Rex, the source is Current Literature (New York), Vol. 25, No.1 (Jan., 1899), p. 53, an article titled "The Hoe-Down Fiddler," by M. L. De Motte. It is apparently reprinted from a periodical called "The International," presumably from late 1898.

I don't know the identity of "M. L. De Motte," but Mark Lindsey De Motte of Indiana (1832 - 1908) is a good candidate: he was 66 in 1898:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_L._De_Motte