The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-05
.LENTEN EVENTS
 IN SOCIETY WORLD Story Telling Becomes Fad Among Fashionables NOTES ABOUT PEOPLE Mrs. E. Barry Alvord an Attractive Hostess at Afternoon Bridge
 Party--Afternoon Tea an
 Event of Today
Ny MYRTLE MILES


 at the moment must be gifted in the art of telling story briefly, pithily and smartly. Story telling is the din ner and supper table pastime. The good story teller is in great demand in Birmingham and is just now-when the chief form of amusement is the dinner-asked everywhere. It is sus- pected indeed that there are several we'll known raconfurs who are>so far cultivating the art that they carry about with them their story books, in which they carefully indite every new yarn to be discussed at the next fes tive gathering they go to. And 1t has been the dream of one prominent wom- sn who Aas long recognized the value of a good story well told that same time a Story Tellers club, composed of the best of "local talent" in that regard shall be organized. Birmingham lis rich in cleverness of this sort, by the way, and some of the bright men and women of society who have long made the city their home and are par ticularly rich in reminiscence as to the funny side of Birmingham's early doings ae people whose fame has gone abroad The good tale tellers are not, 1t must be understood by any means lim- ited to men; we have number of wom- en who not only tell a bright episode well. but are witty to degree. Adopts in the art are Mrs. J. H. Phillips. Mrs. Solon Jacobs Miss Daisy Moody Mrs. w. B. Leedy, Mrs. Shipman, Mrs. Harrison Matthews, each of whom gives to her rendering of an incident her own touch of piquancy. Clever racon- teurs among the men may be noted MT. James Weatherly, famous as din ner talker; MT. Archie Carpenter, of whom Mrs. Solon Jacobs remarked once, "He can sit beside a woman of the dullest, most colorless type at dinner and, before you know it, make you think, in spite of yourself that she is witty" MT. Wilson Brown, who is fairly scintillating with humorous an- ecdote and spontaneous wit; MT. Jo- seph B. Babb, who is keen, graceful, always ready and blessed with fund of rare humor; Dr. W. E. Evans, whose personality, first of all, fits him for this much to -be-enyied reputation and whose brilliant intellect and original ity make him perfectly captivating, and Dr. Wyatt Heflin, of whose talent as a teller of tales 1t may be said that he inherits 1t, since his brother Con- gressman Heflin, is noted abroad for the same characteristic, and each of his other brothers also has the gift. Two prominent men who have for years frightened almost every conspicuous dinner party or banquet by their all together delicious shafts of wit are MT. Webb Crawford and MT. Henry Bad ham, who have been a mutual in- spiration Of the two it is generally re- marked, Their team work is excellent" Both are tremendously clever at all times but it Is not so much in the telling of a story that heir cleverness lies as in the unexpectedness and spon- taneity of the mots which, like balls, are tossed back and forth between them.
 These are but few of the people clever in this particular line that might be mentioned should one go care fully into the subject. There are dozen others that the passing mention of this little group will suggest, for Birmingham has an especially large number of bright people who recognize the value of a good yarn and know how to give it spice in the telling.