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WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 8139 0129 6555 6
Worcester Free Public Library
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CITY DOCUMENT, No. 36.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
OF
HON. ELIJAH B. STODDARD,
MAYOR OF THE CITY OF WORCESTER, JAN. 3, 1882;
.
WITH THE
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS,
FOR THE
FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 30, 1881.
WORCESTER : PRESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON, 311 MAIN STREET. 1882.
R 352. 07443 W922c v. 36 1881
CITY OF WORCESTER.
IN CITY COUNCIL, May 8, 1882. .
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 36; to contain the Mayor's Inaugural Address, together with the Reports of the several Departments, for the year 1881.
Approved May 9, 1882.
E. B. STODDARD, Mayor.
A Copy, Attest :
E. H. TOWNE, City Clerk.
INDEX.
PAGE.
Mayor's Address . . City Treasurer's Report
5
Report of the Treasurer of City Trust Funds 25
Report of the Auditor
Report of the Commissioners of Sinking Funds · 27
111
Report of the Commissioners of the Jaques Fund, and other Funds of the City Hospital . · 115
Report of the Committee on Finance
121
Report of the City Clerk 123
Report of the Commission of Public Grounds . 127
By-Laws of the Commission of Public Grounds 165
Report of Overseers of the Poor . 173
Report of the Committee on the Truant School 193
Report of the City Physician 195
Report of the City Marshal . 199
Worcester Schools,-Report of Superintendent 207
Secretary's Report .
242 .
List of Schools, Teachers, &c
244
Calendar for 1882 .
267
Authorized List of Text Books. 268
271
Report of the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department Alarms of Fire in 1881
290
Location of Boxes of Fire Alarm Telegraph
329
Report of the Committee on Water
333
Report of the Water Commissioner
336
Report of the Water Registrar .
350
Report of the City Engineer to the Committee on Water
353
Report of the Joint Standing Committee on Sewers
355
Report of the Superintendent of Sewers
357
Report of the City Engineer 362
Report of the Commissioners of Hope Cemetery . 369
Worcester Free Public Library,-Directors' Report 375
Report of the Librarian . 381
Gifts to the Library
388
Report of the Committee on the Library
.392
Report of the Committee on the Reading Room
393
Report of the Committee on the Building 397
Report of the Committee on Finance 399
Report of the Treasurer of the Reading Room Fund 403
405
The City Hospital,-Trustees and Officers 417
Report of Trustees 419
Report of the Superintendent and Resident Physician 429
Report of the Commissioner of Highways 437
Report of the Board of Health .
449
Report of the City Solicitor
455
APPENDIX.
City Government and Officers for 1882 1 Salaries . . 12
Appropriations for 1882 13
21
Report of the Superintendent of Public Buildings
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen,
And Gentlemen of the Common Council :
THE short time that has intervened since the late election, crowded as it has been with the business of the closing year, has not afforded opportunity for the preparation of so extended an address as may perhaps be expected. Whatever may be lacking, however, in what I have to present at this time, will, I venture to hope, be made up by close and faithful attention to the duties of my office as they successively present themselves during the year.
Placed in this position by the suffrages of citizens, many of whom have known me ever since Worcester was incorporated as a city, my thoughts naturally turn to the past. Twenty- eight years ago I took my first oath to serve in the Common Council. Of those with whom I then had the honor to be associated, only one is a member of the present government.
The small city of that day has increased three-fold. It has acquired position and reputation for its distinguished men, for its large wealth, its educational facilities, and its comfortable homes. Its material growth has been gradual, and there is every promise of healthy increase. Its founders planted it in good soil, among beautiful hills. Its inhabitants have been industrious, frugal and enterprising.
By the best railroad facilities the products of sea and land are brought with dispatch to our very doors. There are no necessary supplies which we cannot obtain almost at a day's notice.
Our mechanical industries have been improved and enlarged, from year to year, by the ingenuity and skill of well-trained
2
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
artisans. Mercantile business has been carried on and developed by honest and sagacious merchants.
