REPORT OF BOARD ON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES. 
19 
Three counties and ten post offices in the United States bear the 
name*Vermilion. The Board in this case spells the name Vermilion, 
irrespective of local usage, which is in some cases Vermillion, deem¬ 
ing the change so trifling and the gain in uniformity so great as to 
warrant this course. 
The dropping of the “h” at the end of the termination “burg” has 
been uniformly followed by the Board, even where, as in some cases, 
this decision has conflicted with local usage. Thus it writes Lunen¬ 
burg, Mecklenburg, Orangeburg, Spartanburg, Vanderburg, and 
Williamsburg as the names of counties in Virginia, Indiana, North 
Carolina, and South Carolina. 
Puerto Rico, meaning rich port , is the Spanish name of one of the 
West Indies acquired by the United States in 1898. In 1891 the Board 
adopted this form, conforming to the invariable local usage of that 
time and also to the practice of the country having jurisdiction. An 
act of Congress approved April 12, 1900, has established the form 
Porto Rico as the name of the island. 
HOW DECISIONS ARE MADE. 
Cases brought to the Board for decision are at once referred to the 
executive committee for examination and report. This committee 
examines each case, consulting printed authorities, such as mother 
maps, gazetteers, local historians, atlases, etc. Especially does it seek 
after, and it generally obtains, the local usage, to which it attaches 
great importance. Local usage is usualty obtained by correspondence 
with county clerks, postmasters, and residents who are conversant 
with local conditions. This information derived from correspondence 
is often supplemented by the oral testimony of individuals having per¬ 
sonal knowledge of the name under consideration. The information 
needful for deciding may be obtained quickly, within a day or two, or 
it may take months. When the executive committee is satisfied, it 
tabulates the results on cards, which are printed blanks whereon spaces 
are left for entering various items of information. When all the data 
are tabulated the members of the executive committee record their 
preferences, signing their initials. Thus there is a record vote of the 
executive committee. The cards so prepared are submitted to the 
Board at its regular monthly meetings, and considered one by one. 
Usually the executive committee agrees on its recommendations. 
Not infrequently, however, there is a divided report. The case being 
submitted to the Board, a vote is taken, and a majority, not of those 
present, but of the whole Board, is necessary to decide. The decision so 
reached is written at the top of the card, which is thereupon stamped 
Approved , with the date of the approval. Usually, from one to several 
cases at each meeting, are by the Board sent back to the committee for 
