USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1877 > Part 1
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WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 8139 0129 6551 5
Worcester Free Public Library
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CITY DOCUMENT No. 32.
ADDRESS
OF
HON. CHAS. B. PRATT,
MAYOR OF THE CITY OF WORCESTER, JAN. 7, 1878;
WITH THE
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS, FOR THE
FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 30, 1877.
WORCESTER: PRESS OF NOYES, SNOW & CO., 47 MAIN STREET.
R 352.07443 W922C 4. 32 1877
INDEX.
MAYOR'S ADDRESS, 5
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON WATER, 25
REPORT OF THE WATER COMMISSIONER, 28
REPORT OF THE WATER REGISTRAR, 39
REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON WATER AND
RECONSTRUCTION OF DAM, 44
REPORT OF CITY ENGINEER TO JOINT STANDING COM- MITTEE ON WATER, 46
REPORT OF THE CITY MARSHAL, 52
REPORT OF THE OVERSEERS OF THE POOR,
72
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE TRUANT SCHOOL,. 123
REPORT OF THE CITY PHYSICIAN, 126~
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY, 129
REPORT OF THE AUDITOR, 159
REPORT OF THE CITY TREASURER,
163
REPORT OF THE TREASURER OF TRUST FUNDS,
166
SCHEDULE OF CITY PROPERTY, . 213 .
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF SINKING FUNDS,
219
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ACCOUNTS, 222
REPORT OF THE CITY CLERK, 224
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS, 225
REPORT OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER OF THE FIRE DEP'T, 245
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, .
323
SUPERINTENDENT, 334
SECRETARY, 359
RERORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC GROUNDS, 406
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEMETERY,
440
REPORT OF THE CITY ENGINEER, 448
REPORT OF THE SUPT. OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS, 466
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF CITY HOSPITAL, 479 .
ORDINANCES PASSED SINCE PUBLICATION OF LAST CITY
DOCUMENT, 504
APPENDIX.
CITY GOVERNMENT AND OFFICERS FOR 1878, 1 SALARIES, 11
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
1
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen,
and of the Common Council :
WE have come together to-day to receive the charge which our fellow-citizens by their votes, at the recent municipal elec- tion, have committed to us. The customary forms of induction into office have been observed. We have taken up the burden, and our work is before us.
Most of us have been in the service of the City during the past year, and have no need of being admonished as to the weight of the responsibilities which we now take upon us. And while we may be aided in a great degree by the past and its experiences, the responsibilities which the year now before us will bring with it, are none the less weighty, and the watchfulness and vigilance required of us in the discharge of our official duties will be quite as urgent, and equally imperative. To the faithful public servant there is no middle ground in the discharge of his duty. There is no laying aside of care, no slumbering at his post. Careful study and examination into the wants and interests of the public, close personal service, constant watchfulness, and ceaseless activity, are all absolutely essential to the faithful and conscien- tious discharge of public trusts. These are the terms upon which we are called to our respective positions by our con- stituents, and we fully subscribe to them when we signify our acceptance and enter upon our labors.
In order that we may the better understand and comprehend the work that is now before us, and enter upon its execution the more intelligently, I crave your indulgent attention for a few
.
6
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
moments, while I hastily sketch the operations of the City Gov- ernment, in some of its more prominent departments, during the year which has just closed, and call your notice to some of the matters in which you will most likely be called upon to act. The experience of the past must necessarily afford us light for our guidance in the future. And as the history of our labors for the past year will furnish us aid by which the wants and needs of our City can be more easily studied, so also, it will suggest the means by which we are to meet and supply them.
