Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-03-11
NEW SITES WILL MARX
GROWTH OF NuIAGES


Tss S-s ;--e :: aGat-sGs 9: o;As-
VILLAGES W, :Aey svs- - -sbv:i:-
10 ooEo: o:1s- villages =. ;aSs :he!-
ptacs g. ne 7s32:s v'Ac al; cultivate
bot there = 10 particular season vhy
ihsy should occu2y -Ae old sites When
;pey evolved or:Eiaally they generally
bore some distinct relation - the cas-
tie o. manor house o. the local land
lord and in mos, cases clustered about
the edge OF the castle grounds Land
!o7d;sn disappeared ii France with the
revolution. but The villages remained
No~ the villages, too. have Sone and
there is nothing but the sentiment OF
, ioca histery and tradition, 20. tie them
= and cheaper and probably healthier 10
: build brand new villages on brand new
" SITES selected with reference to their
porta;ion facilities and their PROV
unity 10 market towns
Now we come TO the larger towns
wnich have been totally destroyed,
towns like Bapaume and La Bassee.
10Th famous for the hard-fought
battles which ragged in and around
them. No one driving through them
can iali to realize that these were
considerable towns, but in neither OF
the towns is there the semblance of a
house There are streets for the
streets have been cleared by the allied
troops to make way for the tranic
lowing through them. but where the
houses were are merely heaps Of brick
from five or six TO twenty feet high.
In La Bassee saw a family OF
three. man and his wife and their
y son. digging with pick and shovel on
= iop OF ono Of these heaps and asked
= them what they were doing. They
bs2ors the thai this W was hs hem
swept over La Bassce they hid their
money and valuahies and insurance
they had returned to find them. When
asked how they had identified the
site Of their house the man replied
that he had measured the distance
from The stree; corner
WOULD DE nEr'rER TO
BUILD IN NEW FIELDS
Here IS Il ease in which local pride
ynd owne:sh:p OF the sites will prob
ably lead 10 the rebuilding of the
Town on the old site. but as matter
OF stern economic efficiency it would
~ be far better TO select new site in
-, the fields and begin all over again.
, The terrible task OF clearing away all
the rubbish OF the old town would be
Yprcs is another case in this class.
Here and there in fnres there is a
fragment of standing wall but there
is not single habitable house. The
glorious cathedral and Cloth hall
q which made iXes famous in the past
aNs w xanf ba Inc st was wnsG sa
With AN eye TO its defensive qualities
u. as it stands on slight eminen nee
! above the flat surrounding plain. To-
which carries so much of the traffic
on which the town depends has TO be
locked UP 10 the town and down again
from it. The railway had TO make a
dctour TO reach the town on Its way
j. from Poperinghe 10 Roulers Any
skilled town planncr could pick dozen
better sites in the immediate neigh
borhood on watch 10 raise new
Ipras.
Yet it is more than probable that
yprcs will be built again on the same
site The Belgans are governed by
tradition. and again the problem OF
ownership will interfere with any at
tempt TO move the site OF the ancient
town. The man who owned an eligible
corner lot in the best street Will no:
want 10 surrender II for a lot o: prob
lcmatica value somewhere on the new
= site. He Will want to rebuild on mis-
own lot. and will expect that IT viii
again be as valuable as ever in the
new Yprcs OF course the rebuilding
will be costly because the whole site
of the old town viii have 10 be cleared
and no clearance can make a site
which has been thickly populated 70!
q thousand years IS healthy and clear
as one on virgin soil