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("Arthur Byron") 7 pages, 9 1/4" x 6", on the ruled color pictorial letterhead printed by Rocky Mountain Bank Note Co. Denver (featuring an image of a head and shoulders of a Native American by Stimson) of The Plains Hotel, Cheyenne, Wyoming, August 30, 1919. A fine long letter to "Affie" [McVicker], the booking manager for Selwyn & Company, producers of the play, "Tea for Three," describing many of the difficulties that the touring company encountered while traveling east out of Los Angeles, California during a railroad strike. In part: "We left Los Angeles last Monday by automobile after we heard that gasoline was growing scarce, and the steamers to Frisco were sold out - Violent mobs were active - There was no doubt about the Bolshevistic influence behind the sudden upheaval - [W]e arrived in Frisco only to find that all trains were annulled - the strike was in force and we met no westbound trains - Railroad men advised us to get to New York before Sept. 2nd as a general strike is expected - Of course we fully realized that we were responsible in case we did not appear with the production wherever it could get to - I understand why - you thought Miller could surely [have] made Ogden. But - the railroad yards in Los Angeles were congested with thousands of cars & locomotives - and none leaving. Twenty five cars of mail were mixed up in the mess, and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce announced that a million dollars of perishable materials were ruined in the yards - " The leaves have old tape at the margin. Very good. Byron's autograph is rare in any form. This is the only the second autograph of his we have ever seen, and the first letter. Arthur Byron (1872-1943), born Arthur William Byron, April 3, 1872, Brooklyn, New York; died July 17, 1943, Hollywood, California; American actor; films include: "The Mummy" 1932 playing Sir Joseph Whemple; "20,000 Years in Sing Sing" 1932; "The Mayor of Hell" 1933; "The Casino Murder Cast" 1935; "The Prisoner of Shark Island" 1936.
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