Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1880-08-12


Sachem, Misntonomoh, who certainly was
never canonized. Yet a county IN Lou
stsna bears that name, Saint Gllmsn and
Saint Wendell look suspiclously like a
bit of Protestant beattication. Also, st
10 ana ST. Joe are hardly reverend enough
for formal appellations, though permissi
BILE in colloQuisl use. There are traces of
other religious or philosophic proclivi.
ties which are characteristics thus, Laud
snd Calvin, and some sympsthizer with
the French revolution, has Ca Ira. But
Philomath and Catharpin, this last nau.
tcsl term, require explanation. Selah,
which puzzles readers OF the Psalms, is
more puzziing AS the name OF town.
But one marked feature ot this nomen-
clature Is the repetition OF popular names
Parsdises, Edens, sppesr by tue dozens.
Names Ike Auburn and Melrose are
everywhere In 1850 there were fourteen
NewpOrts; now there are tioeEty-tp0
Apropos OF the confusion this makes,
once came TO the Hartford Station with
fellow traveller On one side OF the build
ing was train bound north, on the other
side one bound east. He was going TO
Newport, Lake Mempnremagog; | to
Newport, II. |, He, with American brew.
ity, said, Check tor Newport" While
| suspected mistake | forget now, but
did, and interposed just in time to save
his trunk from going astray, and WAS
duly grum bled al for my oiliciousness by
everyone but the proprietor, and he was
too busy in anathemalizlng the confusion
of names 10 notice me. Like Dean Ram
says hero, He did ma sweer al onything
In parteecular, but JUST stude in Ia mid
die of Ia rosd and swoor al large" Dean
Stanley lost a day OF his hurried trip by
going to Concord, N. H., for Concord,
Mass.
Ii is not always fair to transfer names
from the old States 10 the new. Thus
Charter Oak and Plymouth Rock are both
found in Iowa, and this is manifest
wrong to history. The historian of 1879
may be much bewidered in his facts.
Now it is evident that the Post. Office
Department has tried to do something TO
correct this redupication, and has partly
succeeded La 1850 Presidential names
abounded. Out of 10000 names, over fpe
hundred, more than 0netWentseth OF the
whole, were divided among a,ne Presi
dents The list has been greatly cut
down. Still, vast confusion remains. The
Burlingtons, Springtields, Salems, Cam
bridges, are manifold.
The English way Of distinguishing in
such cases is to append title, as Harrow.
onthe. Hill, Newcastle upon. Tyne; and
New York hss sepsibly followed by Has
tings. on-the.H udson, etc. Might not the
department enact that the Oldest town OF
name should keep its title, and all the
rest either change or put on distinguish.
ing surDameY The newest conner should
be required, under penalty OF lacking
postal facilities, TO drop the redupliCated
name, and to adopt one unsppropriated.
Perhaps, IN view OF the post offices, which
Will be, ere this paper sees the light,
probably 10000, this may not be easy.
1t was once the case that human beings
were called by some name which denoted
their personal peculiarly. This passed
away, either because names or because
peculiariues were exhausted The sup
ply tell short OF the demand. All parents
and sponsors had not the Inventive genius
OF che mother who presented her infant al
the font as Guar Semirs, informing the
Rector that "shs made the name up out
Of her own head" One would think she
had been at the christening of some of
the aDove-nsmed towns.
| think there is principle which
should rule the matter. The mark of 10.
cality should, if possible, be upon the
names OF section. When one hears an
English name for the first time, 1t is gen.
orally possible to guess the quarter OF the
island to which II belongs Thus, nobody
would put Trewartha in Yorkshire, or
"hirsk in Cornwall. Where the Indian
names have been kept, the same is true Of
this country. Eutala, Alabama, are quite
unlike the y-consonanted jaw-break.
ers of iaine.
The local names of natural objects vary
with each section. | notice the word
Glaize in several Western names. pre-
sumo it is from the French glatze, potter's
clay. 1t is a good local title, and implies
French discoveries at once ard what they
found. Where they can be, Indian names
should be retained. The worst OF them
can hardly be as bad and meaningless as
Globe or Cosmos. Where they cannot be
kept they may be translated. Failing
this source, why not fall back upon the
archaic form of the Eng ish name already
in use? Thus, Birmingham the second
might be required to lake the Saxon form
of Bromwich.ham, still preserved, by the
way, in the popular Brummagem There
Is an instance OF this in the Connecticut
killingwortb. named by first settlers after
their native Kenllworth, but pronounced
according to local use.
Thee Is q usage somewhere, when new
townships are made out of parts of two
old ones, OF combining the names, and
the effect is not always unhappy; thus,
Waterbury, IN Connecticut, out OF Water
town and Woodbury.. Here is histor.
ical fact preserved in shape which can
survive the loss of town records.
1t is sometimes SAID that this continent
has no history. Ia a certain sense this Is
true. 1t has had no infancy. no child.