Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-09-11
NAMES IN JERSEY.
SOME OF THE TOWNS THAT MAY BE
 FOUND IN EVERY ATLAS.

Jerseyman's Explanations of Some of
 the Appeiiations.
 "0tker 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, 1 suppose, said the man who had just come in from the smoking car
 ''I am, sir and I'm proud of it. come in on this train every day to busi- ness i'll the city, and ill my leisure mo ments I make a study of the geography of ny native state. l may say, sir-I think may say with eonfidence-that few men are so well informed as l upon this interesting subject of New Jersey s geographical nomenclature. You ob- serve, sir, that l say New Jersey, not Jersey, which is an undignificd behead- ing of noble title.
 Possibly it is because I'm New Yorker, , said the man across the aisle, but 1 have always thought New York to be pretty snong on interesting names. U
 A great e1ror, sir. declared he of the whiskers. IA very great error. Your names are mainly corrupted In- 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 mo cite some J
 Here he pulled small notebook from his pocket, and the other man, with regretful politeness, said he would be glad to learn something on the subject.
 Consider, sir :" continued the Jersey ite 'the appropriateness of such names as Ragtown, Breakfast Point, Camp Claw, Polify, Eadix, Piuckemin, Pock- town, TillietuGelum and Suocasuna.
 Some of them sound familiar, said the New Yorker, but are all of those real names2'
 Every one of 'em on the map, sir, replied the other warmly. "I'll give you $100 for any one of those that isn't a real place, and they fairly reek of the soil Now, here's another batch Bone Hill, Wickatunk, Bamber, Atco, WollyfeId, Blue Anchor, Blazing Star, Hockamick, Jahokeyville, Oney's Hat Kalarama, Flyat, Flickeryille, Zings- am Wakeaka and PatStO ''
 "They sound as if they were taken from Jabberwocky, remarked the New Yorker. They re ntter nonsense.
 Taken straight from the country side, 4 ayelred 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, poetioally suggestive of the agricultural riches of our beautiful state Our domestic animals are com memorated in such fitting titles as Goosetown, Hensfoot, Hogtown, Mon- keytown, Horseneck and Peaeocktown, while for other animals there are Skunk town, Pole Tavern, which used to be Polecat Tavern; Postertown (if poster ain | a wild animal don't know what is) Snake Hill, Turtletown, Frogtown, and don't know but what Batsto ought to come in there. Tho 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 in such names as Whisky Lane, Gin Point, Jug town and Bum Tavern. There used to be an innkeeper in the latter place, by the way, who sued the authorities once a year for maintaining such title and always compromised for } cents, with which he bought himself a drink and was well satisfied One year the authori- ties started in to fight the case and the innkeeper ill disgust quit the business and Bum Tavern simultaneously. A place with a suggestive title is Naugh- right, which got its name from large farm owners sign, nailed on a tree at the roadside, No right of way here. They got calling him Old No Right. and when the village sprung up they called 1t after him, but man who had spelling reform the wrong way made if as 1t now stands. Speaking of spelling. there's one village you can spell either Packnack, Pacquanao, Pequanac or Pequannock, but you can't pronounce it as the natives do, no matter which way you choose.
 There are some names moro sug- gestive than beautiful-Scrabblet Scrapetown, Slabtown, Samptown and Solitude, for instance Some belle their names, like Recklesstown, which is as peaceful as a graveyard and in the same general line of business, keeping its inhabitants buried far from the cares of this busy world. Then there's Round about which is 2 plain four corners crossing, and Small Lots, with nothing but wide stretches of countryside. As for Pellettville, I've heard that there isn t drug store there, but can t swear as to that, not having been there for many years. ;
 Look here, put in the New York CT. T believe you're the man who writes the suburban stories in the comic papers and you're practieing names on me. D
 You do me great injustic9r cried the geographer. Every name has it's local habitation, and you can find them all i'll the aliases. Next you'll be cayil- ing at such well known places as