Evening star., 1936-12-08
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES &. TRACEWELL.

Many Of the latter are simply trans
planted from England.
The real American names have twist
to them all their own. Manitoba, for
instance, never came from Europe. Those
OF us who came up through the regular
schools OF the United States will forever
find something especially pleasing about
these names, although too many Of us,
alas, know very little about them. Such
q name as Tippecanoe, for instance; we
always harbored an impression, no doubt
childish, that some Indian once said,
after he had learned bit Of English,
"See, heap big Indian tippy canoe, ha,
ha, hal" If any one doubts this etymol-
ogy, let him give better, but at any rate
make no criticism of the laughter indi-
Gated by the last three syllables; Indians
do laugh, and right heartily, at that.
Recently on E street we met O group Of
braves fully clad in traditional regalia,
and they were laughing as boisterously
as any men we ever saw or heard en-
gagged in that ancient pastime. Since
that time we have taken occasion to
note the facial muscles of Indians, as
encountered around Washington-and
there are many more Of them here, at
most times Of the year than one might
think of1hand-and have discovered, al
though 1t probably is no discovery at
all, that the particular muscles which
enable a human to laugh are even better
developed in the Indian countenance
than in the average American, so-called.
\ X X
All names are interesting, however.
They need not be Indian, or even Amer
ican. There is no more intriguing hour
to be spent than in going over a good
map OF any country and noting the
names, especially if the chart is large
enough to give plenty of the small towns
and villages.
Each name is history in itself and
by itself, If one wants to delve into it.
This will demand certain type of mind,
known popularity as research man; not
ali persons are research men by any
means, yet the charm of place names
is as open to them as to any, and even
without precise knowledge they may yet
enjoy the contemplation and sound of
such words.
Even lists of town names as contained
in the average gazetteer under the names
of each state and country will yield
great rewards of interest to the person
"AAo ASo0o tiiCAA ofCA NdiCAuAy'
The inclination in using such q list
is to hurry through it, intent only on
the one name sought, but unless one is
in a great hurry, this may be accounted
a mistake, since by carefully going
through the list, dwelling q bit on each
name, the reader more often than not
runs onto something intriguing.
1t is the same with dictionary. Any
thing is good which sends one to that
book. some one has said, but often it is
possible to get great deal more out of
it than most of us do simply by reading
a bit before and after the word We seek.
Those who reside in and near Wash
ington have a wonderful field for such
investigation in the very names of streets
and avenues, because SO many of these
names are of persons who originally
came from all over the land, as well as
foreign lands.
The smallest map of the National
Capital will give the armchair investi-
gator much material. He will discover
that in opening up new suburban areas
more and more interesting place names
are creeping into the Washington scene.
Who knows-before long We may have
Tuiunga terrace and La Jolla avenue
if this keeps up.