Autograph Postcard Letter - THE AUTHOR SETS STRAIGHT THE MATTER OF A SELF-INTERVIEW DONE AS AN ACT OF CHARITY

An interesting autograph postcard from the important Irish playwright and music critic. 1 page, on verso of postcard from the Torquay Hydro Hotel, to the journalist W. Orton Lewson Jr. of The New York American, postmarked 4 August, 1915, signed, "G. Bernard Shaw." Central crease, corners and edges chipped with small losses, one very slightly affecting a single letter of the handwritten text. 
The story of the present postcard is described, including complete text, some 29 years later, in an article in The Ottawa Journal (22 July, 1944 - page 11), a xerox excerpt of which is included with the postcard. The story as it appeared there is thus, the final paragraph being the text of the card in full:

"THE EIGHTY-EIGHTH birthday - July 28 - of our old friend George Bernard Shaw, recalls his invariable kindness to less fortunate scribblers, especially American newspaper men and women, young and old, in giving them interviews, and often going to the trouble of writing or dictating questions and answers himself. And an interview with Shaw always was, and still is, a much sought after journalistic 'scoop.' // IN THE EARLY day of the first World War, the London correspondent of a New York newspaper received, one morning, a postcard reading: 'A Mr. M. has just obtained from me on your behalf a long string of answers to questions about the war. G. B, Shaw.' Now, the correspondent had never heard of Mr. M. before, but presently there arrived at his office a seedy-looking individual who announced himself as Mr. M.. He had had an interview with Shaw, he explained, and wanted 10 GBP for it. // THE SEEDY ONE, under questioning, declared that he had called on Shaw - whom he had known in palmier days when both were young Journalists in Fleet Street - hoping to extract a small loan from him, but that instead of giving him money - and a few shillings would have got rid of him easily and gratefully - G.B.S. had sat himself down and propounded a long string of questions about the war, to which he forthwith wrote answers. Handing the interview to M., Shaw had told him to be sure to get 10 GBP for it - at least, that was M.'s story. // OF COURSE, the correspondent bought, but not before pointing out to M. the enormity of using the newspaper's name, without authority, producing G.B.S.'s postcard to this effect. M. left, promising to set the matter straight with Shaw. Next morning, the correspondent received another postcard. It read:

'M. has written me a terrified apology. You have evidently made his soul tremble. As a matter of fact I was not taken in. I guessed the state of the case; but as his questions were well planned and his stationery was that of a poor man, I thought I might as well do him a good turn. It is quite a common game for people to send up a card with the name of some well-known person on it, and, if I see them, to ask for loans or money. So M. s procedure did not seem at all dishonest - quite quixotic, in fact, by comparison. G. B. Shaw.'"

The beautiful Torquay Hydro Hotel was built in the nineteenth century as the Torquay residence of the Romanov family, the ruling Russian élite until 1917. It was originally known as Villa Syracusa, later becoming Torquay Hydro, then the Overmead Hotel, and now the Headland Hotel. It looks much the same now as it does in the wonderful image on the present postcard. The Shaws began a two-month stay there on July 31, 1915 (A. Gibbs, "A Bernard Shaw Chronology," p. 214) (14649)

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