The Dakota chief. (Gann Valley, Buffalo County, S.D.) 18??-1913, 1894-04-26
ODD NAMES FOR VESSELS.
Quaint and Other Conceits shown in u Wide
Range of Titles.

Quaint and Other Conceits Shown in u Wide
Range of Titles.
People who are called upon to name
vessels sometimes have strange ideas
as to the fitness of things, and the
list Of merchant vessels sailing or
floating or being pushed or dragged
along under the American flag shows
how affection, gratitude, political pre-
ference, imagination, and humor are
all used to furnish names for sailing
craft. system IS adhered to only by
regularly established lines, and by
a few Of them, even the big steamers
of the American Line. the New York
and Paris, having been named before
they hOisted the stars and stripes,
'City OF" being dropped when that
interesting ceremony took place. Ac-
cOrding to the New York Tribune
the largest list of strictly American
vessels where a system is followed is
in the case of the Southern Pacific
fleet, running between New York
City and New Orleans, the names of
the steamers all beginning with the
Spanish GEL while the Ocean
Steamship Company, running to
Savannah, called upon cities and rivers
OF Georgia for names for its vessels.
While the comparatively small
number Of steamers flying the Amer
lean flag precludes any great latitude
in nomenclature, the sailing fleet
makes up for the deficiency. with
OOm to spare, and with that part of
the nations commercial marine the
name finder had a good time. judging
by the results of his efforts. A Texas
man, apparently doubling whether
he was or not, asks the question by
naming his little five-ton schooner
Am l, while some one in Noank,
Conn. drew on the Pequod tongue and
named his little two-master Aquo-
pimOquk. A man in Westerly, r. l.,
had a pain, and recorded it by call
ing his sloop Backache, while Chief
Justice G. p. DAILY is the name Of a
slOop hailing from Sag AarbOr. Nor
folk County, Virginia, recalls other
days in New York by calling a sloop
the Helen Josephine Mansfield, but
who FilOmina Cicraluga, who has a
CO'OhO dhlO dlOCl ICi, may DC 10
probably known only to the nan who
wrecked a pretty Italian name when
he chriStened a Cow Bay, New York,
schooner the Gully Elma.
ChincOteague, Va, has a man who
is PROBABLY an agnostic, as his lack of
knowledge is blaZOned on his schoon.
er's stern, which bears the name and
information, [ Don't Know. Port
Huron, Mich, has a name which it
Is well to recall when a collar button
is lost. 1t is on an e~ighteen-ton
schooner called the Go Look. George
w. Childs has fifty tons of shipping
named after him; George B. McClel-
Ian was good enough for four vessels
aggregating less than $50 tons: the
Little John Trott floats around Girls
field, Me-. the Oval Agitator halls
from Chicago, while the Mississippi
River at New Orleans floats a lighter
called the Puddicinedda Citrolu.
Wellfieet, Mass, reJOiceS in a slOOp
which is known as the o They Know
Me. and the other end Of the country
has, at Port Townsend, Wash, a
man who had a narrow escape, and
celebrated it by naming his sloop the
Never Touched Me. How neal Dear
isle, Me-. and Norfolk. Va, joined
hands is shown by the Maine boat
Nawigawaw, and the Virginia Mas
sawadduX. Names where Mary.
either alone or in combination with
other words, appears, are borne by
more than 800 United States sailing
craft. The mutineerS Of the Bounty
are recalled by the name Pitcairn,
borne by a vessel built. SO the record
says, at Benecia, Cal, but now hail
ing from Detroit, Mich. What Proof
Glass is is probably known to ihe New
Workers who own a sloOp Of that
name. One Of CoOper's works is re-
called by the Baltimore schooner
Wishtunwish, and a Michigan man
struck a combination Of Petroleum
V. Nasty and Josh Billings when he
called his two-master the y 10 / s..