The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1901-04-18
SITE SELECTED.
Soldiers Home Committee Finish Their
Work and Depart.


The agony is over.
The dove sent out by Uncle Sam has
returned and brought twig from a
high point on the west side.
After looking at every location Of
fered, the board of managers finally
selected site for the Soldiers Home
Sunday morning. The site selected
begins at the corporation line one mile
west of public square and extends along
the north side of the Southern Railway
for more than a mile, and contains
something ovor 400 acres of the best
land in Washington county. The site
is composed Of the lands of Joe 2. Lyle,
John f. Lyle, J. NJ. Martin, r. F.
Hale and the heirs of G. J. Lyle, or the
Burt farm. This land touches the
Southern right-of-way ON the south and
rises gently to the north, forming n
comparatively level plateau overlooking
the city and surrounding country. The
board of managers discovered this site
while passing by on the train and fell
in love with it, so to speak. They asked
to be driven there, and when'upon the
ground their first impressions were
more than realized, and from that time
on they devoted good portion of the
time to looking up the advantages o.
this location as to water and drainage.
1t would be impossible to go into de-
tail about the excitement in the hote
lobby Saturday afternoon and evening
when the advocates of the two sites il
question, Carnegie" and LYLE, " were
trying to bag their game. All kinds o.
rumors were afoat, and the hopes o.
one side would go up as those of the
other side would go down.
Sunday afternoon the statement wat
made by Col. Brownlow that the com
mittee had decided on the LYLE" 10
cation provided certain conditions couli
be met. These conditions have beer
met and the matter is settled.
Col. Tbos. E. Matson, a resident en-
gineer, has been employed to surve!
the tract and has a corps now in til,
field plating the land and making
Typographical survey. S. 9. Williams
of the law firm of Kirkpatrick, Will
liams & Bowman, has been employed
to draw the deeds and look up the ii
ties.
AS a matter of fact the location is a
nearly perfect as it is possible to get
and the board of managers were unani
nous in declaring that it was far supe
rior to the Dayton CO., Home, and tina
has heretofore been considered the fines
spot in the United States. 1t will b.
impossible to obstruct the view of TIL
Home from the Southern Railway, an
passengers can see every building an
the grounds from the train for NOR
than mile.
Located as it is, the Home will b
worth many times as much to Johnso
City, from an advertising standpoint
as at any other place. Again, the loca
ton above town fixes the business ceI
ter of Johnson City at the old stan
permanently, and for this a great man
are thankful.
1t twas urged by some that Col. Brown
low controlled the location, but thi
was denied by the Colonel. He toll
The COMET that he favored the Carnt
gle site on account of getting car lin
at once, and because the water an
lights and hotel accommodations wer
already there, but he recognizes th
fact that the committee was selectin
a site for the government and not fc
the accommodation of any person
There can be, and is, no objection t
the site. 1t is all that could be desire
from any point of view.
Before leaving the board of manager
stated that active work would con
mence upon the buildings within yer
short time. The law requires that wor
shall commence within six months frol
the passage Of the act. The first buil(
ings to be erected will be power hous'
dining-room and kitchen. This is 81
pected to exhaust the present appropr
alton, and 100000 additional will |
asked for this fall.
This is not only the best thing th'
ever struck johnson City but it is IL
biggest thing that ever came south.