The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-29
A CHRISTENING BUREAU.
1T Is COMPOSED OF TWELVE UNAs-
sUMING GENTLEMEN.

They Have Presidential Authority
for ChangingN the Name, or the
Spelling of Names OF Our Towns,
Rivers, Counties, Etc-They Meet
With Considerable Vimperation,
Yet Are Most Careful and Conser-
vntive in Their Work and Get No
Fay for the Same.
Washington, April N.--Right in the busi-
est part of F, between Fourteenth and FIT
teenth streets, in Washington. is a well
paved, but narrow. alley. AT the foot of
the alley, half way between street and
ing building which has the appearance
of being a storehouse of some kind, but
which is in reality a part of the govern
ment bureau of the geological survey. 1t
is from this room that the United States
board ON geographic names sends out It's
decisions on the proper spelling of geo.
graphic names-decisions which have
caused a revolution in the manner Of
spelling them in public documents and
many OF our school books, and, incident
ally, has made the board itself target
for the critics and fun-poking paragraph
ers.
This board passes on the spelling of
names in Turkey, in Armenia, South At
RIGA, or any other old place. and their
ukase goes, whether 1t is right or wrong.
For instance, they decide to srzll Behring
sea, B-e-r-in-g, and Chill, C-h-i-l-e, re-
CARELESS of how the people In those coun-
tries spell 1t. What is this board and
whence its all-potent power, that it can
change for US the spelling OF our fore
fathers without so much as ''by your
leave? = writes a correspondent who evil
IDENTIFY has taken exception at some ruling
of the board, and who Is inclined to be
facetious over 1t.
The board on geographic names al
Washington is composed of twelve very
unassuming men, who really have no in
tention of making their decisions ukaseis-
tic to the general public. Its existence
is an outgrowth of a necessity. In the
government departments, there are several
bureaus engaged n constructing charts
and maps and in sending out geographic
information. The coast and geodetc sur
vey makes the charts of the coasts Of the
United States, the photographic office Of
the navy department constructs those of
foreign countries and the sailing direc-
tons in all foreign waters; the geological
survey makes the mother map OF the
United States; the general land office
complies from its plates the maps Of most
of the states and territories; the postoffice
department decides the names of all post
offices and stations and besides this there
Is hardly a department of the general
government which does not use geographic
names in its reports and other state pa
pers.
The gentlemen who were doing this
work formerly were often annoyed after
publishing their maps and papers to find
that there was a wide diversity In the
spelling of the geographic names used,
the same name frequently being spelled
differently in government, publications
which were issued from the same office.
This caused confusion and was the source
of many mistakes, and in January, 1890,
II. C. Menderhall, who at that time was
SUPERINTENDENT of the coast and geodetic
survey, after some consultation with other
interested parties, addressed a letter to
the heads of the various bureaus who
were engaged in the government publica-
lions and suggested the organization of a
board, made UP of representatives from
these bureaus, to which might be re-
ferred any disputed questions of geograph-
ical photography, and the decisions Of
which board should be accepted as final
by all who were interested therein. This
led 10 the organization OF what was known
as "the department board" and Mr.. Men
denhall was chosen its first chairman, anil
Lieut.. Glover of the navy and the present
military attache of our embassy at Lon
don was elected Its secretary.
The task set for our board has not been
an easy one. The geographic names Of
our own country with few exceptions,
were not bestowed by any formal authorl-
ty, Explorers and early settlers went into
new regions and either adopted the Indian
names as they sounded TO them, without
much regard to how they should be spelled
or they gave the localities their own or
some other name. Railways came through
later, and often called their stations a
different name than that OF the settlement,
and 1t not infreouently happened that
when the postoffice authorities established
an Office there they called IL by still
another one From these various names
the board makes what Il considers Is the
wisest selection, and this is done In the
following manner. The disputed names
which are sent TO the board--and they
come from all over the country as well as
from tho departments-are referred 20
che Executive Committee. who collect all
facts which are deemed pertinent In each
case, carefully examines them, sits and
weighs them and then selects the one
which they consider is best; they decide
In tho proper way IN which It should be
spelled and write II on a card. on which
are tabulatsd tho reasons for their do
cision. These birds are submitted to the
board at It's monthly meeting, and IL II
IL unanimously concurred In II Il adopted
by the board ana becomes the standard
authority In the government departments.
The board clearly recognizes that the
importance OF Ia decisions depend on
their general adoption. and H. underlying