I took occasion one year since, when I had the honor to stand before you in the same position as I stand to-day, to venture some suggestions as to the true mode of conducting public business,- taking the ground that the same rules and maxims should govern the public servant in the execution of his trusts, as would govern, control and direct him in the management of his own business affairs. I was well aware, at the time, that my suggestions did not meet with the hearty approval of many, while others deemed them as visionary and impracticable, however desirable the application of them might seem to be. A year's trial in the application of the principles embodied in those sug- gestions, which I have endeavored to make, and in which I have been generously seconded by those associated with me in the administration of our city affairs, has only served to confirm me in the opinion I then expressed. It has demonstrated to me that such a course of action is not only not visionary, but is eminently practical; and indeed I think I am warranted in saying that it has further demonstrated to me that it is the only safe mode of conducting the business of the public, if the highest welfare and best interests of the people at large are to inspire and actuate us in our service. It must be admitted that it is not a comfortable doctrine for those who make politics a trade, and draw upon the public treasury for their reward. We must not, however, lose sight of the fact that we are but the servants of the public, and that every man in the community has, to a certain extent, the right to demand of us an account of our stewardship.
If my position be correct, and for my present purpose I feel that I am justified in assuming it to be so, it becomes our highest duty, in the administration of our city affairs, in the year to come,
7
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
to adhere to these principles with more strictness than ever, and to apply them in all their length and breadth, without any limit- ation whatever. The times seem more than ever to demand it, and in the exercise of them the times will amply justify us. The dark and almost impenetrable cloud which has so long hung over the financial horizon, has not, as yet, perceptibly lifted. As fail- ure succeeds failure in quick succession, as our strongest business establishments, and the institutions which we have been ac- customed to believe as beyond the reach of financial disaster, seem to betray signs of weakness and insecurity, it becomes us to see to it that our public finances are managed with the utmost prudence and economy. At a time like this, when every eye is strained to catch the first glimpse of returning activity in busi- ness, it becomes us to have our public matters well in hand, that the first fruits of such returning activity shall not be demanded and swallowed up in atoning for an imprudent and extravagant use of our means, or for relieving our city from financial embar- rassment. Our people have already borne too long this great depression ; and it is our duty, when relief comes at last, if come it shall, to so conduct our affairs, that the new life shall not be checked by the imposition of new or unnecessary burdens. It is highly important for us to avoid anything which shall have a tendency to tax or impair the elasticity which always comes with the revival of business. I ask, and I doubt not I shall receive from you in the future, as I have in the past, your hearty co- operation with me in this work.
FINANCE.
Taking into account the fact that extraordinary drafts, mainly on account of damage caused by the disaster of March, 1876, have been made upon the treasury during the past municipal year, and bearing in mind the general stagnation of business, particularly among producers, as well as the general and very ยท marked diminution in the value of all kinds of taxable property, especially in that of real estate, the financial condition of the city at the present time must be regarded as satisfactory.
8
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
Notwithstanding the unusual expenditures to which I have referred, it is gratifying to be able to state that no step back- wards has been taken in regard to the reduction of our city indebtedness.
A concise statement of facts and figures as to our condition in this respect, as compared with former years, gleaned from the books and vouchers in the offices.of the Auditor and Treasurer, respectively, may not prove uninteresting to you, and perhaps will compensate in part for the time taken in presenting it.
On the first day of January, 1872, the City Debt amounted to $2,456,788.72. Of this debt, it is estimated that the sum of $1,072,723.99 represented the amount expended, up to that date, for sewers, $752,499.21 the cost of the City Water Works, and $631,565.52 the amount paid for stock in the Boston, Barre and Gardner R. R. Co., for school-houses, construction of streets, war-bounties, the soldiers' monument fund, and for sundry other objects, included under the head of "miscellaneous " expenditures. Taking this debt as a basis of comparison, but without attempting, at this time, to classify our subsequent indebtedness, it appears that the City Debt, less cash in the Treasury and in the Sinking Funds, has varied, during the past six years, as follows :
