BT EDMOND S. MEANT, PROFESSOR OF
HISTORY. UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.
"G
EORGE in, by the Grace of
God, of Great .Britain, France
and Ireland, King, Defender of
the Faith," and so forth, as ran the old
colonial documents, Jias been overcome
by George Washington In the uncon
scious evolution of geography in the
Pacific Northwest.
The last English colony In America
was planted in the southeastern corner
of the. United States In 1733 by James
Edward Ogelthorp. That was during
the reign of George II, and the colony
was christened Georgia In his honor.
During the reign of that monarch's
grandson, George III, the lands about
the present region of Puget Sound
were discovered and explored by an
English expedition and the broad lands
between the parallels of 45 and 50
of north latitude were named New
Georgia. Not only that, but the great
Inland sea was given the overlapping
or blanket name of Gulf of Georgia.
The leader of this expedition was
the famous Captain George Vancou
ver. The occasion of conferring the
names was the celebration of the
King's birthday, on June 4, 1792, when
he called the bay In which he was
anchored Possession Sound, on which
now stands the City of Everett, State
of Washington. The explorer's own
words relate this transaction In a
quaint way, as follows:
' Vancouver's Narrative.
"Sunday, the 3d, all hands were em
ployed In fishing with tolerably good
success, or In taking a little recreation
on shore; and on Monday, the 4th, they
were served as good a dinner as we
were able to provide them, with double
allowance of grog to drink the King's
health,. It being the anniversary of his
Majesty's birth; on which auspicious
day I had long since designed to take
formal possession of all the countries
we had lately been employed in ex
ploring, in the name of and for his
Britannic Majesty, his heirs and suc
cessors. "To execute this purpose, accompanied
by Mr. Broughton and some of the offi
cers, I went on shore about 1 o'clock,
pursuing the usual formalities which are
generally observed on such occasions, and
under the discharge of a royal salute
from the vessels, took possession accord
ingly of the coast from that part of New
Albion, in the latitude of 39 degrees 20
minutes north and longitude 236 degrees
26 minutes east, to the entrance of this
inlet of the sea, said to be the supposed
straits of Juan de Fuca; as likewise all
the coast islands. &c, within the said
straits, as well on the northern as on the
southern shores, together with those sit
uated in the interior sea we had discov
ered, extending from the said straits, in
various directions, between the north
west, north, east and southern quarters,
which Interior sea I have honored with
the name of the Gulf of Georgia, and the
continent binding the said gulf, and ex
tending southward to the 45th degree of
north latitude, with that of New Georgia,
In honor of His Present Majesty."
Overdid the Naming.
Vancouver, being the discoverer, had a
perfect right to confer these names upon
he lands and seas he had found. The
evolution that followed shows that . he
probably overdid the matter. The name
"Gulf of Georgia" was made to overlap
n set of names he had given to separate
bodies of the inland sea, such as Ad
miralty Inlet, Possession Sound, Port
Gardner, Port Susan, Hood's Canal and
Puget Sound. Had he chosen to honor
his King by naming for him one of these
separate waterways, the name would
have stuck. Other explorers before him
had given Queen Charlotte's name to a
separate sound and to a group of islands,
both of which names have been retained
In the most modern maps and charts.
The Gulf of Georgia has been continually
restricted, until the only survivor Is now
the Strait of Georgia, that body of water
over which the tourist sails from Vic
toria to Vancouver, in British Columbia.
The name of Puget Sound was given
to the southernmost arms or bays of the
large inland sea. It was intended to be
only a small part of the Gulf of Georgia,
but the first white settlers made their
homes there and, as they spread their
new homes along the shores to the north
ward, they carried with them the name
of Puget Sound until that is now the
generic name for the whole region. In
conferring this name of Puget Sound,
Vancouver honored his Second Lieuten
ant, Peter Puget, who had commanded a
boat expedition from the anchoraKe at
Restoration Point, opposite the present
city of Seattle. Very iittle is now known
of the personality of Puget, but in geog
raphy his name stands for much more
than does that of his King.
A Pure Accident.
The entrance of Washington as a rival
of King George HI in this geographical
contest was, in one sense, a pure acci
dent. It was not desired or designed by
the early settlers. The whole coast had
been known by Sir Francis Drake's name
of Nova, or New Albion. Then came
the Spanish name of California, and the
American name of Oregon. When the
settlers of old Oregon, living north of the
Columbia River, wanted a separate organ
ization, they held a convention at Monti
cello November 25, 1852, and drew up a me
morial to Congress asking for the creation
of the Territory of Columbia. They had
been agitating for this name for more
than a year. Their first newspaper had
been started in Olympia, and had been
called the Columbian, in furtherance of
the new name. .
