USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1885 > Part 1
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WORCESTER PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 8139 0129 6576 2
0
S
INE 1
EBY. 29:1848.
Free Public Library.
GIFT OF Vincester. Leiter Release.
Worcester, Mass. 4 une 12 1866.
R 352. 07443 W922C 4. 40 1885
INDEX.
PAGE.
Mayor's Address . 5
City Treasurer's Report 31
Report of the Treasurer of City Trust Funds 35
Report of the Auditor
37
Report of the Commissioners of Sinking Funds ยท
107
Report of the Committee on Finance
111
Report of the City Clerk .
113
Worcester Schools,-Report of Superintendent 115 Secretary's Report . 162
List of Schools, Teachers, &c.
166
Calendar for 1886
192
Report of the Committee on Water
197
Report of the Water Registrar .
224
Report of the City Engineer to the Committee on Water
230
Report of the Joint Standing Committee on Sewers 231
Report of the Superintendent of Sewers 235
The City Hospital,-Trustees and Officers 241
Report of Trustees . 243
Report of the Superintendent and Resident Physician. 249
Report of the Commissioners of the Jaques Fund, and other Funds of
the City Hospital . 264
Report of Overseers of the Poor 269
Report of the Committee on the Truant School 285
Report of the City Physician
288
Report of the Board of Health 293
Worcester Free Public Library,-Directors in 1886 300
301
Report of the Librarian
.304
Gifts to the Library
311
Report of the Committee on the Library
316
Report of the Committee on the Reading Room 318
Report of the Committee on the Building 324
Report of the Committee on Finance . 325
Report of the Treasurer of the Reading Room Fund . 328
Report of the Commission of Public Grounds and Parks-Commission . 329
Report of the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department . 371
381
Report of the City Solicitor .
Report of the City Marshal 387 -
Report of the Probation Officer . 397
Report of the Commissioner of Highways . 401
Report of the Commissioners of Hope Cemetery 411
Report of the Superintendent of Public Buildings 421
APPENDIX.
City Government and Officers for 1886
429
Salaries . 440
Appropriations for 1886.
441
193
Report of the Water Commissioner
Directors' Report
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen,
AND
Gentlemen of the Common Council :-
WE have met together for the purpose of accepting, in a public and solemn manner, the trust which our con- fiding fellow-citizens have conferred upon us for the ensuing year ; and in accepting that trust we also accept the care and responsibility incident to the man- agement of the public affairs of a prosperous and rapid- ly growing city of upwards of 70,000 inhabitants, and which has now attained the distinction of being second only to the metropolis of the State. In the presence of these witnesses, we not only pledge ourselves, but we have solemnly sworn, to perform faithfully our official duties, and to guard and protect the public interests of all our fellow-citizens without regard to their religious or political belief, their occupation or their nationality.
We reside in an inland city, away from the advan- tages of tidewater or a navigable stream, but our city is situated geographically near the centre of the County and the Commonwealth, with excellent railroad facili- ties, and with a population unsurpassed anywhere for thrift, honesty and intelligence.
No doubt our diversified industries have been instru- mental in carrying us through the business depression of recent years with such a degree of prosperity that our growth in wealth and population has been continu-
2
6
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 40.
ous and uninterrupted from year to year, while many other places with less varied interests have suffered greatly from the effects of hard times. Hence, it be- hooves us to do all we can, in our private and official capacity, to promote every legitimate industry now established here, and to nourish every new one which can be of assistance in building up the business pros- perity of the city.
Another source of our prosperity in the past has been our intercourse and trade with the thriving agricultural and manufacturing towns surrounding our city. Our interests as well as our feelings require us to cultivate friendly and commercial relations with these towns, and to live in neighborly good fellowship with their inhabit- ants. The alleged pollution of the Blackstone river by this city has been, during the past few years, the cause of some litigation and ill feeling on the part of some people living on the banks of that river. Perhaps it is natural for people in their situation to complain, and perhaps some of their complaints are just, but they should remember that the disposal of the sewage of a great city is an absolute necessity, demanded alike by the laws of health and the laws of the land. It seems to me that we should treat their complaints and sugges- tions with careful consideration, and do all that duty and justice demand in trying to adjust and settle our difficulties with them ; but while acting in our official capacity, we must be just to our own people before we are generous with our neighbors.
