The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-07-22

ing, and yet you say he hath a devil"
The sermon was preached but history
fails to record that 1t was delivered with
JUNCTION also.
In fact the name of Smith is as good
as mask any tine to those who would
sink out of the public sight. When Louis
Phi ippe fed from France he and his good
wife passed themselves off as plain Mr..
Smith and wife, and had no trouble elud-
ing their enemies and getting out Of the
country. When Charles II desiring to see
for himself the Spanish princess that was
being talked of al proper wife for him,
slipped off incognito to the Spanish court
he and the faithful "Steenie" that accom-
panied him posed as the two MIR. Smiths
There is a young man now serving a
term in one of our Western penitentia-
ries who was convicted of train robbery
He bears the mark of an educated and
well bred man. Il will never disgrace my
family" he stoutly said. Call me John
Smith" And as Smith he wears the stripes
to-day and no one knows who he really
is 1t is only by the greatest effort that
a man can rise superior to this common
est of all common names. Smith he is, and
Smith, Just Smith," he must remain.
Right here comes in an effort of pa
rents to secure a future hearing for their
offspring by giving them such peculiar and
be dffere inflated in the minds of men
from all other Smiths. No Other surname
on earth is as often compounded with Pc
culiar Christian names There are Cotton
Smith, Blood Smith, Mum Smith, Mango
Smith. Vest Smith and Friend Smith;
Honey Smith, Wine Smith, Pie Smith,
Curd Smith, Pickles Smith, Canning
Smith and Preserved Smith; High Smith
Link Smith, Biff Smith and Jooster Smith
Slicker Smith and Felias Smith,
Merely Smith. Lies Smith, Ornamental
Smith and Final Smith, and these are
but the ginning Some of the other odd
names that real flesh and blood Smiths
have borne are these: Allo, Amone. Bath
urst, Belvidele, Cotton Choteau Udia
Mimic, Sabry, Wyckham and Malusum;
Southwood, Linden. Fancy. Sarsius, Vilah,
Suston and Cola. One fond mother named
her son Finest Smith, and another called
her son Best Smith.
Half a dozen imaginative parents gave
these names: Okanagan. Voramandal.
Ollenevea, Ricamamah Philantes and LIE
Keux. In their way Mockery Smith Red
bud Smith, Sickle Smith, RoZandez Smith
and Shemonck Smith are as odd. Mon
tlliou, Persifer. Permuin, Eminter, Elm
Gus and Zephiro are likewise curious. One
good Mrs. Smith named her first hopeful
Alexander Charles Henry Clarence; an
other mother gave her boy the high sound
ing name of Brsckenburgh Fitzhugh,
while a patriotic father bestowed upon
another small Smith the astonishing name
OF Declaration of Independence. We are
proud 90 state that the last was Mis-
souri, man and dared to do things in a
breezy, Western way. But of all tho
strange names ever given to a Smith
youngster, the prize belongs to Pennsyl-
vania.
We must first explain that in the olden
days II was the custom to speak of an IN
usually long spell of one kind of weather
after this paradoxicai manner, five
weeks-rain- in-June." Seven weeks frost
in-August" etc OF course 1t is an impos-
sible thing to compress more than four
and half weeks in a month. But the
meaning was so many weeks of such and
such kind of weather beginning in such a
month. And now after this long pream-
bic 40 return 10 our oldest of all odd
given names, Something over hundred
years ago snowstorm in Western Penn
sylvania set in about the first of March.
A long spell of sieighng followed, tradi-
tional for years for the length of time
that 1t lasted this late in the season.
What did these parents do but name the
baby boy that came along with the
snowstorn. but Seven Weeks sleighing
in March Smith! MY grandfather when
child knew this Smith of a singular
name-then an oldish man-and heard the
story of how he received his queer name
Grandfather said the man went by tho
name of Weeks usually but if he chose
to sign his name his initials were written
S. w s. 1. M Smith, in itself a unique
distinction. Lora S. La Nance.