.Delegate Joseph Lane, of Oregon Ter
ritory, pushed the matter in Congress,
and was succeeding very well toward get
ting the- bill passed when Representative
Richard H. Stanton, of Kentucky, said:
"I desire to amend the bill by striking
out the word 'Columbia' and inserting
'Washington' in lieu thereof. We have
already a Territory of Columbia. This
district is called Columbia: but we never
yet have dignified a territory with the
name of Washington. .
Mr. Lane I shall never object to that
name.
Mr. Stanton I -have nothing more to
say, except that I desire to see, if I should
live so long, at some future day, a sov
ereign state bearing the name of the
Father of his Country.
Douglas' 'Amendment.
There was very little dissent to the
proposal to honor the name of Wash
ington, but the Congressional Globe
shows that there was a lengthy debate
against the name on account of the con
fusion that would arise in handling the
mails. One member suggested the use
of an Indian name. The contest was
carried into the Senate, where Stephen
A. Douglas was chairman of the com
mittee on territories. He broueht in an
amendment to the name which has been
hidden all these years. The Coheres
slonal Globe is silent on the amendment
proposed. It was surmised that he had
obtained a suitable Indian name. The
amendment was-withdrawn and the Sen
ate passed the bill as it was. Recently
the librarian of the Senate found that
amendment proposed and withdrawn by
STUBBS, NEWEST STATESMAN OF KANSAS
In the Iilmelight Only Two Years and Already a Candidate for United States Senator.
EVERY few years Kansas produces
an especially picturesque states
man. Of course, all the. time and
forever it has odd and interesting peo
ple, but at intervals comes a figure to
overtop the rest for a while.
This time it is Stubbs Walter Ros
coe Stubbs, Quaker, 6 feet in his stock
ings, broad, red-headed, with a smile
that can light up an auditorium to the
topmost gallery and a voice that can
keep pace with the smile, says a cor
respondent of the New York Sun. He
is a member of the Kansas House of
Representatives, was Speaker of the
last session, is a candidate for United
States Senator but his -fame does not
rest on things of that sort.
Stubbs no one in Kansas ever re
fers to him as Mr. Stubbs was - un
heard of two years ago. Ho had been
busy building railroads and , took no
interest in politics.
He had several hundred men working
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 7, 1906.
Unconscious Evolution
of Geographical Names in the
Pacific Northwest
S4
1
Douglas. It consisted Bimply In adding
the letters "la" to the name of Wash
ington. Probably not one member of that Thirty-second
Congress was aware of the fact
that in thus honoring Washington they
had given his name to land that had been
christened New Georgia 61 years before.
During the very year that Congress
gave that new name to geography, the
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey
was exploring the Canal de Haro and
Rosario Strait. When the work was
finished in 1854 they called the large ar
chipelago of San Juan, Orcas and other
islands and the waters surrounding them
Washington Sound, cutting down the
Gulf of Georgia to the present Strait of
Georgia. Thus was the name of Wash
ington written on land and sea, displac
ing the name of King George III.
Another curious change in geography
haa been made by British subjects along
this same line. Vancouver was not sat
isfied with New Georgia and Gulf of
Georgia as honors for his King, but went
further and called the (land north of New
Georgia after the King's "house." He
called it New Hanover, which the Can
adians have changed to a truly American
name. They call It British Columbia.
The name of Washington is loved
throughout the Northwest The latest
evidence of this is the plan of the
Daughters of the American Revolution to
erect on the campus of the State Uni
versity of Washington at Seattle an
heroic statue of the Father of His
Country.
for him and hie work trains were scat
tered from the Rocky Mountains to
Chicago. His contracts ran into mil
lions and he was kept busy looking
after them. .
Then one day there was a political
rebellion against the Republican Gov
ernor and a party of men met to dis
cuss, means of defeating him for re
nomination. Among them was Stubbs.
"We'll just go to the people," he said,
"and here is my contribution."
He threw $500 on the table. Such a
gift was unprecedented and it made
him a leader at once. He established
headquarters and engaged the services
of a bright young man as telephone
caller.
Then he began his campaign. All day
long, day after day, he called up farm
ers and township managers in every
part of Kansas.
"They like It." was his explanation.
"Who pays any attention to a letter?
But a long distance call from Topeka
3.
A?
tf.
turn
can't be ignored. The farmers will "
think it means something.
