USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1873 > Part 1
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WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 8139 0129 6541 6
Free Public Library
Worcester. Massachusetts
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CITY DOCUMENT, No. 28.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
EDWARD L. DAVIS, OF
MAYOR, JAN. 5, 1874 ;
WITH THE
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT, OVERSEERS OF THE POOR, TRUANT SCHOOL, COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS, FIRE DEPARTMENT, CITY MAR- SHAL, COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEMETERY, CITY HOSPITAL, CITY PHYSICIAN, FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, CITY ENGINEER, WATER COMMISSIONER, WATER REGISTRAR, COMMIT- TEE ON WATER, COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS, CITY TREASURER, CITY AUDITOR, CITY CLERK, AND COMMITTEE ON REDUCTION OF CITY DEBT,
OF THE
CITY OF WORCESTER,
FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING NOV. 30, 1873.
WORCESTER : PRINTED BY CHARLES HAMILTON, PALLADIUM OFFICE. 1874.
R . 352. 07443 W9220 v. 28 1873
INDEX.
MAYOR'S ADDRESS. PAGE.
7
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE 47
SUPERINTENDENT
55
SECRETARY
92
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE FOR 1874.
129
REPORT OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR. . 137
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE TRUANT SCHOOL
160
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS
165
REPORT OF THE
CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT
193
REPORT OF THE CITY MARSHAL 235
1
REPORT OF THE
COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEMETERY.
251
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE CITY HOSPITAL. 259
REPORT OF THE CITY PHYSICIAN 273
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 275 REPORT OF THE CITY ENGINEER 321
REPORT OF THE
WATER COMMISSIONER
347
REPORT OF THIE
WATER REGISTRAR
355
V
REPORT OF THE
COMMITTEE ON WATER
359
REPORT OF THE
COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS
363
REPORT OF THE CITY TREASURER
377
REPORT OF THE AUDITOR
381
SCHEDULE OF CITY PROPERTY 418
REPORT OF THE CITY CLERK 421
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON REDUCTION OF CITY DEBT. 422
CITY GOVERNMENT AND OFFICERS FOR 1874
425
SALARIES
433
1
CITY OF WORCESTER.
IN CITY COUNCIL, January 12, 1874.
Ordered :
That the Committee on Printing be, and they are hereby authorized to cause to be published, 1500 copies of the annual "City Document," to be numbered 28; to contain the Mayor's Inaugural Address, together with the Reports of the several De- partments, for the year 1873.
A Copy, Attest :
SAMUEL SMITH, City Clerk.
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen,
And Gentlemen of the Common Council :
BY the free suffrages of our fellow citizens we are called to assume the administration of their municipal affairs. We have accepted the responsibility. We have taken upon ourselves the solemn obligations of our respective offices, and we have devoutly asked Him, whose judgment is unerring, to guide and to help. If we are faithful and true, to ourselves and to the people, we doubt not He will add his blessings of health, prosperity and quiet.
I shall now most respectfully invite your attention to the gen eral state of affairs and to some of the various departments of official labor ; and if I seem to take a somewhat new departure from the course adopted by most of my predecessors, it is because the general character and scope of these departments have been so fully set forth from time to time, that they are now commonly understood, and for the reason that there are now recognized heads of most of these departments, who in the discharge of their duties, will in their annual reports not only furnish all desirable information, but also will add such opinions and sugges- tions as are founded upon practical experience and mature reflec- tion, and which are, therefore, quite as worthy of your attention and consideration as any of my own, which, under existing cir- cumstances, must of necessity be imperfect and not well digested.
Our whole country is now passing through one of those peri- odical crises, the natural and inevitable result, not so much, per- haps, of any particular derangement of our monetary system, as
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 28.
of the ease and willingness with which we incur indebtedness without the means to pay it. Generally speaking, money will take care of itself, unless restrained by legislation hostile to the spirit of our national constitution. I have only to go back in history to 1857 and again to 1837, when gold and silver were the only legal tender, to recall to your minds substantially the same condition of things we are now experiencing. Whether there- fore, we have gold as a basis of currency, or paper with no im- mediate hope of redemption, these financial panics, more or less intensified, will occur, and the general result will be the same in kind though different in degree. Our country is so vast, and so much of it remains unfamiliar to the eye of man, the opportuni- ties for legitimate enterprise and daring adventure so abundant, that it has ceased to be a matter of wonder that thousands are only too ready to hazard all their own capital, and all they can com- mand both at home and abroad, in undertakings good in them- selves, but too many in number and too great in magnitude to be taken up and sustained. Whatever the wisdom and teachings of our fathers, they are recalled, after our own experience ; so that it requires no prophet to foretell, with a tolerable degree of cer- tainty, that those of us who shall live to see the year 1900, will before that time, witness a recurrence of the same state of affairs, which is so unwelcomed now.
