The Wrangell sentinel., 1922-11-30


 my shoulderblade. and the worst of them is this thing of givng foreign spelling and pronunciation to our home grown names. There isn't q finer or statelier name in the city di- rectory than Mary. The most dis tinguished woman this world ever saw had that name, and it was good enough for her.
 Any woman who tries to rear range such name as that has some thing wrong with her intellect, and I'd be afraid to have her under my roof. At any moment she might be- come a gibbering maniac.
 When I was young all the good old fashioned names were in evidence everywhere. The woods were full of Eiizabeths and Dorcases and sMatil- das. The women who had such names were proud of them, and never mon- keyed with them. Had they done so, they'd have been cast into outer dark ness by polite society Just today l was glancing over the newspaper and saw some mention of woman who calls herself Elyzabeth. Now, I wonder what that v is doing there. Sane people don't spell Elizabeth with Y, and in the grand old days the people wouldn't have stood for such an in novation. But in these modern times all the institutions of our fathers and mothers are being overturned, and if a girl is so fortunate as to receive stately name at her christening, she deyotes the best years of her life to overhauling it, so it will look like something escaped fPm feeble-mind- ed institution.
 There is no law to prevent women from maltreating their names, so we cant rebuke them by process of war rant, but we can at least set our faces against the fool custom and close our doors to the guilty parties. am a man of hospitabfe instincts, and would welcome to my abode the veriest beg gar or social outcast, but no Marie, Kathryn or Mae will ever enter this house while I have strength to resist. When I see them coming I'll sell my life as dearly as possible. Mrs. James, worthy.
 My sainted mother, was the smOOthest woman I ever knew. Tax ing her by and large, pro and con, she stacked up about as high as anyone. She never tried to cut swath in so- cial circles, for she had a profound contempt for everything that was ,tri- fling or superficial and she had rev erence for old ways and customs.
 Her front name was Isabella. and she wore it, without any frills or fur bellows, as long as she lived. She never sent that name to the upholster- CT or taxidermist to have it made over. She realized that famous queens and other great women wore that name and she was proud of it. You might have argued her into having her hair shingled or her front teeth pulled out but if you had suggested rearranging her name shed have thought your proper place was the booby hatch. Her name was treasured possession, an heirloom more precious than the fam fly jewels. -
 ''The name Isabella lends itself to mutilatiOn and transposition more than any other. Modern women, blessed with that magnificent name, can't rest until they have telescoped it, so we haze Isabels and Isbells and YsObels and half a dozen other variants, each being more idiotic than the others Whenever think of the way my moth CT hung on to Isabella I feel new respect and admiration for that grand old woman, and I wish she were here today, to make the round of the Chau- tauquas, and point out to young wom- en their duties and privileges.