The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-04-16
PROPERLY PRONOUNCED.
The Names Of Some Celebrated
Race Horses Defined.
AS a Rule They Arc Incorrectly Called by
Even tho Trequenters OF Rnce
.Courscs-Intcresting Facts for
Lovers of IiorScncsh.

III is ODD TINT the names OF the three
most celebrated horses in the world to-
day are mispronounccd as general
thing. Those three are Palo Alto.
Sunol and Arion. Column after column
has been written about them ever since
last fall, but it is probable that of the
writers themselves not one in ten
knows how the names of the great trio
should be pronounced And it is equal.
ly probable that not one in ten knows
what significance the names carry with
them.
1t may shock the horse world horri-
bly,, says the Stockton (Cal.) Mail. to
learn that the great two-year-old stall
lions name, when correctly pronounced,
sounds almost as Irish as the name of
the constellation Orion. The latter is
pronounced as fit were spelled O'Ryan.
The name Arion is pronounced the
same as Orion, save that the initial
sound is that of A instead of o. The
ictus is on the second syllable, and the
has the long sound, as in the word
wine" Most people in speaking of
Arion put the ictus on the A and give It
the long sound.
The two words Palo Alto are Spanish
and should be pronounced as such.
The u should have the broad sound, as
the in father" and the final letter O.
should have the long sound rs in
tone" The ictus should be on the
first syllable. Properly pronounced the
words are Pablo Ahl-to. They mean.
tall tree" The word palo means liter
ally stick, but it is also used to dcsic-
nate any tree having tall, straight
trunk. The Palo Alto stables got their
name from the place where they were
located, and that place was named Palo
Alto because there was an exceptional
~ tall and straight tree growing on it.
The early Californians were accustomed
to name their ranches in accordance
with some circumstance often trivial in
itself. For instance, Ell Rancho dc Los
Pesos was so named because of tho
many water holes on it, the word Ia
wclU being used to designate such n
hole; El Rancho Pescadcro, because n
fisherman lived on it, pcscadcro mean
ing 'hshcrman;" Ell Rancho del Campo
dc Los franbeses, because some French
men had established camp on it; Yer
,ba Bucna 1.-THE old name for San Fran
cisco) because of the fact that the herb
known as yerba buena (good hcrb)
grew plcntifully at that place. In like
manner the place Palo Alto most likely
derived its name.
The name Sunol is also Spanish, and
should be pronounced with the ictus on
the last syllable, and by giving the let
ter the sound of ny. The word is pro-
nounccd as if it were written soon-yole.
the double.o in ''Goon" having the
sound of double-o in ''foot"-not tho
broad sound of double-o in moon"
Sunol is Spanish proper name which
was well known to the early Californi-
nns-that is, those who lived in Cali
fornia before the days of the gold fever.
Antonio Maria Sunol was u native of
Spain and served in the French army.
lie came to this states in the French
naval vessel Bordelaii in 1917 and de-
serted the service the following wear.
During his lifetime he held various
prominent offices in this state under
Mexican rule and acquired large pos
sessions. He died in 1865, leaving an
excellent reputation. The Sunol valley
was named after him.