Business has been prostrated, enterprise checked, and the great tide of ruin and disaster which has swept over the country has overwhelmed the representatives of some of the largest financial operations the world has ever known.
Confidence has been shaken; but by the scarcity of money, any more than by the scarcity of truth and honesty ? In these days of irregularity, embezzlement and defalcation in private sta- tion, and notoriously in positions of publie trust, it may be per- mitted without a boastful word, to make honorable mention of the fact, that up to this time no one of our own monetary institu- tions, nor our city treasury, has the stain upon it.
It may well be considered, therefore, whether these institu- tions, of which we can have some certain and personal knowl- edge, and which offer security for the principal as well as a per cent, of income, are not fairly entitled to our savings and deposits.
9
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Although the cry of hard times has been sounded throughout our land, we may well congratulate ourselves that the alarming threatenings of the recent financial revulsion have already passed away, and that the burdens it has left behind have fallen so lightly upon us. It is one of the most gratifying evidences of the sub- stantial character of our business interests, that although depres- sion exists, and many who recently had steady employment have now nothing to do, yet very few, if any of our manufactories have stopped altogether, and no important failures have befallen us.
Confidence-that foundation rock of all dealings between man and man-will gradually be restored, and with activity, energy and hope, whether in public or private life, we will help on the great march of progress until we shall fall by the wayside.
FINANCE.
The fiscal year ends with the last day of November.
CITY DEBT, DEC. 1, 1872.
Funded City Loan, $633,500 00
66 Sewer " 449,400 00
Water " 747,500 00
Temporary 66 857,510 55
Total, . $2,687,910 55
Cash in Treasury after paying Audited Bills, $155,995 75
Balance City Debt, Dec. 1, 1872,. $2,531,914 80
CITY DEBT, DEC. 1, 1873.
Funded City Loan, $1,238,000 00
66 Sewer 369,400 00
Water 66 678,300 00
Temporary 66 655,527 31
Total, $2,941,227 31
Cash in Treasury after paying Audited,
Bills, .. $324,307 28
Amount in hands of Committee on Re-
duction of City Debt, . $ 11,306 15- $335,613 43
Balance City Debt, Dec. 1, 1873, . $2,605,613 88
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 28.
RECAPITULATION.
Balance City Debt, Dec. 1, 1873, $2,605,613 88
Dec. 1, 1872, 2,531,914 80
Increase, $ 73,699 08
Many cities keep their water debt and sewer debt distinct from all others. Therefore it seems to me to be proper to mention the fact that while we have a debt known as the funded water debt, yet it is constantly decreasing for the reason that a certain portion of this debt becomes due almost every year, and if not paid is refunded, not in water bonds but in city bonds. There is then no debt which represents the unpaid portion of the cost of our water works, and on this point I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. The same remarks apply to the sewer bonds. So that the sewer, water and city bonds are all alike, so far as the purposes of in- vestment are concerned. No one class of bonds has any security which does not attach to all the others.
I append herewith a tabular exhibit of our several funded loans, showing their amounts and dates of maturity :
FUNDED LOANS.
Due in
City. $10,000
Sewer. $
Water. $119,200 133,800
Total. $129,200 159,800
1875 .
6,000
20,000
1876
8,000
79,400
87,400
1877
2,000
87,600
18,500
108,100
1878 .
176,000
.33,600
27,500
237,100
1879.
174,000
16,300
14,500
204,800
1880
8,000
143,000
11,100
162,100
1881
516,000
68,900
3,000
587,900
1882
6,000
12,000
18,000
1884 .
5,000
5,000
1885
105,000
105,000
1886
76,000
76,000
1887
23,000
23,000
1888
3,000
3,000
1890
50,000
50,000
1891
2,300
2,300
1892 .
317,000
317,000
Total . . $1,238,000
$369,400
$678,300
$2,285,700
1883 .
10,000
10,000
1874 .
11
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
SUMMARY.
Amount of loans bearing interest at 5 per cent.
$77,500 Amount of loans bearing interest at 6 per cent. . 1,868,200
Amount of loans bearing interest at 7 per cent. .
340,000
Total
$2,285,700
TEMPORARY LOAN.
