Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1907-04-17
The Names Of Towns.

L
to us from abroad but he finds a
ground for complaint in the dupllca-
| ton Of the names Of our cities and
towns. He was up in Canada Inc
other dav and sent a dispatch from
| Montreal to London. Later he learned
| that it had been delivered at London.
| Ontario instead of al London. Eng
land. as he intended it should be, and
the annoying mistake seems to nave
ruffaed his usually serene temper a
| great deal. With the incident as a
| text he makes a plea for the revision
| Of our American system of naming
towns, being specially grieved he de-
| clares, to find that there is more than
one Washington in this country, as
| well as more than one London in the
| v orld.
| Ambassador Bryce is not the first
| man to get into trouble through mis-
| takes Of this kind and probably he
will not be the last. He should re-
member that this is a. large country
and that il takes lots of names to go
around. OF course, in most instances
| il is not an accident, but the result Of
deliberate selection, that many small
and less known places bear the names
| of older and more famous centers.
| Then. too, many towns and cities arc
named for distinguished individuals
and even priority of selection can
hardly give any particular place the
| exclusive right TO this class of names.
Thus, the town of Washington in our
own State was of course named for the
| Father of His Country, and it would
| have been a hardship if all the scores
| Of towns in the country 50 named were
| forced to change their names lust be
cause the national capital was given
| the same designation.
| The reasons for the selection of most
| Of the names Of our towns and cities
are plain enough but some are very
difficult 10 explain. Thus, opinions
have widely differed as to WHY the
name of Augusta was selected for our
own city in 1737. In lecture at Bath
| the other evening on the English city
of Bath which he recently visited.
| Senator SeWall advanced the opinion
that our Maine city Of Bath was not
named for the English city as has been
commonly supposed. but for the name
| Of 4 hymn tune which in turn had been
named for the English city. The town
Of Chesterville was similarly named by
| the sturdy hymn-singing pioneers.
4 study Of the names OF our Maine
cities and towns IS very interesting
matter ana reveals a lot Of curious
things. The early settlers allowed the
splendid body of Indian nomenclature
to run to waste. or at least they gave
to mountains, rivers and lakes. and
lgave their towns the names of in
dividualS or famous places beyond the
seas, with occasionally Il town named
for a Massachusetts place from which
they had emigrated. A few towns
wore named with reference to their
natural surroundings.
| Ambassador Bryce would surely find
cause for complaint in the matter OF
duplication of names should he come
to Maine. That is. we have no two
toU.ls Of the same name within oul
BORDERS, but almost all the great cities
Of Europe except London itself, arr
located here. Ii he should visit this
section ANA attempt to send a message
to Paris, or To Rome, Vienna. Madrid
Stockholm, belgrade. Lisbon, Edin-
burg or Athens, he would have t
svcCify whether he meant the Euro
p"an capital or the Maine town. II
fact, nearly all the capitals Of Europe
are located within our borders eNcep
those Of England. Russia and Ger
maryland Berlin Is Just over the linz
in New Hampshire, while Maine ha!
Moscow the ancient capital of Russia
Not only have v" n large supply o
European capitals, but even some o
, the countries themselves. as Sweden
Denmark. Norway and Poland. 1t i
To br regretted that no more of on
old Indian names have been rcrpetu
atcd in our Maine cities ana towns
Even the few which bear such name
are often made on this account, tn
butt of jokes by the pert paragrapher
in the city newspapers. as witness T..
fate of Mcddybemps, SkoWhegan, Car
. ratunk ana MattaWamkeag.
Il 1t seems too bad that the Peace Con
crcss now in session in New Yorl