The Billings herald., 1885-04-25
NAMES OF AMERICAN TOWNS.
David Dudley Field Objects t" Tro
Utica, Syracuse and HOu Bet.

David Dudley Field Offsets to Troy,
Utica, Syracuse and Hou Bet.
i.;ew York SUM-
Mr.. David Dudley Field lccturcd be-
fore the Geographical society ill Chicken
ing hall on "ihe Nomenclature of Cities
aud Towns III the lnitel States" He
read a list of names which he found in
a railway guild :, and which he said
would naturally be supposed to have
been selected b. a half civilized people.
Think, he said, how unhappy must be
the inhabitants OF such villages as You
! ct, Pop orn, Wild Cat, Cut shin, Big
Coon, Toad inc, Black Jack, skunk
Lake, Buzzard Foost, Cat Creek, Dirt
Town, octor Town, jug Town, Cow
Skin and Cut OF.
Mr.. Field criticised the classical names
of towns in this state. He called Troy,
Utica and syracuse grievously misnamcd
cities. There were Indian names enough
on hand, sprung from the soil, spoken
for ages by the aboriginal inhabitants,
but these were cast aside for names as
much out of place as the S ulptures of
tho i'arthenon were out of place in a
j luuScuul. W NO, uC dShCu,
has not been moved by the pathos of
Red Jacket exclaiming that the tears
fell from his eyes 'as the drops of ram
fell from the tops of the trees of On
,ida:' Substitute tica for Oneida in
this passage, and note the loss of poetic
charm. The man who tackc.i ali the
classical names in New York to the
places now burdened by them was a
pedantic surveyor general of the last
century, who probably took the names
at random out of a classical dictionary
AS to the task of finding an agreeable
name for every postofiice in the country,
Mr.. Field said he would not like the
task, but, if he undertook it, he would
not follow the example of late assist
ant postmaster general, who named 300
pos,offices after himself. Mr.. Field
recommended, as first choice, the abo-
riginal Indian name as both significant
and musical. If no name could be
found, then take prominent local
OBJ ,ect, such as mount, valley, field or
river. The founders name with town
added might 90 at a pinch. But by all
means eschew "ville" at the end of a
name. IL Was rTcutlt anu Oiu uOG III
our names. What could be more dread
ful than McGrawyille. Yet We have
one and it has a seat Of learning. Mus
ical names might be invented. Elberon
at Long Branch is an instance. The
owner of the site was l.. b. Brown, out
of which Elbcron was formed.
What we wanted was name pleas
ant to hear Rather than take n name
from the Old World, put together any
mcllfluous syllables. From few eu-
phonious syllablcs an endless combna-
tion might Ee made. Out of the names
Altamaha, Cayuga. Monongahela, Sus-
quehana, and Pensacola, which have
twenty syllables, a storehouse of names
might be obtained-as Altana, Alta
yuga, Altahela or Cayuhela
To the question whether objection
able names of towns may not be got ri |
of, Mr. Field answered yes. Why rot
enlarge the statute authorizing super
visors to divide town and make new
Onesi The voters of town could be
authorized to change its name with the
consent of the county supervisors, TAX
ing care that the same name should not
be BESTOWED on two different places.
Would that We could change New York
to Manhattan.