star of the string and is counted an outstanding prospect for the three-y ear-old division next season. Bugles Blow, another present two-year-old has also achieved a measure of fame this season. Mr. Simms was born at Paris, Ky., in 1870. He moved to Houston about 1910. Oil had just been discovered at Spindle Top and on the advice of friends, decided to try his luck with the "Black Gold." He laid the foundation for his fortune during the Sour Lake boom, later founding the Simms Petroleum Company and the Simms Oil Company, the latter a Texas concern. Simms, at one time, owned brood mares that were the envy of breeders everywhere. He was a specialist in English and French bloodlines and imported a number of good horses to this country. In recent years his breeding interests had been somewhat curtailed but in former years he had sold many yearlings at the annual Saratoga auctions. OWNED NOTED HORSES. He purchased Xalapa Farm in 1914 and among the famous stallions who stood there were : My Play, Eternal, Bon Homme, Lucky Hour, Negofol, Prince Palatine, Leonardo II., Crucifixion and Prince of Bourbon. HOUSTON, Texas, Dec. 7. Houston newspapers Wednesday paid earnest tribute to Edward F. Simms, capitalist and sportsman who died in a Baltimore hospital Tuesday. In Houston, where he had lived for many years, Mr. Simms was regarded as pioneer industrialist whose initiative will be felt in Texas businesss for many years to come. He was perhaps better known in Kentucky, where he was born, as a breeder and lover of fine horses. He owned Xalapa Farm in Bourbon County. In a long editorial, the Houston Post said in- part: "The career of E. F. Simms is a saga of American accomplishment. His constructive genius conjured forth, seemingly by magic, huge oil, sulphur, insurance and other business undertakings. He applied to the twentieth century business world the pioneering spirit which drove European explorers across trackless ocean wastes to new lands a few centuries ago. America lost an outstanding builder, developer, sportsman and humanitarian when death wrote the final chapter in Mr. Simms career."
