The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-10-09
AN HOUR IN Boards STUDIO
BY ETHEL ARMIES.

Here Mr.. Beard keeps many of his
curios does his writing and after work.
ing hours, receives his friends-those who
are not especially privileged to bob up
in the studio.
Some of Mr.. Boards special hobbies,
besides guns and old armor are old
tactics, military regulations and manuals
or arms, one of his most valued possess
sion Is the manual of arms of the Prince
of Orange. Then too, he has several of
the early fairy tales, quaint New Eng
land primers, innumerable histories, and
| queer old text books, as well as big
collection of books by famous living au-
| thors, inscribed to Dan Beard, my
| friend" Many of his letters too are in
| terestng, charged with the spirit of their
| writers, as for instance this one of
| Mark Twains written from Hartford
Conn., in November 1889. referring to the
Yankee at King Arthurs Court:
Dear Mr.. Beard: Hold me under per-
manent obligations. What luck 1t was
to find you'll
There are. q hundred artists who could
illustrate any other book of mine, but
there was only one who could illustrate
this one. Yes, 1t was q fortunate hour
that 1 went netting for Tightening bugs
| and caught a meteor.
Live forever Yours sincerely,
IS. S. CLEMENTS.
Dan Beard is tall, robust looking
hearty and kindly. He is the sort of fell
low wl.O l<noc IS down the man who kicks
his dog lie has ce.cIaus sense Of hui
NOR camerado way, "Fn,ne, spontan-
e Us Tie has r6ughed 1t owe. the plains
and the h,cKiss. as few other artists
have. His illustrations for boys books
and stories are as well known as the
| famous King Arthur's Court series, and
his cartoons, caricatures, and studies OF
the west and old New York. To quote
him:
Il draw for the one man In ten thous-
and and Try to keep popular air going
at the sane time"
| He is ore eff tie few prophets, famous
| in his own country. Ask any one In
| Flushing from an old man shoveling coal
| to scrap of a boy on the street, where
| Mr.. Beard lives.
Dan Beard' he cries, IT know him.
He lives right up there on Amity street,
third house from the corner
Mr.. Beard halls from the middle west,
Cincinnati, O., being his birth place. His
father was the Artist Beard, and all of
his brothers are artists.
MY Oldest brother began to draw car
toons before he could tallS-thats fact "
said Mr.. Beard why the whole family
had It, My father said his youngest son
making profession, so he educated me for
a civil engineer.
"Bless you I've carried a transit till
my shoulders hollow. Then l got Ill and
took a vacation. Dan Beard paused
THAT vacation lasted 30 years and I'm
still on it, he said. Tell you how it
happened. l was visiting my brother In
New York and showed Mr.. Drake some
! sketches I'd made out in camp. He went
! off with them, and first thing l knew
l got a big check from Harper's maya
| zine. l remember I looked at 1t, / was
young then, such big money for nothing
! but play-I thought so | laid down my
lslevel and chains and rods and decided
4 to play" he smiled when my father
! heard of it, he said to mother, Well,
| Caroline and I can imagine his voice,
our last duck has taken to water And
I've been a poor devil of an artist ever
since "
The studio Is away up at the top of the
house. Nearly every article under the
great skylight has some special anecdotes
attached and no one can beat Dan Beard
on anecdotes, especially a frontier skit
or literature Renaissance
There with a gathering of some three
or four along In the late afternoon, that's