The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1917-08-09
Cities Odd Names

uSAC uSC0 " OS q SOyInS NhOl ~ tSoSA
the height of fame man must have street,
town and cigar named after him. But
it is an odd fact that while many men achieve
such greatness, there are only one or two
who have had capitals of nations named for
them.
There is of course, Washington, named
after the first president; Petrograd, named
for its founder, Peter the Great, and Con-
stantinople, named for the great Constantine;
but beyond these the capitals of the various
countries have received their names by rea-
son of their climate, their geographic posi-
ton or some touch of sentiment, writer in
the Philadelphia North American observes.
Changing the name of the capital has been
frequently done. Indeed it was only with
the beginning of the present war that St.
Petersburg became Petrograd, eliminating
the German "burg,'' whose choosing has
always been a mystery to the Russian peo-
pie.
Tokyo, the capital of Japan, has also had
its name changed, for less than fifty years
ago it was known as "Yeddo,' Japanese
word meaning estuary gate. When the
Mikado took up his residence there, how
ever, he changed the name to Tokyo, mean
ing eastern capital, thus differentiating it
from the former capital which had been
called Saikyo, or western capital.
Another capital which has been rechristen-
ed within recent years is Christiania, the
capital of Norway, which derives its name
from King Christian Nv, who built the now
famous city after the destruction by fire of
the old capital Oflo. 1t was his desire to
make it the most modern and beautiful of
cities, and he took so great personal in
terest in it that when it came to a name
everyone urged that it be named for him,
and Chr;stiana was finally adopted as being
more artistic than Christianville or burg.
There are very few great cities of the
United States named for Americans, but
there are many which commemorate famous
men of history. OF those named for Ameri-
cans, there are, among others, Jefferson
City, No.; Madison, Wis; Lincoln, Neb. !;
and Houston, Tex, while the are also many
cities which tell in their names the stories of
gallant priests who started missions among
the indians, and wete often the first white
men to penetrate into the depths of the
wilderness.
San Francisco is named, it is true, for St.
Francis, but the monks of that order are
really the ones whose deeds the city COM
memorates; and there are, besides Hennepin,
Mimi, and Marquette, Wis, whose names
tell mute stories of the priests.
The majority of the larger cities are, how
ever. named for Engishmen or Frenchmen,
for when the cities received their christening
no one dreamed that the time would come
when the vast new country would be ma
ton of itself. Thus New York was named
for the duke of York, St. Louis for the king
of France, Pittsburg for Lord Pitt. Balti-
more for Lord Baltimore, New Orleans for
the duke of Orleans, and so on through a
long list of names that have now become
most thoroughly Americanized n e
thoughts of the whole world.
In Australia the habit of naming cities af-
ter statesmen is more prevalent than in any
other country, and the majority of its larger
towns bring to mind men who have helped
to make history. Thus Melbourne recalls
Lord Melbourne; Sydney was named after
Thomas Townsend; first viscount Sidney,
and at that time secretary of state for the
colonies, and Adelaide, another Australian
capital city keeps green the memory of
Queen Adelaide, wife of William IV.-E1.