Moneyed institutions have been founded and managed by men of generous spirit, who have desired to assist their fellow-men with liberal aid. This is not a city " where wealth accumulates and men decay." We are justly proud of a city numbering among its inhabitants so many liberal and public spirited citizens, always ready to dispense, with a bountiful hand, charities, both public and private, and whose chief aim is to benefit the com- munity in which they live.
It is in such a community, gentlemen, that you have assumed the responsibility of administering its municipal affairs. You have been chosen to properly expend the money raised by taxa- tion, and to so execute the laws that the property and homes of our citizens shall be safe, and that the influences which surround our people shall be as exempt as possible from tempta- tion to idleness and crime.
I take this occasion to thank most heartily those who have honored me with their confidence, and who have, without serious contest, elected me to the office of Mayor.
I extend to all citizens a friendly hand, and can only say that the solemn words of my official oath express the aim and intent with which I enter upon my duties.
If any persons have been disappointed in the special issue at the municipal election, they must at least find satisfaction in the reflection that they discharged their duty at the polls, and they cannot but believe that those who have been placed in power will have no motive but to perform, with honest effort to do right, the responsible duties laid upon them.
The office of Mayor of this city is no sinecure. I rely upon your counsel and support, and hope to join with you in the exercise of diligence, good judgment and fidelity in all our official acts.
FINANCE.
The gross funded debt, November 30, 1881, was $2,582,300 - an increase of $2,100 during the financial year.
7
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
The debt is classified as follows :
City loans, .
$1,886,000
Sewer loans,
. 325,000
Water loans,
. 371,300
The interest rate is
4 per cent. on $590,000
. .
4₺
66
140,000
יי
66
5
66 781,000
66
. 6
66
" 1,071,300
The 6 per cents. mature on or before April 1, 1892.
The average rate per annum paid on the whole loan is about 100 per cent.
516
The following table may be of interest as showing the net indebtedness for seven years.
YEAR.
Gross Debt.
Cash and Sinking Funds.
Net Debt.
1875
$2,589,700 00
$212,095.26
$2,377,604.74
1876
2,492,300.00
150,158.04
2,342,141.96
1877
2,509,200.00
220,338.98
2,288,861.02
1878
2,507,100.00
163,478.59
2,343,621.41
1879
2,542,300.00
187,136.36
2,355,163.64
1880
2,580,200 00
314,285.50
2,265.914.50
1881
2,582,300.00
401,748.88
2,180,551.12
·
During the past year temporary loans were made and paid to the amount of $350,000, with interest at an average rate of about 3} per cent.
November 30, 1881, the several sinking funds amounted to $265,299.92. During the year the city contributed to these funds the sum of $160,438.24.
The information in regard to the several trust funds belonging to the city will be found in the reports of the boards having them in charge and in the appended table.
S
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
TITLE OF FUND.
Established.
Amt. Nov. 30, 1880. Amt. Nov. 30, 1881.
A. H. Bullock High School Fund, .
1860
$ 1.467.43
$ 1,504.95
Hope Cemetery Fund,
1863
6,470.01
8,989.84
Dr. John Green Library Fund, . Isaac Davis Hospital Fund,
1868
40,329.99
40,945.01
1873
1,647.86
1,754.56
George Jaques Hospital Fund,
1874
58,863.10
74,929.38
Albert Curtis Hospital Fund, .
1876
1,081.08
1,033.87
John B. Shaw Hospital Fund,
1877
143.83
168.01
Jos. A. Tenny Hospital Fund,
1881
5,000.00
$110,003.30
$134,325.62
It appears from the books of the Auditor, that the receipts for the year ending November 30, 1881, aggregated $2,138,859.56, and that the payments, for the same period, amounted to $2,135,328.83. According to the same books, the balance of cash on hand, at the close of the year, after deducting the November bills, which of course are payable in December, amounted to $136,448.96. This amount agrees with the cash balance on the books of the Treasurer, as verified by the Committee on Finance, after allowing for the audited bills not presented until December.