Another source of our prosperity has been, undoubt- edly, the efficiency of our public schools of which we are justly proud. They have been the means of fur- nishing many of our people, young and old, with educa- tion sufficient for the enjoyments and the requirements
7
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
of life. The public funds should be used judiciously in supporting the public schools as in the other matters, but in my judgment it would be not only poor but false economy for us to weaken the efficiency of the public schools by appropriations inadequate to their just demands.
But the basis of all our true and lasting prosperity must be found in the moral and religious integrity of our people, in their habits of temperance and industry, and in their love of order and respect for law.
We as a people have had our full share of prosperity in the past, and are thankful for it, and although we enter upon the new year full of hope and enterprise, yet it cannot be said with truth that our future is free from doubt and uncertainty. Business is done upon close margins, taxes are high and our people are obliged to practice rigid economy in their domestic and business affairs, and therefore they have a right to demand that their public affairs shall be managed with the same economy and forethought as they exercise in their private affairs. Their interests are various and diversi- fied, but their public interests are common to all, and they ask only what is for the general good. They have placed us in official positions by their votes, and they are entitled to look to us for an honest, economical and impartial administration of their municipal affairs dur- ing the current year. They have a right to ask us to vote away their money with good judgment, and to scrutinize carefully all items of expenditure.
No doubt there will be brought before us for consid- eration, many questions of great, if not vital, import- ance, and it will be our duty to take on the most of them decisive action, but before doing so, I trust we shall all be willing to take the necessary time for investigation
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 40.
and thoughtful deliberation, so that when we have decided a question, our decision will commend itself to the good judgment and meet the approbation of our fellow-citizens.
By the examination of the annual reports of the sev- eral departments, it will readily be seen that their wants are numerous and their calls for money are much larger than last year. We ought to scan these reports care- fully, and whenever the public good requires an in- creased appropriation it ought to be granted. I advocate economy, but I do not recommend the reduc- tion of expenditures in any department to a parsimoni- ous extent. . In all cases I think we should make appropriations commensurate to the wants of our grow- ing and enterprising city.
The rate of taxation the past year was the largest ever known in the history of the city, notwithstanding the fact that nearly $50,000 was paid into the treasury from the proceeds of the liquor licenses. This year no money will be received from that source. The Sinking Fund Commissioners ask for $99,000 ; and as before said the departments demand largely increased appro- priations, and therefore we cannot expect to keep the rate of taxation at the present standard the current year, unless the valuation of the property in the city proves to have greatly increased since the last assess- ment. However, it may be demonstrated that the amount received for liquor licenses will be off-set or more than off-set by the saving resulting from the prohibition of the sale of intoxicating liquors.
There are many in our midst who think money received from such a source costs the city more than the amount received, as we are obliged to assist many people who come to want by the pernicious influences of intoxicating liquors.
9
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
It is not my purpose at this time to make any ex- tended remarks of my own as to the wants of the several departments, but to present for your careful considera- tion the needs of such departments as they have been communicated to me by the officers in charge of the same. As I become more familiar with the wants and requirements of our city, I may have occasion to call your attention thereto from time to time, and to ask you to take such action thereon as the welfare of our people in my judgment demands.
FINANCE.
At the close of the last financial year, ending Novem- ber 30, 1885, the gross funded debt of the city, includ- ing all sewer and water loans, amounted to $3,389,700 -an increase of $277,000 during the year. On the same date, the debt, less sinking funds and cash in the treasury, was $2,394,914.64, as against $2,428,144.83 on the 30th of November, 1884 ; showing a decrease of the net debt during the year of $33,230.19.
There was no floating debt outstanding Nov. 30, 1885. Of the existing funded debt, the sum of $956,300 bears interest at the rate of six per cent .; $760,000 at five per cent .; $140,000 at four and one-half per cent .; $1,433,400 at four per cent .; and $100,000 at three and one-half per cent. Of the city six per cent. debt, all of which matures on or before April 1st, 1892, sundry registered bonds to the amount of $76,000 become due during the year, and will doubtless be renewed, in whole or in part, at a lower rate of interest.