By act of the legistature, approved Feb. 20, 1872, authority was given to the city of Worcester to fund its floating debt, which then amounted to $688,000, and also to borrow a sum of money, not to exceed $500,000. The temporary loan Dec. 1,. 1873, amounted to $655,527.31, most of which bears interest at 7 per cent. Considerable difficulty has been experienced by our predecessors, particularly during the past year or two, in funding this debt in bonds of the city, bearing interest at six per cent. on account of the very much higher rates of interest offered by rail- road companies. Perhaps we may be more fortunate, for there seems to be a disposition among the people, manifested particu- larly since the recent panic, to look nearer home for their securi- ties, and to avoid the captivating attractions of those investments, of which they are utterly ignorant, and which are so far away that they may never expect to venture to see them, notwithstand- ing the twofold and threefold solidity of such investments is set forth in every form of publication, not excepting the religious newspapers.
SINKING FUND.
The ordinance creating the sinking fund passed in August, 1871, has been wisely amended during the past year, and the thanks of the people are due to those who have taken the first steps, which, if faithfully continued, will lead gradually and eventually to the payment of the public debt. . The maintenance and management of this fund will receive my earnest thought and study, and I cor- dially invite your aid and co-operation in establishing upon the firmest foundation that powerful agent, which through prosperity and disaster, shall with undiminished force work out the problem that in no other way seems capable of solution. We have in our
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 28.
own State eminent examples of the successful working of this plan of liquidating indebtedness. Our present way is admitted to be imperfect, but in due time I have no doubt some of its objectiona- ble features can be removed.
The sinking fund Dec. 1, 1872, was . $168,006 15 Deduct amount paid on account of funded loan in 1873 . 156,700 00
Balance $ 11,306 15
which is in the hands of the committee on the reduction of the city debt, and is acknowledged by the figures already given. There has also been added to the sinking fund the amount of $74,206.46 during the year 1873, but as this amount is simply a balance on the auditor's books, and not yet in the hands of the committee, it cannot of course be deducted from the total of the city debt.
By the auditor's report I find that the revenue and expendi- tures for the past financial year have been as follows:
EXPENDITURES.
Abatements and Discount $52,478 75
City Hall
5,302 85
City Hospital 7,189 74
City Hospital Building
1,189 00
Fire Department .
75,961 01
Free Public Library 14,107 05
Highways, Sidewalks and Street Paving . 152,726 84
Incidental Expenses 12,256 09
Interest
115,259 05
Interest on Sewer loan .
26,934 00
Pauper Department (City Relief)
13,114 73
Pauper Department (Truant School)
2,723 11
Police Department
58,595 05
Salaries
24,209 28
School Department .
153,003 89
School Houses .
23,873 87
Sewers (Construction) .
76,576 14
Sewers (Maintenance)
7,994 44
Shade Trees and Public Grounds .
3,812 67
Street Construction 39,696 55
Water Works (Construction) .
45,596 21
Water Works (High Service) 65,930 72
Water Works (Maintenance) 23,327 96
Interest on Water Loan
44,583 25
$1,095,958 41
Lighting Streets
21,454 98
Pauper Department (Farm) .
28,061 18
13
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
REVENUE.
City Hall .
729 00
City Hospital .
1,457 60
Fire Department .
1,863 50
Free Public Library
2,176 19
Highways, Sidewalks and Street Paving
39,829 46
Incidental Expenses
5,902 94
Interest
7,171 37
Lighting Streets .
112 90
Pauper Department (City Relief)
3,682 26
Pauper Department (Farm) .
3,427 58
Police Department .
8,844 77
School Department .
2,343 02
Sewers (Construction)
2,236 21
Shade Trees and Public Grounds .
578 00
Sinking Fund .
18,826 54
Street Construction
9,391 82
Water Works (Construction)
21,528 15
Water Works (High Service)
10 00°
Water Works (Maintenance)
93,291 13
Interest on Water Loan ..
$223,402 44
I have the highest authority for stating that the sum of $4,000 will more than cover all bills outstanding, which, for various reasons, could not be brought into the auditor's statement, and which are properly chargeable to the balance in the hands of the treasurer December 1, 1873.
When we contemplate the public debt, and the sum needed for our annual expenses, we are naturally led to inquire, is this the result of gross mismanagement, of reckless extravagance, of a de- termination to force upon the people what they do not want and what they do not use ? I would not presume to reply for you nor for the people. A partial answer may be found in the piles of petitions now awaiting your action, from every quarter of the city, for sewers, water, sidewalks, streets and other conveniences, most of which we enjoy, and which indicate that the petitioners expect that we will treat our neighbors as ourselves ; in the fact that a large portion of our funded debt, and all but a small fraction of
14
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 28.
our temporary loan, is held by institutions and citizens of Worcester, from which may be reasonably inferred, that faith in the future of our city is not confined altogether to those who have spent its money ; in the substantial results obtained, which, view them as we may, have so elevated the material and intellectual standard, as to attract the attention and awaken the emulation of many a sister city.
