The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-04-30
THE DUTCH PORK.
BY DIR. Q. h. MAYER, sR.

Again the crumbled halls shall rise;
Lo. as on Evans bank we stand,
The past returnS-the present flies.
CADyow CASTLE.
The boundaries of that small portion
of South Carolina known as The Dutch
Fork cannot be so definitely determ-
ined at this date 1S91) as it could have
been done sixty years ago. As long as
German was the language spoken by
the citizens, every homestead in which
it was recognized as the mother tongue
might be placed with certainty within
the bounds of The Dutch Fork. Since,
however, the English language has now
entirely superseded the German, the
borders of this once well-known section
of country have. become as misty as the
confines Of Dreamland. Difference in
languages is the most reliable survey
or's compass for determining the divid-
ing line between two nations. A trav-
eler on the continent of Europe, before
he at nightfal, settles himselfto rest in
railway sleeper, may hear some one say
in French, GOOD Nlghtw to another;
and at dawn the next day he may be
awakened by hearing the salutation,
Good Morningr' uttered in German;
and thus he is made aware that at
some moment in the past night be has
crossed line which separates France
from Germany,-a line fixed to his own
satisfaction by difference in language,
although its permanence has not yet
been established, in the confidence Of
nations, by millions of infuriate0 men
shedding one another's blood, for that
purpose. Returning, now, quietly to
our boundary question, after this lofty
flight and wide departure, I will VEN
ture to say that nowadays The Dutch
Fork may be placed with as little hesi-
tation in the nelghborhood Of Santuc,
in Union, as around Pomaria, in New
berry, since English is spoken as COM
monty in one locality as in the other.
The German schools had disappeared
more than a quarter of century be-
fore my experience began with the
first edition of Noah Webster's spelling
book. My parents were taught to spell
and read by German schoolmaster,
though they were afterwards instructed
by English teachers. 1t comes within
my easy recollection how obstinate
were the old people of two generations
ago in fostering their antipathy against
the introduction of the English Ian
guage to take the place Of the German.
They were compelled, by the increas-
ing encroachment Of Epglish-speaking
emigrants, to accustom themselves to
the use of the hated tongue: but when
ever it became necessary to give ex-
preston to passionate thoughts, En-
glish words were thrown aside as alto
gether too insignificant by the side of
the thunder-claps in the German idiom,
to give emphatic expression to indig-
nation.
1t has not been long since I pointed
out to a friend, while strolling with
him about st. Johns church, a little
mound remaining from the debris of
the first school-house ever built by
these German settlers. It is now
scarcely discernible; but can we'll re-
member when portion of the hearth
could be easily traced Oh the top Of it.
This humble school-house stood here
opposite the gate of the now neglected
graveyard,-across road that grows
DINNER and DINNER every year; and
it must have been built at least hun
dred years ago. Here, the offspring Of
the pioneer settlers went to school,
learning the same lessons, and prattling
in the same language as did the chill
dren away over in the Fatherland. 1t
requires, now, quite an effort of the
mind to realize that the magnificent
original forest still surrounding St.
OOlIl SIulSi4 OLNS iC'Si OCi1lCO Will
the sounds of no other words but Ger
man. The original church-house-the
one in which Rev. Geiselhart preached
stood within the limits of the grave
yard Just mentioned, about twenty
PAGES from the schoolhouse. This
primitive church building gave place
to new one, standing about seventy
five steps further on towards the GEN.
tre of the forest, and erected in 1909,
under the name lin GERMANY "St.
Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church,;
and the old schoolhouse went into dis
use about the same time,-the rapid
increase of population and the settled
predominance Of the English over the
German language necesstating the
changes.
,saEssSis introduction and prevalence of
was considered foreign tongue
have been somewhat sudden. 1t
5hly probable that not an English
word was spoken in The Dutch Fork
before the beginning Of the present
Century; and already in 1924, there was
not one of the rising generation who
could converse in German. About the
wear 1924 I commenced in the new
schoolhouse my career as i schoolboy.
with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like
snail
Unwiliugly TO school;
though unlike the modern child I was
considered q prodigy, because at the
are of seven years | could repeat the
English alphabet forwards and back
wards. What 4 change had come over
the echos of the tickle forest, Twenty
wears before those nv first SchOol-davs