davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1912-11-17

ha..,. concerned place names over Whlch
there was - local difference OF opinion oi
those supposed to attach TO places ieNti
named before In but very few cases has
il sanctioned the complete change IN an
established name.
Confusion in our geographic names mas
resulted from many causes. In unsettled
parts of our country exploring eAped.-
tiors Ignoring the work of those gone
before have given new names TO places
already named. Everywhere Indian names
have caused many different methods OF
spelling for no two persons alike unuel-
stand or render into the same Ensllsh
characters the obscure sounds OF the
red mans dialects. Then the railroads
are frequently adopting for their stations
names different from those OF the toWns
in which they are situated, ana an cen
greater factor i'll the general CONFUSION
has bsen the Post Office Department,
which in the smaller villages has given
thousands of post offices names not con-
forming with local usage.
But by far the greatest amount OF con-
fusion has resulted from carelessness or
ignorance on the part of those making
use of names.
These corruptions soon find their way
into print and in that manner get their
hold upon the victimized community. He
markable to say the least, is this human
weakness for misproncuncing names
for adding an .'s' To the end of one When
ever possible, or for giving some man.
ner of other twist to the suffix. l have
always wondered why the average shop
clerk despises the slffiX kins and al
most invariably substitutes son.
1t is largely as the result of such frail-
ties of the human ear that probably-aS
the geographic board claims-a ma jority
of names of the natural features of our
iandscape have undergone alterations.
But the geographic board does not aim
To r. store all of the original place names.
If 1t did large proportion would now
he unretosnized by the community. IN
stead the board has adopted the policy
that. in general the name which is in
common local use AT present shall be-
adopted. This broad principle is applied
except where changed corrupted
nanes are considered unworthy of per-
petuaton. The board realizes. that the
change of q corrupted form back TO u
pure form after the corrupted form has
been established would tend to. unsettle
usage If such We're done Port Town
send, for example, would he restored tn
Port ToWnshend. PsSht to Psyche ard
Ozan to MISUNDERSTANDING which the
majority OF the people would not respect
As each ease comes upon its docket the
board sends out inquiries as 10 the eS-
tabliShed usage. Where local opinion APP
pears to be evenly divided the more ap-
propTiate ar euphonious name is adopted
lit Il well for those considering new
names to know that this tribunal, for the
sake of adopting uniform standard oi
what il calls reform in nomencla ture.
will disregard local usage to the extent
OF ending town names with bore in
stead Of borough. and burg instead
OF ''burgh. 1t disli<es names contain
ing the possessive and thus lately ruled
that lake in Maine should be known a.
Evening star., 1912-11-17
@GaNEp1Nsr

-.Frederiksted'' instead of the various
other forms ending in "stad, staed'
etc These foreign names come 10 the
board chiefly through the State Depart
ment which carries on our correspond
ence with other nations, ana the navy >
photographic office. which needs correct
names for it's charts and sailing direc-
tons of all foreign waters.
AS far as practicable the home names
of foreign places are prepared by the
board. Thus when Japan after coming
into possession of Korea, officially chris
tened it with its own native name
Chosen" Uand of Morning Calm) our
geographic board took cognizance OF the
change But the board realizes that it
would be futile to carry this rule 10 the
extent of changing many iong-eStaDlsliea
anglicized forms to native forms. such as
Germany to Deutschland, Italy 10
Italia OF The Hague to Craven
hase.'' Americans would not adopt such
FORMS if thrust upon them all of sud-
den, despite the fact that the geographic
board looks forward TO the entire world :
adoption of all the home names of other
countries-so' that on all charts there
would be but one uniform, universally
adopted name for each place, and that the
name chosen by the people of that place
In few words | will tell YOU how the
geographic board works. Cases on the
docket are referred to committees whlch
search mother maps, SaZettcefs. loca
histories and aliases. To find the preVa-
lent local usage ii corresponds WITH
county clerks. pUstnasters and residents
who are conveIlsant with local conditions
Oral testimony Of individuals sometimes
suppl. mentS this correspondence. ana,
when all OF the data -arc IN, the commit
tee tabulates the results on printed CARDS
which have blanks for entering various
items Each committee member sisnineS
his prefers nee on his card and thus a
vote is taken and reported to the 1uii
hoard which considers the cards one bS
one When the board votes Il majority,
not of those present but of the whoi:
board is necessary for choice. suaiiy
several cases are referred back To the
committee for further investigation.
Some Of The members are specialists IN
certain classes Of names. Thus Fred
erick Webb Hodge, the head OF the bu-
reau of ethnoiogN is a spec!a ist-on In
dian names. while Dr. G. Hart Merriam
representative of the biological survey,
is a specialist on animal names and those
of the Pacific coast ranges. Chairman
Gannett himself is regarded as IA CYCLIC
pedia of American names generally, ana
snecializes on those of the philippines
Evening star., 1912-11-17
all THAT Sets the Wheels Going All Down the Line