1872 Jan. 1.
1872. Nov. 30.
1873. Nov. 30.
1874. Nov. 30.
1875. Nov. 30.
1876. Nov. 30.
1877. Nov. 30.
Gross Debt, Cash Assets,
$2,456,788 72 $2,687,910 55 $2,941,227 31 $2,984,780 00 $2,589,700 00 $2,492,300 00 $2,509,200 00
83,173 69
155,995 75
324,307 23
381,882 86
212,095 26
150,158 04
220,338 98
Net Debt,
$2,373,615 03
$2,531,914 80 $2,616,920 03 $2,599,897 14 $2,377,604 74 $2,342,141 96 32,288,861 02
It will be seen, from these figures, that, since the year 1873, the net City indebtedness has steadily decreased, from year to year, up to the present time. It is also noticeable that although the City has expended large sums of money during the last two years, on account of the Lynde Brook disaster, and has created an additional Funded Debt of $200,000.00, during the same period, yet the net decrease of our indebtedness since 1875 amounts to the sum of $88,743.72. Of this amount, $53,280.94
9
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
represents the decrease in 1877. In this connection it is proper to add that, during the last financial year, our new registered bonds, bearing interest at the rate of five per cent. per annum, were negotiated on favorable terms, having realized in every instance a satisfactory premium above par. Bearing this in mind, it is not unreasonable to anticipate, that, as our bonds mature and are paid, ar are renewed at a lower rate of interest, the credit of the City will continue to be still further enhanced, and that, at an early day, we shall be warranted in making a very material reduction in the annual appropriation for interest on our Funded City Debt.
The several sinking funds of the City, in the hands of the Commissioners, are in a highly satisfactory condition. The whole amount in their hands Dec. 1, 1876, was #46,640.96, to which was added during the year 1877 the sum of $144,617.87, making a total of $191,258.83. From this amount there was paid, in cash, the sum of $108,667.24, which included $108,100.00 expended for City indebtedness maturing in 1877, and $567.24 for premium and interest accrued on sundry investments. There remained on hand, at the close of the last fincial year, a balance amounting to #82,591.59. Add to this amount the sum of $81,082.68, which will be paid over to the Commissioners during the present month, and the three funds will then amount to $163,674.27, about $150,000.00 of which will be available towards liquidating the City indebtedness of $237,100.00 maturing in 1878. It is hardly necessary to add that the several funds have been carefully managed by the Commissioners, the net income from interest alone, during the last year, having amounted to the sum of $4,316.08.
The Auditor's account of receipts and expenditures in all the departments, during the last financial year, shows the following aggregates, the details of which will be found in his annual report :
Balance in the Treasury Dec. 1, 1876,
$ 103,517 08
Receipts during the year,
1,803,943 19
Total,
$1,907,460 27
Payments during the year,
1,769,712 88
Cash Balance Nov. 30, 1877,
$137,747 39
10
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
The City Treasurer's accounts show the same figures for the financial year, except that the corresponding payments made by the Treasurer, appear upon his books in the months immediately following those in which the bills are audited. I cannot forbear to add that the City is to be congratulated on having an admirable system of accounts, as inaugurated in the Auditor's office in 1872, and also in having an accurate and efficient method of collecting and disbursing its revenue, as adopted in the Treasurer's office in 1872 and 1873.
SCHOOLS.
The large appropriation made for the support of the public schools of the City, in each year, sufficiently attests their im- portance, and the strong hold which they have upon the affections and regard of the people ; and it is a sentiment which should be cultivated and strengthened by all proper and legitimate means. At the same time, the very amount of this annual appropriation invites the closest scrutiny into the manner of its expenditure, and the most guarded and jealous watchfulness of the returns which it brings to us. I think it cannot be denied that notwithstanding the lavish generosity with which money has been devoted to our schools, there has been a growing feeling with a large portion of our citizens who are more immediately interested in them, that they have not always been productive of all the good results which we have a right to expect,-a feeling that our children do not leave them with that preparation for the business, the duties, and the conflicts of life, which our schools are intended and are supposed to afford. It would perhaps be difficult to single out any one cause to which this defect is to be attributed,-very likely it arises from a combination of causes, each contributing its own share, in its own way, to the common failure. But that the result is unsatisfactory, will not, I think, be strenuously denied. Indeed, an examination into the history of our schools for the past few years cannot fail to give the impression to any impartial mind, that they have been to a considerable extent in their con- duct and management, experimental; and while the practice of . experiments may, or may not, assist in the development of
11
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
better educational theories and systems, the practice, carried too far, is nevertheless highly prejudicial to the profit and welfare of the pupils who are made the subjects of them. The present generation of pupils cannot well afford to sacrifice the advantages which our schools are supposed to give them, to the trial of every new theory which comes from the brain of the experimental educator, nor should our citizens be called upon so constantly to contribute to the profits and gains of the book maker or publisher, which every such new experiment so surely demands.