On the first of January, 1887, $100,000 of our funded five per cent. debt will mature, and be paid out of moneys in the hands of the Commissioners of the City Sinking Funds. This particular loan was the first of
10
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 40.
several ten-year debts, created by the city in accordance with the provisions of the statutes of 1875, "regulating municipal indebtedness," and its payment at maturity has been provided for by annual contributions, which, with the accumulated interest on investments, already amount to more than $90,000.
The City Sinking Funds, at the close of our financial year, amounted to $721,563.70, of which amount the sum of $632,400 is invested in City of Worcester bonds. Of the first-named amount, the sum of $279,228.88 is pledged for the redemption of the old debt of 1875, and the balance, $442,334.82, for the redemption, at maturity, of debts created under the provisions of the statute already referred to. In this connection it may be of interest to state that, of the old debt of Worces- ter, outstanding Jan. 1, 1876, namely, $2,589,700, more than one-third of the amount, viz. $695,400, has already been paid by the Commissioners out of funds in their hands, and that the balance of $1,894,300, for the redemption of which the sum of $279,228.88 has hereto- fore been accumulated, as before stated, must be finally liquidated on or before the 13th of June, 1905.
It is hardly necessary to add that this payment of a large portion of our old debt was made possible solely by reason of the exceptionally liberal contributions to the General Debt Sinking Fund during the years when the debt so paid became due. In connection with this subject I deem it proper to state that, as the unex- pended balances of 1885, available for sinking fund purposes, amount to only $34,567.31, it will be neces- sary for you to provide, by taxation, during the present year, a further sum of $99,000, so as to fully meet the requirements of the Commissioners in regard to the contributions to existing sinking funds.
11
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
Bearing in mind the foregoing statements, and realiz- ing as I do "the high relations which the sinking funds sustain to the process of paying the debt of the city " I venture to make a single suggestion which may be deemed worthy of consideration in this behalf. My suggestion is simply this, that, as nearly one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. of the old city debt was necessitated by reason of our subscription to the stock of the Boston, Barre & Gardner R. R. Co., and as we now hold, in exchange for that stock, 262 shares of the stock of the Fitchburg R. R. Co., it would seem to be good policy for the city to sell the last named stock and to apply the proceeds as a contribution to the General Debt Sinking Fund of 1875.
In regard to the several trust funds belonging to the city, I will only call your attention to their aggregate amounts, the full and suggestive particulars of which will be found in the reports of the Treasurer and of the Boards and Commissions having them in charge :-
Bullock High School Fund,
.1860
$ 1,504 76
Hope Cemetery Fund,
1863
12,808 01
Green Library Fund,
1868
44,024 61
Davis Hospital Fund,
1873
2,184 76
Jaques Hospital Fund,
1874
153,520 15
Curtis Hospital Fund,
1876
1,054 42
Shaw Hospital Fund,.
1877
252 72
Tenney Hospital Fund,
1881
5,000 00
Lake Park Fund, ..
1884
3,502 43
Salisbury Hospital Fund, .
1884
3,072 99
Gill Hospital Building Fund,
1884
1,278 24
Bancroft Endowment Fund, .
1885
10,175 04
Salisbury Hospital Building Fund, .
1885
4,254 52
Total,
$242,632 65
According to the books of the Auditor, the receipts from all sources, during the last financial year, Trust
12
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 40.
Funds excepted, amount to the sum of .... $2.269,901 17 Add to this the cash on hand Dec. 1, 1884, 94,184 32
And the total amount is $2,364,085 49
Deduct the payments for the year, 2,090,863 83
And the cash balance, Nov. 30, 1885, is $273,221 66
For further particulars of interest in connection with the finances of the city, it will be sufficient for me to refer you to the annual reports of the Auditor and Treasurer, both of which will shortly be laid before you for your careful consideration.
SEWERS.
With the completion of the main sewer in Crystal and Maywood Streets, and in Park Avenue, Tufts and Mason Streets, the southwesterly portion of the city will be provided with a means to carry off the sewage of that district ; before this can be accomplished, how- ever, much remains to be done in the way of construct- ing lateral sewers to connect with the main sewer. This work should be pushed forward vigorously, it seems to me, as the drainage of the estates in this locality is now entirely dependent upon cess-pools, or upon the old channel of Lincoln Brook. The section north of Chandler Street should receive attention first, owing to the fact that the streets are more closely built upon. $15,000 could be expended here to great advantage.
