The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser., 1917-04-06
Cities ODD NAMES
Few National Capitals Are Called
After Noted Citizens.
Many Municipalities in United States
Commemorate Famous Men OF
History, But Not Many of
Them Are Americans.

There used to be q saying that to
reach the heights of fame q man must
have Il street, q town and a 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 the capitals of nations
named for them.
There is, of course, Washington,
named after the first president; Pet
rograd, named for its founder, Peter
the Great, and Constantinople, named
for the great Constantine; but beyond
these the capitals of the various coun-
tries have received their names by
reason of their climate, their geo.
graphic position or some touch of SEN
timent, 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 be-
| came Petrograd, eliminating the Ger
man burg" whose choosing has al
ways been q mystery to the Russian
people.
Tokyo, the capital of Japan, has
also had its name changed, for less
than fifty years ago it was known as
"Yeddo," a Japanese word meaning
estuary gate. When the mikado took
up his residence there, however, he
changed the name to Tokyo, meaning
eastern capital, thus differentiatlng
it from the former capital, which had
been called Saikyo, or western capital.
Another capital which has been re-
! christened within recent years is
/ Christiania, the capital Of Norway
which derives its name from King
Christian ", who built the now-fa-
nous city after the destruction by
fire of the old capital Oslo. 1t was his
desire to make 1t the most modern
and most beautiful of cities, ana he
took so great personal interest in II
that when it came to q name every
one urged that it be called for him,
and Christiania was finally adopted
as being more artistic than Christian
Vile or burg.
There are very few great cities OF
{
cans but there are many which COM
memorate famous men of history. OF
those named for Americans, there are,
among others, Jefferson City, Mo-;
Madison, Wis; Lincoln, Neb.; and
Houston, Tex, while there are also
many cities which tell in their names
the stories Of gallant priests who
started missions among the Indians,
and were often the first white men to
penetrate into the depths of the will
| derneSS. San Francisco is named, 1t
is true, for st. Francis, but the monks
of that order are really the ones
| whose deeds the city commentaries;
and there are, besides, Hennepin,
Minn., and Marquette, Wis, whose
names tell mute stories of the priests.
The majority of the larger cities are,
however, named for Englishmen or
Frenchmen, for when the cities re-
ceived their christening no one
dreamed that the time would come
when the vast new country would be
a nation of itself. Thus New York
was named for the duke Of York, st.
Louis for the king of France, Pitts
burgh for Lord Pitt, Baltimore for
Lord Baltimore, New Orleans for the
duke of Orleans, and so on through
long list of names that have now be-
come most thoroughly Americanized in
the thoughts Of the whole world.
In Australia the habit Of naming
cities after statesmen is more preva-
lent than in any other country, and
the majority of it's 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 sgd
ney, and at that time secretary of
state for the colonies, and Adelaide,
another of Australia's capital cities,
keeps green the memory of Queen
Adelaide, wife Of William ".