USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1883 > Part 1
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WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 8139 0129 6563 0
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Worcester Free Public Library
Property of WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY
CITY DOCUMENT, No. 38.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
OF
HON. CHARLES G. REED,
MAYOR OF THE CITY OF WORCESTER, JAN. 7, 1884;
WITH THE
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS,
FOR THE
FINANCIAL YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 30, 1883.
WORCESTER : PRINTED BY CHARLES HAMILTON, 311 MAIN STREET. 1884.
R 352, 07443 W922C V.38 1883
INDEX.
PAGE.
Mayor's Address Valedictory Address . 17
5
City Treasurer's Report . 21
Report of the Treasurer of City Trust Funds
Report of the Auditor . .
27
Report of the Commissioners of Sinking Funds .
99
Report of the Committee on Finance
103
Report of the City Clerk .
105
The City Hospital, -Trustees and Officers
107
Report of Trustees 109
Report of the Superintendent and Resident Physician 114 Report of the Visiting Staff . . 128
Report of the Commissioners of the Jaques Fund, and other Funds of the City Hospital . . 130
Report of the Commission of Public Grounds 135
Report of the Committee on Water 173.
Report of the Water Commissioner
176
Report of the Water Registrar
187
Report on Dam and Reservoir on Tatnuck Brook to the Committee on Water 191
Report of the Joint Standing Committee on Sewers 205
Report of the Superintendent of Sewers 207
Report of the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department 211
Alarms of Fire in 1883 . 223
Location of Boxes of Fire Alarm Telegraph 262
Report of Overseers of the Poor 263
Report of the Committee on the Truant School
282
Report of the City Physician
299
Report of the City Marshal
303
Secretary's Report
363
Calendar for 1884 . 389
Authorized List of Text Books
390
Worcester Free Public Library,-Directors in 1884 . Directors' Report .
393
Report of the Librarian
399
Report of the Committee on the Library 413
Report of the Committee on the Reading Room 414
Report of the Committee on the Building 417
Report of the Committee on Finance . 419
Report of the Treasurer of the Reading Room Fund 422
Report of the Board of Health . 423
Report of the Superintendent of Public Buildings 431
Report of the Commissioners of Hope Cemetery 443
Report of the Commissioner of Highways . 451
Report of the City Solicitor 461
APPENDIX.
City Government and Officers for 1884 . 1 Salaries 12
Appropriations for 1884
13
394
Gifts to the Library . 409
323
Worcester Schools,-Report of Superintendent
List of Schools, Teachers, &c 366
25
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen, .
and of the Common Council :-
WE are assembled together at this time, having been honored by our fellow-citizens in that they have intrusted to us the man- agement and control of the various interests of this municipality ; and, grateful to Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, for the prosperity wherewith he has blessed this city in its past history, and with a firm faith and reliance upon his continued divine guidance that he will direct and bless all honest efforts of ours for the prosperity and welfare of this city and its citizens, we have now taken upon ourselves the solemn obligation of our respective offices.
I would respectfully present to you for your consideration such matters of information, accompanied by recommendations, as the prospective wants of the several departments may seem to require.
FINANCES.
On the 30th day of November, 1883, the funded loans of the city amounted to $2,797,700, and the temporary loan to $150,- 000 ; making a gross indebtedness of $2,947,700. On the same date the cash in the treasury amounted to $91,046.54, and the sinking funds to $486,776.21 ; leaving a net indebtedness at the close of the last financial year of $2,369,877.25 as against a net indebtedness of $2,207,503.62, Nov. 30, 1882. Of the funded debt, $833,400 bears interest at the rate of four per cent. per annum ; $140,000 at the rate of 4} per cent. ; $765,000 at the
2
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
rate of 5 per cent., and $1,059,300 at the rate of 6 per cent. All of the 6 per cent. loan will mature on or before April 1, 1892. The annual interest on the gross indebtedness before referred to amounts to $147,644, -the average rate of interest thereon being almost exactly five per cent. The several sinking funds of the city, amounting as before stated to $486,776.21, consist of investments in our own registered bonds to the ex- tent of $431,900, on which the interest is paid semi-annually at an average rate of about four and one-half per cent., and also of cash on deposit, Nov. 30, 1883, to the amount of $54,876.21. Since that date the sum of $61,923.86, which comprises all receipts from sewer assessments and from sales of real estate, as well as the balances at the close of the last financial year, of sundry appropriations, has been paid over to the commissioners, by the City Treasurer, as a contribution to the Sinking Funds heretofore established.
