In consequence of this, all of the houses were ordered to be torn down or moved away, and one small village of shanties was destroyed. Among others, the inhabitants of Katonah were ordered to move, that the banks of the stream might be cleared of dwellings.
Katonah has a railroad depot, and a post-office, and thinks a good deal of itself.
When the Water-Shed Commission said that it must move or be destroyed, Katonah gathered its residents together, and decided that rather than be wiped off the face of the map, it would pick up its houses and move itself.
So a new Katonah was established, about a quarter of a mile away from the old one, and just outside the Water-Shed on which it was forbidden to build, for fear of spoiling the water for New York.
For several months past there has been a procession of houses moving from old Katonah to new.
The Sun gave an amusing account of seeing a barber's shop leading the parade; this was closely followed by a large yellow cottage, with a cat, who had refused to leave her home, still seated on the front door-step.
The way that houses are moved is very simple.
You of course understand that only frame or wooden houses can be moved any distance. Houses of stone or brick would be likely to fall to pieces, and being so heavy, the difficulty of moving them is greatly increased. They are therefore seldom moved, and only for very short distances.
Frame houses are always put on stone or brick foundations. If the wood were put right down on the earth, the damp would soon rot it, and the house would fall, so strong stone or brick foundations are first laid, and then the wooden house is built upon them.