A contemporary remark that of all the names ever invented for a town, the last seems the most absurd. Yet the town which bears it thrives apace, and really wears the aspect of the probable focus of the oil trade. We could wish that some benevolent person in that section would make the town a present of a respectable appellation, as Oil City savors very much of a poverty of intellect.

There is the same dearth of invention in regard to names of the gold mining regions of Nevada territory, where they have such names as Virginia City, Silver City, Gold Hill City, etc. Such names invariably parish. In California, the whole crop of similar abominations has disappeared, and the cities have sonorous and respectable names, like San Francisco, Sacramento, Stockton, etc.

The best thing the Oil City folks could do would be to occupy their first resting spell by washing themselves clean of the oil, and remembering that they are Christians as well as oil traders, search out a respectable name and rechristen their town.