Moving a Town !

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 153, 1 July 1939, Page 11

Moving a Town !

VID ALIA, U.S.A. —This little town of Vidalia is moving—houses, business blocks and all —throught its beginning runs back nearly 150 years to the days of Spanish rule in this section of the United States. Like other communities before it, Vidalia has been forced to hop before the gnawing waters of tho Mississippi River. Retreat behind a temporary levee comes in the course of a flood control project here opposite Natchez, where a “bottle-neck" constriction makes this the narrowest point in Idle Mississippi, and a potential trouble-starter in time of high water. By August 1, Government engineers expect to have a permanent leveo complete, 1,200 feet bach of the original one. Moving began just before the first of the year. Every brick building, with the exception of tho schoolhouse, is being torn down. Only about half-a-dozen frame houses iu the entire town can remain where they were. A whole new town must rise. There must be new water, gas, and electric-light systems. It is expected that when tho new town is laid out, it will extend back a mile. The complete project cannot bo accomplished in less than a year from now, according to Mayor George A. Murray. Landmarks daily disappear. The historic courthouse, the new brick jail, are no more. Gone, too, are some of Vidalia’a pretty gardens. In the new town, streets, sidewalks, and sewers are being provided by the WPA, and the Federal Government is paying each individual homeowner to move. Some like what they get, others do not. Vidalia used to be important as a port for shipping goods to the rapidly developing West, being for years partner to Natchez in a prosperity that came largely from the cotton plantations. All Serene A man was driving towards Brighton at about 1 a.m. when he came upon a decrepit taxi parked on the side of tho road with a typical London cabby sitting on the running-board. The man pulled up and shouted: “Had some trouble? " There was silence for a moment, then came: “Trouble? Nah! I got two blokes 'ere, firty-five bob on tho clock, they’re canned, don’t know where they live, and I’m left like a poached egg what’s lorst its toast No, [ ain't got no trouble!" Nothing Doing “Brown is a rotten sort of chap. I asked him to lend me two pounds for a few days and he absolutely refused." “My dear fellow, this club’s full of men like that. I’m another of them."