1907 - Along The Tidewater

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Sun Dec 16 21:42:19 EST 2007


Roanoke Times - December 17, 1907

ALONG THE TIDEWATER

What Is Meant By the Present Lull in Active Operations

A resident of Roanoke, who has been for some months in the employ
of the Tidewater railroad, states the he does not know when the men
who have been laid off will be taken back. In the past, he says, at
the expiration of each month engineers were supposed to furnish
estimates of the work done by contractors, and these estimates were
usually made in a rough sort of a way, and this was also done when
there was any temporary cessation of work. The last time that forces
were cut off on a large part of the system, he says, the engineers
were required to make careful and accurate estimates of what
contractors had done, in order that they might be paid in full, and
this fact, he declares, was to him an indication that the promoters
of the enterprise did not expect to resume active operations for
quite a while, at least this was what he feared, and, therefore, he
was looking out for a new position. Of course, he said, there is no
one outside of those who are immediately connected with the promotion
of the undertaking, who can tell anything of the real situation. He
had heard it said that the promoters had come to the conclusion that
the high rate of interest prevailing in New York made it more
profitable for them to use their money there, and that for this
reason, they had decided not to spend any more money than possible
for the present on the extension of the Tidewater work.
In this connection, it is interesting to note the following
account of the wonderful growth of a little town situated on the
Tidewater in the county of Lunenburg:
Among the numerous towns which have come into existence on account
of the unparalleled developments in the South during the recent
years, perhaps there is not another one which has been so blessed in
a great many respects as the little town of Tinkling, situated in the
famous county of Lunenburg, widely known as the "Free State," on
account of the fact that she had a regiment of soldiers in the
Confederate army before the state of Virginia had seceded from the Union.
Tinkling is a small town, located on the Virginian railway, 118
miles from Norfolk. This town came into existence on account of the
building of the great Tidewater railway, afterwards changed to the Virginian.
Sixteen months ago there stood one lone grocery store to mark the
place where today there is a thriving town of fourteen stores,
actually doing business, and four more being erected. There is also a
bank, with a capital of $30,000, which does a large business; also a
large granite quarry, which furnishes ballast for the Virginian
railway. There is also here the Lunenburg Brick and Tile Company,
which makes a very good brick. They have installed the damp-mud
process, and have a plant capable of manufacturing 35,000 bricks per day.
Beginning with December 23d there will be daily mail service
established over the Virginian railway from Richmond, Petersburg,
Suffolk and Norfolk.


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- Ron Davis, Roger Link





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