Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-07
LOCAL NOMENCLATURE.
Some Inaccuracies Pointed Out by a
Postal Clerk

There is a point or two about the nomen-
clature of localities in the vicinity of Wash
ington to which public attention should be
invited" said a postal clerk to Star man
today.
while in the vicinity of the Benning
race track few days ago 1 observed an
announcement printed in large letters on
the high board fence surrounding the track,
which read, Washington Jockey Club, Fall
Meeting. Bennings.' Being in the business
of dealing in names of persons and places.
am forced to say that this designation of
the locality where the race track is stu
ated, as given by the club, is erroneous
There must, of course, be something
official upon which to fall in instances of
this kind, and l will take the United States
Postal Guide for 1902 the source of my
authority. According to the Guide the cor
rect designation of the locality in ques-
ton is Benning,' the final IS having been
dropped several years ago, though the rail-
road companies and others would appear
not to have learned of this fact, or know
ing it, ignore the official designation, as the
name 'Bennings' may be observed upon our
street cars in announcements of the races
there.
ON the railroad station just above the
Benning abattoir the name of the station
appears on sign in gold letters as Dean
wood According to the Guide it's orthog-
raphyis 'Deanewood.' AS to the orthograph
ical correctness of either one of these
names | do not pretend to assert only the
latter is the official designation, and if it be
incorrect, steps should be taken to correct
it, and vice versa.
The settlement on the other side of
Washington bridge on the. Maryland side
of the river opposite the Congressional GEM
etery, Is enormously called by many Twin
ing City while the official postal designa-
ton is 'Twining.'
Perhaps the name 'Tennallytown' is the
of arI, ~.
misspelled and murdered 1t being adversely
spelled Tenelytown,' 'Tennelytown' Tenet
lytown,' and a half dozen other ways.
The correct official postal designation gives
the word with two Is and two ms.
Just why the funny men in the vaude-
Vile and variety troops who visit Washing
ton who desire to raise a laugh, as they
usually do, by denying that they live in
certain localities, almost invariably pro-
nounce Alexandria as Alexander or
Alexandria, Westinghouse cannot sat
isfactorily explain, and it grinds upon SEN
sitive ears. About one out of twenty of
these alleged comedians correctly pro-
nounce the name, and if they find 1t too
difficult to master, they substitute George
town Again, some will say 'Annacoster,
instead of Anacostia, as though the name
of the thriving village on the other side of
the Eastern branch was named after some
departed female who wore in life the pat
ronymic of Anna Costar.'
The dropping of the s. from the name
of Benning recalls the fact that the final
n has been officially cut off by the postal
authorities from every city and town which
ended thus, from Pittsburg down, except in
the single instance Of 'Newburgh,' n Y
Washington's historic headquarters are
situated on a hill in that city overlooking
the Hudson, and 1t was there, if my recol-
lection be not at fault, that he took leave
of his generals at the conclusion of the
revolutionary war. For these reasons
probably, the exception was made"