Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-09-09
NAMES IN JERSEY.
SOME OF THE TOWNS THAT MAY BE
 FOUND IN EVERY ATLAS.

ins1 and Fresh From the Soii--A Native
 Jerseyman's Explanations of Some of
 the Appellations.
 "Other states may be bigger and richer and turn in heavier vote, said the man with the woodbine whiskers twining gently about his face, but for picturesqueness of nomenclature New Jersey takes the gold medal.
 You're from Jersey, sir, l suppose, " said the man who had just como i'll from the smoking car
 1 am. sir, and I'm proud of it. I come in on this train every day to busi- ness in the city, and ill my leisure mo- ments l make study of the geography of my native state. may say. sir-I think may say with eonfidence-that few men are so we'll informed as l upon this interesting subject of New Jerseys geographical nomenclature. You ob- serve, SIT, that i say New Jersey, not Jersey, which is an nndignified behead- ing of noble title. "
 Possibly it is because I'm a New Yorker, <" said the man across the aisle, but have always thought New York to be pretty strong OH interesting names.
 "A great error, sir. declared he of the whiskers. "A very great error. Your names are mainly corrupted h. dian titles or direct cribs from ancient days-Ithaca, Marathon, Utica, Homer, Virgil, Syracuse, Sempronius, Moravia, Rome, Cato, Palmyra and score of others. You have borrowed the glories that should have been buried with Greece and Rome. Our titles, sir, are dug up from the soil and replete with meaning. Let me cite some. ,
 Here he pulled small notebook from his pocket, and the other man, with regretful peliteness, said he would be glad to learn something on the subject.
 Consider, sir. D continued the Jersey ite, "the appropriateness of such names as Ragtown, Breakfast Point, Camp Claw, Polifiy, Radix, Pluckemin. Poek- town, TiilietuGelum and Suecasuna. "
 Some of them sound familiar, said the New Yorker, "but are all of those real names?"
 Every one of em on the map, sir, ]" replied the other warmly. '1'n give you $l00 for any one of these that ism t a real place, and they fairly reek of the soil. Now. here's another batch Bone Hill, Wickatunk, Bamber, Ateo, Wollyfield, Blue Anchor, Blazing Star, Hookamiek, Jahokeyville, Oney's Hat. Kalarama, Flyat, Fliekeryille, zings- am Wal.nola and pa
 "They sound as if they were taken from Jabberwocky. remarked the New Yorker. They re utter nonsense.
 Taken straight from the country side, " averred the geographer ''They may not be very strong on sense. Those names 1 cite merely as instances of pure beauty of sound. If you re looking for meaning, l can give that to you For instance, there are Barley Sheaf and Wheat Sheaf, poetically suggestive of the agricultural riches of our beautiful state. Our domestic animals are com memorated in such fitting titles as Goosetown, Hensfoot, Hegtown, Mon- keytown Horseneck and Peacocktown, while for other animals there are Skunk town, Pole Tavern, which used to be Polecat Tavern; Postertown (if poster ain't wild animalI don t know what isl, Snake Hill, Turtletown, Frogtown, and l don't know but what Batsto ought to come in there. The frogs get another show at Manunka Chunk, which is the name they gave it them selves. singing of nights out in the swamps
 Now, for the temperance folk there are blazing signs of warning rin sqch names as Whisky Lane. Gin Pepoint, Ju town and Bum Tavern. g9Ifhere used be an innkeeper in the ,ITlatter place, 1 the way, who sued thefiJ authorities on 2 ye9r gs s' dp aiiii.,taii 5sining such title al always compromised for cents, vii
 which he bought himself drink al
 was well satisfied. One year the author a ties started in to fight the case and u innkeeper in disgust quit the busine s and Bum Tavern simultaneously.
 place with suggestive title is Naugl : : right, which got it's name from lars U U farm owners sign, nailed on a tree ; V the roadside, No right of way here S They got calling him Old No Righ . and when the village sprung up the , , called it after him, but man who ha . spelling reform the wrong way made as 1t now stands. Speaking of spelling 2 there's one village you can spell eitht < Packnack, Pacquanac, Pequanao ( Pequannock, but you can't pronount
 it as the natives do, no matter whic way you choose.
 ? There are some names more su@ gestive than beautiful-Scrabble Scrapetown, Slabtown, Samptown an
 Solitude, for instance. Some belle thei names, like Recklesstown, which is a peaceful as graveyard and in tn