One night 10 years ago a stranger ambled into the Chelsea, Okla. station of the Frisco Line to file a telegram. He noticed a guitar resting beside the telegraph operator, a fellow named Autry, and requested They Plowed the Old Trail Under. Autry sang it, whereupon the stranger took the guitar and sang Casey Jones. The stranger chatted a while, told Autry his voice might get him somewhere some day, handed him a stick of chewing gum, and left his telegram. It was signed "Will Rogers."
Only recently Gene Autry, now the dandiest, gaudiest, most popular singing cowboy in all Hollywood, turned...