The various Trust funds belonging to the city, the details in regard to which will be found in the reports of the several boards and commissions having them in charge, show a net increase during the year of $11,145.56. Of these funds those held for the benefit of the City Hospital amount to $137,282.39; the Dr. John Green Library fund amounts to $42,666.87 ; the Hope Cemetery fund to $11,405.57 ; and the High School fund to $1,503.92. All of these funds are in the custody of William S. Barton, as treasurer, and his accounts pertaining thereto, which are kept entirely separate from those of the City Treasurer, are subject to the supervision of the boards and commissions before alluded to.
From the books of the auditor it appears that the aggregate receipts for the last financial year, including the balance on hand Dec. 1st, 1882, amounted to $2,180,916.75, and that the payments for the year amounted to $2,089,870.21; showing a balance on hand, Nov. 30, 1883, as previously stated, of $91,046.54. Further details in regard to the finances of the city will be found in the reports of the auditor and treasurer, both of which are to be laid before the City Council for their consideration.
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
CLAIMS.
Claims for damages are frequently brought against the city for injuries received by falls upon the sidewalk, bursting of water pipes, defective highway and other causes, and the city has been obliged to settle these claims for damages for want of witnesses for the defence as to the actual damage, if any, and . evidence which might have been readily obtained at the time of the accident. I shall endeavor to protect the city's interest by examination by proper persons at the time the claimed loss or injury may occur.
WATER.
The report of the Joint Standing Committee on Water, accom- panied by the reports of the Water Registrar and Water Com- missioner, will be before you for consideration.
The total cost of our water-works to December 1, 1883, including new supply, is $1,603,988.50. The cost of the new supply (included in the above), exclusive of damages for diver- sion of water and land taken, has been $223,574.34. The settle- ment of the damage to the mill and land owners on the Tatnuck Brook will early come before the government, and will require your careful consideration.
The revenue received from water rates for the year 1883, was $100,635.85 ; there are also bills in the hands of the City Treasurer for collection, amounting to $12,199.06. The expense of water maintenance, including interest on the water loan, was $53,577.44 ; leaving a balance that has been transferred to the sinking funds of $47,058.41.
I desire to call your attention to a necessary change in the water rates and also to the use of meters. We now have in use 5,197 meters, and we are the only city in this country, where meters are used, that does not have a minimum rate per meter. There are to-day, in this city, many families using metered water who pay less to the city for the water than the cost to the city for reading their meters. If a fixed sum as .a minimum rate for metered water should be adopted by the City Council,
,
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
it would at once put a stop to this defrauding the city, without a material increase of the bill to the honest water-taker, and add to the revenue of the department.
There are 718 hydrants in the city. There has been laid, during the past year, 7.17 miles of pipe, making the total amount of main pipe now laid in the city 90,86 miles ; of this amount 45 miles is cement pipe ; the length of the service pipe laid in the city is about 55-37 miles. The many breaks in water-mains, involving not only loss of water, but great incon- venience, and, at times, damage, are almost invariably in the cement pipe, and we should each year replace a portion of it by cast iron pipe. The demand for service pipe will probably be larger the coming year than ever before aside from the rapid increase and growth of our city ; in those sections in which the main sewers are now being laid, the wells are being drained by the sewers, and a liberal appropriation should be made for the water construction account ; as no pipe is put in except under a guarantee of six per cent. upon the cost it becomes a paying investment to the city as well as a benefit to the individual prop- erty owner.
