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Show WESTERN NOMENCLATURE. Movement to Change the Curious, Qmiiut Names 'of Oregon Towns. It is difficult to shake off the names attached to streams and mountains by the pioneers of a new country. With ' few exceptions Washington state has fared well in nomenclature. In a majority ma-jority of instances Indian names have been retained, and usually they are easy and poetical. But in some cases the individuality of the first settlers prompted them to an effort to improve on the native names of streams ami sections, and in some instances they were not happy in their originality. The word Hangman has clung to the little stream which skirts Spokane on its western border, and repeated spasmodic spas-modic efforts to center the public mind on the more melodious name Latah have failed of their purpose. Now Senator Sen-ator Plummer of this county has introduced intro-duced a bill at Olympia to make this change, and as no objection can attach to the measure it will probably pass, and may exert sufficient force to brint about the desired change. A few years ago an esthetic movement swept through the Oregon legislature, and a number of pioneer names were turned down for more polite ones. The good people of Alkali, in eastern Oregon, imagined that the name was not one' to conjure eastern capital, and dropped it for Arlington. A new name was devised de-vised for Bully creek, and Yaller Dog and Bake Oven were tabooed as primitive primi-tive and unpoetic. Bake Oven has adhered, ad-hered, and is still the name of a' po'st-office. po'st-office. Indeed, much room remahvs for improvement of the nomenclature of Oregon, which includes in its iist of postoffices the towns of Burnt Ranch, Gooseberry, Haystack Lobster Long Tom, Mule, Shake, Shirk Starve' out, and Sucker. A few names 'iu H i" ho could be dropped for the better-among better-among them Bayhorse, Corral Gimlet' t0::;. xut sarooth' an,i y-" Jacket. Spokane Spokesman-Review. |