The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-03-02
Curiosities Of Names and Places.

This morning, as was coming in
to town on the elevated train, I no.
ticed on the face of the passenger
sitting opposite an amused express
sion, which evidently had it's cause
somewhere in the pages Of his news
paper, says the Philadelphia Evening
Ledger. The look of amusement
spread itself quickly and pleasantly
all over the mans broad and steadily
widening 'countenance. Surely he
was going to his work in the right
mood. But the contagion of his good
humor had immediate effect.
The smile was by no means con-
tent with remaining smile, and
speedily developed into d chuckle,
which drew simultaneously smile
and a glance from his neighbor in
the same seat. The chuckle con-
tinued, and likewise the neighbor's
interest. The party of the first part
pointed out the cause of it all and
the other found the place in his own
paper. Then the two laughed to-
gether and-!as the rhetoricians say
were friends. When l reached my
station I bought copy of the paper
which they had been reading, and
remembering that the item I sought
was on the page which contained the
taxicab advertisement quickly satis-
fed my curiosity. This is what
found (under the heading, Name of
this Town Has Dual Pronunciation"
A conductor and brakeman on a
Montana railroad differ as to the
proper pronunciation of the name
Eurelia. Passengers are often star
tied at this station to hear the con-
ductor yell:
you're a liar! You're a liar!"
And then from the brakeman at
the other end of the car:
"You really are! You really are!"
Was 1 disappointed? Not a bit Of
it, though 1 had heard the story years
and years before. Here was proof
conclusive that no story is so old that
it isn't new to somebody.
There is no place name so poor that
it hasn't story to tell. Pronuncia-
ton is sometimes the source of inter-
est-or one of the sources-for every
name has a variety of associations,
genealogical, historical and other
wise, besides still other fascinating
qualities.
Out in Gallia county, Ohio, is a
town named Gallipolis. 1t owes some
of it's present fame, which isn't yet
of very large proportions, to name
familiar to readers of the war news.
Gallipoli, as everybody knows, has
the accent on the second syllable.
The people of the little Ohio town
can't get used to it. They have been
accustomed from childhood to saying
"Galli-Police," with: the accent on
the first and last syllables, especially
the last. Gallia county was settled
by the French about 1888. The
French gave it the name the Romans
gave to the old country, and drew on
Latin and Greek for the name OF
their county seat 1t is stated that
there are II places in this country
the names of which contain the
Greek "polis,' the word for "city.'
They are Indianapolis, Minneapolis,
Annapolis, Copperopolis, Demopolis,
Kanopolis, Cosmopolis, Metropolis,
Opolis and Gallipolis. There's an
Indianapolis in Oklahoma as we'll as
in Indiana a Minneapolis in Mime
sofa, another in Kansas and a third
in North Carolina; while Annapolis
is found in Maryland, California, 1lli-
nois, Missouri and Ohio.
Some place-names are manufacture
ed for descriptive purposes, as "Phil-
adelphia' is Greek for "City of
Brotherly Love- and "Cynwyd' is
Welsh for Thou art first est.
Petersburg" or "Petrograd,' is a
perpetual reminder of the romance
of the founding of the city, and the
mere mention of the name Rome
speaks volumes. The street names
of London are treasury of historical
lore. The "Citv of Thousand