The office of the Water Commissioner should be removed from the City Hall to the water-shop on Thomas street, where the Commissioner would have the workshop and yards more under his own control, and while increasing the efficiency of the water department, it would also afford means of relief to the crowded office at the City Hall.
The committee ask for an appropriation of $40,000.
SEWERS.
The City Council of 1883 voted, and the order for completing the work was prepared and passed by that government, for the extension of the East Worcester sewer from its present terminus to Shrewsbury street through Plum street, a distance of 1,000 feet, at'an estimated expense of $15,000. They also appropri- ated $140,000 for the completion of the Cambridge street sewer from Chelsea street, its terminus at the time of the passage of
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
the order, to Park Avenue, a distance of 6,360 feet. This work has been begun and $8,000 of the appropriation of $140,000 has been expended. Whenever these two lines, the work on which has already been ordered, together with a much-needed main line through Southbridge, Washburn and Southgate streets shall have been built, our entire system of main sewers will have been completed. There will, however, be a constant demand and necessity for lateral sewers feeding into these main lines. The City Council of 1883 appropriated $25,000 for so repairing and strengthening the bottom and sides of the Mill Brook sewer, between the Boston and Albany Railroad and Green street, that the sewer may be arched between those points, and I would recommend that if any of the appropriation remains after com- pleting this work, it be applied to arching this sewer. With the additional water supply it is anticipated that the lateral sew- ers can be regularly flushed, thereby adding to the cleanliness of the city.
HIGHWAYS.
With our 150 miles of streets and ways, with the increasing weight and number of heavy teams cutting up the streets, with the sewer, water, street lighting department and gas company .. continually digging up the streets and never leaving them in as good condition as before, no department of the city is more diffi- cult to manage or more criticised by the public than the highway department. The telegraph, telephone and electric light com- panies all add to the trials of this department. I am of the opinion that more paving should be used and less macadam on streets where the travel is heavy. As we do not have gravel or other good material for repairing streets, the pulverized stone should be used in repairs and upon streets where heavy teaming does not require paving. With the possible exception of Sum- mer street, and perhaps Millbury street near its junction with Quinsigamond Avenue, the so-called macadamizing has been but little better than a good thorough repair of the streets where used. Main street, from School street to Lincoln Square, should be repaved the coming season, as well as the contemplated pav- ing of Washington Square.
10
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
Frequent complaints are made of the obstruction to streets by the moving of wooden buildings ; should permission again be granted for the removal of such buildings, in every case the . building should be moved under the surveillance of the Com- missioner of Highways ; and the owner of the building should not only be obliged to give bonds for the protection of the city against damages that may arise from the obstruction, but also pay a fixed fee for the benefit of the Fire Department whose em- ployés are obliged to spend valuable time in protecting the fire alarm telegraph wires from injury by the moving of the building.
The erection of telegraph, telephone and electric light poles to the obstruction of travel is a growing evil. No more poles will be erected without authority, and all petitions for their erection should be reported back to the government for final action, and permission should never be given unless the party petitioning agrees to allow other petitioners to jointly occupy their line of poles upon paying their proportion of the expense ; by adopting this rule the number of obstructing poles will not be increased. The Joint Standing Committee on Public Works will endeavor to so co-operate with the Highway Department this year that complaints will cease of the continual digging up of our streets for sewer, gas, water, or street lights, as they can arrange so that work can be done and leave the street in as good condition as before commencement of work.
Of the work remaining undone in this department, Park Ave- nue from Beaver street to Mill street still remains unfinished. No order has been passed for the work, although the decree was passed October 25, 1880, and all damages are settled. Esti- mated cost of finishing the street, $3,000. A decree re-locating Ripley street has been adopted at an estimated cost of $600; the locating of the westerly end of Austin street, estimated cost $150; the estimated cost of Gold street court is $350. This comprises the uncompleted work that has been decreed. Decrees have been adopted for making Richards street public, estimated cost $700; Houghton street, estimated cost $700; and the north end of Ward street, estimated cost $1,900. It will need $400 more to finish up Mill street as originally con-
-
11
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
templated by the/highway committees of 1882 and 1883 ; it will probably require about $400 to complete North Merrick street, and about $600 on Wall street. In addition to the above work, it is absolutely necessary, in order to complete the main Cam- bridge street sewer, that Crystal street be extended to Cambridge street. The County Commissioners have been petitioned to locate this extension across the Boston and Albany Railroad, but have as yet taken no action.
