Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1913-01-12
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
 ASK UNlLf SAM WHAT'S IN \ NAME
 Christening Committee" Changes Names of Towns
 at Monthly Meeting. iC AU $ E CONFUSION Unless of Great Distinction Names of Living Persons Are Objected to
 Some Names Useless.
c A U SEE CONFUSI SION
(By Roderick ClifeorD


 worrying over what to call hs towns, cities. islands, lakes, bays and rivers. He is just about as fussy as the TO- matic young girl who hating to be called Lizzie changes her name tc 'Ljllie," Uncle Sam, however, is governed more by fact than he is influenced by fancy. Once month his christening committee" official ly known as the United States Geo. graphical Board, meets in this city and becomes the court of last resort on geographical names. Here are. some of the courts recent decisions: In future we must write Pickatinny, not Piccatinny Peak, New Jersey; Elkhart, not Elkheart Lake, Wiscon sin; Riley, not 'Riley's Peak Colorado; Cemochechabee not Cemochechec echobee Brevoort, not Brevort Lake Michigan, Creek. Georgia. The instance just mentioned are only few of the decisions rendered.
 The Committee of fifteen men, each a representative from Government department Or bureau, change five hundred or more names in the course of a years work. Unless reversed by the president or Congress, the boards decision must be accepted as the standard authority by all federal departments in the printing of maps and other official publications. Pub fishers of school books and tourists guides here and abroad usually follow the boards ruling without question. Congress, however, once oyerruled the board, deciding in favor of Porto Rico, which is half Portu- guese and half Spanish. The board preferred Puerto Rico, which is pure Spanish and means "rich port
 Henry Gannett, chairman of the board is a world-famous geographer He has for some years been president of the National Geographic Society, and for thirty years has been the geographer of the National Geogra- phical Survey.
 Any citizen, desiring correctlon made or dispute settled, Will De he given a hearing by the board. 1he hoard. of course, will not change name merely to suit all lndlvldual nreference or because of its harsi eonnln Most of the names passed unon by the board have to do either with naming of new places or W1th the settling of local differences or opinion, as to the correct spelling or nrcner names of certain localities.
 Errors and confusion result from
 number of causes. Exploring eX- neditions in unsettled parts of ou country have given new names 'o n,aces already named. Indian names have brought no end of iro"ple' White men try to put into Engllsh 'ie sounds made by the red man, ana as all red men of the same tribe do not sneak exactly alike nor all White men bear tbe same, ii. is easy to under- s+ond wby places with Indian names are sometimes spelt in several al1- ferent ways.
 Again. railroads become offenders bv using for their stations ha'hes other than those of the towns Ill which the stations are situated. 1he pos+ Office Department also adds 10 the general confusion by giving post office names, which do not cohlor" to local usage, in many of the smaller villages.
 Tho chief trouble, though, comes from mispronouncing names o"1e- ,essness and ignorance-addhs an ..s" or giving some other twist 10 The end of the word-do much 'o ,ea, the board busy the year rouhd'
 The geographical board does not aim to restore all of the orlglhai names. If it did so, a large pro- nortion would no longer pc recoe- nized by the communities affected Instead the board has adopted phe ro,;cv that 'in general the name which is in common local use small he adopted.' This board principle ;s applied except where changed or corrupted names are not cohsioefeo worth preserving, The board rear- zes that the changes of corfuptea hack to pure form after the cor runted has become established would l lend to unsettle its users, An