Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1912-02-21
SOUTHERN FOLK LORE
Depicted by Charming Girl From
Dixie Land Who Gives Enter
tainment at Mcdowell
Hall.
FOR HOSPITAL BENEFIT.
Miss Louise Williams Interprets Darkey
Dialect-The Virginia Reel Danced
by Home Folk.


by Home Folk.
Darkey dialect of the ''Souf Befo
de Wah" was depicted with all true
naturalness by Miss Louise Williams,
charming Southern girl, at an enter
tainment given last evening at Nc
Dowell Hi. st. Johns College.
The occasion was hospital benefit,
and was given under the auspices of
the Board of Managers of the Emer-
gency Hospital. Every seat in the
auditorium of Mcdowell Hall was
occupied, and large number of folks
were in the gallery The audience
was representative, and fashionable
one, and the event took the form of a
society entertainment.
The stage setting was homelike and
attractive, and was typical of a
drawing room in an old Southern
home. Uncle Joe, (Mr. Eugene
Iglehart) in burnt cork, curly gray
wig, gray whiskers, was a clever i'm
personation of the old-time man SER
want of the Southern home. He ar
ranged the stage business" assisted
by Miss Elizabeth Randall, the pret-
tiest, sweetest and daintiest of South
ern girls, in her lowered be-ruffied
gown, with lace fichu, rare old
canoes, and the crinoline skirts of
those days. The little curls about
her face and neck, and the old-ashion-
ed headdress of the eos made Miss
Randall appear as living picture,
one who had stepped out of some old
daguerreotype.
The star of the evening, for she is
a star, was Miss Louise Williams.
whose appearance was greeted with
prolonged applause. Miss Williams
is the daughter of. a prominent Con-
federate veteran, and the dialect
stories she told were, for the most
part, gathered from the old negroes
who live about her Southern home.
The darkey who learned his lessons
of the original school is fast passing
away. The old ''quahtahs'' he once
occupied are falling down. and ii is
now only from the remnant of the
faithful old negroes who are left in
every Southern family that the South
ern grownup baby has caught the
days "bef de wah. But somehow
these old songs and stories of
nanny of the colored quarters,
and "auntie" and uncle and ir
folk lore has fascination that
will live for years to come.
The impersonations at Mcdowell
Hall last night by Miss Williams, of
the Southern type of negro were true
to life. Miss Williams is a pretty
Southern girl of brunette type. she
was dressed in becoming style of the
eos and with her pink full dress
with many ruff1es, her reticule and
"sash. her large hat with pink roses
and black velvet strings, with her
dark curls peeping out underneath
the lacy brim, she looked. a picture
come to life and stepped out of some
rare old miniature. Her appearance
was very fetching, and her smile had
acharm all its own that fascinated
the audience at the start.
Two college cadets, in costume of
Southern negroes, with faces and
hands blacked, played Dixie" on
banjo and mandolin, accompanied on
the piano (behind the scenes) by Miss
Elizabeth Starr, of Baltimore.
Miss Williams opened the program
with Scenes of the Sunny South
originally gathered from life. She
gave a graphic description of the tvpe
of Southern negro and the fondness
for them in the Southern home OF
which they were part. She told
how Uncle Ned Found His Fortune
and gave a Debate Among the
DeacoDs. Miss Williams acted the
parts well, and her Interpretation
was accurate and clever.
At this stage of the program Miss
Williams was assisted by Miss Eliz
abeth Randall who sang "A Banjo
Song" by Homer. Those who have
heard Miss Randall sing know tn,
/ pure quality of her voice, its soft
ness and sweetness, its musica
| tone and fibre; the intonation and ex
| preston with which she sings. AL
| these, and more, stamp her tht
sweet songstress, the vocal artis
she is. The audience was delighte,
to see her in the quaint old costume
/ dS pretty dS q plSbOIc duu 10 0Sd
her song, and they were not satisfies
with one song. Miss Randall wa
obliged to respond to an encore, an
she gave the second of her number
on the program, "a Plantation Lula
by" This was a soft, grooming
negro song, admirably fitted to tn
occasion, and the charm and grace o
the singer were felt in the song an
the impression it made upon the audi
ence. Miss Randall's part in the prc
gram was much appreciated.
Miss Williams did not only Civ
humorous features of the life in th
Southern cabin and quarters of tn
negro, and the ludicrous phases &
their character and superstition. bu
she touched or the grave aud deepe
side as we'll. Pathos was commingle
with pleasure, tears with laughter
for she brought tears to many eve
when she told the story of "Lookil
for Marse Willis" that relates II
| sOrr0W of a Cf,y1fhorn xvornar ,,,h-.