The Portland daily press., 1889-08-31
AN uNwARRANTEp ASSUMPTION.
Changing the Long Established
Geographical Names.

There Is evidently a growing disposition
Of interested and thoughtless people to
change we'll known and long established
typographical names.
A month ago a writer In the Industrial
Journal of Bangor proposed to change the
name of Blackstrap hill to Mount Falmouth.
He says that its name was given on account
of the mixture of rum and molasses for drink
which was sold under the name Of blackstrap
at "a small hotel at the foot of the noun
tain" This mixture, in some parts Of the
country, did obtain the name mentioned, but
it never was sold under that name In old
Falmouth. nor was there hotel at the base
of the ''mountain" where any drink was sold
under this name. The persons who caused
the erection of the monument on the hill
years ago, sought to attach the name
"Mount Independence" to the hill, but it
would not stick; 1t is "Blackstrap's
needed crest" yet.
The city newspapers say that gentleman
from Indiana has bought the two islands In
Casco Bay known on the charts as the
"Moges," and that they will be now known
by the names of Indiana and Louisville
islands.
As there has been a sale of many small ISL
ands on the coast to spectators from abroad
we may expect high sounding names to be
given to very small lodges. Where is this
Babel of names to end?
Such nuisance had this practice Of chang.
ing Typographical names without any au-
thority become in Minnesota that the State
Historical Society procured the passage of
the following act at the last session of the
legislature:
An act to fix the name Of lake formerly krown
as Elk Lake.
Be i enacted by the Legislature Of the State Of
Section /. That the lake, known for many
years to the Indians and early explorers as Elk
Lake, situated in Beltrami County shall be known
and designated hereafter on all official maps OF
the State, and named In all county and State rec
ords referring to the same, as Elk Lake.
Sect. 2. No edition OF any school geography,
published subsequently to January one, eighteen
hundred and ninety. which contains any map Civ
ing any name to the lake specified In section
other than the "Elk Lake." shall be used in the
Sect. 5. This act shall take effect and be in
force from and after its passage.
Approved April "a, 1883.
The passage of the above act was occasioned
by the fact that one Willard Glazier had Tin
1881 endeavored to have the name "Elk Lake"
CudDBcu anu CdAcQ lOI nliuoCll, anu no isSucu
maps with his name on them, and also prevailed
ON map publishers to make the same change.
Such changing of the name OF Elk Lake was with
out any sanction OF authority, and is not recogniZ
ed by the people of the State, as the passage of
the above act evinces.
This mania for the change of names has
caused an attack on the coin of the realm.
The lowestSai of the United States is FREE
quently called penny, not only by some
silly parents and NJ people. but some grave
bank officers will in their annual reports
take their Bible oats Aefcre a magistrate
that they have some thous4Sds of pennies in
their vaults, meaning centsAayery one Of
which has its legal name and value spelled
out at length on its reverse side. II they
must transfer an English name to a national
coin, why not call 1t a ha'penny. That wou Id
be about its real value. This affectation of
contempt for the legal name Of national
coin is idexcusable.
When our State constitution was under
discussion in the convention, proposition
was made to invest the governor with the
title af "His Excellency," as Is the case in
Massachusetts. John Holmes of Alfred op-
posed it. In the course Of the sharp debate
he made this remark: "You may call a
skunk q fox. but he win still remain
skunk"
"a primrose by rivers brim
A yellow primrose was to him
And it was nothing more."
W. G.