USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1894-1896 > Part 1
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ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
TOWN OFFICERS
OF THE
TOWN OF PLYMOUTH,
FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31.
1894.
PLYMOUTH : AVERY & DOTEN, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS. 1895.
PLYMOUTH PUBLIC LIBRARY
74€
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/annualreportoft1894unse_0
145
TOWN OFFICERS.
SELECTMEN-Arthur Lord, L. T. Robbins, James Millar, Horace M. Saunders, D. H. Craig.
TOWN CLERK-George S. Dyer.
TOWN TREASURER-George S. Dyer. AUDITOR-James D. Thurber.
COLLECTOR OF TAXES-Benjamin F. Ward.
CLERK OF SELECTMEN-Benjamin F. Ward.
ASSESSORS-Charles Henry Holmes, chosen 1893, for three years; Alonzo Warren, chosen 1893, for two years; Elmer E. Avery, chosen 1894, for three years.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR-George H. Jackson, chosen 1892, for three years ; Charles P. Hatch, chosen 1893, for three years ; Benjamin F. Ward, chosen 1894, for three years.
WATER COMMISSIONERS-Everett F. Sherman and Increase Robinson, chosen 1894, for three years; Horace P. Bailey and James Millar, chosen 1893, for three years; Wm. S. Danforth, chosen 1893, for two years.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE-Charles I. Litchfield and James Mil- lar, chosen 1892, for three years; Elizabeth Thurber, chosen 1893, for three years; H. N. P. Hubbard and Gideon F. Holmes, chosen 1894, for three years.
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BURIAL HILL COMMITTEE-Selectmen.
AGAWAM FISHERY COMMITTEE-Daniel W. Andrews, Mar- tin V. B. Douglass, Frank Harlow.
PARK COMMISSIONERS-Nathaniel Morton, chosen 1892, for three years ; George R. Briggs, chosen 1894, for three years ; Henry O. Whiting, chosen 1893, for three years.
SURVEYORS AND MEASURERS OF LUMBER-Leavitt T. Robbins, Edward B. Atwood, Cornelius C. Holmes.
SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES .- Christopher T. Harris.
BEACH COMMITTEE-Selectmen.
SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS-Stillman R. Sampson.
FIELD DRIVERS AND FENCE VIEWERS-Joseph F. Towns, Hosea C. Bartlett, Nathan B. Perry, Howard Hirsch.
· SUPERINTENDENT OF WATER WORKS-Richard W. Bagnell. COLLECTOR OF WATER RATES-John H. Harlow.
POUND KEEPERS-Joseph F. Towns, Hosea C. Bartlett, Nathan B. Perry.
COMMITTEE ON INLAND FISHERIES-Thomas D. Shumway, Chas. B. Stoddard, Benjamin A. Hathaway.
BOARD OF REGISTRATION-Isaac M. Jackson, John W. Churchill, Henry H. Fowler, George S. Dyer.
SUPERINTENDENT OF VINE HILLS CEMETERY-Myles S. Weston.
SEXTON-Ozen Bates.
SUPEINTENDENT OF THE ALMSHOUSE-Obed C. Pratt.
BOARD OF HEALTH-Selectmen.
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BOARD OF ENGINEERS-Horace P. Bailey, William E. Baker, Albert E. Davis, George E. Saunders, Daniel M. Bosworth, Ephraim D. Bartlett.
SUPERINTENDENT OF MANOMET CEMETERY-Stephen Holmes.
SUPERINTENDENT OF CHILTONVILLE BURIAL GROUND-Augus- tus B. Rogers.
CONSTABLES-Michael Casey, Joshua A. Douglas, Joseph W. Hunting, Edwin F. King, Freeman Manter, George H. Newhall, Benjamin F. Snow.
COMMITTEE ON FIRE IN THE WOODS-Samuel Bradford, Nehemiah L. Savery, Gustavus G. Sampson, Horatio Wright, M. V. B. Douglas, N. B. Perry, C. E. Bumpus, Ziba R. Ellis, Joseph F. Towns, Nathaniel Morton, William F. Doten, Frank B. Holmes, Nathaniel T. Clark, Silas Valler, Howard Hirsch, A. J. Cahoon, Geo. R. Briggs, Freeman H. Holmes.
COMMITTEE ON SEWERAGE-Selectmen.
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ABSTRACT OF RECORDS OF 1894.
Article four taken up. To accept and revise a list of jurors.