been detailed as member Of the board
of examiners by the commission. The
son posted himself on the answers and
passed the test with a Glgh average. some
time later the facts became known TO
the civil service authorities. upon whose
recommendation the competitor, his Ia
ther and the member OF the examining
board We're removed by the Post ONCE
Department. Then there have been cases
where persons have endeavored TO take
examinations for other members OF Their
families.
j. x
Whenever these Irregularities have oc-
CURED they have been discovered quickly
and The offenders promptly punished. But
cases such as these are Very rare and
small in proportion u the vast number
that is examined every year Persons de-
string positions, from professor Of chem
istry and Law reporters down to light
house tenders and pententiary guards.
are included in the civil service ruling.
The cost 10 the government OF examining
an applicant for original appointment
amounts to s2.1G
The act creating the civil service COM
mission was passed by Congress January
16 1885,. and il is safe 10 say that no law
that was ever written into the statutes
than that piece OF legisla ton. The poll
ticians did not like il because ii took
away their patronage, and during the
twenty-eight years of its existence there
has scarcely been session of Congress
that one or more statesmen have not
threatened to repeal the law or starve ~
to death by Withholding the appropriation
for its administration. But il has had the
hearty support of every President. from
the one who signed the original act down
TO the present executive. who vetoed a
recent act of Congress because IL con-
tanned clause that would have wea <
ened the commissions power. Today
there are ?91 $50 officers and employees IN
the executive civil service, and OF these
22I ,6J7 hold positions subject to competl.
tive examination under the commission.
There are three commissioners in
charge of the civil service bureau-Gen-
John c. Black. president: John A. Nell
benny and William S. Washburn. The
chief examiner is George r Wales, and 1t
is under his direction that the actual
work of preparing the tests is carried on.
The present home of the commission Is
on f street near the corner of 18th. II is
a large. attractive building of white brick,
with all modern equipments. There is am
pie room in II for the several workrooms
respect 1t is much more convenient tnan
the old building at Sth and l. streets The
government has leased the new structure
for ten years, and the commission has
been there since July, l911
Evening star., 1912-11-17

the civil service board, the announcement
means Increased activities all down the
line. The filing of applications. for those
anxious for positions, the necessary re-
scare work tu get the examinations to-
gether ard the correcting and final report
Of rating when they are over is bigger
and more important undertaking than the
average person realizes. Perhaps pet
ter understanding of the work can be
obtained when one stops 10 consider that
over 1900 persons in different sections
of the United States We're examined ana
admitted 10 places through this commits
sion during the last year. 1t Is true
that Washington is simply one of Twelve
stations throughout the country, yet il
Evening star., 1912-11-17

uted To the applicants in the various
examination rooms.
The next step is the shipping of the
forms to the stations where the examina-
tions are 10 be held This is a very in
teresting part of the Worn. 1t is done IN
strictly private room of the commis-
sion The sets of questions are sent IN
large envelopes addressed to the local eX-
aminer 4 heavy black cross is marked
on the package. which signifies that It
is not 10 be opened until the hour stated
for the examination and then ii is to be
done In the presence of the competitors.
After the papers are collected by the local
Evening star., 1912-11-17

