The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-02-03
NATIONAL

THE nickname Uncle Sam" applied 10
the United States Government. had It's
origin In the war Of 1sis. when large guam
titles Of provisions for the army were con-
centrated at Troy. N. Y. under the super
vision OF an inspector by the name OF
Samuel Wilson. whom everybody Familiarity
called Uncle Sam"
The supplies were furnished under con-
tract by Ebert Anderson. and the casks
In which the goods were packed were
marked with the letters &c. A--U. s.
the initials OF the contractor and OF the
United States. 1t was said by some way
that the letter stood for Gilbert Ander-
son to Uncle SAM" and from that day 10
this the United States has been jokingiy
called uncle Sam"
The name "Uncls SAM" applies only to
the Government. but Brother Jonathan"
Ii a nickname for all the people of the
United States. This dates back to the Rev
~olution. and refers to Jonathan Trumbull.
Governor Of Connecticut. a friend OF wash
ington. and a man in whom the General
had great confidence. On one occasion. when
Washington had difficulty in getting neces-
sary supplies at the beginning Of the war,
he was heard to remark:
I'VE must consult Brother Jonathan"
Inc 0ONeIHCr was CoHsuittu, anu feHOeAcN
such valuable aid that the saying, 1--WE
must consult Brother Jonathan became
common. In the army when q difficulty was
to be met. and the people. always ready
for something new. appropriated 1t for a
nickname.
The familiar synonym for the English.
John Bull" had its origin in the brain OF
Doctor John Arbuthnot. a royal physician
Of fha city ~ Ahar1aau In sTha HiStCry
Of John Bull" a satire written upon the
political events preceding the treaty Of
Utrecht. in I713. he thus describes him:
Bull. in the main. was an honest. plain
dealing fellow. choleric. bold and OF a very
inconstant temper. He was very apt to
quarrel with his best friends. especially II
they pretended to govern him II you fiat
tered him you might lead him like a child.
Johns temper depended very much upon
the air. His spirits rose and fell with the
~hourglass. JOHN was quick and understood
his business very we'll: but no man alive
was more careless In looking into HIS &c
counts or more cheated by his partners"
The people Of france are called Johnny
Crapaud," not because OF the Frenchman's
supposed ondness for frogs as a dish. but
because of an Old prophecy of Nostradamus,
the French-Jewish physician, which said:
Les anciens c~rapauds prendront Sara
the ancient toads shall take Sara. Now. the
old arms Of Francs were three toads. In
stead Of the three fieur-de-lis. as now. and
Sara is Aras spelled backward. During the
reign of Louis XIV the French. after a
long siege, took this city OF Aras from the
Spanish. and. recalling N~ostradamus'
prophecy, they believed they had fulfilled
1t, and Jean crapaud became the popular
nickname for the French
The name John seems to be a favorite
In these nlcknames. as John Chinaman, for
the Chinese. and Ivan Ivanovich. for the
Russians. Ivan being the Russian form OF
John. Scotchmen are called Sandy. and
Irishmen Pat. probably because Alexander
and Patrick are such ommon names among
the Scotch and Irish. To-. as a name for
the Indian, comes from a perversion OF
Pope's w~ell-known couplet:
10, the poor Indian! whose untutored mind
Sees God in clouds and hears him in the
wind.
THE Sick Man Of the East Is the sobri-
quet given to Turkey. The phrase was first
used in reference to Turkey by Nicholas,
the Car of Russia. in 1874. The allusion Is
to the tottering condition CT the Empire,
which has steadily declined in power since
the middle OF the Sixteenth Century.