Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-26

A Board Appointed to Rechrlsten Poiuts
ABOUT the District.


About the District.
The commission TO give some systeru TO n.
present irregular method Of naming new street,
ofshe city and alleys and hills and stream,
and roads in the suburbs has been appointed.
The chief Of the coast survey has designated
Mr.. B. A. Colonna, the Dissric: Commissioner,
Mr.. W. P. Richards Of the engineers department
who will be the secretary Of the commission,
and the president Of the board of geographic
names has selected Prof. Otis G. Mason
Of the National Museum. The commission thu.
constituted will set TO work 10 endeavor TO i'm.
prove the nomencla.ureOf the public places o.
the District, without, however. resort.
result in changes that would impair
the historic interest which attaches 10 certain
localities. There are. however, names such -
now designate many Of the alleys Of the city
which can be changed without any objection on
the part Of any one.
WANT OLD FOLKS TO HELP.
ave want the people O. the District, and
particularly the older folks, to know Just VIVA,
We are going to do" said Prof. Otis T. Mason
Of the Smithsonian Institute to STAR reporter
today. The old residents can help us very
materially in the task Of properly nam
ing the hills. bluffs, streams and
other natural features Of the beautiful
territory in which the natio al capital WA
wisely located. Many Of the old names have
been lost, go far as the official records are con-
cerned, and We small consequently have to de-
pend upon the memories Of our white haired
fellow citizens for valuable and interesting intor-
melton. Several streams run into Rock creek,
but have SO far failed to find any one who
cehld give me an authenticated name for any
one of them. As soon as we have satisfactorily
he iort I'LL
devote our attention to the many misnAned
streets and alleys. to the duplication. triplica-
ton and even quadruplication OF names
I'm the rechristening OF these We shall be
aided by suggestions we expect to hear
from hundreds Of people by letter and through
for designations and there will be liberal
use OF the names of distinguished
public men. Then provision will have TO be
made for the extension Of the system in accord
ance with which this city Was built: the map on
which these changes are TO be shown must be
perfect.
THAT map? The finest thing of the kind you
ever saw. Done by the coast survey. Is
coming out in sheets that will each show an
area one mile square. 1t will give the contours
TOR every five feet; is a compilation Of all for
mer surveys, corrected by receut and most
thorough resurvey. All done by the best men,
with the best instruments and in the best man.
ner.
"a contour model Of the District. made by
the coast survey experts. il TO be exhibited at
chicago. 1t win be an interesting and artistic
production, we'll worth AT least few minutes'
study.
VARIETIES OF SPELLING.
But that hasn't anything to do with street
and alley nomenclature. There is where we are
directly interested just now. and it is on that
subject the public needs stirring up. Az
one OF hundred names the spelling
OF which is varied and the subject
Of argument take Tenleytown. Some people
insist that it is T-e-n-le-y-t-o-w-n.o others have
1t T-e-n-n-a-l-Ly-t-o-w-n, still others declare it
and pleasure to investigate and decide
which is the correct style. and when
we have come to conclusion that
name will go on the United States map to
which have made reference. OF course we
cannot compel any one to accept our conclu-
sions, but the result of our inquiries
will be Of some effect. When We
decide on the official spelling Of
Tenleytown and it is inscribed on the
map all deeds presented here for record in
which the name Of that place appears must
recognize and use the official designation.
by the way, some people have odd ideas
about work Of this sort. One man out in the
state Of Washington, who disagreed with the
board OF geographic names, wrote the board a
letter in which he said it was evident
that the government was bent on
giving to every farm in the country any name
preferences. He said it was evidence Of the
growing spirit of paternalism and the next
thing you know Harrison will be naming our
children for us u"