USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Newburyport > City Officers and the Annual Reports to the City Council of Newburyport 1885 > Part 12
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Income from all sources credited.
6,499 00
$12,499 00
Monthly bills allowed and paid as follows :
January.
$ 2,034 97
February
785 01
March.
875 09
April
809 05
May
464 56
June
1,010 73
July
1,814 77
August ...
832 94
September
1,023 61
()ctober
731 26
November
905 56
December.
1,185 54
Balance to incidentals
25 91
$12,499 00
12,499 00
The various departments for which the above expense was in- curred and the various amounts their several departments should be charged with is shown by the following statement :
Salaries paid city teamsters. . . $ 3,060 00
Other expenses chargeable to city teams.
3,293 57
School department.
2,255 58
Fire department
942 98
Poor department.
485 94
City Hall
848 34
Police department.
297 73
Market Hall building.
376 22
Incidentals
912 33
$12,473 09
Balance to incidentals.
25 91
$12,499 00 12,499 00
272
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC PROPERTY.
It will thus be seen that the cost attending the city teams with the salaries of the city teamsters, takes more than one-half of the ap- propriation and income for this department, while the benefit it de- rives from the city teams is little or nothing, they being solely pro- vided for the use of the fire and highway departments, and were it not for the efficiency of the fire department, there would be grave doubts as to the expediency of supporting such an establishment ; one considerable item of expense the present year being the cost of keeping the horses in fit condition for the use of the fire department, and another, suitable carts, sleds, harnesses etc., for the highway department.
During the past year the amount expended for the school depart- ment is in excess of the amount usually devoted to this department, considerable repairs being called for on the Kelley and Temple St. school buildings above ordinary repairs, to preserve valuable prop- erty and render the buildings safe and commodious for the uses re- quired of them.
The expense chargeable to the poor department is largely made up in the attempt to keep this establishment fit for purposes for which it is used ; it is the oldest almshouse in the state and will re- quire annually considerable expense which a modern built structure would not require. The present committee, as well as their prede- cessors in office and such as will follow them, consider every dollar expended on this ancient affair as money thrown away, especially the city has in its possession ample funds for a new almshouse, which when provided will call for no such repairs for a long period.
The considerable amount expended for the fire department is ex- clusive of the cost of teams, drivers and horses, and includes the cost of water used in the several engine houses for fire purposes as well as for the use of man and beast.
The incidental department, like all others of a like nature, has to carry a great many things, which if properly separated and classi- fied would require too much space and time to fully explain ; suf- fice it to say that it includes all expense of public grounds, burial grounds, fences, ward rooms, landings, armories etc., the latter dur- ing the past year calling for an expense from this department of $227.77, and all made up from these items, water rates, larger range and repairing broken glass.
J. W. EVANS, Chairman.
.
REPORT ON BRIDGES AND CULVERTS
273
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON BRIDGES AND CULVERTS.
To the Honorable Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Newburyport:
GETTLEMEN-The committee on bridges and culverts respectfully present the following report of the current municipal year :
Appropriation allowed by city council for bridges and culverts. .$1,500 00 Income from West Newbury on account of bridge repairs. 1 94
$1,501 94
There have been no unusual expenses on our large bridges other than the ordinary repairs, as the following statement will show :
Salary of draw tender of Newburyport bridge 600 00
Repairs and supplies. 68 87
Essex Merrimac chain bridge, repairs and supplies $668 84
.$85 77
We have expended on those two bridges $754 34
It will readily be seen that while the expenses of our large bridges has been kept within a reasonable outlay, yet they are in good or- der as the natural condition of things will permit.
There has been expended in this department by order of the superin- tendent of highways, A. H. Pettingell, on small bridges $86 42
On repairs of culverts, such as labor and material . 527 24
$613 66
$754 34
Thus making the expenses of this department. $1,368 00
Leaving a balance in favor of the city of 133 94
$1,501 94
Bills paid on the Newburyport bridge for 1884 $42 04
66 Essex Merrimac chain bridge for 1884. 82 52
66 culverts for 1884 . 124 70
$249 26
274
REPORT ON BRIDGES AND CULVERTS.
