M. L. Sears and L.B.R. are unknown. The letter references Stephen Crane (1871-1900), the well-known American novelist, and Della Fox (1871-1913), a popular American actress and singer. Crane died very young of tuberculosis; Fox suffered from alcohol and drug abuse for much of her life.
The phrase "the pace that kills" occurs a number of times in early 20th century popular media. One may find examples in a January 23, 1898 editorial in the St Louis Post-Dispatch (pressures of high society); in an October 22, 1905 New York Times article (overwork); in a November 19, 1906 New York Times letter to the editor (excessive consumer indulgence); as the caption of a 1907 postcard (picture shows the automobile, but may be a metaphor); in a January 1913 article by the Socialist Party of Great Britain (automobiles); as the title of a 1928 movie (fast living, drugs, remade in 1935 as The Cocaine Fiends ).
From the guide to the "The Pace that Kills" Letters, Jul 1900, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
