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33 Ferry Avenue, East,
Detroit, Michigan,
December 4th, 1908.

Mr. C.L. Berg,
530 West 147th, Street,
New York City, N.Y.

my dear Mr. Berg-

Your very interesting letter of December 2nd, came in this morning's mail, and I hasten to reply.

It is a real pleasure to know, that your family and that of Mr. Tryon's, are acquainted, and that through the acquaintance, you feel that you understand more fully the nature of the art collections in my care. 

Now, in asking me to reconsider my decision concerning the lending of the pictures from my collection for the exhibition in the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition, I regret to tell you, that I cannot do so. The only pictures under my control, which I would care to send to an exhibition so important as the one you are organizing, are master pieces, which if lost, could not be duplicated, and furthermore, they are already the property of the United States government and I am at present their custodian. Paintings of this nature, as you know, are of great importance,  particularly to my collection, as each one is a link to a chain, and if the chain is once broken, it cannot