The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-07-27

I'D like to be writing this story in 1 bathtub, with an electric ian spih- I S ming around at a million mics minute and large, slender deoutdhte- l shaped" pitcher filled wlth lceo ieitoi- ade on one side and hundred pouiuS of ice on the other, but that being lfn- rossihle having no place to make t,,reu,riter comfortable under the CIT cumstances, I proceed, as usual "itn the prespiration rolling off ot me III great "GOBS," to occupy my desls ~ ~Siian bv my little window corner, ana iMdhl- M mer away while the thermometer soais and scars and scars regardless ol Peo pie and things. 4 +ha But it doesn't matter how not t"1 weather is or how cold, when ever l hear that my friend, Billy Beard IS m town-the famous minstrel man. Ahe kparty From the South'-l hie me uii'o his hotel or theatre and seek line OH what he's doing. ,..,
 For sheer fun and good nature, whetn- e- the season be winter or su.iiinei' ,'e' Billy Beard is always on the Jop. ohliNe most of the people we see m tue sum,
 n.ertime, who are lrT1taple ana VI h,,hhiine in a bad humor, Billy Beard IS puppiine over with happiness and good hufnor' and whether he's telling you that ne hasn't eaten anything but graisiii ] racker for a week and yet hes sdlno pound (must be that plum puuu.lls recipe he read last night, or aoou. '-' giri whose sweetheart asked her lo % 1 give him, declaring that he realizeo ne
 was A perfect ass, and the glri i,ite,- 1 rnolated. Don't say that, dear; nopouy l is rerfect',-he is in gale from tne 1, moment you meet him until you leave 1 him. s,o,,s 1 Rillv Beard has made himself famous
 as ."rhe Party From the South, anu /, in his home town, Columbia, ,. V, I where he was born and pred, even uii' the uttermost ends of this proad i"ne M
 where he has appeared Witn aIao
 minstrel show organizations, ms cAean,
 cut wit and humor is appreciated ana ! valued.
 1 Billy Beard looks like nothing human l under the sun when you see hlm OH
 tbe stage in his "blackface' make-up'
 and you can't possibly picture to your self good-looking stylish Wen- groomed young man, dressed III tue | latest fashion, swagger. debonnair-put
 tbis is Billy Beard in citizens clothes l .The Party From the South,' who LOOKS hike the mischief in his blackface re- galia.
 When I saw Billy Beard yesterday
 round at the Lyric. just before the mat
 inee, he was hopping his manly brow with a four-foot-square hahukerci'len, n
 and telling me about his 'line O talk that he's putting over in Tine Farts From the South
 1 "Who writes your junk for you or do
 you just amble along and make it up. 1 or-or-what?" l asked
 | q had about two minutes notice on this trip" he said, flor I was doing
 the gentleman an-of-leisure act in Atlanta, where I'm going to live. I'm going to i buy fine home and live like gentle man. Well, anyway, the call | came from this vaudeville circuit; could I go on in an hours time? An act had ! disappeared somewhere on the road be- tween Atlanta and Jacksonville, Fla, and a 'filler-in' was badly needed. l turned to my wife and asked her what she thought about it. She said: Tel | 'em you'll be there And so we got
 busy. she and I putting together some
 of my minstrel show stories and some
 new song hits, and l wish you could
 have seen me getting my makeup ano
 costume ready. I borrowed cuff links
 from one fellow and shoe strings from
 another; I got tie from somebody elst
 and a shirt from still another, but wher
 the time came for me to go on before
 that Atlanta audience last week I wa:
 Johnny on the spot all in a heap"