When we assert that now is the time to stop spending and begin paying, and stoutly maintain that no prudent man will add a single dollar to the public debt, are we also ready to declare that not a single soul shall be added to the present population ? Are we agreed to circumscribe the city limits proper, and to stamp upon them : " Thus far and no farther ?" The truth is, Wor- cester has grown rapidly and is growing to-day, and it will require our combined wisdom and foresight to fully comprehend the situation in which we are placed.
Rest assured that you will receive my hearty support in guarding the doors of the treasury against any claim, demand or expense, whic cannot be substantiated by necessity or by un- questioned expediency.
In support of what I have just said I will add that the population of Worcester in 1848, the year of the adoption of our city charter, was 13,000
In 1861, after a period of thirteen years, it had doubled, the population being 26,000
During this year (1874,) after another period of thirteen years, accord- ing to the expectation of some who perhaps are over-sanguine, our population will have doubled again, making 52,000 50,000 but I am satisfied, myself, to call it
The increase from 1860 to 1865, was 20 per cent. The increase from 1865 to 1870, was 36
As an evidence of the material prosperity, I append a statement, showing the banking resources of the town and of the city. For its accuracy it has the indorsement of one of our oldest and most experienced bank officers.
15
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
The increase of the banking interests of Worcester is as follows :
Sept. 4, 1847. Per Bank Report to Secretary of the Commonwealth :
Four Banks-Capital . $550,000 00
Circulation
518,753 00
Deposits
232,024 67
Bank Credits
1,997 62
Profits .
65,989 45
- $1,368,764 74
Deposits of the Worcester County Institution for Savings
1,102,141 85
Banking resources of the town .
$2,470,906 59
Sept. 12, 1873. Per Reports to Comptroller of the Currency :
Seven National Banks-Capital . . . $2,250,000 00
Circulation .
1,463,749 00
Deposits .
2,779,863 90
Bank Credits
168,887 66
Profits · 895,078 67
- $7,557,579 23
Sept. 1, 1873. As reported by Sec. Worcester Trust Co.
Capital . $200,000 00
Deposits
1,184,060 27
$1,384,060 27
Sept. 1, 1873. As reported by the several Treasurers :
Deposits of Wor. Co. Institution for Savings . . $5,087,721 61
Deposits of People's Savings Bank . 3,116,279 13 Deposits of Mechanics Savings Bank 2,325,885 91
Deposits of Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank .
1,164,527 80
$11,694,414 45
Banking resources of the city .
$20,636,053 95
Increase (since adoption of city charter) in 26 years $18,165,147 36 0
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 28.
TAXABLE PROPERTY
The valuation May 1, 1873, was as follows :
Real Estate
$36,400,150
Personal
10,894,684
Total $47,294,834
Showing an increase over last year of $5,052,284, all of which is on real estate. Had the law relating to taxing bank shares been the same as in 1872, the valuation of personal property would have been $11,270,684, and the total valuation $47,670,834. The city is, however, credited by the State, with the amount of tax on this difference, $6,538.62, it being the amount of tax as- sessed on shares of banks located out of Worcester, but held by residents here.
Total number of Polls 13,077
Amount of State Tax $57,397 50
Amount of County Tax . 41,920 46
Amount of City Tax 733,900 00
Amount of overlayings 15,866 15
Total
Rate of Taxation, $17.40 on $1,000. $849,084 11
The success of the plan adopted by the assessors for the more equal valuation of real property, justifies them in continuing their efforts with renewed energy. The experience of the past year is, that complaints are much less numerous, and are more casily explained away.
Maps are not yet completed of all the sections of the city, and it is very desirable that they be furnished as rapidly as possible. Your attention is respectfully called to this subject.
WATER.
During the past year the High Service has been completed at a total cost of about $232,000, and the account is closed. The elevated parts of the city within reach of the pipes, are now sup- plied with water, and have substantially the same advantages en- joyed by the lower sections. Connections are also established
17
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
between the high and low service, by which in case of fire or other contingency, an equalization of quantity and pressure can be maintained.
