TLS signed “Flo,” one page, 8.5 x 11, red-bordered F. Ziegfeld, Jr. New York Theatre letterhead, March 26, 1908. In part: “Your numerous telegrams to Anna [Held] were all received, and I sent you the tour up to Philadelphia…I have been laid up for three days with the grippe…The Knickerbocker Trust Company opened yesterday and all those who did not sign, including Lillian Russell drew out their money. When are you coming East again. I see you are fighting the rats out in San Francisco.” In very good condition, with scattered creasing and soiling, edge toning, separations along the folds repaired on the reverse. San Francisco had been battling plague for several years, and the 1906 earthquake devastated San Francisco. The ruin of the city's buildings made not just people, but rats, homeless. The subsequent year or two of living in refugee camps while rebuilding was highly conducive to rat and flea infestations. In 1907, cases of plague were reported. But with hindsight on the last epidemic and new knowledge from research, officials launched a new kind of campaign. They offered a bounty on rats. A similar rat-catching campaign had been used successfully to fight plague in New Orleans. It worked as well in San Francisco, and though this second epidemic was stronger than the first, it was brought to halt in 1909. R&R COA.