The sewer in Southgate and Gardner Streets should also be constructed the coming season, together with the lateral sewers that are to connect with it. This
13
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
would drain a locality in the vicinity of the Adriatic Mills that needs it very much; to construct these sewers $25,000 will be required.
The sewer should also be constructed in Hammond Street, with branches to drain the easterly end of Oread and Benefit Streets ; this is estimated to cost $5,000.
A sewer has been constructed the past season in Franklin Street and Bloomingdale Road, as far east as the westerly end of the Boston and Albany Railroad freight station. This should be extended the coming season, so as to take the drainage of the estates upon Suffolk Street ; if ordered, it will cost about $15,000.
A sewer should also be constructed in Millbury and Ward Streets, at an estimated cost of $3,500. Work has been ordered upon a few small sewers, the expense of which will amount to about $1,000. And as there will probably be small sewers to construct, that are not included in the above estimates, the Committee on Sewers think that $5,500 should be added to the above sums, making a total of $70,000 that should be appro- priated for sewers during the present year. At the present time there are 50,94 miles of sewers in the city.
Work upon the main sewer in Mason and Pleasant Streets is expected to be finished by February 1st. The payment for this sewer is provided for by an order to borrow the money, adopted the past season.
STREET CONSTRUCTION.
The following streets will have to be constructed during the next season, owing to the fact that the decrees run out during the year ; viz .: Crystal, South Crystal, Harrison, Union and Burncoat Streets. Work has been commenced upon Crystal and Burncoat
14
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 40.
Streets, the latter being nearly completed. The princi- pal work upon Union Street is the widening of the bridge at Foster Street and the crossing of the Worces- ter, Nashua and Rochester Railroad. This work, it seems to me, should be done, as the street is very nar- row at this point and the travel very heavy upon it ; the estimated cost is about $8,225. The cost of com- pleting the other streets named above is estimated at $9,093.21, divided as follows : Crystal Street, $1,340 ; South Crystal Street, $1,909.31 ; Harrison Street, $5,643.90 ; Burncoat Street, $200.
Orders have also been adopted to construct the fol- lowing streets that were decreed in 1885 : Dewey Street, partly constructed, estimated cost to finish, $100 ; Orchard Street, estimated cost, $250; Worth Street, estimated cost $100, and Sheridan Street, estimated cost $50; making the total cost of streets that will have to be completed during the year 1886, $17,818.21. Several thousand dollars should be added to this amount to pay damages that have not been settled upon streets that have been finished.
The County Commissioners have decreed that a bridge shall be constructed at the Franklin Street rail- road crossing, the expense of which is to be borne as follows : the city to pay for the abutments, grading and any land damages, and the railroad companies to pay for the iron bridge. This work will have to be com- menced early in the season, and is estimated to cost the city $30,000. It will be a great public improvement, and will be worth to the city all that it costs.
The new street over Mill Brook should be con- structed in connection with the Franklin Street bridge, as the earth taken from the cutting under the tracks can be used in grading the street, thus materially
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MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
reducing the cost ; this street is estimated to cost $5,660.55. From the above statement it will be seen that at least $55,000 will be required for street con- struction this year.
SIDEWALKS AND PAVING. -
There is a larger demand for sidewalks every year, and there is nothing that the city does that gives better returns for the money. Paved gutters reduce the cost of keeping the streets in repair, and also the cost of keeping the sewers clean. The city pays for the curb and gutter, while the abutter pays for the work done and material used upon the walk. It is estimated that $20,000 will be required for sidewalks during the year.
A certain amount of paving should be done every year. The Bloomingdale road should be paved from Grafton Street to the Boston and Albany freight station, as it is impossible, with the heavy teaming, to keep it in repair in any other way ; this is estimated to cost $4,300. Trumbull Street also should be paved in connection with the track of the Citizens' Street Rail- road, which is to be laid through the street. A section on Main Street, between Oread Street and May Street, south of the horse railroad, should also be paved. It will be necessary, if the above work be done, to have an appropriation of at least $10,000.