Thus it will be readily seen that this department has paid bills to the amount of two hundred and forty-nine dollars and twenty-six cents on account of the year 1884 ; thus making an overdraft on the appropriation of $115.32. While the committee feel the injustice of this mode of doing the city business, it is a matter that each mem- ber of the city council should condemn. It is time this method of doing business should cease. Each member of all committees should strive to have all its bills paid by its own committee, and not see how many bills it can pass to the next city government, as at pres- ent is practised.
Respectfully submitted for the committee,
BENJAMIN F. STANLEY, Chairman.
REPORTS
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON FIRE DEPARTMENT,
AND THE
COMMITTEE ON TRUST FUNDS,
1885.
277
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FIRE. DEPARTMENT.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FIRE DE- PARTMENT.
To the Honorable Mayor and the City Council of the City of Newburyport:
GENTLEMEN-The joint standing committee on fire department for the year 1885 would present the following statement of the dis- position of the appropriation made for the department and the income thereto :
Regular appropriation $7,500 00-
Special 66 for repairs to Steamer 3. 1,200 00
$8,700 00
Income
25 91
$8,725 91
Expenditures as follows :
Salaries . $4,532 09
Incidental supplies. 517 16
Horse hire for moving apparatus 684 75
Repairs on apparatus, including $1,239.20 repairs and
freight on Steamer 3, authorized by committee of '84. . 1,726 65 Care of hose. 65 25
Labor on reservoir. 102 00
Expense of telephone. 52 00
Care of fire alarm and supplies (including amount paid Ocean Mills for coal while shut down in 1884 -- $50 ... 329 37
Watching at fires. 37 25
New apparatus 43 00-$8,089 52
TJndrawn transferred to incidentals
$636 39
Your committee on taking charge of the department in January found Steamer Three in the repair shop at Manchester undergoing thorough renovation. By order of last year's ('84) City Council, the sum $1200 was at the time appropriated, but the work not hay ing been finished, this sum was transferred, with other unexpended balances, to incidentals, necessitating an appropriation of the same amount the present year. At the central station in the market Steamer One was in good order with the exception of the large
278
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FIRE DEPARTMENT.
wheels, which were in an unsound and dangerous condition ; new wheels have been placed under her and the whole apparatus painted. Hose One was also in need of repairs to wheels and reel, which have been made, and the paint touched up and varnished, putting this apparatus in as good a condition as new ; there will, however, be a constant bill for repairs to the wood work of the hose carriage from shrinkage, from its situation near a large steam circulation. It seems a mistake to have so much heat in the engine room; each company has a room in the second story which they should occupy, and the temperature in the room below should only be raised enough to prevent water from freezing in the steamer's boiler. Hose Four has been repaired and painted and should need no further repairs for some time.
The Hook and Ladder truck was out of service when your com- mittee took charge, having been wrecked in leaving the house a few days before. This piece of apparatus was originally intended to be drawn by hand, and is altogether too light for the work it is made to do, and requires frequent repairs ; with care, it can be made to last some time yet, but should be the first piece of apparatus re- newed ; the truck is overloaded with the ladders which are necessary to be carried, and on no consideration should the use of it as a means of conveyance for the company to and from fires be allowed ; the rest of the apparatus is in good condition.
There is great need in the department of hose. All now owned by the city is on the reels, which are not more than three quarters full, and part of this is leather hose, which is unreliable and out of date. The committee would recommend a purchase of two thou- sand feet of hose at once.
The houses of the department, which are under the control of the committee on public property, are in good condition and well suited to the uses of the department, with the exception of the house of Steamer Two, which is in every way undesirable. With the cen- tralization of so much of the apparatus in the market and the facili- ties furnished by the water supply, this neighborhood is well pro- tected, and this piece of apparatus could be spared, and should be removed to the house of No. Eight, which was originally built so as to accommodate a steamer and hose carriage. A barn could be built at small cost and the steamer would be in a better location and would do better service than where she is at present situated, and
279
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FIRE DEPARTMENT.
would also save six hundred and seventy-five dollars in the way of salaries.
