The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1915-06-11
BLESSED WITH NAME
SHORT AND HANDyl|KE
Tom Fox of Kato FeIiciiaicd BY
Boston Herald
eRADuAIEsfROM wEsTPolMT
Possesses Cognomen That Will Not
At n In tuik., r.. H.. n
eRADuAIEsfROM WEsTPolMT


The Boston Herald. one of the lead e.
ing newspapers OF Boston recently
contained the following editorial
which has reference to Tom Fox. "A
grandson of Mrs. q. o. Pitcher OF this
city and a nephew of Miss Fannie
Pitcher. instructor OF music in tho
public school. Tom is feiiciated on
the breyity of his name. Tom is a
lucky chap. Here l. what The Herald
says:
The lists which are at hand OF the
young men who a"e to he graduated
from the United Stltes Military ACad
envy at West Point week from to-
day carry names that disclose a con
siderable variety In the racial stocks
Ot our great melting pot as we'll as
names that reveal a trace OF parental
pride. There are many juniors, as
would be expected: and the history OF
the country Is Teplete with juniors
like James Madison and William Nc
Kinlcy and Theodore Roosevelt and
Curtis Guild other West Pointers
of this year, not 50 favored. will go
out into life under a name of many
syllables. of which no attempt at their
metriCal distribution has been made
But this in turn need not interfere
with their success. There is nothing
particularly poetic about James Knox
Polk. and yet the possessor OF even this
combination reached the presidential
chair,
But there is In the published list Of
this years West Point graduates. as
set forth with the studied dignity of
our great military establishment, the
designation: Tom Fox. This and
nothing more! Ihtre is surname
Ten IN the south, from which this
youth presumably gets his given
name, just as did the late Tom J..
Johnson OF Cleveland. Ohio. And. Of
course, the surname Fox is happily
familiar i'm all sections of the country.
But can anyone who henceforth hears
the name Tom FOv,' as the complete
verbal appendaEr hf conscious hu-
man being-and IN officer and
gentleman i'm the United States army
ut that-ever lorgrt il? In he should
lead an expo liefonsrr force into Mex
leo. Tom Fox would resOund through
out the land! II earlier in his career
he should perform some heroic act
like that of IiObsOn On the Merrimac.
his name would be- immOrtalizcd IN
song and story by contract, what
clothes pin Richmond y. HobsOn,
clamps on the nOstrils beneath which
VIC would burn incense,
I'VE felicitate Lieutenant Fox on his
great inheritance. II" will never have
To follow his name with an explana-
ton o; its unexpected pronunciation.
He will never have to spell it out for
anybody. even over the telephone.
Those who run may read. whatever
that means. And all who read Will
remember. Even in routine estab-
lishment. like the United States army.
this name should make for its bearer
a career. He s!.oulG. with il, burst
through the CCrcmcnts of all form
ality, and into the great open of
flames eternal camping ground.
I'm few ways can parents give their
children a better start I'm the world
than by bestOwing on them a name at
which their fellow men will sit ND and
take notice. When you look over the
congressional directory and see Lot
Thomas OF Storm Lake. you feel you
have come into contact with per-
sOnality that must he ont of the or
binary. And when you read of Kope
Elias, internal revenue collector of
North Carolina and of Cato Sells, as
Indian commissioner. YOU have a much
more lively interest in learning what
they stand for in the world than
though their designations were mere
ly conventional.
Think IL over. fond parents. i'm
naming your beloved offspring! Give
him trademark that no infringer can
ondanger. incidentally. watch the ca
reer OF Tom Fox as he goes out from
West Point next week. to see II he
does not make a name for himself or
more accurately he proves hu-
manly able to check the momentum of
lame making which was started at
his baptismal font"
The full name Of the young man is
Thomas Warren Fox. He was named
after his great grandfather. Thomas
Warren. but when he entered West
Point he used the blue pencil and
shortened the name to- Tom Fox and
wanted II distinctly understood that
that name must go. That Is how Tom
Fox has leaped into the limelight OF
publicity.