The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-01-27
rur NAMING OF SHIPS.
,osr EVERY LINE OF STEAMERS
STRIVES FOR UNIFORMITY.
SHIPS.

81, otherwise Results - Sew
n' ,dues Partial to Names Ending
-, ..ia"-WhIte stars "ic," Dutch
"dam," and Red stars
,d"-some other Examples.
cha New York Mail and Express.
-, Il comes to naming the steamers
-ae,lar line, the selection usually
,-,ore than the average dry cob has
,ae, Of An old sailor in the East In
a"' .-o5e who was considered a bit of a
,.i., "a well as a tip-top seaman, once
70, ~ the custom of christening ships:
,,c,.,e the tub a good name, and she'll
a,d snug moorings every v'y'ge. You
D an,t drown ship that has good name"
49,. names that some of the transatlan-
-. .ompanies adopt in bapt.s ng their
-. are strikingly inappropriate, con-
.,s.,,oq the ports that the vessels ply
tween; yet the system is to be COM
.ndoa for its conformity to the COM
rule as to titles of states, rivers,
r,.ios or empires, for in this way the ex-
sarerced person is able to tell at once to
-. line a steamer belongs. The con-
,.t+, of the name to that of fixed
rice Is Indicative of the line itself. This
~iforitv in titles makes the naming of
.ha regular liners, however, many times
ln .a diA7cut than the young couple fire.
or+1v experience in deciding the name
.beir first born. This, too, in spite of
~ fact that the steamship companies
~ much wider field to select from
Not thew are not confined by the ques-
~, of sex. Kipling, with other authors,
49, referred to the liner as "a lady" and
Tack always speaks of his ship as "she"
a. cher: but this custom does not pre-
Won't the companies from giving ship
.oasculine name if they choose to. which
Nov frequently do. They likewise coin
1ar,es which would not be tolerated for
49, instant in christening the dearest,
srrsetest. loveliest, cutest baby on earth"
rho name Aurania was created by the
Crrard lire and the Anchoria was coined
bv the Anchor line
MIR. simpsons Ships.
1-riformfty Of appellation is not monop-
oIized bv the regular liners, however. A
merchant. named A. NJ Simpson, who was
engaged in the lumber trade on the west
cast decided THAI he would not build
anv more ships, but changed his mind
inside a year, and he christened this boat
the Addenda. Another attack of con-
struction fever possessed him, and seeing
an immense lot of material going to waste
IN his yard, he decided to build the
CLEANER. Again experiencing a return of
the fever he turned out the Echo, and
not lone since he launched the Repeat.
A more peculiar way of selecting names
was adopted by the Willamette Steam
Mills and Manufacturing Company Its
first steamer was begun when its cash
account was as small as it's ambitions
we're large, and everybody said that it
was a seven-days' wonder where the
money for the boat was to come from.
The boat was finally launched and was
called the Wonder. Later another steam
er was added, and to this was given the
name More Wonder. A steamer for the
company is now on the stocks, and she
Is to be called the No Wonder.
There are not a few sailor folk who sin
cerely believe that a steamship company
will have i'll luck with ship purchased
from another line unless the name be
changed to conform with the series of til
ties IN use by the purchasing company.
The fate of the Oregon is pointed out
as an instance. This vessel was built for
the Guion line, now defunct, but was
found to be too expensive for it's tastes,
and was sod to the Cunard line, which
for years have made it the rule to have
the names of its fleet end in 'is." The
Cunards did not change the Oregon
name, and 20 this fact superstitious sail
ormen attribute her loss by collision off
Fire Island Another ship pointed to in
en- endeavor to strengthen the belief is the
City of Rome, of the Anchor line. She
was originally built for the Inmans, and
Inc superstitious say that while she is
ahoat she has had most improbable
experience, being identified with several
collisions, one of which was with an ice
berg. In a collision on the Banks she
lost twenty-five lives, and she was nearly
destroyed by fire in midocean. All of
which is ascribed to the fact that the
ships name was not changed when the In
mans gave her up.
Abandoning Names of Persons.
Ocean liners have seldom been named
after the names of the persons, and this
custom is now being abandoned by river
craft
Persons sometimes fail to turn out
We'll, and when they fall it is sad to read
their names on the paddleboxes of your
pet ferryboat," is the way a commuter
put it.
The Abner Coburn was named for
eank official who turned forger. The c.
> Parnell was christened when the Irish
leader was at the zenith of his fame. A
hudson river steamboat was named after
man who was afterward convicted of
enoezzlement. Among ocean steamship
companies the Hamburg American, North
Hermau Lloyd and Wilson lines are the
only ones which have called ships after
persons. The latter company has until re-
'ehly been partial to names ending in