By reference to the list of expenditures it will be seen that the largest item of expense is that of salaries, these, although in most instances small, in the aggregate amount to considerable. No one will consider the sum of fifteen dollars with three dollar rubber coat money as an exorbitant sum for the services rendered by the rank and file of the department, who are in fact a volunteer organization, as this sum is used as a company fund, and can only be regarded as a present from a grateful city to its faithful servants, and should be as liberal as the financial circumstances of the city admit ; but where the saving can be made is in reducing the number of the department and in individual salaries ; in this manner a saving of one thousand dollars might be made ; but if it is found necessary to keep the de- partment in its present size let the compensation be made equal for services rendered ; and as by the ordinance, it is the company which is recognized, let us not pay to one company a sum equal to the pay of the three steamer companies, who do the weight of the work, as is the case with the hand engines.
Horse hire is another large item of expense. This, it would seem, could not be much reduced during the winter months, when the con- dition of our streets at times requires the doubling of the teams. It has been suggested that the following saving might be made : at every alarm a pair of horses is sent for the use of Hose four at an expense of ten dollars whether the carriage leaves the house or not, and as the boxes to which she responds are from Fair street to Kent. a comparatively short distance ; now if this piece of apparatus was made a reserve, and the reels of the carriages attached to steamers be filled, there would in most instances be a sufficient amount of hose, if not, the engineer could send the horses of the first steamer in position for the carriages, and have the hose there as soon as needed, and there would be enough members of the other companies unemployed to handle the hose when it arrived.
The telegraphic alarm has doubtless saved quite a sum in the run- ning of this department ; although its efficiency has been crippled by the shutting down of the Ocean Mills, the year's experience has shown that the bell alarm is not only in every way the surest, but the least expensive. The striker in the North church has not cost anything for repairs since its introduction, while scarcely a month
280
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON FIRE DEPARTMENT.
has passed without some expense on the apparatus at the mills has been paid for. It was deemed expedient by the committee to change the large gong in the market house for an annunciator, show- ing the number of the box from which the alarm was striking, and preventing any mistake which might be made in the excitement and noise incident to those companies leaving the house ; it has been found to be a great improvement on the old system.
There has been some controversy in the committee in regard to the payment of water rates in the engine houses. It is held that the contract with the water company for water for fire purposes should and does include all water used for the legitimate purposes of the department, and therefore is included in the six thousand dollars paid for the purpose, and that the bills for water should be settled by the committee on public property who have charge of the houses. This question we hope may be settled conclusively, so that in the future each department may bear the burden which rightfully be- longs to it.
In conclusion the committee wish to extend their thanks to Chief Engineer Eben S. Dole for his assistance and co-operation in the management of the department and the able and economical manner in which he has attended to the affairs under his charge ; also to the genial and able city clerk, Geo. H. Stevens, clerk of the committee, for his ready assistance and cheerful discharge of the duties of his position.
For the committee,
WM. R. JOHNSON, Chairman. Newburyport, Dec. 31, 1885.
281
REPORT ON FOLLANSBEE FUND.
REPORT OF THE TREASURER OF THE FOLLANSBEE FUND.
To the Honorable Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Newburyport, Trustees of the Follansbee Fund:
GENTLEMEN :- In accordance with the Rules and Regulations for the government of the above named fund it becomes my duty to pre- sent the twelfth annual report, showing the condition of the fund, the income therefrom, and the disposal of said income in accordance with the will of the donor.
Fund invested as follows :
$3000 in City Railroad Bonds at 7 per cent. $2,850 00
Deposit in Five Cents Savings Bank 120 00
Institution for Savings .. 30 00
$3,000 00
INCOME RECEIVED.
Unexpended balance from 1884
56
Coupons due March 1, 1885 105 00
September 1, 1885 105 00 $210 56
Amount refunded on one order. 2 90
2 90
$213 46
EXPENSE ACCOUNT.
Paid out on orders issued by the aldermen of the several wards as per vouchers hereto annexed :
Cross & Atkinson, May 29, 1885 $105 00
Oct .. 30, 1885 72 21
Feb. 8, 1886 31 43 $208 64
Balance to new account .. $4 82
The distribution of fuel to persons and families, by wards, is as follows :
Distributed in ward 1 $17 88
2 41 05
66
3. 25 38
66
66
4. 15 80
66
5. .69 93
66
6 38 60 $208 64
282
REPORT ON FOLLANSBEE FUND.
Amount of coal distributed 44,000 pounds, (22 tons) pine wood, 7 6-8 cords ; hard wood, 2 1-2 cords ; in almost every instance the wood being sawed and split.
