The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-15
QUEER NAMES In JERSEY.
ZONE OF rHE TOWNS THAT mar BE
FOUND IN EVERY ATLAS.

y - N"NNA
Pre-Eninonoo IL Claimed for the state.
"othor States may be bigger, and richer. and
turn in a heavier VOTE" said the man with tho
woodbino whiskers twininE gently about his
face, " but for picturesqu enoss OF nomenclature
New Jersey takes the gold medal"
Hon'ref from Jersey. sir. ! suppose said the
man who had just come in from the smoking car.
lam, sir, and I'm proud of 1t. leone in on
this train every, day to business In the city. and
in my leisure moments / make q study Of the
geography OF my native state. ] may say. sir.
think may say with confidence, that few men
are go well informed as I upon this interesting
subject OF New Jerseys geographical nomencla.
turo. You observe sir, that I say New Jersey,
not Jersey, which Is an undignihed behoadinR
of n noble title"
Possibly It is because I'm a Now Yorker"
said the man across tho isle. "but 1have always
thought New York to be pretty strong on inter.
esting Names"
"a great orror, SIR" declared he of tho
whiskers. "A very great error. Your names
are mainly corrupted Indian titles or direct
cribs from ancient days: Ithaca, Marathon.
Utica, Homer. Virgil, Syracuse, Sempronius.
Moravia, Rome, Cato, Palmyra and a score of
others. You have borrowed the glorios that
should have been buried with Greece and Rome.
Our titles. sir. are dug up from the soil. and re.
plete with meaning. Let me cite some"
Here no pulled a small note book from his
pocket, and the other man with regretful polite
ness said he would be very glad to learn some.
thing on tho subject. o..
Consider. sir" continued the Jerseyite, 1.-The
appropriateness OF such names as Ragtown,
Breakfast Point, Camp Cav, Polify. Hadix.
Pluckemin. Pocktown. Tillietudelum and Succa.
suna,' .
Some OF them sound familiar" said the New
Yorker. but are all of those real namesf
the ee etSefy % Sns 1i en- af Fl Give shs % yoa 500 IL f 6sp nsS
{ss ssaS: i Ssa. 4 HI IT, W VIII SSx B bsEsis sn S{ss.
WoIlyheld, Blue Anchor. Blazing Star. ,Hocka-
nick Ha, IEHihI sasyyygils z 9ney,s Hat W;ak hstiera ana
They sound as if they were taken from Jeb-
Taken straight from the countryside" aver
strong on sense. Those names i csite merely as
instances of pure beauty of sound. II you're
1Fe oa instd aoF m tSe n is Barley Sla E shsof fh and Y %S ESaii
shsaf, p%oeticslly suggestiye Of the agricultnral
mails are eommemorated in such fitting titles as
Goosetown. Hensfoot, Hogtown, ,Monkeytown.
an}maps tbe npd are feas ssanGtoRn wh Poie io Ta Utaer
which used to DO Polecat Tavern. Postertown III
poster ain q wild animal. I don t know what
don't know but what Batsto ought to come in
there, The frogs get another show at Manunka
selves, singing Of nights out in the swamps.
Now, for the temperance folk there are blaz-
Lane. Gin Point, JIngtown. and Bum. Tavern.
There used, to be an ,innkeeper, in the latter
once a year for maintaining such a title. and
always compromised for FIVE cents. with. which
fed. One. year the authorities started in to
fight the case and the innkeeperi in disgust quit
4 i"9 pl SesiH %ith a aa sns na@ rsf ZEE iim MauESriRhiy.
which got it's name from a large farm owners
RiaS, n az Max on Here a tFes Tb at o the cr rHGdsi Sin iM9
No Right, and when the village sprung up they
catledit after him; but a man who had spelling
reform the wrong way made it as 1t now stands.
sda s9sll either PaskfnaSSk; Pssquanss. Pc.
n0rncc it as the natives do. no matter which
way. you choose.
There aye some names more suggestive than
beautiful: Scrnpbletown; Scrapetown. Shutdown.
Sstmptown. and solitude. for instance. Some
as peaceful as. a graveyard. and in the same gen.
Graz line of business, keeping its inhabitants
Tncn 'ihere's Roundabout. which is a eI plain ffcaT
sorncrs srossing ana Small Lots with nothing
F Phi M!af s' Fse Heard d that sSun theTys Isn't a dra aeF
store there. but l can't swear as to that. not
having been there for many years"
iicve you re the man who who writes the subur-
ban stories in the comic papers, and you're prac-
:" You do me great injustice, cried the geogra-
pher. Every name has its, local habitation,
"hu : ~ q nHu Z GIL VI ~ NUM-
you'll be cavilling at such well,known places as
Snutrtown. Limoges, nnstie, AbSecon. Hackle
Blue Ball, A!lamuchy. Totowa. Buckshutem,
Duty Neck, Warbass, and Smiths Turn Out.
The New Yorker rubbed his nose and said
nothing. After an argumentative pause. the
othsE went on; s,,,,,. ruu,
This man Smith, with his famous barkentine
MfssSSP nos ssi af ths road fG ar fSnt p saa GiS IN ( yhaBss4
storm and had such a darn bad smashup that
both horses were killed and the creek where he
atness IN Clerks Store. When the store IS started
a AIRS sn shs . sss n e s01fo oIks sis sot t to ea Piql on the 80 @ stors
his, and BY and BY he bought out the proprietor
was bigger than the town. and they named the
place after the store; at least, that's The way 1t
meaning in Chcesaaakes,o or Boxitiicyns.o OF cutta iosa
or Cinnaminson or Parsippany. English Gamers
% nSie IS s %osf oat a l t sSppRssefi 1 but tb rte meyer To e 6sss
back bach t. pure delight and Fl s soonsv,i there's : ,, Gr rhf, +
lines is Opanghanaugh. This is the name all
brakemen ~practiee on. They yell it at every
horow, or Yapghpo. They're ali in New Jersey.
bgt I've heard brakemen use ON g far West as
They're a part Of the code, guess"
,,.1Aalrrss they aesd pT ron %.S dt the way az yboT pronounce
oh. no: they're not pronounced the way any
body pronounces them: The only way to do Is
10 look tnem up on the map ana loHOW the spell
ing. The nearer you follow the spelling the far.
ther you are from the pronunciation. It's a
S~piendid rnle. To continue: There's Comical
Corner; which is enough TO make the ~stoutest
hearted feel d~oleful; and Dcacon's. where there's
more cuss than prayer to the acre; and Jumping
Poini, which is as steady as a church. Those
names go by opposites, You see. A fine pair are
Hollis Kitchen and Good Intent. You don't see
the connection, probably. Well, the ribald pop
nlation OF Good Intent call their town HelIs
Pavement, to the scandal of the elect.
Unexpected Bog is a name that tells its own
tale. For your instruction III tell you that it's
down in Atlantic county and there are signposts
around it. BrontZmansyille and BrotzmaEville
are two villages, whose difference OF nomen.
~clature marks a family row the circumstances
of which are tedious. Double Trouble Is another
OF the same kind. Beetown was named Of course
for the bees that make honey there. They also
made Beebce Run. The profanc inhabitants will
tell you that they made him run like hell. and
as he was the first settler he sol the pace and
seventeen recommendations, and ! don't know
where 1t camo from. Beatyestown used to DO
Irish. Boardville was, too; Irish railroad labor
era at $3.50 a week board. Bargaintown, they
tell me. can be had cheap now. Six old settlers
named FeebletOwn after themselves before they