The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-11-17

: wood" Elk" Beaver and BALD"
however, are to ba avoided because too
common throughout the country.
Living Mems Names Vetoed.
Names Of living persons are object
ed to, unless such persons are OF
great eminence.
The other day . man in the Far
West sent to the board a Ions list OF
names suggested for mountain streams
in the neighborhood OF a certain we'll
known peak. number OF these were
tabooed because named after living
men of insufficient eminence.. Among
preferred names Of dead men are. be-
sides those Of eminent persons. those
of explorers. biologists. engineers.
naturalists. etc. who have been assoc
ciated with the region.
Special caution Is given against ar
ferent names for different parts of the
against naming different branches OF
the same stream North Fork. South
Fork, stc-
Foreign as well as American names
often get upon the boarTs docket.
Thus It lately ruled that the ancient
Hermit Kingdom should hereafter De
Chosen. instead of Korea; that Ha-
,ana should be "Habana-" and santo
Domingo Dominican Republic. AT
the same time it ruled in favor OF
"Christiansted" and ''Frederiksted" in
stead OF the various other forms enc
ing in "stad," 'staed," etc. These for
eign names come to the board chiehy
through the State Department. which
carries on our correspondence Win
other nations. -and the navy's hydro
graphic ONCE, which needs correct
na,ces for it's charts and sailing direc-
.ions Of all foreign waters.
"Choses,~ Net "koses."
AS far as practicable the home names
board Thus. wheE Japan, after COM
ins into possession Of Korea. of'icialiy
chr:stcn@d it with its own native
name, Chosen" Land Of Morning
Calm. our geographic board took
coenizance of the change. By the
board realizes that 1t would By futile
to carry this rule to the extent OF
changing many long established. Ang-
iicized forms to native forms, such as
Italia" or The Hague to IS Craven
hase." Americans would not adopt
such forms. IL thrust upon them alt
Of a sudden. despite the fact that the
geographic board looks forward to the
entire worlds adoption Of all the home
names of other countries-so That on
all charts there would be but one uni
form. universally adopted name for
each place. and that the name chos-
en- by the people Of that place.
In a few words will tell You how
the geographic board works. Cases on
the docket are referred to commit
tees which search mother maps, gazet-
teers, local histories and aliases. TO
find the prevalent local usage II cor
responds with county clerks. postmas-
tiers and residents who are conversant
with local conditions. Oral testimony
Of individuals sometimes supplements
this correspondents aud. when all OF
the data are In. the committee ta5u-
iates the results on printed cares
which have blanks for entering vari-
Gus items. Each committee member
signifies his preference on his card.
and thus n vote is taken and reported
10 the full board, which considers the
cards ono by one. WDer the bosrH
votes a majority. not Of those present,
but OF the whole board. Is necessary
for a choice. Usually S"verai cases
are referred back TO the committee FOR
further investigation.
some Of the members are specialists
in certain classes Of names Thus.
Frederick Webb Hodge. the head OF
the Bureau o: Ethno!ogy. Is a special
jst on Indian names. while Dr. e. hart
Merriam. representative OF the BIO
logical surrey. is a specialist on AM
mai name: and those OF thrS Parinc
Coast ranges Chairman Gannett him
self is rcga-oed eyciopcdsa at
American names generally and sp~~,si-
ICES on thos. Of the Philippines ann
Cuba. Comma nder a.. =. Cooper. the
chief Of the photographic once: Cn'ef
Clerk william NcNcir. of the state
Department and G.. w. Stewart SUI
pcrinscp1 cnt Of the naval war rec
ord.. look OFT fer foreign names gen
orally. ofhc- members OF the boa 20
arc Frank Fond. chief Clerk OF the
Land once: Andrew nsaid. OF the
Coas, Survey: d. N Hiid.esh- topo-
Srapher OF the Post-o05ce Department:
T.cute aant Colonel J. E. McMaaon. Oh
the army: J. S. Mills. OF the Treasury
y G.. Plummer. geographic Of the For
I rs. Service: G. r. Putnam. chief OF the
Lighthouse Bureau: ~. ". LseglcT- "i
the Government Printing once. and
Charles = sloane. goosrsphcr OF the
f., Census. who is secretary Of the board
/ W~sy Nsmssg rsss-Gesrss.
Although the Pcssmastcr -''cn"ra'
I has his representative on INT. h!gn
court Of Names. Congress. by definite
act. long age empowered him snce-
4 peud~rt,v 60 name our various post
| c.fsecs. and In this Tremendous under
/ taking he seldom corsu1ts the geo
| graphic board.
/ Ills department - now naming post
| Offices ?, the rate cf 1.-se ycar-tt-
a month
| The official who actually names our
! py~s-cfsces 10 T.. v. De tsraW. tie dos
. liveiier chTiseepsnG businsss shan
| say s~cr. Of ministers IN the covn'
Try. AZ . matter % fses. however, sis
work IN this lire - isreely <e~ose9
| Go ecsaYminG Nance so1oetes toS esss-
| Tie railroads ere Actually TIE eoSn-
| cies which initiate The oo0aAG 9 -
! ereoeR Dssoogsseo g - - yuonUA