Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1941-05-31
Custer Confuses Virginions
Vacated in Army Training Area
Many in Caroline County Weren't Sure
Whether u. S. Wanted Them to Move or Not
Ry PAT JONES.

BY PAT JONES.
Residents of the area in Caroline
County, Va, taken over as an Army
training ground, found their great
est inconvenience in many in
stances, they say, in the inability
of the Federal Government to de-
eide definitely what acreage it
wanted.
" They discovered Uncle Sam
fast-moving individual once he
made up his mind, but there were
hectic weeks of uncertainty in
which the Virginians, a vast ma
jority of whom are going to new
homes for the first time in their
lives. were unable to learn def
nitely whether they were in the way
or not.
1t had been rumored for months
that the Government had set its
eyes on that rural section of the
Old Dominion because of its scant
population and its lack of industry,
but even the most accurate of re-
ports in many cases sounded like
gossip.
Blacksmith Exasperated.
County Agricultural Agent C. B.
Lanford. to whom the worried land
owners flocked, could offer no help.
He, too, got conflicting reports.
L. L. Kay, colored blacksmith,
was driven to evaporation. He had
a garden fence he desired particu-
larry to take along with him in case
he had to move. Twice he was told
he would have to vacate and, in
each instance, the information was
contradicted. Then an appraiser ap-
peared and the blacksmith figured
his case had been settled.
II got a garden fence want to
move" he explained to the ap-
praiser. How about my taking the
staples loose and just leaving the
fence standing until I'm ready to
leave"
You better roll it up now" adj
vised the appraiser. you got to
60 at once to make way for the
first soldiers coming in"
So Kay coiled his wire and
opened his garden to dogs and
chickens. A few days later the
blacksmith was set up at home
again, with the fence back around
the garden. The Government, he
was informed, had changed its
mind.
Uproots His Garden.
Eventually War Department rep
resentatives came back to see Kay.
They said their information was
final, that the Government wanted
his place. 1t took a lot of talking
to convince him and 1t was only
at the last minute that he again
took down his wire.
Meanwhile other inconvenience
had been happening to Kay. He
rented a piece of property in
Spottsylvania County as many
times as he took down his fence
before the deal was consummated.
In his experiences of this sort
Kay was more fortunate than his
neighbor. Isiah Chambers. colored,
who moved to a new home, moved
back into his old home, then moved
to the new home again before his
case finally was settled.
But Kay foxed the situation with
his butter beans. They had just
been planted when he first was in
formed he would have to vacate. He
took in the effect of the news at
once and rushed to his garden to
scratch up the beans before they
sprouted. That was one thing that
didn't go back, for the blacksmith
made up his mind that he pre-
ferred a late crop to seed growing
in Government soil.
One of the first real evidences
that the Government had made up
its mind was the following sign
tackled up on the post Office at Mica
by Postmaster F. E. Bowie:
Important Notice-All persons
who have been receiving mail as
this post Office please leave for
warding address before you move"
This was conclusive proof that
OllCle Dahl llcdllU DuSlliCoo anu pAlO
neighborhood took heed according
ly. A scramble to find new homes
started Immediately and centered
around the Office of Agricultural
Agent Lanford, who threw open his
doors as clearing house for avail
able property.
In the hurry to move, officials
found one reaction they had not an
ticipated. AS laid off, the training
ground was divided into two areas.
More than $4,000 acres north of
Route 301, the highway between
Bowling Green and Port Royal,
were to be vacated by June 1, while
nearly 10000 acres south of the road
were ordered vacated by September
/. In some instances, 1t was found,
families had moved from the June
tract into the September tract,
bringing upon themselves a double
dose of moving.
When it was definite that the
Caroline County area would be
taken over by the Government, resi-
dents accepted their fate and went
about the task of packing. Per-
haps the greatest job of this sort