They did. Day after day the long
distance lines were busy carrying
Stubbs' messages to the most remote
parts of the state. With the many
farmers' lines it is possible to reach
almost anybody of consequence in a
few minutes.
The bills for telephone tolls ran up
into hundreds of dollars, but Stubbs
did not stop. He . talked and talked,"
received reports and opinions, and
when the convention met he had a ma
jority of the delegates for his candidate,
the present Governor, E. W. Hoch.
Stubbs was the chairman of the con
vention. He had never presided over
a body of SOD men before and he was
jlainly tmbarrassed as he took the
platform. Instead of making the usual
speech, he said:
"Well, we are here for business;
what do you want to do?"
The Legislature met and Stubbs, who
had run lor the lower house and bad
..-Li
for
s
Coc
been elected, was chosen Speaker. The
same directness that had characterized
his convention work was seen in the
management of the House's affairs and
he was clearly the leader.
After the Legislature adjourned,
however, things rather got away from
him. He was busy with some big con
tracts and before he knew it the con
vention this year was organized
against him.
He tried his best to control it, but
vainly, and a ticket was nominated
that did not suit Stubbs. Since then
he has taken the role of a question,
asker.
He called a meeting at Topeka and
all those who were with him in the
fight 'gathered to discuss campaign
plans.
"I'll give $500." said he again, and laid
his check on the table.
Others added to the amount until a
fund was raised that would run another
campaign.
The Republican platform in Kansas
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silent on the anti-pass proposition, also on
the 2-cent fare matter, also on the assess
ment of railroads. Stubbs formulated
some questions to ask of the candidates
for the Legislature and the state officers
to determine their positions on these sub
jects. Every candidate has been quizzed. Some
of them have ignored the questions; some
have answered equivocally, but most of
them have given answers that they are
in accord with the reform movement head
ed by Stubbs. When the Legislature meets
these will be organized and Stubbs is like
ly to have a working force that will make
him a power in the Legislature, If it is
not sufficient to carry him to the Senate.
Stubbs went into a picture store In Kan
sas City a few weeks ago and looked with
interest at some oil paintings.
"How much." he asked.
"Those are very line," replied the dealer.
"We are asking $200 each for them."
"And how much for framing?"
"Well, they oueht to have frames that
would cost $50 each, though we can frame
them for $35."
"I am surprised," said Stubbs. "I
thought tney would be about $5 each,
frames and all."
He laughed heartily at his mistake.
"But these are by the best artists." ex
plained the dealer, scandalized.
He then launched into a lone areument
tohow that the pictures were worth the
money.
on. well, 1 didn t mean anything
wrong, said Stubbs. with another laugh.
"Just frame un three of 'em the best
you can and send 'em to me at Lawrence,
Ivan. My name s stuobs. '
unce ne was competing witn several
EAST INDIAN TREES
A newcomer to India was once advised
by an old resident to "get up the trees."
This advice did not apply, as the re
cipient of it at first not un
naturally supposed, to an inno
cent and inexpensive form of athletic
exercise, nor to the adoption of the hab
its of the savtge tribe known as
tree dwellers, but simply to the advis
ability of learning the names of the com
mon trees of the country and of acquir
ing the power of recognizing them when
seen. For one thing, it is by trees that
travelers off the beaten track are expect
ed to find their way. An Indian villager,
be he ever so ignorant in other respects,
is as familiar with the trees in his neigh
borhood as a London policeman is with
the streets on his beat. Instead of being
told to take "three to the right and two
to the left," you are directed to make
straight for a big banyan whose crest
is to be discerned on the horizon. Pass
to the east of it and you will come to
three palm trees; keep them on your right
hand and pass between a tamarind and a
mango, and you will hit upon a path that
will take you straight to the village you
are searching for. So familiar are the
people with the trees that the writer has
met a villager who, after he became
blind, could identify any tree by finger
ing its leaves.
Then the economic importance of trees
can only be realized by those who have
lived among the villagers. The food sup
plies are not by any means limited to the
fruits of commerce, and flowers, leaves,
twigs and roots are largely used as well.