There is, moreover, a growing conviction that our public schools fail to furnish what they are designed, and what they ought to furnish, in that, in many cases, the teachers lose sight of the real object of their vocation, and the purpose for which they are employed, namely, TEACHING. A careful.examination into the work of many of our schools, would, it is feared, disclose the un- welcome fact that there is comparatively little teaching, as such, in them; that some of the commonest, and at the same time the most desirable accomplishments and acquirements, particularly for those whose education and preparation for the business of life end with the grammar school, such as reading, writing, orthogra- phy, and the like, are almost wholly neglected for those of a more pretentious, but less important and less practical character, and the instruction in which, is sought to be imparted in the most general manner. The result, too often, is a comparative ignorance on the part of the teacher, of the capacity and needs of the indi- vidual pupil, and a complete destruction of sympathy for, and interest in, the work in which the pupil is engaged. An ambi- tious pupil, and one who is eager in his acquisition of knowledge, will succeed under almost any circumstances ; while one who is in- different, inattentive, objectless, as almost all pupils will be at cer- tain ages, needs personal attention and personal encouragement; and the teacher should have interest enough, both in his work and in the pupil, to give it. Many pupils of this latter class, left to themselves, with nothing to stimulate them, may not be able to learn ; but there are few, who, with a little interest shown in them by the teacher, and a proper effort to arouse their ambi- tion in their work, cannot be taught. In a word, in too many of our schools, the matter of teaching is becoming a secondary con-
12
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
sideration, and is fast being lost sight of in the semi-military discipline which prevails, and which, while it does not materially contribute to the permanent good deportment of the pupil, develop his finer instincts, or promote the growth of his manlier qualities, but rather the reverse, retards, in the most decided and unmistakable manner, his mental culture and training.
The policy of the establishment and support of High Schools at the public expense, seems to have become a settled one. With the wisdom of that policy, which has been frequently called in question, we have nothing to do. It only remains for us to adopt such measures as will best serve to answer the purposes and accomplish the objects of our own High School, and ensure its success. And when we recognize the fact that, of the hundreds who enter the school every year, only a very small proportion ever graduate at all, and a still smaller proportion are prepared to enter our colleges and universities, the inquiry becomes a very pertinent one, whether there is not too much attempted, to secure complete success in any one department ;- whether in view of the large number which leave the school at the end of the first or second year, some relief might not be afforded the school, and thus enhance its usefulness, by establishing an additional and a higher grade in the Grammar Schools ; - and whether the effi- ciency of the school might not be still further promoted, by fol- lowing the plan adopted in some of the larger cities, namely, creating two distinct schools, an English High School and a Latin School. By such a mode, those preparing for a collegiate course can receive the training needed for such a purpose, and from those qualified to give it; and those desiring a higher English course than is taught in the Grammar Schools, can pursue it, and each independently of the other,-neither being in any way embarrassed by the other. It is only reasonable to suppose that the work can be in this way much more successfully accomplished, and with better results to both courses, than it can be done in the present mixed condition of the school. At any rate, it should be our aim to make our High School what its name implies; and that instead of lowering the standard of it, we should inquire whether the greater good could not be accomplished to the greater number, by advancing that of the Grammar Schools.
13
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
I have dwelt at some length upon the subject of our public schools, because, in the first place, it is one which interests all classes of our citizens, and I desire to call the attention of those having the management and care of our schools to the importance and delicacy of their trust; and in the second place, because the appropriation for their support is so large that I have felt it my duty to admonish those having the application of it, of the responsibility of the service they are called upon to perform.
