Show The Name Mame N arne Is Familiar F amt o BY FELIX FELIR B. B and ELMO SCOTT WATSON Grog EOPLE pEOPLE say a man likes his 1 grog today but when the word first came Into use early in the Eighteenth century it was because those who drank it didn't like it I Heres Here's why Admiral Edward Ver Ver- Vernon Vernon Vernon non of the British navy was called Old Grog because at sea he al ale always al- al always ways wore a cape of cloth called grogram grogram grogram wa water resistant materi material ma terl al of either mo mo- mohair mohair moI moA A hair or wool I 4 mixed with silk it The seamen un un- under under der his command command t- t were served a pint half of rum rumor tJ K it or brandy each r I noon and drank 1 J 1 all of ot it at once once once- m r t 3 i t. t I probably so no noI lt f x 1 I one else would tk 1 j 0 0 1 get it it To prevent ff 1 their stomachs from receiving Admiral Vernon too hearty a jolt the admiral ordered the daily dally allow allow- allowance ance diluted with a quart of water and six hours of time time serving serving it in two Installments one at 11 in the morning and the other at a t four in the afternoon Although the stomachs may have appreciated this change the sailors didn't and they referred contemptuously contemptuously to their daily ration of liquor as grog after Old Grog who had ordered it So widely was the term used that Inns became known as grog shops In England England and and still are This British admiral had something else more familiar to Americans named after him Among his many friends and admirers in tie the Amer Amer- America American ica ican colonies was Lawrence Wash Wash- Washington Washington ington who gave his estate on the banks of the Potomac In Virginia the name of Mt l Vernon When he died Mt Vernon became the prop prop- property property property erty of his half brother George Washington London Bobby BobbyN IN TN N AMERICA a policeman may be bea a cop or a bull but in Lon Lon- London London don hes he's a bobby And hes he's that because in 1829 Sir Robert Peel home secretary in the duke of Wel Wellington's Wellington's lington's cabinet created the Lon London don metropolitan police force lorce At first these officers of the law were I referred to by Londoners as Sir Roberts Robert's men Then as Peels Peel's pop pop- popularity popularity increased and he was known by the affection affection- affectionate ate diminutive of Bobby they be be- began began g gan an calling his policemen Bob Bobbys Bobbys Bobbys bys by's men From FromN N k that it was only a aj astep astep l step to referring j k I to them as bob bobbies bobbies Hi jt bies and bob bobbies bobbies Hll bies they are to this day Robert Peel Nor is this the only common word in which the fame of this Brit Brit- Briton on who twice served as ns prime min minister ister 35 1834 and 46 1841 has been perpetuated While serving as sec sec- secretary secretary for Ireland in Lord Liver Liver- Liverpool's Liverpool's pools pool's cabinet Sir Robert established established the Irish constabulary Nat Nat- Naturally Naturally they weren't especially popular popular lar with the Irish who re reo referred re- re referred to them as peelers ie i.e. Sir Robert Peels Peel's men That word crossed the Atlantic with Irish emi emi- emigrants emigrants grants to America and since so many of that race became police pollee- policemen policemen men in our cities you'll find some old fashioned folk who still call po policemen Bremen peelers rather than cops cops or bulls I Bakelite IN N 1889 a year old Belgian chem chern chemistry professor named Dr Leo Hendrik Baekeland came to the United States and a few years later his research in the chemistry of photography brought about the de of certain very sensitive photographic papers Important as these were to the art of picture tak picture tak taking ing they probably would not have perpetuated his name in a com corn common cornmon mon word if it t he fl had not turned f his attention to another field of scientific re re- search For Dr Backe Backe- land became the father lather of plas plastics plastics tics and you can thank him for lor the beauty and dura durability of dozens of Dr Baekeland articles made of bakelite named in his honor Bake Bake- Bakelite Bakelite lite is a synthetic resin resulting from the action of ot formaldehyde and phenol carbolic acid when it is subjected to a special heat treat treat- treatment treatment ment under pressure which makes it hard and tough It is widely used as a substitute for lor hard rubber amber and celluloid loid laid for the manufacture of certain machinery gears ge rs phonograph rec rec- records records buttons billiard balls pipe pipe- stems umbrella handles and a great variety of other things Being a n non nonn nonconductor conductor it is especially useful for Insulating and protecting electrical apparatus IR Released by Western Newspaper Unions Union |