The leaves of certain trees, pinned to
gether by twigs, serve as plates, or are
fashioned into drinking cups. A great
many domestic remedies, for man and
beast, are also derived from the forest,
and there is no doubt that some of them
are efficacious. It is not so very long
since some of theliill and Jungle tribes of
India, like our first parents, clothed them
selves with leaves, and it is said that it
required a military experience to induce
some of the women in Orissa to discard
this primitive' dress in favor of cotton
saries. A man will often make his house
entirely from trees, plastered with a lit
tle mud, the roof being constructed of
Palmyra palm leaves or others of a large
size and firm texture. Dyes, tans, ink,
books, shoes, waterproof capes, gum, seal
ing wax, rope these are but a very few
of the miscellaneous articles that are got
from trees. No wonder the planting of a
grove of trees ranks with digging a tank
or sinking a well as a work of religious
merit. If we were to include the bam
boo and similar plants the list of manu
factured articles would be endless; but
the bamboo is a grass and not a tree.
Even to mention the common trees of In
dia would be a lengthy task, so we con
fine ourselves to the most familiar. Near
ly all that are about to be mentioned are
found either within the writer's compound
or in Its immediate neighborhood.
First come the fig tribe; the banyan
41
other contractors for a $.1,000,000 job of
railway buildlne. The contractors met in
Chicago to consult with the president of
the road.
All went to the president's office ona
morning and talked the matter over.
Finally the wearied official said:
"Gentlemen, I am going to lunch. You
will have to let this go until tomorrow."
Of course, they left, and all went down
in the elevator together. As they came
to the second floor Stubbs stopped the
elevator.
"Have to see a man," he explained.
"Good morning."
As the elevator returned he entered and
In a minute he was back in the railway
president's office. The official looked up
surprised.
"I thought " he becan.
"Yes, I know." said Stubbs with his
smile. "You don't care to meet us all at
once. Let's talk it over together."
They talked it over. Stubbs went out
with the president to lunch. Likewise he
landed the contract.
Stubbs may enter the United States Sen
ate to succeed Senator Benson. If he
does the Senate will sit up and take no
tice very early in his career.
When the meat trust troubles were up
last Winter he called on President Roose
velt and frankly told him of some experi
ences of his own in getting meat for his
laborers. In a week there was a new line
of investigation, and it brought results.
Stubbs the name cannot be forgotten;
and the personality behind It is likely to
be prominent for some time to come.
and his brothers. The banyan, the big
brother of the family, is our very own
Ficus bengalensis. That true tree lover
Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that his
tree wives were more numerous than
Brlgham Young's human onesr The ring
with which he wedded them was a 30-foot
measuring tape: with which he encircled
them at the height of five feet above the
ground. His first-class trees were those
whose branches at their widest circumfer
ence were more than a hundred feet. His
favorites were elms; and he made some
remarks about cherishing the hope of still
having pleasure at the 'elm. even when
youth was no longer on the prow. If
merit goes to bulk no doubt the banyan
comes first, and a circumference of 20 feet
round the trunk could hardly be regarded
as a mark of distinction in it. But it is
often a parasite, a vampire, sucking the
life blood of its victim and crushing it to
death. Its fruit Is eaten by the very poor,
elephants greatly relish its leaves and
branches, but its widespread, grateful
shade is perhaps its most valued product
A much more handsome tree, more inde
pendent and self-respecting, is the pipal,
the Ficus rellgiosa. It is the most sacred
of the five trees regarded with veneration
by the Hindus,, the other four being the
gular, the bargad, the pakar and the
mango. Brahma, Vishnu and Siva are
all supposed to Inhabit it, and no one
can tell how many minor spirits as well,
whose whisperings are supposed to be
heard when the leaves, suspended by their
long, slender stalks, flutter In the slight
est breath of wind. If a man takes a
pipal leaf in his hand and crushing it ex
presses a wish that the gods may so
crush him if he Is not telling the truth,
the oath is regarded as of the utmost
6anctity.
A pious Hindu will often take oft his
shoes when he comes to a pipal, and
walk five times round it from left to
right, repeating as he does so a verse
which says: "The roots are Brama,
the bark Vishnu, the branches the Ma
hadeo. In the bark lives the Ganges,
the leaves are the minor deities. Hail to
thee, king of trees." The gular (Ficus
glomerata), the bargad, which is another
name for the banyan, and the pakar
(Ficus venosa) are all members of the
fig tribe, the Levites of the forest. The
gular yields a larger fruit than the ban
yan, and is a good deal used as a food.
In the extremely hot weather of this year
the writer found that mysterious holes
were being dug by night round the roots
of a large gular tree in his compound.
On inquiring into the cause he found that
the servants were incising the roots to
obtain the juice, which they said they
drank to keep up their strength during
the heat. There was more than a hun
dred species of the Ficus genus to be
found in India; and 500 more elsewhere.
Caoutchouc, or India rubber, is derived
from the Ficus elastica; a somewhat sim
ilar milky juice exudes from the other
species. The Statesman.