March 5. Voted, That the names of B. L. Bramhall, John H. Damon, Fred Dittmar, Jr., and Albert A. Sherman be stricken from the list and Wallace J. Nightengale added. With this revision the list was accepted.
March 5. Voted, That the Town authorize the Treasurer, under the direction of the Selectmen, to borrow money in anticipation of taxes and disbursements under the provi- sions of the laws relating to State Aid and Military Aid and to defray the expenses of the Town after Jan. 1st, 1895.
March 5. Voted, That the Town appropriate one hundred and fifty dollars to pay the expenses of Decoration Day.
March 5. Voted, That the Town grant to the Public Library the amount of the Dog Fund now in the Treasury, namely $874.76, and appropriate the additional sum of three hundred and twenty-five dollars and twenty-four cents ($325.24).
March 5. Voted, That the Town authorize the Selectmen to renew any note or notes heretofore authorized, which are now due, or may become due the present year, for such time and on such terms as they may deem expedient for the interests of the Town.
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March 5. Voted, That the Town authorize the Selectmen to prosecute, compromise, or defend any suit or suits within the Commonwealth in the name of the Town.
March 5. Voted, That the Selectmen be authorized to borrow the sum of thirty-five hundred dollars and to issue therefor the note of the Town bearing interest at the rate of four per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, dated March 6th, 1894, and payable in ten years, in equal annual payments of three hundred and fifty dollars each. The said note to be signed by the Treasurer and approved by the Selectmen.
March 5. Voted, That the Selectmen be authorized to borrow the snm of twenty thousand dollars and to issue therefor the notes of the Town each for the sum of eight hundred dollars, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding 43 per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually, dated August 1st, 1894, and payable one at the end of each successive year thereafter until the whole are paid. The said notes to be signed by the Treasurer and approved by a majority of the Selectmen of the Town.
March 5. Voted, That the Town hereby authorize the School Committee to grant the use of the new High School- house to the School of Ethics under such arrangements as said Committee may approve.
March 5. Voted, That the report of the Sewer Committee be accepted and placed on file.
March 5. Voted, That the further management and ex- tension of the sewers of the Town be placed in charge of the Selectmen.
March 5. Voted, That the Selectmen be authorized to borrow the sum of $5,000, and to issue therefor the note of
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the Town bearing interest at the rate not exceeding 42 per centum, per annum, payable semi-annually, dated April 2, 1894, and payable in ten years in equal annual payments of $500 each. The said note to be signed by the Treasurer and approved by the Selectmen. The money to be expended in such construction of sewers as the Selectmen may deem expedient.
April 2. Voted, That the sum of two hundred dollars be appropriated for the care and improvement of Training Green.
April 2. Voted, That the Committee on the publication of the Town Records be instructed to close the publication with the issue of the third volume, and that after the sale of such a number of the three volumes, at prices fixed by them, as they may think expedient, a final report be made, and that no appropriation be made to meet the cost of pub- lication until the presentation of said report.
April 2. Voted, That the sum of ninety-three thousand and six hundred four and 40/100 dollars be raised and assessed upon the polls and estates of the inhabitants of the Town of Plymouth and upon the estates of non- residents to defray the expenses of the Town for the en- suing year.
April 2. Voted, That the Collector of Taxes be authorized to use all means of collecting the taxes which a Town Treasurer when appointed a Collector may use.
April 2. Voted, That the Collector of Taxes be author- ized to receive the taxes for the ensuing year at such places as he shall designate on or before the fifteenth day of Oc- tober; that interest be charged on all taxes remaining un- paid on said fifteenth day of October at the rate of six per
9
cent. per annum, and such rate shall continue until other- wise ordered by the Town, and all taxes and interests re- maining unpaid on the first day of January following, shall be collected forthwith by legal process, and the Collector is hereby authorized to collect at once by legal process all taxes of previous years now outstanding.
April 30. Voted, That the further consideration of the widening of Middle Street be postponed to some meeting to be called by the Selectmen as soon as practicable after the termination of the proceedings affecting the will of J. Henry Stickney and upon the entering of the decree sus- taining the legacy to the Trustees of the Stickney Fund.
April 30. Voted, That it is the opinion of the Town of Plymouth that the common necessity and convenience re- quire that the Commonwealth should acquire as a State highway, or road, leading from Kingston line in said Town, to Sandwich line in the Town of Sandwich, in the County of Barnstable and which is described as follows :
Court Street, Main Street, Market Street, Sandwich Street, Warren Avenue, the Old Sandwich road through Manomet Ponds and the Ship Pond road.