The contributions made to the sinking fund the past year were derived from the following sources :
Balances of appropriations for 1880, $74,289.58
Sundry assessments and real estate sales, 1880, . 26,772.87
Premium on City Bonds sold Jan. 1, 1881, . 30,150.00
Special contributions from water rates for sundry sinking funds, . 5,000.00
Proceeds of real estate sold in 1881 (in part), 22,225.79
$160,438.24
No receipts from premium on bonds can be expected the coming year.
There will need to be funded previous to May 1, 1882, $53,000 - the balance used in payments for the City Hospital buildings and Lynde Brook damages - or this amount will have to be provided by taxation.
Besides the above amount, the expense of widening Summer Street - estimated at $75,000 - and some other small items for
9
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
work ordered, and damages to be paid, this administration must provide for, at the start, a total of about $150,000.
The appropriations for the year should be reasonable; and when they are once made cach department should arrange its expenditures so as to conform strictly to the Ordinance, Chap. 2, Sec. 2.
Further details in regard to receipts and expenditures will appear in the annual reports of the Treasurer and Auditor.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
The fire department is well managed. The apparatus is in good condition, and the services of the officers and men cannot be too highly appreciated by the citizens. I hope the depart- ment will continue to receive generous support and be furnished with such new equipment as the service requires.
For the protection and saving of property the Insurance Fire Patrol is an important adjunct to the fire department. The city pays twelve hundred dollars annually (which is less than one- quarter of the cost) towards supporting the Patrol. The Insurance Companies doing business in the city are assessed to pay the remaining cost. I am happy to affirm that the two organizations work harmoniously together. It would be prudent for the city to own sets of rubber blankets and coverings for use in case of extreme need. Oftentimes damage by water is greater than by fire; and firemen should be furnished with · apparatus which can save property after a fire is subdued.
This city has been very fortunate for the past year in the small number of fires.
The number of bell alarms has been 60
The number of still alarms has been 86
The number of telephone alarms has been 20
The insured losses on real estate have been $18,686.08 The insured losses on personal estate have been 54,253.31 The uninsured losses on real and personal property have been . 10,665.25
The value of property destroyed . . 83,603.64
You will be asked to appropriate at least $40,000 to support the fire department.
1
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
This institution becomes more and more important with the growth of the city. The inmates of many households have been instructed and made happy by the reading furnished at public expense.
The work in this department has been done quietly, and with entire satisfaction. I congratulate the city in having a librarian whose knowledge of the working methods of a large library, is second to none in the country.
The use of the library is constantly increasing. The annual report shows that 114,591 volumes have been given out for home use, and 43,414 to students for use within the library building.
On Sundays 14,917 persons have used the reading room.
The number of additions to the library is greater by 1000 volumes than that of the previous year. The expenditures from city appropriations for the past year have been $12,982.89.
The last catalogue was printed in 1870, and a supplement was issued in 1874. Both of these volumes have been exhausted, and none have been for sale for the past two years.
The reading publie demand a new catalogue; and you will be asked to provide for a portion of the expense of printing one the present year.
HIGHWAYS.
The work of widening Summer Street must be completed on or before August 1, 1882, as ordered by the County Commis- sioners.
The plan of macadamizing side streets meets with public approval.
The Highway Commissioner, in his report, represents that over $60,000 ought to be appropriated to meet the ordinary expenses of this department and the cost of the macadamizing and paving of streets for the year.
I hope the Committee on Highways will insist that the paved streets shall be kept clean and that the rolling stone shall be kept removed from the main travelled roads.
11
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
CHARITIES.
The report of the Overseers of the Poor is full and explicit. About the same appropriations will be required as last year. During the past year the statement is as follows :
Different persons supported at the Almshouse 133
Present inmates . 62
Families who have received relief, are . 780
At a cost of. $17,723.54
Insane paupers (42) have cost . 7,264.21
Paupers at reformatory institutions have cost 1,184.00
The steam heating apparatus and the swine house at the Farm are incomplete, and will require an appropriation to finish them. The institution is well managed by an able Superintendent.
It has been suggested that provision be made to remove the harmless insane paupers to the Almshouse, in the belief that they would receive proper care at a large saving in expense. This plan has been adopted by other cities.
WATER.
