The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-06-22

4
s TX Specialize The Times Dispatc h.)
KANSAS CITY. NJ c, Z, June 81 IT lie com
mission appointed by the government to
translate Into concise, correct English
all indian names found In the geography
of the; United States. has Oh It's hands g
Job OF great mag nitude, as rna be cons
pretended when Il Y IS considered that
MOI IL than O. COO 4 names, now fixed to
syprious points between Maine and Gals
sifnrn,a and the Canadian line and the
Rio Grande, commemorate the fact that
tho red man once was tt e sole possessor
on the land. The names Of his chiefs
and Of his tribes are forever fixed In
memory. Indian traditions are perpetuated
Dnd musical indian words have been In
corpornted into our tongue, o legacy Of
poetry and romance even In tlis prnc-s
teal age. III
n Every name the Indian gave meant
something. He left to his pale faced
brother the nbsurditles Of prefixlng to
2,T0O towns and settlement the stale de-
Efcriptive terms, east. west. north. south;
lie left to tho white man the confusion
OF thirty-three Spring fields In one union
not q fifth of which were ever built
III. field or by a aspiring; OF Pinevilles
without n pine, Cakdales without an
INK, Weynnouths and Plymouths that arc
not at the mouth Of the $NVey, the Plym,
or any other river: Of Mount Yernons
twenty-five strong, many OF them With
out even q hill to their credit, and Of
". 100 New IIayens New YOrks, NeWtons
ana New, everything else. NIL OF which
have long since ceased to be new.
INDIAN NAMES MEAN SOMETHlNG.
y Not SO with the Indian. Tle pitched
his wigwam beside the stream. Through
the curling waters the long. dark Kbfiss
on the rivers bed looked like offers at
play and forthwith. the camping place re-
cetyed the name 1t bears to-day ala-
acknowledgements like tters' in the Indian
tongue, Again lie saw on a river hank
aS pine tree wreathed In flames; for hours
1T threw its torchlike glare over the land
scape, as would have beamed the glow55of
some council fire fed by a ttendnnt war
r!ors, ana Potomac that region became,
a literal translation otwhch4ls "the place
OF the burning pine that resembles n
council fire. Poughkeapsie Is IN safe har-
Dor for small boats; Norridgewock, the
place Of deer; Ontario. the village on
the mountain; Saranac,8 the. river that
flows under rock, and Saratoga, THE
place Of the miraculous waters In a rock. !"
Similarly s'cllnectauy ~ ~ tue FlveF Yat-
10y beyond the nine trees" schoharie Is
''the Tributary that throws It's waters
strong over and across the main stream"
the Wabash is "a cloud blown forward
BY an equinoctial wind, Afonongahela
$50 the falling-in-bank river" Rappa-
hammock, "the river OF qu!ck-rlslng
water. and Toronto. oak trees
rising from the lake. Such words show
~ wondrous skill In the nrt Of word
painting, and their expressive indian
tongue reflects their Impressions with a
vivid n,inuteness impossible oHore cum-
bersome English. is
SIS POETIC AND OTHERWISE,
There Is no commonplace In indian
names. ALI OF the Indians terms are pic
turasuue, because they are alive and full
az meaning Ia him. a thousand examples
could be given, Once before the white
mans day, n caving In OF a river bank
revealed tile huge fossil tusk OF some pre-
historic monster, At once the river re-
csIyed the name Chemlpg ("Rig Horn'D,
and generati items OF squaws told to genera
tons az papnooses the traditions OF the
5l,is bones, and white jaws that once had
been found thsre. . 4. d, !.
IN l67s a potion pf Maine was visited
by e. Devastating flse, The Indians AZ