The Savannah morning news., 1903-11-08
PECULIAR NAME
Many Interesting and Some ANUS
ing Ones in Postal Guide.

From the New York Tribune.
1t is sometimes boosted that, in spite
of the nations vastness, it is a homo
geneous whole. So it is in language
and patriotism. though the impartial
testimony of the Official Postal Guide,
! revised and published monthly by au-
thority of the Postotfice Department,
would seem to indicate that this is a
nation of proVincials. Every part of
the country has its own peculiar and
particular traits, imprinted thereon by
its original settlers, its previous inhabi-
tantS, the Indians; it's natural sur
roundings or it's historical signihcances
or other causes. These traits are sure
to be reflected in characteristic names
which the various cities, towns and
hamlets bear.
The Eastern states show the most
concentionalism and the least originate
| ty. There are more villes, tons, burgs,
| centres and corners than in any other
part of the Union. The North has the
most poetical and picturesque terms,
more lakes and rivers, more Sun
| Prairies, Beaver Dams, Silver Bows
and Lost Rivers. The West has more
| slang and cowboy expressions and
general breezy, free and easy style of
nomenclature. The South has more
downright oddly, more quaint unex-
pected terms and comical comparisons,
| than all the rest of the United States
| put together. New England, it seems,
| leads all for dizziness and Wearisome
repetition. After having impressed in
to service all the Falmouths, Penn
| brokes, RoXburys and Welmouths, she
tacks a North or South, East or West,
| on to them as needs be, and starts out
all over again. She has enough Man
chesters, Bristols, Shefields, Green
| witches, LancasterS and Nottinghams
and enough New-Londons, New-Ip-
| switches, -Bedfords and New-Glou-
| cesters to start a miniature England
| of her own. There is a touch of pathos
| in the Pilgrim Fathers setting up these
old home affairs in their New World
home. In the light of history, however,
! it is surprising that this intense loyal
| ty should have been followed by their
| descendants $50 years later in pitching
Mother England's tea into Boston har-
| Dor and rallying against her at Con-
| cord and Lexington.
In strong contrast to this are the
| place names of Tennessee. Other states
| show curious and unexpected designa-
| tions, but a record of these peculiar
names shows that Tennessee leads any
| other state three to one in this respect.
| There are $50 names in this state that
| can only be classed as odd ones. Here
| are a few specimens: Mouth of Wolf
| Bald Hornet, Wild Goose, Parch Corn,
Sawdust Valley Darkey Springs, Hur-
| ricane Switch, Bellbuckle, Peanut and
Mousetail, Nettlecarrier, Calf Killer,
| Noah and the Ark, Kangaroo, Rattle
snake, Miser Dollar, Bride and Sweet
| lips. There are Gum and Yum Y UNI,
Boy and Scoot, Necessity, Halfpone
| and Barefoot, Castoria, Bucksnort, A.
| B. c. Birthstone, Ho, Ipe, Jap and
| others. In fact Tennessee has only
| twenty-three towns in all bearing the
| commonplace prefixes of North, South,
East and West, while Massachusetts,
| alone has more than $50 and New York
nearly 450 of them.
New York state has one little affec-
tation of her own, there being only
| few name of this class outside of her
borders. That is the much hyphenated
| name descriptive of locality. Thus she
has Barstow-on- the Sound, Fishkill-on-
the-Hudson. Gornwall-on-the-H Hudson,
etc These fanciful on-the-bay and
Hby-the-waters serve to remind one OF
the Irishman who stopped at the sign
board, Manchester-by-theS Sea,
miles" Spelling 1t out, re-hyphenating
and letter substituting, he read: Man
chased her by the-Sea, Miles-and
begorra! I hope he kissed her after he
caught her"
Florida and California reflect the
real estate boomers skill. In these
states the name sponsors have been
too shrewd to. give such names as
Poverty Hill, Barren Plain or Muddy
Lane. Florida has a Frostproof, Trop-
ic Winter Haven, Winter Garden, Win
ter Park, Orange Park and half dozen
other parks; she has Orange and Port
| Orange, Orange Heights and Oronge
Bend, and eight other orange by name
Bend. and either other orange COM
pounds, Desires special varieties of
orange by name-Satsuma, Mandarine,
Otaheite; she has Cocoanut Grove
| Palmetto, Palm Beach, Rosehill, Rose
wood, Lemon City, Olive, Mango and
Chronicle; she has Cassia and Mag
| nolia, the Jessamine and Myrtle, the
| Lily and Orchid; she claims both
Eden and Paradise her modesty stop
ping short only of heaven itself.
/ California, not to be outdone, has
eight parks of her own, and more
Y than twenty Ocean Views, Diamond
| Springs, Pacific Beaches, etc. She, too,
has Evergreen and Summerland, Sun
land and Sundale, Green Valley and
Palmdale; the flowers Lotus, Oleander,
etc, the fruits Apricot Citrus, Olive
and Orange, Grapeland and Straw
berry Valley. She also claims Para
disc and Mount Eden, and, not con-
tent with these, adds Angel Island
and Jerusalem.
| Nevada and Colorado names show
| that the mining industry ranks high
| in their states resources. One in
| every bakers dozen Of Nevada names
is a Gold Hill, Ruby Valley, Bullion,
or something of that sort. Wyom-
| ings names give a hint of lonesome
| mountain Businesses. Iron Mountain,
Black Buttes, Granite Canyon, Lone
Tree and Lost Cabin are some of these
typical Wyoming names. Arizona and
Tennessee furnish most of the devil
/ I1naX=care eynressinns of the IIninn-