The idea obtains to a certain extent, that the rates are so high that those who use the city water, either for business or domestic purposes, help rather more than their share to pay the public debt. By the ordinance passed March 3, 1873, it is provided that all income from water, in excess of interest on the funded water debt and cost of maintenance and repair of the water works, be appropriated to the payment of the city debt. By the auditor's report it appears that during the past year the
Revenue from the Water Works was $93,291 13 Cost of Maintenance, . $23.327 96 Interest on Water Loan, 44,583 25
$67,911 21 $67,911 21
Leaving an Unexpended Balance to be passed to Credit of Sinking Fund of . $25,379 92
The total cost of the water works to Dec. 1, 1873, was $1,076,- 531.54. A portion of the cost is represented by the funded water loan, and another portion by the city and temporary loans, bearing interest at six and seven per cent., so that reckoning in- terest on the entire cost of the water works, the revenue has been no more than sufficient to pay the interest and the cost of main- tenance and repairs during the past year. It rests for you to con- sider therefore, whether any further change in the ordinance is desirable.
The subject of a further supply of water is seriously considered by those who are fully aware of the largely increasing wants of the community. I have no recommendation nor suggestion to make upon this important matter, further than to invite your at- tention to the interesting and able report of the Hon. Phinehas Ball to the city council, Nov. 30, 1871, in which he states from a variety of calculations the probable population the present works will furnish, and also points out the most available sources of an additional supply.
I most respectfully call your attention to the condition of the dam at North Pond, and also to the expediency of raising the
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 28.
dam of the storing reservoir in Leicester four or five feet, at a probable cost of eleven thousand dollars.
In April last, for twenty consecutive days the water in the reser- voir flowed over the wasteway, which proves that a larger quan- tity of water is supplied than is stored. In December, 1873, the water line on the reservoir was two and one-half feet below the rollway. In December, 1872, it was three and one-half feet below the rollway. Bell pond is a storing reservoir, and the water is in- tended to be used only in case of fire or repairs on the water works by which the regular supply is temporarily cut off. But as these contingencies happen quite frequently, this reservoir should be kept in good condition, free from vegetable or other foreign mat- ter. Your attention is respectfully called to the subject.
The total length of Distributing Main laid during the past year, exclusive of the High Service pipes, which were under special contract, was . 19,765 feet.
Number of Hydrants set . 30
Total number of Hydrants on the Works . 457
Total length of Water Pipes, about . 62 miles.
Total number of Meters in use 771
Number set in 1873 571
Some of these meters were put in by order of city council, and many were set voluntarily. Where considerable water is used, it is admitted that the only correct method of adjustnient of rates is by meter measurement.
SEWERS.
During the past year about three miles of sewers have been constructed, making the total length in the city thirty miles. There are no unfinished contracts, but about 2,000 feet of sewers have been ordered to be put in, and several petitions will be found lying over. The main sewer is completed, with the excep- tion of 340 feet to be built at Court mills after the buildings occupied by the Ames Plow Company shall be removed. The Piedmont district sewerage empties into the old Mill brook chan- nel. When the water is turned from the old channel into the new Mill brook sewer, another outlet will of necessity have to be constructed, requiring an extension of about 3,000 fect.
19
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
In regard to the sewer assessment of 1872, I do not deem it necessary to say anything further than that I am informed by the city solicitor that some time during the present month a decision may be expected in the test suit brought against the city, to de- termine the legality of that assessment. Meantime it may be well to say that, in any event, those who voluntarily or under protest, paid their assessments have made an investment which promises no loss.
HIGHWAYS.
Our highways, streets and bridges during the past year have been kept in unusually good condition under the superintendence and management of the commissioner, Thomas Gates, Esq., who now retires from office after an acceptable service of two years in order to take his seat in the legislature as one of the representa- tives from Worcester. The demands upon the department are increasing in number and in magnitude, and while it is admitted to be desirable to construct streets and sidewalks wherever needed, it is of the highest importance that all possible release of damages should be secured before any work is commenced, and that it be determined beyond the possibility of a doubt that taxable property is increased by the work proposed rather than taxation. A long needed improvement, the re-paving of Main street, has been completed as far as Central street, at a net cost of $21,566 14. A continuance of the work, particularly through the narrow part of this business avenue, from Central to Thomas streets, would be appreciated if in your judgment it should be deemed advisable this year to undertake it. It is worthy of men- tion that the old square stone blocks are split to size and used again, thereby decreasing in no small way the expense of re-pav- ing. Two new bridges have been built, one at Leesville, and another at New Worcester, at a cost of about a thousand dollars cach, and all the bridges, with but few exceptions, have been newly planked during the past year. Curbstones have been set and gutters paved on all the streets where sidewalks have been ordered, excepting on Wellington, May and Laurel streets. All the roads leading out of the city have been put in good repair,
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