That in accordance with Section 7 of Chapter 476 of the Acts of the year 1893 said Town of Plymouth by its Select- men, petitions the Massachusetts Highway Commission that the Commonwealth acquire said road as a State highway, and the Selectmen are hereby instructed to so petition,. and to procure suitable plans and profiles.
April 30. Voted, That the Town authorize and instruct the School Committee to construct a new school-house in Vallerville and that the sum of twelve hundred dollars be appropriated to construct and maintain said school-house.
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April 30. Voted, That the Town of Plymouth join with the towns of Kingston, Duxbury and Marshfield, in petition- ing Congress for an appropriation for the repair of Dux- bury Beach and that the Selectmen be authorized to repre- sent the Town as its Committee and to co-operate with the committees of the towns of Kingston, Duxbury and Marsh- field therefor.
April 30. Voted, That the further sum of twelve hun- dred dollars be raised and assessed upon the polls and es- tates of the inhabitants of the Town of Plymouth, and upon the estates of non-residents, to defray the expenses of the Town for the ensuing year, making in all the sum of ninety- four thousand eight hundred and four 44% dollars.
October 13. Voted, That the Selectmen be authorized to contract in the name and behalf of the Town with the Massachusetts Highway Commission for the construction, by the Town, of a State highway in Plymouth.
October 13. Voted, That the Selectmen be requested to confer with the Massachusetts Highway Commission to procure the substition of a State highway between Union and Cliff streets, in place of a highway at Manomet Ponds.
October 13. Voted, That the Town accept a conveyance of the burial ground at South Ponds, approved by the Se- lectmen, and that they be authorized to build a suitable fence around the same when required by the Town.
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
To the Citizens of Plymouth :
The Selectmen submit the following report for the year ending December 31, 1894. The detailed statement of the receipts and disbursements of the Treasurer, and the con- dition of the several appropriations, will be found in the Treasurer's report, herewith submitted. The condition of the Town finances, and particularly the state of the funded debt, is again deserving careful attention.
On December 31, 1893, the funded debt was .. $244,860 00
The debt has been increased during the past
year, under votes of the Town, as follows :
Sewer loan
$5,000 00
School house loan
2,000 00
High School building fund 3,500 00
10,500 00
Total
$255,360 00
The indebtedness has been reduced during the past year by the payment of principal thereon as follows :
Water loan $4,100 00
Duxbury & Cohasset Railroad 1,500 00
New schools 1,000 00
Consolidated loan
2,870 00
Amounts carried forward $9,4.0 00
$255,360 00
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Amouuts brought forward $9,470 00 $255,360 00
High School building loan 4,000 00
P. & M. R. R. Co. 5,000 00
Fire department 1,200 00
Sewers 750 00
Total 20,420 00
Leaving a total indebtedness of $234,940 00
A net decrease for the year of $9,920 00
The last payment on account of the Duxbury & Cohasset Railroad loan has been made this year.
For the year 1895 the payments on account of the princi- pal and interest of the Town indebtedness, including the water debt, will amount to $30,345.00.
Deducting the amount of principal and interest of the water debt, which is $9,385, leaves a balance of $20,960, to be raised by taxation on account of these payments of prin- cipal and interest, making necessary an appropriation of $21,000 for Town debt and interest, which is recommended.
The twenty thousand dollars of the bonds of the water debt bearing interest at 6 per cent. matured August 1, 1894, and were paid by a new issue of bonds for the same amount, bearing interest at 4 per cent.
Including the reduction on account of the water debt the present debt will be reduced during the year 1895, $21,010.00, and within the next ten years the total indebtedness of the Town will be reduced $170,300.00 if no new indebtedness is incurred.
For the information of the tax-payers the following state- ment will show within what periods the present indebted- ness of the Town is payable under the terms of the re- spective loans :
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$20,000, in 25 years, $9,000, in 9 years,
29,900, in 23 years, 40,000, in 8 years,
56,000, in 20 years,
48,090, in 7 years,
14,250, in 19 years,
4,800, in 4 years.
12,900, in 10 years,
The following table, showing the amount of the funded debt on the first day of January for several years past, may be of interest :
Funded debt due January 1, 1891 $161,700 00
1,1892
196,100 00
66
66 66
1,1893 233,030 00
66
1, 1894 244,860 00
66
66 66
1,1895 234,940 00
Since 1889 the amount of the annual appropriation and of the tax rate has also largely increased.
ANNUAL APPROPRIATION.
