Evening Republican, Volume 59, Number 93, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 May 1917 — CITIES’ ODD NAMES [ARTICLE]

CITIES’ ODD NAMES

Few National Capitals Are Called After Noted Citizens. Many Municipalities In State* Commemorate Famous Men of History, But Not Many of Them Are Americans. —.—; : - ■ ■■ ■■" '■ There used to be a saying that to reach the heights of fame a man must have a street, a 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; Petrograd, named for its founder, Peter the Great, and Constantinople, named for the great but beyond these the capitals of the various countries have received their names by reason of their climate, their geographic position or some touch of sentiment, a 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 became Petrograd, eliminating the German “burg,” whose choosing has always been a mystery to the Russian people. Tokyo, the capital of Japan; has also had its name changed, for less than fifty years agio 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, mining eastern capital, thus differentiating It from the former capital, which had been called Saikyo, or western capital. Another capital which has been rechrlstened within recent years Is Christiania, the capital- of Norway, which derives Its name from King Christian IV, who Mfllt the now-fa-mous city after the destruction by fire of the old capital Oslo. • It was his desire to make It the most modern and most beautiful of cities, and he took so great a personal interest in It that when It came to a name everyone urged that it be called for him, and Christiania was finally adopted as being more artisitlc than Chrlstlanville or burg. There are very few great cities of the United States named for Americans, but there are many which commemorate famous men of history. Of those named for Americans, there are, among others,' Jefferson City, Mo.; Madison, Wls.; 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 wilderness. San Francisco Is named, It is true, for St Francis, but the monks <of that order are really the ones whose deeds the rity commemorates; and there are, besides, Hennepin, Minn., find Marquette, Wls., 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 received their christening no one dreamed that the time would come when the vast new country would be a pation of itself. Thus New York was named for the duke of York, St. Louis for the king of France, Pittsburgh for Lord Pitt, Baltimore for Lord Baltimore, New Orleans for fce duke of'Orleans, and so on through a long list of names that have now become most thoroughly Americanized In the thoughts of the whole world.

In Australia the habit of naming cities after statesmen is more prevalent than in any other country, and the majority of its larger town? bring to mind men who have helped to make history. Thus Melbourne recalls Lord Melbourne; Sydney was named after Thomas Townsend, first viscount Sydney, 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 IV.