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About Aurora observer. (Aurora, Marion County, Or.) 19??-1940 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1926)
AU RO R A OBSERVER Our Pet Peeve __J (Copyright, W. N. U.) THE FEATHERHEADS The First and Great Commandment D r a w in g b y R a y W a lte r s . O YOU like the name of your town? Do you want it changed? Can you pre sent good reasons for making a change? Whether you want a change or not, now is the time for everyone inter ested in place names to come forward and assist the government In its gi gantic task of compiling the hundreds of thou sands o f names bestowed on geograph ical units and .natural objects tlirough- .out A m erica/ Now for the first time all the Jones’ corners, Wildcat creeks, Hogback v mountains and amusingly named hamlets in the country are to be christened officially by the federal government. This compilation will include the review of each name for authen ticity, proper spelling, and in many cases propriety and convenience. At tempt will be made to evolve new names for places which now have none. Then all will be published in an official gazetteer. “ The history of the nation is re flected largely in these names,” said Frank Bond, chairman o f the United States Geographic board, which is to supervise the work. , “ It is a big job, and the board will need a lot of voluntary help. We hope to develop widespread and constructive interest in place names.” The board is appealing to the gov ernors of the states to assist in quick ening the sources of the vast amount o f material which the board must gather and scrutinize. The gazetteer is to contain the name, authentically attested even as to spelling, of every hamlet, village, town and other geo graphical unit, as well as -that bf ev ery creek, river, bay, inlet, mountain or natural object having or deserving an identifying name. In the majority o f cases names al ready exist in undisputed forms, and consequently much o f the task will entail compilation only. It is ex pected, however, that when the board comes to pass on these officially there will be many demands that old names be discarded and new ones adopted. Even without the stimulation to such action as the present work provides, the board in the past regularly has handled many requests of that same sort. In making up the official gazetteer D Named From Genoese many ' changes probably will be thought desirable in certain instances on account of confusing duplications and sometimes truly objectionable terminology. Becently, for example, the board accepted a new name for Little Smallpox creek in Wisconsin because of the claim that the old name carried a detrimental sug gestion. The board has good reason for un dertaking this work. In probably no other country in the world is there such a tremendous duplication of place names as in the United States. There are, for example, dozens of Deer and Silver creeks. There are ten or more Lookout mountains, at least two of which are of note his torically or otherwise. Scores of towns have been named after famous Americans and well-known European places: the Parises and Londons are legion. This of course results in us ing the same names more than ever. There are cases of small villages in the same county using the same names, and many instances of neigh boring streams being identified by the same name. These confusions made little difference in the early days of the country, but now, with intensified communication, they are bothersome in many ways. This Is particularly true in map making o f the kind done by the United States geological, survey. Confusion of many kinds has been found. There are instances of a mul tiplication of names by common usage for the same place or object There are small rivers known to people in one county by a name different from the one designating it in another county. Mountains called Hogback on one side are called Green on the other. In gazetteering places and objects that have more than one name each the board must decide which'are most authentic and appropriate. There Is room for a thousand heated local dis putes In the clarifying o f these con fusions. Many people surrender old place names with great reluctance and many others are equally dlsputative about the way place names should be spelled. In formulating the gazetteer new names will have to be originated, for there is still a large number of name less natural objects of distinction or importance in the country. In the Bockies alone there are hundreds of tall mountain peaks which never have been christened. In clarifying confusion and finding appropriate new names a vast amount of research in local history, custom, philology and convenience must be done. Little attention will be paid to etymology as such, for in evolving place names usage as a rule ignores that science. When L’Eau Frais be comes Low Freight or custom turns Aux Anes into Ozan the national board raises no staying hand. For the most part the board attempts only to guide the currents o f usage. Old names, such as reflect early his tory or preserve the names o f original settlers, are prefer! ed. The objection that an old name is homely or even ludicrous does not carry much weight with the board. In dian names, where- ever preserved, also have the affec tion of the board. But In passing on these no attempt is made to conform to the originals as against usage or simplicity. people and one time issued a silver coinage of their own. These coins, known as “ galley half-pence," were broader than the ordinary English sil ver half-pennies but not so thick and strong. Their use was prohibited by an act of parliament in the reign of Henry IV. Juices. This he named pectin (from the Greek word pektis, meaning co- agulum). Braconnot published the story o f his researches that led to the discovery o f pectin in 1825 in the French Annals o f Chemistry. Mincing Lane, London, the center o f the wholesale tea trade, derives its name from certain tenements there once owned by the “ minchuns,” or nuns, of St. Helen’s. There, in the time o f the Piantagenets, lived a col Frenchman’s Discovery ony o f Genoese traderc called galley- One hundred years ago Braconnot, men because they brought' their wines and other merchandise to Galley a Frencn chemist, while examining wharf says the London Chronicle. various vegetables and fruits, discov They were a wealthy and powerful ered the Jellifying principle o f fruit MICKIE, THE PRINTER'S DEVIL Still Aw ake The world may quit sleep, accord ing to a chemist, but It seems to many of us that a great number o f its pop ulation abandoned sleep some time ago.—Oklahoma City Daily Okla homan. * * ^ l* l* ru n to « Dogs W ill Be Dogs