The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-01-30
GEOGRAPHIC NAMES.

I -WAN ANAS
Tie Authority for Fixing Pronuneia-
ton and Photography Is Vested in
the Beard Of Geographic Names,
Created by President Harrison Ten
Years Ago.
New York Press; Puerto Rico. not
Porto Elco. Is the Official decision OF the
board Of geographic names. which Is
the final HuthorIty In such matters IN
this country. This board has bee:' in
existence. since 1850, when President
Harrison. recognizing the deslrablllty
Of UNIFORM usage in regard to geo.
graphic nomenclature and orthography
Throughout the executive departments
OF the government, constituted board
on geographic names. appointing there
to representatives OF different depart
ments, With Professor Mendenhall. Of
the United States coast and geodeiic
survey, as chairman. In the first two
years OF its exlstence the board made
more than 2.eOO decisions In regard to
unsettled questions concerning geo.
graphic names. Every year since then
several hundred changes have been
made OF disputes settled. Puerto Rico
being one Of the recent decisions.
Great diligently has been experienced
in fixing uniform nomeclature for
Alaska. where the translation OF Rus-
sian and Indian names into English
was by no means easy, and was cOmpli-
Gated by the fact that various expedi-
lions had assigned different sets of
names 70 the geographical features. A
complete geographic dictionary Of Alas
ka was undertaken by the board sever
al years ago.
With the exception Of the names Of
political subdivisions, geographic
names have not, as a rule, been be-
slowed by any formal authority Riv-
-ers. lakes, mountains, cspes and un-
charted bodies of population received
their names originally from surveyors.
explorers and early settlers and these
have been perpetuated by common con-
sent. The names Of states, counties
and municipalities have been applied
by legislative enactment or charter.
and, therefore, possess some degree of
authority, but even here exist differ
ences OF usage which have arisen in
various ways.
In unsettled parts OF the country one
set of explorers frequently ignore the
work of their predecessors, and give
new names to the natural features. AS
no two persons render into the same
English the obscure sounds of indian
names, their translation has been u
fruitful source OF confusion.
Railroads frequently adopt names for
their stations different from what is
Intended 10 be the names for
the towns in-whlch they are situated,
and other forms of carelessness have
called for the reforms which the board
Of geographic names is bringing about.
The broad principle of the board is
that in general the name in common To-
cal use should be adopted. Where local
usage is divided, the board selects the
more appropriate and euphonlous name.
To effect certain reforms in nomenela-
ture the board departs from local usage
in certain cnses, as follows:
Avoiding as far as possible the pos
sessiye form OF names.
Dropping the final III in "burgh."
Abbreviating borough" to "boro."
Spelling center" as here given.
Disseminating hyphens' in connecting
parts OF names.
omlttlng where practicable C. H.
court house, after the names of county
seats.
Simplifying names Of more than one
word By combining them into one
word.
Avoiding the use of distinctive char
acters.
Dropping the words city and
town as parts OF names.
The political and geographic changes
resulting from the Spanish American
and the British Boer wars will give to
the board a much wider field of work
for the next few years in settling au-
thorltatively the spelling and pronun-
citation Of names now unfamiliar, but
which will become OF interest to all
t-...lt,h .nooLJnU mamie