MANY VILLAGES IN A TOWN. 147 



legislature, and, by means of a little log-rolling^'^ get 

 themselves separated from the town, and raised at once 

 to the dignity of a city. The introduction of new Avords 

 enriches a language, but to give an old word a new 

 signification not only perplexes the hearer, but makes 

 the language poorer. 



In a township, a village springs up which naturally 

 assumes the same name — in the town of Pompey or 

 Cassar, the villages of Pompey or Caesar spring up. 

 Then a second village, a third, a fourth, a fifth, and 

 these are called respectively, Pompey East, Pompey 

 West, North, and South. And, finally, at the cross roads 

 which lead to these several villages another springs up, 

 and this becomes Pompey four Corners^ and all these in 

 the town of Pompey. 



Of course, the attaching of a new meaning to a few 



* In Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms, we have the follo'wdng 

 explanation of Log-o-olUng .•— " In the himber regions of Maine, it is cus- 

 tomaiy for men of different logging camps to appoint days for helping 

 each other in rolling the logs to the river, after they are felled and trim- 

 med — this rolling being about the hardest work incident to the business. 

 Thus the men of three or four camps will unite, say on Monday, to roll 

 for the camp No. 1— on Tuesday for camp No. 2— on Wednesday for 

 camp No. 3— and; so on through the whole number of camps within 

 convenient distance of each other. 



" The term has been adopted in legislation to signify a like system of 

 mutual co-operation. For instance, a member from St Lawrence has a 

 pet bill for a plank road which he wants pushed through ; he accord- 

 ingly makes a bargain with a member from Onondaga who is coaxing 

 along a charter for a bank, by which St Lawrence agrees to vote for 

 Onondaga's bank, provided Onondaga will vote in turn for St Law- 

 rence's plank road. 



" This is legislative log-rolling ; and there is abundance of it carried 

 on at Albany every winter. 



" Generally speaking, the subject of the log-rolling is some merely 

 local project, interesting only to the people of a certain district ; but 

 sometimes there is party log-rolhng, where the Whigs, for instance, will 

 come to an understanding with the Democrats, that the former shall 

 not oppose a certain Democratic measure merely on party grounds, 

 provided the Democrats will be equally tender to some Whig measure 

 in return. J- Inman." 



