Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-29

L. PEG giving away autographs,
breaking q White House custom
L Of rs years, To save himself
from writer's cramp he had 10
stop. New autograph collectors have
been sprinzinE up by tens of thousands.
and each wants signature Of the
President as the corner stone of his col
lection. Some autograph bandits. using
O variety Of names send IN fresh re-
quests for presidential autographs every
day and sell them as fast as they gel
them. The Chief Magistrate found
that he was being put into quantity
production Clever persons were max
Ing his right hand work for their living
Since the President retired from bust
ness as an autograph factory the price
Of a Calvin Coolidge" in q neat run
ming hand on the White House auto
graph card has ieaped in value from
$3.50 to S. and probably will rise still
higher. There is talk OF introducing a
signograph az the White House SO that
the President may autograph % cards
at once. II this happens the present
bull market IN Coolidge autographs will
probably crash from overproduction.
The scourge and despair of autograph
collectors is Charles Augustus Lind
bergh. There are hundreds OF thou
sands OF dollars worth of unborn auto
graphs III his founte IA pen. Every
scheme known for sep2Fating a celebrity
from mis- signature-let eTs claiming kin
letters claiming boyhood acquaintance.
letters paying back money that was
never borrowed bills for articles that
were never sold. threats of lawsuits,
wires, cables and personal calls-has
been tried IN vain on Lindbergh. He
never. REPLIES. Miscellaneous gifts
e. I1m Fn& ri 80 1zS
finest workmanship the Snappiest
cheese In wicksmunkey County. fIageo-
lets made CIT Of dinoSaur hones-haye
al failed 10 melt autographs out Of
Lindbergh
when ne ignored my first three let
tiers" said one professional, Il sent him
q special delivery letter. saying that ]
would commit suicide II he did not come
through with an autograph. and ! con-
nrmed this message by telegraph. He
ignored IT, He let me die. I wrote 10
him as a sick child. wrote to him as
q crippled fellow aviator; wrote 10
him as dying woman, but stil /
couldn't get an autograph out OF him. =
What hurts the autograph bandits
most in Lindbergh's sloofness is that
they could sell the most perfunctory
letter from him at a price from $40 to
$50. A day or two after his arrival in
Paris Lindbergh obliged a friend By
writing few lines on sheet Of paper
and signing his name.
A few months later a dealer offered
$50 70, this piece Of paper II had a
special value because ii was written
within few hours after the conclusion
Of his great fight.
Until Lindbergh appeared. Edwin
Arlington Robinson was considered the
cruelest man in MS u1altrestment Of
signature grsfters. He never answered
them Under any circumstances. One OF
the cleYerest autograph beg2ars made a
bet that he could with his versatile
technique, outcuess the six American
literary men who were considered most
poisonous TO autograph collectors and
trick them out Of letters. He baited his
traps so well that he got replies from
every one but Robinson. Robinson Is
worse than Booth Harrington. Booth
Harrington IS tougher than Henry Ford,
Ford is more adanant than John Bar
rYFnore. and Barrymore, II Is said, never
under any circumstances touches pen
Or pencil TO paper.
There is one legitimate way 10 get
ricS1 as an autograph collector and that
IS 70 pick coming men and correspond
with them before they have achieved
ZANE WE5Ae 70 3 B3ncDefRE D%80Ef Ffe
flies from New York 70 Paris. exchange
long. chatty letters with . Thornton
ss''sssder kefore be writes a prize novel,
or gossip by mail with = Henry Ford IN
tbs early DAYS when other people con-
Eidey hin7 a crackpot Identify geDiusca
before they have done anything 10
biszor them 10 the world and yodf
letter fles IN tr1f will cagse 2 panic al
the manuscript auctions,
Even after men have made their
ran1es good results MAJ bs obtained b.
working on them before they have mad
time 10 learn the tricks IF autograph
collectors IN the case of y new writer
81 il best % appeal ~ the heart The
following Is a raodeI Of the neart-thr0h
type 81 autograph eetier
Dear Mr. ~~~-. arm 3 very old
man. 81 70 be- exact anG 1iac vital spark
which Is barely Pickering, Is famed only
by tie Joy 0f reading your books II
you would brighter the last days ~ .
very old man please st;a1 roe copies OF
your books with autographs end some
llttle sentiment Ike To my beloved
kfelong friend
Yours idoilzlngiy.