name changed by act Of the legislature.
that of the post office follows the new
designation. Thus, few years ago.
when the people Of Sing Sing. y. Y, had
their city renamed Ossining because the
former by long association with criIni-
mails had become detriment 10 their
community. the postal authorities adopt
ed the new term.
The Jurisdictions of the geographic
board and Postmaster General are sharp
ly defined in these matters, and while
the one may determine that a certain
town or borough shall be known on fed
eral maps under one name. the other
NAV rule that the post office in that same
town shall be termed otherwise. Thus tho
way is open to considerable confusion.
and Ii would seem To he the duty OF Coz
lsreSs to give one of these agencies or the
other paramount jurisdiction wherever
conflicts may occur.
Complaint that the Post Office Depart
ment had greatly confused the nomen-
clature of our smaller towns and villages
by attaching to post offices names not
in accordance with local usage WAS ut
tered some six years ago by the geo
graphic board, which claimed that its IN
vestigations revealed thousands of cases
where the name of the post office does
not conform to the local name Of the
place in which it Is situated.
Between them these two agencies are
naming places at the rate of over 15O a
month-thirty- a week. five a day. II
would appear to be the present policy OF
both to let the majority of the people OF
each community rule in the matter OF
their local place names. so long as thesr
choice neither confuses nor delays com
munica ton, or violates reasonable stand
ards of taste In this matter of taste
the postal authorities have been exceed
ingly lenient, with the result that among
our post offices we find some remarkabi.
freak names, such as that of the Tennes-
see village of "A. 3. CO and South Caro-
linas Pee Dee" both of which. how
ever. are preferable to Accident, Mo. and
Blood, Ky. In Nebraska and West Nir-
ginia each you will find town called
''Vim." while South Dakota has uS
Zeal
Perhaps the Post Office Department $
penchant for short and snappy names is
responsible for Bob, Cap. Dot, Hon, Tab,
Tea Tip Tim, Zim and Zeb. all of which
have been adopted names for United
has it's Teddy. and Mississippi It's
Ted" In Missouri we find Tiff; in
Texas. .aTopsey" in California Cool,
and in both Virginia and Kentucky Zero:
which name must bar these centers from
popularity in winter time. There is
..Hellgate' III Washington. a Hellwig
in North Dakota. 'Hothouse" i'm Geor-
gia and a -"Pigeonroost in Kentuck,.
In Oklahoma there is tamoosa, and In
CALIFORNIA; Skidoo.
Perhaps such names are crisp. hut dom {
YOU think We might take our chances on
the good old Indian names, which echo
the music of brook rather than the ooze
of the gutter? Yes, We need more Juni-
ataS Minnehahas, Wissahickons, Ale
ghenys, Mineolas; and less Accidents
and Skidoos.
Copyright 1912. by John Efreth watkins.l
Evening star., 1912-11-17
CHAIRMAN GANNE'TE