TAX RATE
1889
$62,844 30
$12 80
1890
68,621 24
13 20
1891
74,231 64
14 00
1892. . .
76,993 36
14 80
1893
84,336 23
15 60
1894
94,804 40
16 80
The continued increase in appropriation and tax-rate is a matter of serious importance and should prohibit any ap- propriations which can be avoided without greater injury to the interests to the Town. The inevitable tendency is towards a continued increase in the annual appropriation. The public demand for other and better accommodations and other and better services in all the departments which necessitate an expenditure of money is unavoidable. The only item in the appropriations which would permit an an- nual reduction, if legislative authority can be obtained, is
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that of Town debt and interest. At the time the present indebtedness was incurred, municipal indebtedness under the statute was payable within the following periods :
Water and sewer debts within not exceeding thirty years, and all other debts within not exceeding ten years.
The purpose of these acts was apparently to discourage as much as possible a town from incurring indebtedness, and to compel its payment at an earlier date than the Town might otherwise have selected. There seems, however, to be no valid reason why distinction should be made between water and sewer debts and debts for some other purposes, at least. The Legislature, by Chap. 221, Acts of 1894, has ex- tended the term within which debts for school buildings and lands should be payable to twenty years. If the present in- debtedness of the Town, which bears interest at 4 per cent., could be made payable within thirty years from date, the annual saving to the Town would be $8,914. And if this saving could be deducted from the annual appropriation for Town debt and interest, it would make a material reduction in the annual tax-rate. The Selectmen have therefore peti- tioned the Legislature for authority to fund the existing 4 per cent. indebtedness of the Town in a new loan having thirty years to run and bearing the same rate of interest. In this way alone can any relief be had from the present tax-rate and the necessity of making burdensome appro- priations on account of the Town debt and interest. If this authority can be obtained it will be possible to make certain necessary expenditures in the nature of permanent improvements, either in new school-houses or the perma- nent repairs of the roads, without any increase in the annual appropriation or tax-rate. As such improvements are in their nature permanent, and from them not only the
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present but succeeding generations will have the use and derive benefit, it would seem a hardship to require that their cost should be distributed over a short term of years, and the present burdens of taxation rendered excessive on that account.
NEW ROADS.
During the year work on Hall Street and Atlantic Street, authorized under the lay out of the last Winter, has been done, and the extension of Water Street has been completed. The cost of the work on Water Street was larger than was estimated, owing to the time at which the work was done, and the character of the labor employed. But it has given employment in many deserving cases, and doubtless has reduced the number of persons who otherwise would have been compelled to seek relief from the Town. The appro- priation recommended will cover all necessary expenditures in this department for the next year.
LIGHTING STREETS.
The streets have been lighted under the terms in the contract made by the Town with the Electric Light Company in 1893. No new contract was made by the Selectmen, but the price paid for the lighting was the same as under that contract. There are now thirteen arc lights, one 60 c. p. incandescent series lights, and 262 incandescent lights, 125 of which are 25 c. p. and 137 are 32 c. p. The reduction of the candle power of the lights from 32 to 25 has enabled the Selectmen to increase the number of incandescent lights and meet some of the demands which from time to time during the year have been made upon them by residents of the streets which have not been lighted. To light the streets as at present an appropriation of $6,000 will be required. It is probable that with that appropriation and
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with the change in the candle power some new lights could be maintained. The question of the advisability of lighting so much territory, at so large an expense, was brought to the attention of the voters at the last meeting, but the opinion was almost universal that no reduction of the num- ber of street lights should be made.
The Selectmen recommend an appropriation of $6,000 for this department the coming year.
ASSESSORS.
As under the requirements of the statute it is necessary to prepare a copy of the valuation book this year, some increase in the appropriation on that account will be necessary, and the good effect of the work begun by the Assessors last year to obtain a more accurate measurement of the contents of the lot assessed, and more careful assessment of their values is readily apparent upon an examination of the Assessors' reports. It will be seen that the increase in the value of the land, apart from the build- ings, in the Town, the past year has been over $400,000. A large part of this is doubtless due to the more accurate system of measurement adopted.
The Selectmen believe that this system should be ex- tended in order that the burden of taxation may be more equalized and a more accurate valuation of lots in the Town obtained. The increased appropriation last year remedied some of the results of the old system of valuation and in the opinion of the Selectmen the money was well , expended.
POOR DEPARTMENT.