The Committee of last year made a report recommending the feasibility of procuring an additional supply of water from Tatnuck Brook.
As this seems to be the only remaining source of supply by gravitation, I think their conclusions coincide with the public opinion, that measures should be adopted this year in laying pipes or building the necessary dam, so that a better supply of water may be furnished when actually required.
I commend to your early attention the need of laying a high service pipe to meet the requirements of large buildings erected on Front and Main Streets.
PUBLIC GROUNDS AND SHADE TREES.
I am happy to reaffirm the annual praises of the work of the Commission in charge of these ornaments of our city. Future generations also will hold in grateful remembrance the name of Edward W. Lincoln, whose gratuitous and disinterested labors as chairman of the Commission, have made attractive to both old
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
and young, the flowers, the shade, the walks, the water in summer, and the ice in winter. In 1854 I advocated the pur- chase of Elm Park. The land was secured, not without opposi- tion in the City Council.
To-day I venture to suggest that the city ought to own a large and inexpensive tract of land, beyond the mile circle, for the park of the future. Hills and valleys are in sight in every direction. There ought to be some extensive grounds near the city proper, where the public could enjoy the free air of hill and dale without being trespassers ; where they might roam at will without seeing the signs " no trespassing on these grounds," " no fishing here," "keep off the grass." Within a few days I have noticed that some citizens of Lowell have purchased one hundred acres for a park for a similar purpose.
CITY HOSPITAL.
The expectation that the City Hospital buildings would receive a proper dedication last week, and the postponement of the dedicatory exercises until next June, are my reasons for withholding such remarks as the importance of the subject demands.
I trust that the faithful labors of the Committee, the judi- cious arrangement of the buildings, and the memory of the man whose wisdom and benevolence have contributed so much to . found this institution, will at the proper time receive merited praise.
COMMISSIONS.
The reports of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund and of the Trustees of Hope Cemetery will give full information relating to their trusts. Each year these Boards are entitled to our gratitude for the valuable gratuitous work they render the city.
POLICE.
To properly protect the inhabitants against lawlessness and crime in localities so widely separated, it seems to me if
13
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
five men were added to the present force of patrolmen the number would then be none too many. The force now consists of a marshal, two assistant marshals, one captain of night police, and fifty-eight patrolmen.
The whole number of arrests during the year has been . . 3022 Whole number of lodgers cared for . 1733
The appropriations and earnings were $62,722.95
The total expenses were . 61,269.89
The unexpended balance, $1,453.06
So far as I have been able to learn, the public good does not require much change in the force. It would give me pleasure to appoint many who have solicited the office, but if there is any department where the principle of civil service reform should be applied, it is in this. Some of my predecessors have urged the necessity of having a Board of Commissioners to control and regulate the Police. I should not consider it any discourtesy to myself if you heeded their advice.
It may be in the line of this subject to say a few words on the license question.
The return of votes given at the late election upon the question of licensing the sale of spirituous liquors showed a small majority in the affirmative, and the Board of Aldermen has consequently full power to grant or to refuse license. It is evident from the return that our community is about equally divided upon this question.
There has been in the past, from time to time, more or less complaint that licenses have been granted in too large numbers and with too little discrimination, and that the laws have not been sufficiently enforced either in holding persons licensed strictly to account, or in suppressing the sale of liquors in places not licensed. It is not for me to say to what extent this com- plaint may have been just, nor do I profess to know whether the license law of this State is capable of such administration as shall silence all complaints. But I have no hesitation in expressing a firm conviction, that this law should be administered in good faith ; that licenses, when granted, should not be allowed to be
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
evasively perverted to any other use or purpose than that for which they were granted -that they should not be granted without caution or without wise discretion ; and that the laws relating to the whole matter should be respected and enforced by executive officers.
SCHOOLS.
The cost of maintenance of the public schools the past year has been about $153,000. The whole number of pupils has been 11,455, and the average number belonging to the schools is 8,850. The number of teachers in the employ of the city, aside from those in the evening schools, is 215. Several school- houses have been constructed or enlarged at a cost of $48,053.44. One at Canterbury Street of six rooms ; one at Valley Falls of two rooms ; one at Woodland Strcet of four rooms ; and six new rooms have been added to the Belmont Street house.
