The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-09-30

4 Remarkable Tribute From = Nortla.
ern Contemporary.
Indianapolis. Ind. Newx.)

Indianapolis. Ind. Nevx-)
Fletcher Of Saitoun said he knew .
very wise man that aid IL he were
permitted TO make all n ballads. he
need not care who should make he
laws OF n nation. Dan Emmet-fra-
grant be his memory.-miSht be
among that blessed company. He
wrote. IL Is said. literally. hundreds OF
ballads: but he yrote-"Dixie.. No
long time ago he was here with n ne
gro minstrel company. riding clone. as
became him. In n carriage in the pro-
ceSsion. n venerable figure with his
Vernon. Ohio. the place OF his birth
and death. There Ii q movement to
build q monument to his memory there
In the public square. However fine.
1t cannot be too fine In its fitness II
ought to be built by the pennies Of the
people from all over this land. designed
by the first American architect n
inscribed T the Author OF Dixie"
No other song has ever touched the
hearts OF all h people OF this land
- Dixie" touches them. During the
war John Browns Body" swept the
heartstrings OF the north and their
brave boys In blue" But the war
has passed and h song is passing. Is
already much OF a memory. But
Dixie Is more vibrant with life today
than IL was when 10 cheered h lean
and hungry legfons that were battling
for the Lost Cause" It has not only
survived the war. but since then IL has
conquered h coiiquerors and echoes
In the hearts of those that loved the
hItra az Tn thu haarf4 ~ rhnQa that
lover the gray. There vas a local IL
l~ustration in a recent concert here by
the Scottish Highland band. When it
played the 'Star-Spangied Banner
there was an ovation. But when IL
played Dixie" there was a furore.
Where there q been cheers and ap-
plause there were yells and smiles and
pounding Of tables.
1t is a curious thing. Manifestly 1t
lis not in recollection OF the quality
that endeared Dixie TO the southern
soldier and made IL the war mi OF
the Confederacy. for IL In loved In
peace as much Is IL was In war. If not
more so. and by those that won as by
those that lost. 1t has he magic or
the ''Marseillaisc" in &c. But II IS
without clarion call that excites the
red blood of strife. II Is gay. sweet.
serene, indefatigable- 1t calls like the
shrill Of the bagripe with the music
of the golden horn. II soothes and
strengthens while Ii rouses, giving q
body of memory to h spirit OF ex-
altation. 1t may not be great music.
but II has the quality OF all that counts
in this world-survfval-and IL is one
of those ballads OF a nation that the
very wise man reckoned as more pow
erful than laws.
AS IL prophetic of It's place today, IL
was written before the war. and by a
northern man, ms (born In 1879
who, when a boy OF II. enlisted In the
regular army and served throughout
the term of his enlistment as a fifer.
Tie wrote Dixie in 1858 while a
of Dan Bryant's minstrels,
playing in New York, and by them IL
vas first sung. IL was first called Il
Wish l Was I'm Dixie Land" after.
wards Dixie Land" now X n
so Ii comes on with the generations.
Mount Vernon does well to contem-
plate a monument to Daniel Decatur
Emmett This happy land 5oes well
To build IL. Dixie" comforted and
inspired the sons of those that wore
the blue and OF those that wore the
gray when they fought side by side in
Cuba. 1t has been heard In the Phil
fppines and i'm China. Where the
armies of the republic must go Dixie
will be heard. and, better still. it Is
heard in the bones OF the republic.
north. south. east. west.