The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-06-23
BY s. w. WALL

tain Committee.
You remember my conversation
with Andrew Braid, president OF
the u. s. geographic board was in
Iterrupted yesterday at the point
where | told him OF the proposed
attempt by Victor J. Farrar, re-
search man of the University of
Washington, unbiased witness, to
prove that it was not Captain Van
c0uver, alleged discoverer, who
bestowed the name Rainier upon
the mountain after all, but some
one of his relatives who, after his
death, edited and published his
maps and journals and that this
Iperson who never saw the noun
tain was simply using 1t for politi-
cal purposes, to advance his own
fortunes.
We left Mr.. Braid much dis
comfitted and willing to change
the subject. We will leave him
SO again at the end of this short
chapter.
Calls Ii New Georgia.
WV oCC w nat VIC hdNO hOi z,
Mr.. Braid" said I. Here is a
man ssent out to pre-empt this
country for King George, who had
just lost out on the other side of
the continent, and to prevent its
falling into the hands of the ma
tion newly born there"
How could King George i'm
agine the weak colonies on the
eastern coast could ever spread
out to that far country" inter
rupted Mr.. Braid.
AS an apologist for King
George and Vancouver and Raj
nier, you do well, Mr.. Braid, but
that far country was not so far
from these colonies as 1t was from
London.
But let that pass. What Van
couver does to the purpose is to
survey the coast and best0w names.
He called all that country New
Georgia after the king, and |
have no doubt it was so recorded
on all the maps of the world, even
those of Africa and Arabia. That
name is no longer on any of those
maps, since we saw fit to give it
another name-tnat of the man
who routed King George.
One Name Changed.
Another name he is said to
have bestowed-that upon the
most splendid of all natural monu-
ments, and located in the state
called Washington, is objection
able to the people Of that state on
so many counts that they petition
the U. s. geographic board to take
1t down and give it another name.
1.-THE board refuses to grant
their petition. for which they as
sign two reasons; first, that the
discoverer's right to bestow names
is paramount and not to be set
aside by the wishes of the people
of the state, and, second, that 1t
is on all the maps of the world
neither of which reasons was so
much as raised when we changed
the name of the state itself.
but now comes the one un-
biased and disinterested witness
and tells us that 1t was an uncle
or a cousin of Vancouver's, one
who never saw this far country,
who put the name on the map. 1t
seems to me Captain Vancouver
has played scurvy trick on the
U. s. geographic board in return
for quarter century of loyalty
such as passes all ordinary under
standing. However, If he is look
ing on he is no doubt having the
time OF his-shall I say the time
OF his life, or of his death?"
Faulty in History.
Il confess l don't understand
you"
Considering Vancouver's we'll
known and implacable hatred for
America and Americans is 1t not
likely that he would enjoy the
discontinue of such distin-
guished company of them as COM
pose the U. S. geographic board?
distinguished | do not mean fo..
Americanism. but just distin-
guished."
still, I don't understand you
what do You mean by Vancou-
ver's hatred of Americans?"
"Ha! said !. Rear Admiral
Clover. who inflicted this thing
upon US in the first place. dis
covered to be faulty in his history,
also. II we pursue this matter we
may discover some extenuation
for the action of the board, II to
be ignorant of history-the his
tory affecting the matter up for
judgment-may be pleaded in ex-
tenuation."
WELL" exclaimed Mr.. Braid. a
little fretfully, ''you seem to
know a great deal that nobody
else here knows about these mat
ters."
1T does seem SO, DOCTOR"
II wish you would show me
your authority for that"
81 will. II will cause me some
trouble am very busy, | have
many others to see and questions
to ask, and what ! shall show
you now cannot affect the result
we so greatly desired-.but I will
show you this authority.
Didn't Read Evidence.
But also, remember, doctor,
that I shall write of 1T shall
print 1t. We had a right to ex-
pect you to have knowledge of
these fundamental facts of his
tory affecting a matter upon
which you SO flippantly passed
judgment. At least we had
right to eypect that you would