I am aware that it is far easier to point out evils than to suggest practical remedies. But it must be a source of extreme regret to those who have the interests of general and popular educa- tion at heart, that the members of the School Board are selected from year to year, on political or party grounds, or by indirect means employed by those who have some selfish or unworthy end to be accomplished. The most efficient and practical Board is unquestionably made up in part of good business men, and in part by those whose education and habits of life have been such as to fit them for the wise direction of educational agencies. A Board constituted of either class, to the exclu- sion of the other, would be sadly out of place. But in any event, when we see men of signal attainments, and men who have been proved to be accomplished and practical educators, supplanted by inexperienced men, and men who have no par- ticular interest in the legitimate work of the Board, we may be very sure that it bodes no good to the welfare and prosperity of our schools.
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The Free Public Library may properly be regarded as an auxiliary to our schools in the cause of general and popular education. As such, it is entitled to a cordial and generous, but at the same time, a discriminating support. While by the provisions of an ordinance of the City, its management is invested in a Board of Trustees, the appropriations for its maintenance come from the City Council. In order that the Library may best
14
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
answer the purposes of its establishment, and attain the highest possible value for those of our people who are in the habit of availing themselves of the advantages offered by it, it becomes highly desirable that there should be entire harmony of senti- ment and action between the two bodies. It becomes your duty to ascertain and determine whether any further provision is necessary or practicable to ensure such harmony.
HIGHWAYS.
The operations of the highway and street department have been principally confined to the ordinary routine of highway work, in the matter of repairs and minor changes in streets and sidewalks. The only considerable undertakings during the year have been the construction of a road from the bridge at Quin- sigamond, to the east of the Wire Works, southerly, by which two dangerous crossings, at grade, on the Providence and Worcester Railroad have been avoided, and the construction of the bridge where the Norwich and Worcester Railroad crosses Hammond street, near Southbridge street. The former of these works, which has been done at an expense of $6,761.69, is a very desirable and long demanded improvement, and the latter, which has involved an outlay of $5,908.02, had become an almost absolute necessity.
The work of the department for the present year promises nothing of an unusual character with the exception of the Foster street extension. The history of this matter is so fresh and so familiar to you all, that I have no need to rehearse it here, or to enlarge upon it. As you very well know, a writ of mandamus has been issued by the Supreme Court, requiring the completion of the work by the fifteenth of May next, a requirement which must be met unless the City should be relieved from it by some new legislation. at the present session of the Legislature.
PUBLIC GROUNDS.
Within a short time the railroad tracks have disappeared from the old Common or Park, and the work of beautifying this
15
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
ancient and time-honored resort of our people can now be com- pleted, so far as it ever can be before the removal of the public buildings on the West side. These grounds, together with those embraced within the limits of Elm Park, on the West side of the City, are in charge of the Commissioners of Shade Trees and Public Grounds, whose chairman, by the long and untiring per- sonal devotion which he has shown in this service, has placed our citizens under lasting obligations to him. His services, moreover, have been wholly gratuitous. As a city, we have not made ample provision for breathing places for the people, in the way of parks and public grounds, and the few that we have should be properly cared for; and while they are under so faith- ful and able direction as they are at present, I should recommend a liberal appropriation for that purpose.
HOPE CEMETERY.
By the last full and able report of the Commissioners of Hope Cemetery, an enlargement of its area was recommended and urged by arguments which seemed at the same time reasonable and conclusive. The lots are fast being taken, and much has been done, both by the owners of the lots, and the Commis- sioners, towards embellishing the grounds and making them attractive. The present limits of the Cemetery embrace about fifty acres. An addition of fifty acres on the southerly side is practicable, and steps have been taken to secure it. An appro -. priation will be needful for that purpose.
WATER.
During the year the Lynde Brook dam and reservoir have been fully restored, to the satisfaction and acceptance of the City government. Substantial progress has been made, also, in the settlement of claims for damages caused by the destruction of the dam two years since. Claims to the amount of $117,777.07, including expenses, have been adjusted and paid; others estimated at $55,653.35 are in the course of negotiation and can
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