The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-06-19
Man Who Helped
Place Course"
Gets Earful
BY s. w. WALL


Secretary, Justice to the Noun
tain Committee.
When l called at his brown
stone mansion just off Dupont
Circle, by appointment over the
phone, Rear Admiral Richardson
Glover, retired, being under a mis-
apprehension, was glad to see me.
And this being novel and so
pleasing in my experience at the
capital I almost didn't have the
heart. He had now no sign of
his illness.
1 had with me the stenographic
report of his testimony before
the geographic board which l
wanted him to correct and o. k.
1t was faulty report as l knew,
and reading it he became filled
with suspicion.
lis this man'-the stenogra-
pher-''loyal?" he asked.
Loyal" said 1. Loyal to
whom? am from Tacoma. and
am very anxious that you should
get into this record exactly as you
want to appear in it-say what
you want to say"
He Tells His StOcy.
And SO he began, reciting that
in a long experience on the coast
prior to 1885 he had never heard
any other name than Rainier for
the mountain, but about that time
"the Northern Pacific road, with
terminus at Tacoma, had issued a
very fine map of the northern
section of our country where the
name Rainier had been changed
to Tacoma.
These maps were distributed
free and were very popular with
newcomers; the result was that
the name Tacoma was likely to
get established in the public mind
where before there had never been
any question about Tacoma or
Rainier. When the board of geo
graphic names was organized
about 1891 by President Harri-
son, | was one of the members;
also secretary of the board. Mr..
Henry Gannett, Marcus Baker
and myself were the working
committee of the board. One Of
the first questions that came up
before the board was the name of
Mt. Rainier. There was an agi-
tation by the people of Tacoma
to change the name Of Rainier to
Tacoma"
l said: do you mean before
the board? You didn't say that
at the hearing, admiral"
whats that?"
No, Not Exactly.
81 say, admiral, that you did
not say that at the hearing
Admiral Glover consulted the
stenographic report. NO." he
said, mot exactly In those words"
What you said at the hearing
was quite different. This whole
controversy grows out OF that diff
ference.
If you remember there was no
agitation before the board in 1891
by the people of Tacoma for the
change of the name because no
name had yet been adopted by
the board and in the public mind
the name Tacoma had already
been practically established.
"Now, we have the minutes OF
that meeting, and from them 1t
appears that Senator Watson G..
Squire appeared and urged you to
adopt the name Rainier. And that
was the only thing in the way of
an agitation that appears, from
the records, to have taken place
there"
Wants Record Right.
"Well," said Admiral Glover,
1--WE will change that to read this
way. One of the early questions
that came up before the board
was the name Rainier, as there
was an agitation to change it to
Tacoma. This question was very
carefully considered, and, accord
ing to the rule where the name
has been clearly established for
years, the board unanimously de-
cided that the name Rainier
should remain on the charts where
it had been placed by Vancouver
a century before. The naming by
Vancouver is an established fact
in his own writings. He mentions
his first sight of this beautiful
mountain, saying he would name
1t after Admiral Rainier, the first
lord of the admiralty, who had
sent him on this commission to
explore and survey this northwest
coast
But" said I, Admiral, I
have come here at considerable
pains to see that you get into
this record just right, and as you
want to get into 1t, but l would
not like to see You in the record
AN admiral of the U. s. army
as saying that which is not his
torically correct. Rainier was
never the first lord of the admi-
rally, nor did he commission
Vancouver to do anything whatso-
ever"
Looks in Encyclopedia.
"What do you mean2" said the
admiral, with some agitated as
perity. "a lord of the admiralty
is not necessarily a lord-it is a
temporary office"
"I understand that perfectly"
said I, "but Rainier was never a
first lord of the admiralty nor
any lord at all. At the time Van
couver came out here he had be-
come a rear admiral. and Van
couver speaks of him in his writ