New Britain herald., 1924-05-21
WHAT'S A WALLOON?
 HERE'S THE ANSWER
Really, Such a Person Is Half a
 Belgian

' Washington, D. C., May 21.-To the question what is A Walloon?" that arises from the issuance by the United Statesof a special Huguenot-Walloon- New Netherlands Tercentenary post age stamp and coin and the holding of New oYrk's New Netherlands cele- bration, one answer might be half a Belgian" according to a bulletin from the Washington, D. C.. head quarters of the National Geographic society.
 The name "Walloon'." says the bulletin, lis little known on this side of the Atlantic, even less so than Fleming, because both have been merged in the national name. Bel gian'. It is a fact, however, that ln- stead of the Belgians having racial unity they consist of two peoples ap- proximately equally divided, speaking languages differing almost as widely as Swedish and Spanish. But though racially and linguistically the Bel gians make up sort of house di- vided against itself, politically and religiousy they constitute as staunch a national entity as does French Gcrman-I -Italian-speaking Switzerland; and they have stood together through the centuries under various rulers.
 Walloons Plus E1cmings
 Equal Belgians
 "The Walloons may be said to form the French-speaking half or Belgium for though a very few in out-of-the- way districts know only the French like old Walloon language. modern French has replaced that speech for the vast majority of the Walloons. The other half of the Belgian part nership is made up by the Flemings whose speech, Flemish, differs very little from Dutch. The Catholic peo- pie of Flanders, however, have been divided from their kinsmen. the Protestant Dutch, by a religious gulf for hundreds of years, and prefer to cleave. to their fellow religionists, the Walloons,
 An almost straight line can be traced on the surface of Belgium the Walloons from the Flemings, Ii runs from AiN-la- just inside the German bor- der, westward to strike the French boundary a short distance southeast of Ypres. There is little to indicate this line to the eye Of the traveller who crosses it; but his ear will soon tell him that he has passed from one language zone to another. The line what was once the edge of a dense forest covering the rough land of southern Belgium.
 Language Line Crosses Belgium
 ITO this line the old Walloons--the Belgae of Julius Cacsar-were pressed by the southward faring Teutons who took possession of and cultivated the plains and swamps of northern Bel gium. These immigrant Tentons. from whom the Flemish people sprang, did not penetrate the forest country. and there the Walloons re- mained entrenched. Save for isolated groves the forest has disappeared to- day, giving place to mines, factories, farms and gardens: but the Flemish racial line is almost as sharp Iy marked as it was fourteen hundred years ago.
 "The walloons. in their native land l .oday are practically all Catholics; but here were religious differences among them in the seventeenth century. and | { was fugitive Protestant Walloons |, who played a prominent part in peo- bling America. While the spanish 1 were endeavoring 10 root out heresy 1 n the Netherlands hundreds of thous- ! ,rds of both Walloons and Flemings | led 10 the newly set up Protestant | butch republic just as some Of the | Pilgrim fathers fed there from Eng ! and. It was Walloons from among | hese fugitiyes who, like the Pilgrims ! md French Huguenots, emigrated to : \merica.
 When New York Was "New Ayesnes"
 Tn the first ship sent to the pres mt territory Of the United States by |