and Cuba Commander G. r. Cooper, the
chief of the photographic office: Chief
Clerk William McNeir of the State De
partment and c. W. Stewart. superln-
tendent of the naval war records, look
out for foreign names generally. Other
members of the board are Frank Bono,
chief clerk of the. land office; Andrew
Braid of the coast survey. ID. NJ. I'LL
dreth, topographer of the Post once De-
partment; Lieut.. Col. j. E. Mcmahon OIL
the army. J. S. Mills of the Treasury,
F. G. Plummer, Eeographer OF the Iorest
service; G. r Putnam chief of the light
eminent printing Office and Charles 3
Sloane. geographer OF the census, VINO -
secretary of the board.
Although the Postmaster General has
his representative on this high court OF
names, Congress, by definite act, long ago
empowered him Independently to name
our various post offices. and in this tre-
mondous undertaking he seldom consults
the geographic board.
His department is now naming post
offices at the rate of 1,3y0 year-1l2 a
month.
The official who actually names our
post offices is P.V. De .Graw. He does
score of ministers in the country As
matter of fact. however. his work in this
line .is !, largely devoted to- confirming
names selected for him. : 49, 4ssz
The railroads are actually the agencies
which initiate the naming of the greater
proportion of our new villages, and this
results from our system. of building rail
roads to develop new regions Wherever
II passenger shed goes up. whether at Il
barren crossroads or upon an open
prairie, there appears name board. and
in nine cases out of ten the designation
which it bears sticks to the point for life.
no matter whether it blossoms into-a city
ur remains only jay town. 1And~it has
long been a rule of the Post Office De-
'partment to adopt the railroad stations
names il they are .practicable.r
Realizing their great Responsibility IN
this process. certain great railroads, like
the Pennssiyania. submit their lists OF
suggested station names to the Post OF
flee Depa rtment for revision and approy-
al And Texas has lately set her sister
states q wise example by enacting a law
that requires railways to name stheir vii
lagc stations after the nearest post Of
flee. - ,se.
In the typical instance a trader moves
to a new locality, opens a store and ap-
plies for a post office. The Post once
Evening star., 1912-11-17
CIVIL SERVICE ExAMINATION ROOM

boards of examiners they are returned to
the commission by registered mail. Once
more they arrive. in the private room.
where they are separated into subjects
and sent up to the correctors One per-
son rates all the spelling, another the
arithmetic and still another the grammar.
When each pile of papers is marked 1t
is reviewed by another examiner. After
all the separate sheets of a competitor
have been corrected they are brought
together and the general. average OBJ
tanned. News of the per cent made is
then sent to each person who took the
examination. whether he has passed or
Evening star., 1912-11-17

is the most important one, in that prac-
tically all the actual work of preparing
and rating the papers il done here.
The commission does not have the
power to make appointments, many
people imagine. but determines what
persons shall be considered for differ
cnt kinds of employment in the gov
ernment service. Its work, when the
examinations are over. is to Keep lists
of cligIbles from which the various de-
partmeu:s draw when they wish 10
make appointments. In fact. the frst
step in q civil service test is taken by
the government departments. Those in
charge send word to the commission
stating just what kind of work they
Evening star., 1912-11-17

LOW the Civil Service
! ! Examinations Are Con-
ducted-Making Application
for an Examination-When
the Real Test Comes-Grad-
ing the Papers and Then
Filling the Positions-An In
teresting Example of Uncle
Sans Schoolroom Facts
Concerning the Civil Service
Commission.
Evening star., 1912-11-17

failed If he has succeeded in making
passing average, his name is then entered
on the eligible list Sometimes it hap
pens that person who has failed ap-
peals for another review of his papers.
This is granted If the grounds are con-
sidered good, but such cases are rare,
and il is seldom that an examiner is
found to have made an error III cor
recting.
When an appointment is TO be made in
the departments. the state of which the
eligible Is resident is a large factor in
determining whether or not he is to be
chosen. The commission keeps a list Of
Evening star., 1912-11-17
2hcle 92m2= =(S1z2YZZ7NNG@ @C4kD -,

KEPT Busy Naming Towns
4Aand Other Places on the
Map Recent Decisions OF
Federal Tribunal Which Con-
firms and Repairs Names
How $50 American Villages
Are Being Christened Esch
Month = Interesting Stand
ards Adopted y No More
"Villes" Or Towns" Wanted
Trying to Revive Indian
Narnes-"Rurg' Preferred to
"Burgh" and "Boro" to Dor
ough" Court House" in
Disfavor = Hyphenated and
Double Names Under the
Ban, as Are Those of Living
Persons Not Eninent-For-
eign Names Also Considered
Hereafter You Must Say
Chosen" Instead of Korea
Evening star., 1912-11-17