The appropriation asked for by this department is $60,000 for highways ; for street construction, $20,000; for block paving, $25,000, and for sidewalks, $20,000; a total of $125,000.
LIGHTING STREETS.
This department asks for an increased appropriation on account of the increased expense attending the introduction of - the electric light. Proposals will be before the committee for electric lighting. Estimated expense, $11,000; for gas, $17,- 000 ; for gasoline, $22,000. Total amount asked for, $50,000.
SHADE TREES AND PUBLIC GROUNDS.
The Commission, to whom we are so much indebted, through the efforts of its chairman, for whatever of care our shade trees may have had or improvement made in our public grounds, ask for an appropriation of $7,000 as against $6,500 of last year. Details of all matters connected with this Commission may be found in the report submitted to the City Council.
SCHOOLS.
We had in our day schools, Nov. 28, 1883, 10,014 pupils, an increase of 392 over the year before. The cost of these schools for the year has been $179,488.91, and the School Board ask for an appropriation for the year 1884 of $189,000. The number of day schools in 1882 was 200; number in 1883, 212. A new school-house on Millbury street, and the addition to the Wins- low street house, furnish quarters for the additional schools.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
The amount expended last year for evening schools was $3,160 .- 59. An appropriation of $4,000 is asked for this year by the School Board for these schools. The number of pupils in the evening schools was 327, with an average attendance of 270; the ages range from 15 to 45 years. The attendance is as regu- lar as can be expected, and most of the pupils are extremely anxious to learn and are only absent from necessity, a large number being girls at service, who have but a part of the eve- nings to themselves, still they improve every opportunity to be present. These schools cannot be too highly commended, as they are giving an opportunity for an education that could be obtained by the pupils availing themselves of their benefits in no other way.
The School Board ask for an appropriation of $40,000 for new school-houses.
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
This institution is carefully managed by a Board of Trustees, selected from among our most honored citizens, who have pre- sented their report, which is on file, and will be brought before you for consideration. They ask for an appropriation of $16,297.
CHARITIES.
Well-organized and directed efforts in the past, together with efficient officers, have made this important department one of the best arranged in New England. The several reports of the officers having it in charge will be submitted to you for consid- eration. The appropriation asked for by this department for the year to come is $43,100.
CITY HOSPITAL.
There can be no question of the great value of the hospital to this community ; the reports of the trustees and superintendent will give a full and complete statement of the work of the past year, also its anticipated needs for the year to come. It is
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
thoroughly equipped for its present capacity ; it is provided with forty beds and accommodation for that number of patients. It is carefully and economically conducted under the present management. The cost per patient has been less than ever before in its history.
The appropriation by the City Council for 1883, was $8,000.00
Received from paying patients, 1,863.92
Received from State patients, 1,637.06
Income from Jaques Fund,
5,553.89
Income from Tenney Fund, -
250.00
Total, $17,304.87
The expense of the hospital for the last year was $13,696.86. The estimated income from the Jaques and other funds for the year to come is $6,000, and the appropriation asked for from the city is $8,000.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
This department asks for an appropriation of $55,000 ; $5,000 of this amount being for the reconstruction of the fire alarm tele- graph, the fact being that our present system is totally inade- quate for the increased growth of our city. We require ten circuits in place of the four now in use. As now arranged, the breaking of a line or any interference with telegraph, telephone or any other lines, is liable to expose and leave unprotected a large part of the city. The electrician has done the best he could with the present system. Our present boxes should be changed to the non-interference box ; these prevent confusion of alarms on bells, should two boxes be pulled at the same time, as has frequently occurred the past year.