The total number of single orders issued, 47, varying in amount from $1.60 to $7.50. Fifteen persons or families supplied but once each, eight two times, one three times, two four times and one person five times, making twenty-seven different persons or families assisted.
There are doubtless a considerable number of persons or families that a small donation from this fund in addition to their own means would add a great deal to the comfort and cheer of the recipients.
Evidently it should be the aim in the distribution of this trust that it should be given to the greatest number possible, the practice of providing any person or family with a full supply of fuel is not in accord with the desire of the donor.
In the five years just ended can be seen from the records of the fund that two individuals have received an undue proportion of the income from this fund, which if there were no others to be cared for would not cause remark.
I would respectfully suggest that the Board of Trustees consider the expediency of limiting the amount that may be distributed to any one person or persons during any one year.
Respectfully submitted,
GEORGE H. STEVENS. Treasurer.
Newburyport, Feb. 8, 1886.
THIRTIETH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
DIRECTORS
OF THE
NEWBURYPORT PUBLIC LIBRARY
CITY OF NEWBURYPORT
TERRA MARIQUI- MDCCCLI
NEWBURYPORT : WILLIAM H. HUSE & COMPANY, PRINTERS, 42 STATE STEEET. 1886.
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
IN BOARD OF DIRECTORS, Nov. 30th, 1885.
ORDERED, That the report of the directors be signed and transmitted to the city council, agreeably to the requirements of section 5th of the ordinance concerning the public library.
H. A. TENNEY, Secretary.
3
PUBLIC LIBRARY REPORTS,
TRUSTEES OF THE LIBRARY -- 1886.
CHARLES C. DAME,
MAYOR.
GEO. OTIS NOYES, 7
HENRY Z. WHITTIER.
CHARLES H. GOODWIN,
JOSEPH W. EVANS,
WILLIAM R. JOHNSON, BENJ. F. STANLEY,
ALDERMEN.
DIRECTORS OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
CHARLES C. DAME, MAYOR
MOSES BROWN, President of Common Council
EDWARD S. MOSELEY, Trustee of Building Fund
SAMUEL J. SPALDING,
66
DANIEL T. FISKE,
JAMES PARTON
Term of office expires 1886.
JOHN J. CURRIER
66
66
1887.
WILLIAM H. HUSE
66
66
1888.
BENJAMIN HALE,
66
66
66
1889.
LAWRENCE B. CUSHING
66
.
1890.
FRANK W. HALE
66
1891.
NATHAN N. WITHINGTON
66
66
1892
TRUSTEES OF THE PEABODY FUND.
EDWARD S. MOSELEY,
EBEN F. STONE,
WILLIAM H. SWASEY, DANIEL T. FISKE,
JOHN J. CURRIER.
LIBRARIAN .
HIRAM A. TENNEY.
ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN .
EFFIE A. TENNEY.
SUPERINTENDENT OF READING ROOM . MARTHA P. LUNT.
ex-officio.
..
ORGANIZATION
OF THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY,
FOR 1886.
President, CHARLES C. DAME.
Librarian and Secretary, H. A. TENNEY.
Superintendent of the Reading Room. MARTHA P. LUNT.
Committee on Library,
SAMUEL J. SPALDING, BENJAMIN HALE. JAMES PARTON.
Committee on Librarian, JOHN J. CURRIER. DANIEL T. FISKE, N. N. WITHINGTON.
Committee on Library Room, EDWARD S. MOSELEY, SAM'L J. SPALDING, CHARLES C. DAME.
Committee on Reading Room, EDWARD S. MOSELEY, WILLIAM H. HUSE, FRANK W. HALE.
Committee on Finance and Account, JOHN J. CURRIER, BENJAMIN HALE, LAWRENCE B. CUSHING
Committee on Bradbury Fund.
JOHN J. CURRIER, LAWRENCE B. CUSHING. MOSES BROWN.
DIRECTORS' REPORT.
To His Honor the Mayor and the City Council of Newburyport.
GENTLEMEN :- The Directors of the Public Library submit to the City Council their thirtieth annual re- port, December, 1885.
As the details of the present condition of the Li- brary are fully given in the report of the librarian to the committee of the directors on the library, we submit the same in full.