The growth of the city has compelled these new accommo- dations, and it is not unlikely that still further room may be asked, the present year. If further rooms are actually needed, I trust you will see that they are provided. I recommend liberal provisions for the ascertained needs of the schools. It is believed that the School Board is managing the schools to the general satisfaction of the community. This is evinced by the absence of any considerable number of private schools, by the large attendance of scholars, and by the absence of those excite- ments on the subject, which sometimes convulse the people to the injury of sound learning.
My experience in the School Board has shown me that it is easy to see faults, and I have much charity for those who earnestly try to remedy them, and who give much time, thought and anxiety to properly decide all the delicate questions which arise in the education of so many children. Nearly every parent is brought face to face with the practical every-day working of the schools, through his children, and under the intense light of such an inspection many defects must be apparent; bnt experience teaches that it is not so easy to remedy imperfections as to see them.
15
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
A tendency has been noticed in the schools of this common- wealth to multiply the subjects of study. Some thoughtful people have even proposed to introduce manual labor, the use of tools and the elements of useful trades. The wisdom of such an addition to the already crowded curriculum of the schools may be doubted ; and yet something may profitably be done, with suitable restrictions, even in that direction. In a few of the schools plain sewing was introduced several years ago, with good results and without apparent injury to the regular course of studies.
In the General Statutes of the Commonwealth it is made a public duty " to encourage private societies and public institu- tions, by rewards and immunities, for the promotion of agricul- ture, arts, sciences, commerce, trades, manufactures, and a natural history of the country, etc." In this line the Free Public Library has already taken its prominent and highly useful place. It is, in a sense, a part of the school system. There are other institutions in our midst which might justly, and with great profit, receive encouragement, and thus become a recognized part of that system. Of this kind I may name the Natural History Society, the Society of Antiquity, the Art Club, and the Cooking School. The latter is one of the practi- cal things essential to the thorough education of girls. Similar elementary schools for training boys in any of the more common trades, or in the use of tools, might be encouraged, if private enterprise should establish them. The Free Evening Drawing Schools tend to the same end as the work of the Art Club. The elementary study of science, taken up incidentally in the Grammar and Primary schools, is supplemented by the work and the cabinet of the Natural History Society. Though it may not be best, then, to attach the teaching of trades to the schools, which have their special work, at least not until that work shall have been simplified or abridged; still I wish to suggest that if the public spirit of this community were aroused to the importance of this subject, some experiment might be tried by private enterprise, or some plan might be devised, whereby that practical character should be given to the schools, for which there is evidently a popular demand. Innovations
16
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36. 1
there must be, or there is no progress. Of course experiments should be made with caution. In my opinion the reputation and growth of this city depend much upon a liberal provision for the proper education of children. The details of school work will appear fully in the report of the School Committee.
SEWERS.
Plans have been made for sewering the Pine Meadow District. That locality has been greatly improved, under the orders of the Board of Health, by clearing out the natural brook. I anticipate that in the Pine Meadow, Lincoln Brook and South Worcester Districts sewers will be demanded before long.
I ask your early attention to the arching of a portion of the Mill Brook sewer.
As abutters have to pay a large portion of the expense of constructing lateral sewers, you should be liberal in these improvements, which so materially enhance the value of adjoin- ing estates.
SEWAGE.
Situated as this city is where only a single large stream flows directly to the sea, it has, or ought to have, the right to a way of necessity for its sewage to flow.
The present controversy in relation to sewage between the City of Worcester and some of the towns on the Blackstone River, is one of inomentous interest and concern.
That stream is like a common passage-way; and no one corporation has exclusive ownership in the purity of its waters for manufacturing or culinary purposes. Every mill or house situated near its banks has for years contributed more or less to defile its waters. The theory that the city of Worcester is responsible in damages as a wrong-doer because it is obliged of necessity to flow its sewage into the only channel which nature has provided, and where by the express terms of a special statute it is authorized to have such outlet, is not reasonable, and can hardly be sustained as good law.
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