No increase in the appropriation for the poor department is necessary this year, and the Selectmen therefore recommend the same appropriation as last year, viz : $7,000
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for the poor. For the insane poor a slight additional appropriation will be required, and we recommend an appropriation of $2,800, an increase of $300 over last year.
The amount expended under the head of "Soldiers' Relief" and "Military Aid," which is not reimbursed by the State, amounting to $1,752.51, is applied by the Selectmen to the relief of deserving cases of soldiers or their families and relieves many cases which otherwise would be obliged to apply to the poor department for assistance. It is difficult to estimate the amount necessary for such purpose, and the Selectmen are of opinion that it would be better to make no appropriation for these items other than the appropriation to meet the deficiency for amounts expended the past year. This deficiency should not be understood as an overdraft on account of any appropriation, as it is an expenditure which the Town is required to make under the statute, and in the absence of any specific appropriation must be reported to the Town as a deficiency.
TOWN RECORDS.
The deficiency in the Town Record account has been slightly reduced the past year by the sale of volumes, and it now stands at $1,509.48. The third volume of the Records has been copied and is ready for the printers, but in view of the present condition of the Town, the Selectmen do not feel justified in recommending the publication this year ; they suggest that the deficiency be again carried forward to another year in the hope that it can be somewhat reduced by the sales of books during the year, or that the Commit- tee may be able to make some contract by which the third volume shall be published without an increase in the defi- ciency, and that by a sale of the three volumes some con- siderable sum may be obtained for the reduction of this de-
2
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ficiency. If it becomes apparent another year, that it is not probable that the Town will complete the publication of the third volume at an early date, it would be well to make an appropriation to provide for a deficiency in the Record account.
COLLECTOR OF TAXES.
The Selectmen again recommend that the Collector of Taxes be paid by a salary without deduction on account of taxes uncollected. They take this opportunity to commend the prompt and admirable manner in which the taxes of the Town have been collected during the past year. For the first time for many years, in the history of the Town, it will be noticed that the uncollected taxes cover only a period of two years. It will be impossible without working in some cases a severe hardship for the entire tax levy to be col- lected in season for the Collector to report to the Town that there are no uncollected taxes. The fact that of the taxes of 1893 only $2,415.97 remains uncollected, and of the taxes of 1894 only $14,794.30 is a high compliment to the effi- ciency of the Collector.
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ROADS AND BRIDGES.
The overdraft in this account is $2,428.80. A sufficient explanation for it is found in the fact that the Town was subjected to great expense in the removal of snow during the past year-the cost of such removal alone amounting to a little over three thousand dollars. As a rule the roads and streets have been in excellent condition, except during the dry time in Summer when, owing to the fact that no rain fell for several months, it was impossible to keep them up to the usual standard. The condition of the main streets in the Town, over which passes so much teaming, and through which runs the electric car tracks makes it necessary that
-.
1 b ti b S a T b
tl
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some special effort should be made to fit them for the great wear to which they are subjected. Some years ago it was recommended that a large sum be expended in macadamiz- ing these streets. At that time the work of laying the sew- ers was in contemplation, and it was thought desirable to wait until the sewers had been laid through the main part of the Town. That work has been largely completed, and there seems to be no further reason, on that account, for delay. The Selectmen have therefore recommended that the Town borrow the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to be expended in paving and macadamizing the streets. It is believed that the expenditure will be a judicious one, and that a considerable portion of the outlay will be met by the saving in the annual expense of the repairs.
The experience which the Superintendent of Streets has had in the construction of the State highway during the past Winter will be of service in the work of macadamizing the streets in the centre of the Town. It is evident that the work can be more satisfactorily and inexpensively done if a large amount is done at one time, than if the matter is divided over a term of years. The cost of the single item of steam rolling, for instance, is a considerable one, and it is not probable that the rolling can be so well done by any horse roller. If the Town should authorize the appropria- tion, the Selectmen recommend that so much of the same be expended as is necessary to pave, or macadamize, Court Street from the house of James D. Thurber to Main Street, and Main, Market, Summer, and part of Sandwich Street. The stone necessary can be obtained more cheaply, probably, by purchasing it on the line of the Old Colony Railroad, than by attempting to set up a crusher, and carting it from the crusher to the road. There is no rock in the immediate neighborhood which is available, and estimates which have
ent vas ing to ads ing rain up s in ngh that
of of d he he ill of me ol- at es es
IS n 0
:20
been submitted show that the stone can be secured more cheaply delivered at the depot, than by setting up a crusher within the limits of the Town, and carting the stone to the crusher, and from the crusher to the road.
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