The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1898-09-30
TUE ORIGIN or .Dtx,E."


Quito discussion as to the author
ship OF Dixie" has been going on In
some OF the Now York newspapers. 1t
10 remarkable that such u ConLrovt rsy
should have arisen, for there Is no
mystery about the origin OF "Dixic," 4"
tho most stirring OF ali our patriotic
airs.
We are glad to 500 that Bismuth
Miller, our own Georgia l,ismuth, now
resident ut MOrristOwn, N. j has
given tho bcnightcd light on this sun
ject. He writes to the Now York Sun
u letter which settles the "DiXiu" dis.
pute. In tho course OF his clear and
particular statement Mr.. nj Her says
that almost every year some new clain:-
ant oi the authorship OF "Dlxir" pops
/ up somewhere, and continues:
Let me most piOusly put all inquir-
ers und all claimants In common on II
direct and satisfactory rOnd to the as
| ccrtainmcnt OF 'Dixie's' origin us II
| minstrel's advertisement, und ulso To
| tho history Of its accidental adoption
as Il military air by the Confederate
| army.
81 shall not tax your columns with u
| record OF both these matters, but will
briefly invite your correspondent, T. &.
| Powell, Wilmington, Drl., to address II
! letter to Captain n. II. league, Aiken.
S. G., for particulars. DR.. (Cnptuin)
| Tcaguo has Il valuable private military
! museum, and In it Is deposited Il copy
OF 'Dixic's Iuud,' written for Dan Bry-
| ants minstrcls ut Mechanics hall, New
| York city, by Dan Emmct, Il member
OF Bry~nt's company, and sung and
danced by the troupe nightly. The
copyright Is registered on tho title as
10y Firth & Co New York, 1861 and
! the copy In Captain Tongues pOssrs-
sion was contributed by this writer
| some years ago, with II history OF ills
| connection with the events or the war
| Of the sixties.
Now, II Mr. Powell will address II
note to Captain league, tho latter will
| either accommodate hin, with indubiL-
able proof of the fac, that Dan Emmct
! wrote 'DiXiG's Land rs above, and thut
Firth & Co. copyrighted and pul =
lishcd il in 1860, or il he will assure
the captain OF the safe return of the
copy, the latter will, upon tho use Of
my name, express to Mr.. Powell one
OF the very first prints OF the very first
published editions OF 'Dixic's Land
''Thcro can he no possible means OF
gainsaytng the facts rs set forth on
the title page Of the original song, and
this copy was purchased in November,
1860.
"Doubtlcss copies of the original
prints are To be found, also, in muny of
the older music stores Of the mctropo-
lis, and certainly the production of any
one OF these should end forever the pc
riodic assaults upon IN mprcgnnbly cs-
tabisned title to Dan Emmct's author
ship OF 'DiXie.'"
Mr.. Miller is perfectly right, and it
Is crcditablc to him that he has come
forward to defend Dan Emmct's title to
an immortal composition.
There ~ really no more reason to
question Emmet's authorship of Dixie
than there Is To doubt that Poe wrote
"The Raven" or Tom Hood the "Song
OF the Shirt"
The above is taken from tho Atlnn.n
journal. The l5ismuth Miller will be
remembered rs the old gentleman who
spent several months in Newbcrry i'm
1892 and worked in The Herald and
News Office. Or rather he set type on
the Annals Of Ncwhcrry. His cnm-
pnign slogan then WIS "Clcvclann, Bla-
| lock and the Annals" lie was IN en-
thusiastic supporter Of Cleveland for
President aud Blulock for Mayor, nnd
was ut the same time trying to get the
"Annals" printed.
He Is we'll informed and we'll
known throughout this State. After
he left III he went to Aiken, and we
did not know what had become of him.
| AZ to the authorship Of "Dlxic" we
| suppose he Is correct.