The Grit-advocate., 1905-03-24
ODD NAMES Of TOWNS.
The Bible, Mythology. Shakespeare and
Greek Alphabet Drawn Upon.

Greek Alphabet Drawn Upon.
Patriotic Tennesseeans are aroused.
according to dispatch from Nashville.
over the claims made by Kentucky
that She holds the record for towns
with extraordinary names. They ad-
nit the excellence of some of Ken
tucky's products. but are sure their
own are more remarkable.
kentuckians, in enumerating their
towns bearing unusual names. head
the list with Eden. following this up
with Adam and Eve and other MEM
bers of the first family. There are
names such as Caution. Harmony and
Temperance. which one is surprised
at finding in Kentucky, and after them
an array of oddities, some of which
even Tennesseean must pronounce
good. as far as they go. for several
may be found upon the map of the vol
unteer State.
When it came to naming her towns.
Tennessee, like her neighbor, did not
forget the good book She put an Ark
in Meigs County. Il Noah in Coffee. n
Genesis in Cumberland, "a st. John aI6
st. Luke in Jackson. a Joshua here
and Caleb there. here an Elijah and
there Samuel. Ruth and Naomi We're
raised up, one in Knox and one in
Humphreys County. But Tennessee
did not lay too much stress on Scrip
tural names. On the other hand. look
ing at the map, one may readily ascer
tain that in the naming of her towns
Tennessee played no favorites. From
mythology she obtained Juno. Venus.
Vulcan, Bacrhus. Diana. Hercules,
Neptune. Olympus. Delphi from
Shakespeare Romeo and Othello: from
the Greek. alphabet, Alpha, Beta and
Omega: from the church. Methodist
Baptist. Priest. Pope. Friar and Tab
ernacle: from the family hearth
Nanny, Bud. Aunt. Home and Fam
lily; from the poets, Dante. Milton and
Homer 1t is only guesswork where
she picked up Mark Twain, and she
probably advertised for Kodak and
Spolio. Geography, geology, zoology.
ornthology and botany all contributed
to the map of Tennessee. and when
these sources of extraordinary names
had been exhausted Tennessee turned
to n city directory and picked out
Jones as a proper designation for Il
thriving community.
If Tennessee has been catholic In nam
ing her towns she has been chivalric
FOR she has remembered the young
women. The old woman who lived in
the shoe could find in a postal guide of
Tennessee Il supply of names equal to
her demands. Among the girls names
are Alice Bessie. Blanche, Clara. Cleo.
Daisy. Della, Edith. Edna. Ethel, Eva
Grace, Helen, Henrietta, Jessie. Kate.
Kathleen. Lavinia, Lila. May. Louise.
Lucilla. Lucy, Mae. Nellie, Nina. Nor
ma, Ora, Patty. Stella, Sylvia and Cal
lie. The boys names run the gamut
from Alex to Zack.
Kentuckians in recitng their claims
TO distinction dwell upon such interest
ing designations as Cash and Coin.
Tennessee approves such selections. but
at the same time points with pride to
Dollar. Greenback. Golddust, SpOndu-
lix and finally Bank.
The official christenerS of Tennessee
towns We're so pleased with Buck
Short and Pin Hook that there are two
of each in the State. There is also 4
Cemetery, a Coffin and a Sexton.
But all of these names are merely
incidental Some of those upon which
the ci-izens of Tennessee base their
claims for prestige are Barefoot. Bolts.
Leap Year Chimney Top, Chuckaluck
Half Ponc. Hangin" Limb Ipe. Mar
rowbonc. Mouse Tail. Opossum. Phrch
Corn, Peanut. Rip Shin. Sweet Lips.
Tom Brown. u Bet Yum Yum. Buz-
.ard ROost. Fits. Mashmead. Peeled.
Chestnut. Shoe Fly. Skull Bone. Snail
lope. Tiger Tail and Wahoo.-WasL
ington Times.