With the introduction of the signal and call boxes by the police, the extended use of wires by the electric light, telegraph and telephone companies, there is imperative necessity that the electrician should be employed all of the time in the electrical department. I should recommend that the fire alarm telegraph and signal call boxes be placed under the care of the electrician and a competent assistant, to be appointed by the Board of
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
Mayor and Aldermen, and the compensation fixed by them, and that all electric light wires, as well as telegraph and telephone wires, be strung under his superintendence, and the expense of that service to be paid by the company receiving the service. Dur- ing the past year, valuable time needed by the city, has been spent by the electrician for the companies, and without any compensation.
The fire limit ordinance should at once be revised, either by a new general ordinance which should take the whole city into its provisions regulating the erection or alteration of wooden build- ings, or by increasing the boundaries of the fire limits under the present ordinance ; modifying it so that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen may have discretionary power to allow additions or erection of buildings not over twelve feet high, as, under the present ordinance, no building of any kind, not even a horse- shed, can be erected unless it is attached to another building ; by the contemplated change in the ordinance no additional fire risk would be incurred. The entire ordinance regulating the Fire Department needs revising, as it was framed before perma- nent men were employed in the department, and great improve- ments could be made in its provisions.
Every well tested improvement in apparatus is at once adopted by the Fire Department, and with the exception of a much needed Hayes truck to reach the top of our highest buildings, no department in New England is better equipped or in a better state of efficiency. With our water pressure, and our admira- ble system of water pipes in the streets, so connected that the circulation is so regulated that in the event of a large fire and a corresponding increase of draught and consumption of water, this pressure can be maintained, no fire has been for years able to get great headway in the city proper, and with the con- templated improvements in the fire alarm and electrician duties, no anxiety is expressed for the future protection of the city.
POLICE.
For a complete report of the condition and doings of this department for the year 1883, I respectfully refer you to the
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
report of the City Marshal. The force at this time consists of a Marshal, two assistant Marshals of equal rank, a night captain, two sergeants, two detectives and sixty-two patrolmen ; a total force of seventy men. This force is entirely too small to pro- tect this city and suburbs, and I recommend an addition of six men to the force, making a total of seventy-six men. I have examined the police patrol and signal service as now in operation in various cities, and I have had correspondence with mayors of other cities where the system is in successful operation, and all are of the opinion that by the use of this service the city is better protected, and at a very much less cost, than if the number of patrolmen were doubled. By this service tele- phone and call signals are located on street corners at certain distances apart, placed in locked watch boxes, to which any good citizen can procure a key. These boxes are connected with the central station in the same manner as the fire alarm. The officer on the beat is required to report to the central station through this signal at regular intervals ; he can also receive information of crime committed in any other part of the city, without leaving his beat, and be on the alert for the offenders. In case of an emergency, he or any other citizen can use the arbitrary call which will bring the patrol wagon with assistance from the main office, and an officer will not be obliged to leave his beat to take prisoners to the station. I would recommend the placing of twelve of the boxes in such localities as may be designated by the police authorities.
There should be a probation officer appointed, who should, as provided by the statute, take cognizance of cases as they come · before the criminal courts, thereby, in the interest of humanity, giving an opportunity for reformation to those who have not become hardened in sin and crime, by placing them on proba- tion under the officer's care. Whatever changes may be made at this time in the force will be made without regard to politics, nationality or religious belief, and an effort will be made at once, by examination of methods in other cities, to perfect a plan that will remove politics from the police force, making moral and
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 38.
physical fitness and efficiency conditions of appointment rather than politics or nationality.
Gentlemen :-
In conclusion, let us remember that while the rapid growth of the city demands increased improvements and expenses, with heavy expenditures for sewers this year, as well as damages for the new water supply, we should weigh carefully all our pro- jected improvements and endeavor to check every useless ex- pense, and guard well the moral and financial interests of the city.
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