THIN the past
Week another call
for applicants has
been issued by
the civil service.
board This time
il is 10 fill posi-
tions that require
special training
a / o II ( scientific
lines Radio re
search. scientific
houSek keeping and
tl,r.a af In -
Evening star., 1912-11-17
"Mor@ Government Jobs Are Op@m!" is

want done and the salary they are. VIII
ing to pay, After this the commlssioit-
sends notices broadcast. announcing
that an examination VIII ne heiu anu
setting forth all details. Next comes
the examination, then the correctlhs'
and from the rating lists of applicants
are prepared They are drawn on un-
til the list is exhausted, after Wnich
the same plan is followed again
-,- kx
Every possible effort is made on the
mart of those directing this Wofk-to
hiring notices Of examinations to the
attention Of the public in every part 81
the United Sta tes. Besides announce
n,auts made in the newspapers ana py
nesting signs through the different dis-
-tricts the commission keeps on hand
. mailing list of the principal educa-
tional institutions and periodicals. To
which notifications are sent prior, TO
rho examinations III some cases.
where applicants are unusually scarce
an. where il is difficult matter to oh
tain qualified persons, posters are sent
out calling attention 20 the salary
offered and other inducements that the
Government affords. Many times. In
order to obtain applicants for special
scientific work word is sent to schools
that Law particular stress on the de-
sired subject. or to clubs or societleS
where the members are especially IN
terested in the science on which the
examination is based. Certainly no
trouble is spared by the commission In
regard to advertising the examination.
In order that the questions are Ialf
and square tests, the examiners In near
ly every case are persons who have Deen
selected because of their intimate snoWl-
edge and understanding OF the subjects
at hand For instance. in the prePifa-
,ion of the examination for teacher IN
the Philippines, the one that makes out
the uue stons is an eX-teacher, VINO has
a sympathetic insight of the needs Of
those qualifying for this work II It Is
an engineers examination. the examiner
must be a person proficient IN that par
ticullar branch. This is the general plan
followed by the commission III regard
to these engaged in composing the ques-
tions and il certainly seems as II faifer
or more logical one would he hard to
find.
When the questions have been decided
upou. they are sent in sealed packets By
spec.al messengers to the government
printing office. where they are put III
printed form. The strictest secrecy Is
maintained at the big printery, and in
no way is it possible for the questions
to become public until they arr -
Evening star., 1912-11-17

Gardner not Gardners. 1t prefers Cen
ter to Centre. and seeks 50 far as posslnie
to omit after names OF county seats tne
letters &C H. meaning Court House. 1t
dislikes hyphenated names and faVofs
the combina ton into one word OF names
of two or more words-thus. Lafayette
instead of La Fayette and Eidorado m
stead of FL Dorado. 1t regards the add
ing of city or town after name,
such as in Boise City and Diummond-
town, as a useless complication.
These are not personal preJud1ces OF
the majority of the geographic board
ponderance of popular taste, Thus
'burg" is preferred to burSh. be
cause investigation has shown that In
more than three-fourths OF places
having these name termlnatlons inc
final ''h'' is not in local use.
Points within our territory. are, con,
tinually being named by explorers and
surveyors. For the guidance of these
list of 'principles." These advise the
retention OF local Indian, French or
Spanish terms. if euphonious and suit
able, or the adoption of word suS
gesting some popularity of the land
Woad Seapf, Isii Elk "Beaver' and Bald"
however, are to be avoided because 100
common throughout the country.
Names of living persons are objected
to. unless such persons are Oh great
cmincnce.
y
The other day a man in the far west
sent to the board long list of names
suggested for mountain streams In the
reiehborhood of certain well known
neak a number of these were tabooed
because. named after living men of IN
sufficient eminence. Among preferred
names of dead men are. besides those
of eminent persons. those of explorers
reologists engineers, naturalists etc"
who have been associated with the re-
giOn. .. -.
Special caution is given against dlf-
ferent names for different parts OF the
same stream or mountain range. ana
against naming different branches or
the same stream North Fork, South
Fork. etc.
Foreign as well as American names
often get upon the boards docket. Ihus
il lately ruled that the ancient Hermit
kingdom should hereafter be Chosen" IN
stead of Korea; that Havana should !,1,,tn, ne
'.Habana," and Santo Domingo Domnni-
can Republic.'' At the same time II
ruled in favor of ."Christiansted' ana