New-York tribune., 1896-01-19

n,onle and gencraiiv followed It's work is failure.
1t was constituted more for the purpose 9f srutis
uniform usage than 10 restore corrupted IormS "
so-cdlled pure ones
DR. EGLrS VIEWS
Portions of the letter Of DR.. Eg in the German
paper are interesting Here are some OF tne pas
sages in which he stands up for his principle Oh
purity and etymology:
The practical Americans have had since lsso
Bureau Of Geographic Names TO which We are
under obligations for its publicat atoms. The estab-
shment OF this Board OF Geographic Names anu ant, as
frs, decisions were referred to IN our as. pnd
added the greeting few sugge'tlonT pn, rhese @
have not been considered Nay niorr; ;h tr rla ing
to geographic names ~ nome anu aprDdu' 80, vi,
sponded stil less TO the most reasonable eSpec'a-
No a word is said about etym9Csy + Looks iDss as
II the Board nad 10 dedl oy ON w ~, ,h one case an q
or L in another orwhether an II is 10 be inserted
or dropped miss the principle that the Original
form OF the name. the meaning and etymology ot
the name the motive for namIng Is 10 oe n' noii-
the scientific spirit which. instead Of eIeavinS 70
the form unlocks the intrinsic meaning and ac.
rordlngly W. miss-n the works OF a Government e
Board OF Names all evidence OF acquaDiahce WIN
toponymic literature Oui OF the acuNe moneng, maii,
In France. aimed reform In the spelling ana
pronunciation OF & geoEs%pnr refnrm is SAID to be IN
sigatcd by Ed. de l.uze The Common C9uneh IN ~ M OF
(Which shouNl be restOre1). In MISSISSIPPI KV'r
word Il said TO De the "V'"'
Nlssissipp was not itself composed OF fundamental
river was not IA pleonasn. 1t ia incomprehensibe
now Behrng had recently become berh1s' & to' "s iS
tn service OF Russia. and the II which surely
must have been contained N ms name h Iau f,,Sa
M iih mr. neb or Bee-rine Is the correct FORM but
rather which form had the best prospect Oh DelhS
IA hoard Of names has 10 easy task. Il has not
~ 81 decisions. bat II HIs also ID DdN'
these decisions on thorough study and 10 Inform me
pub,ic az far as necessary Of the grounds Oh which
ibey were made We wish to know from what
variations the form selected has been picked out;
and thls statement Will serve to show the amount
OF knowledge OF literature possessed and the seem
tinc principles followed. and VIII OF itself win Tor
the decision confidence Of the Interested circles
"A 4 matter OF fact while some OF DR. Egfs
statements are true and are based on careful
s:udv O, the subject. the points Of view from which
the question IS studied different that 1t would
not be difficult bring forward arguments for one
side OF question based on an entirely dlierent
premise: and 1t seems too. that the doctor has been
mlsInformed in regard to some Of his alleged facts
Ivan lvanovitch Bering was not native OF Der Ger
many and his name Is correctly spelled Tor FRO
fess5r T. C. Mend ,nhIl made special investif aton
on this name before making decision me diii. ,
Guilty lies in the fact that the Mrs ana i9remos.
principle formulated by pr Esli Is NJ n2t the rrs
and foremost principle OF me Boaru oi ueosrapnic
Names The Board founded with a dennitt,
practical object In addition to making the spelling
ocut,vs denartments OF the Government. in which
there had been no guide the WORK was intehdea 70
influence the spelllng SencTdIy tHc ~
The United States II is believed tnat geographic
names in the United states have been modified
extent II is believed that to throw aside these cor
rupted and well-established names ana TO replace
wholesale changes. would find no following among
the p'op'' INDIAN NAMES.
Among those original forms which DR.. Esii wishes
and is laborioisly striving to restore the Ind
ian names But a study OF the Indian languages
and a comparison with those names now In use
would show great differences in the manner OF con-
s,ruction. There are in general as many forms OF
an Indian name they have been different eX-
plorers TO render It and different Indians to give it,
The spelling and pronunciation OF an Indian name
would seem to represent simply the particular way
in which some particular man. whether ignorant or
particular Indians pronunciation of II. and hence (
Is not all surprising that there are dozens of dif
such cases the Board OF Geographic Names has
taken those different forms and from among them
has selected that which seemed to represent the
essential sounds with the fewest possible letters
meant the RI" first form which appeared in print 1t is
therefore impossible even i It We're desirable TO re-
ius Changes and notification This mobilization
the removal Of letters when this Is possible. The
Board recognizes this tendency approves IT, and so
stall ies movements when in the right direction. and
he OF il ,hs the Board s
was the result OF the confusion in the different
bureaus and departments or the Government uue
to the different spelllngs and pronun nciations Of
geographic names. Indeed even among the publ
cations of the same bureau, the usage was not uni
form in many cases. In the winter OF 1883 and lsso
few OF those deep'y interested; and II was
and growing evil With this purpose in view, q
voluntary association Of representatives was f3rmeg
rraphc Office the Geological Survey. the Light
house Board the Smithsonian Institution the Depart
ment After several meetings in which much M roCsd Was
% up. and adopting general principles for guidance.
"a well as the consideration and decision OF many
work Of the association and the difficulties OF an
administrative character which IT might encounter
ini,e authorty Under these circumstances. OF
nnnrse n required the authority OF the President to