HIGHWAYS.
The streets of the city were never in better condition than at the present time. Since the city purchased a stone crusher, a large number of streets have been Macadamized. This is by far the best method of con-
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 40.
structing and repairing streets that are not used for business purposes. It is estimated that $50,000 will be required to keep the streets in repair this year.
STREET SPRINKLING.
The manner of sprinkling our streets and the means of paying for the same has been during the past years a cause of much criticism from members of the City Government and others. The system of paying such expense has been by voluntary subscription from those residing on the streets sprinkled, the amounts of the contributions being fixed by the contractors having the work in charge. In this way the payment for street sprinkling has been in many cases very unequal, as it often occurs that the party receiving the most benefit pays the least.
In many of the western cities, and some cities in the east, the sprinkling of streets is mainly done by the cities, and where so done gives general satisfaction. I would recommend that we, in due time, consider the advisability of sprinkling such streets in the central portion of our city, whenever a majority of those resid- ing on the streets may petition ; the expense of the same to be paid for by a special tax assessed equally upon the petitioners. This, it seems to me could be well done under the supervision of the Highway Department, and I would suggest, if legal, that an ordi- nance be passed providing for carrying out this work.
SCHOOLS.
The expenditure for schools is the largest single item in the current municipal outlay ; and money spent wisely for education tends to the prosperity of a city as
17
MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
directly, to say the least, as any other expenditure. An intelligent and well-informed community, free from riot and strikes, is more productive than one where igno- rance prevails. Money spent for schools reduces the cost of police.
About one-sixth of our population is enrolled in the public schools ; and if we consider the annual expense of any family it will be found that there also the largest expenditure is for the children. We live for posterity ; and while there should be no lavish expenses in schools, there should be nothing parsimonious in supporting them.
The School Census for 1884 is 12,884 ; for 1885 it is 13,269. The number of pupils registered in 1884 is 12,698 ; for 1885 it is 12,981. The average number belonging to the schools for 1884 is 10,147 ; for 1885 it is 10,758. The largest number in school at one time is, for 1884, 9,516 ; for 1885, it is 10,138.
The number of pupils in the Evening Schools and the Free Evening Drawing Schools is 465. The number of teachers in the day schools is 267.
The cost of schools as compared with the estimates made December, 1884, by the School Committee, has been, for the year 1885, as follows :-
For instruction, including salaries of superintendent, clerks, gas, truant officers, and teachers, books, stationery, apparatus, water, etc.,
Estimate $177,825 00 Cost $175,586 69 For care of houses, fuel, janitors, cleaning, rents, insurance, etc.,
Estimate $21,600 00 Cost $20,443 22
Ordinary repairs, .
9,500 00
9,624 64
Permanent repairs,
2,500 00
2,345 10
For Evening Schools,
66
4,375 00
66 4,255 36
Total estimates,
$215,800 00
Expended,
212,255 01
Less than estimate by.
$3,544 99
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 40.
Appropriated for 1885, $204,000, an excess of ex- penditure of $8,255.01.
It will be seen that the estimate was very close to the necessary cost. Such an estimate is the more easy to make because a large part of the cost of schools is the salaries of teachers, janitors, etc., and the fuel.
For the current year the school committee submit the following estimate, made on the same basis as last year, and likely, therefore, to be equally correct :-
For Instruction, .$194,150
" Care of school-houses, 23,680
" Ordinary repairs, 8,875
" Permanent repairs, 2,625
" Evening Schools, 5,000
Total, $234,330
The growing school population necessitates the building of school-houses every year ; and the supply has not always been equal to the demand. In this way the burden of one year has sometimes been thrown into another year, with no saving but rather an added expense to the city.
For school-houses the past year there has been expended the sum of about $65,467.72 on the houses at Gage Street and Chandler Street, and on the partially finished houses at Millbury Street, Freeland Street and Sunnyside.
For the present year houses have been called for by the School Committee in the suburban districts of Greendale and Bloomingdale and at Ledge Street, and in the vicinity of Walnut Street. The estimated cost of these houses and lots is about $50,000.
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