During the past year the plumbing in the Simpson Annex has been entirely reconstructed. The work at first put up proved a miserable failure, through the negligence of those into whose hands it was commit- ted. As a consequence. it was a constant source of discomfort and danger. The Committee on the Build- ing Fund have long felt the necessity of a radical change in this particular; but the state of that fund would not allow the expenditure. This year the work has been done, and it proves to be in all respects thor- ough and effective.
8
PUBLIC LIBRARY REPORTS.
We are specially indebted to Maj. B. P. Poore for aid in completing our set of the Congressional Rec- ord. The Librarian has called attention to the defi- ciencies of the Library in the department of periodical literature, to which very considerable additions have already been made. Still, it is greatly lacking in com- plete sets of some of the most important magazines. During the past year seventy-three volumes have been put into the alcove of fiction; yet the wear and tear of books in this department is so great that it is with difficulty we can keep in readable condition the works of standard authors.
We have continued the arrangement of last year in opening the Library one hour each evening from seven to eight o'clock. The number who have availed themselves of this opportunity has been small.
The Reading Room continues to be a place of gen- eral resort, and is used by all classes. It not only furnishes the news of the day, and the reading of a large number of our best periodicals, but it is the source from which the Library itself draws its most important periodical literature.
In August last the Library was closed three weeks for examination, and the books on the shelves were carefully compared with the alcove catalogues; the results are stated in the Librarian's Report. It is to the great credit of those who have the care of these books that 'so few are lost. It is a great credit to those, also, who use the Library that they are so con- siderate of this department of the city's property. It has been suggested that, as the city now supplies all the books used by the pupils of the public schools,
9
PUBLIC LIBRARY REPORTS.
it would be very desirable to have copies of these books deposited in the Library. They would be very useful in the future, for comparison of educational progress; and in the course of years they would have an increasing value and interest.
THOMAS C. SIMPSON BENJAMIN G. DAVIS, EDWARD S. MOSELEY, SAMUEL J. SPALDING, DANIEL T. FISKE,
EDWARD P. HURD, JAMES PARTON, JOHN J. CURRIER, WILLIAM H. HUSE, BENJAMIN HALE, LAWRENCE B. CUSHING, FRANK W. HALE,
DIRECTORS
OF THE
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
LIBRARIAN'S REPORT.
To the Committee on Library :
GENTLEMEN :- I herewith present to you in accord- ance with the requirement of the Rules and Regula- tions, a detailed and circumstantial account of the pres- ent condition of the Public Library.
This statement will constitute the thirtieth annual report, which it has been my pleasure and privilege to place before the committee.
In preparing each successive year a report of the growth and condition of the Library, much repetition and sameness must necessarily appear in the record, both in form and phraseology. The ordinary affairs of the library, together with its management, are so much the subject of routine as to leave but little that can be offered to distinguish the report of one year from that of another. Yet a faithful record of the same must needs be kept, and the statistics, with oth- er memoranda, so disposed that they can easily be pre- served for reference when required.
The recent annual examination of the Library has disclosed nothing which materially disagrees with the
12
PUBLIC LIBRARY REPORTS.
general excellence of its condition, that the successive reports of the twenty-nine preceding years have placed upon it.
The same general care in the use of the books, and the same promptitude in their return, which has here- tofore attended the success of the circulating depart- ment, has also to be noted for the past year.
As is to be expected, the books that have been the most used are found the most worn. This is espe- cially the case in the department of fiction. Thirty- five volumes, chiefly of this class, have been removed from the shelves in consequence of their worn out con- dition, and sixteen of these have had their places filled with new copies.
Five volumes have been lost during the year.
The additions for the year amount to 727 volumes, and these were obtained as follows, from the
Peabody Fund,
240 volumes.
Sawyer Fund,
139
Frothingham Fund,
44
66
Bradbury Fund, .
33 66
Sarah A. Green Fund, 62 pamphlets, and
57
Todd Fund,
61 66
Donations,
153
66
After making the necessary deductions for worn out and lost books, and also for the number used to supply a portion of those that were discarded, and adding the balance of the additions to the residue of the number reported as belonging to the Library last year, the sum total now in the library will be 23,282 volumes.
I wish to again call your attention to the necessity of further enlarging the present supply of periodicals
13
PUBLIC LIBRARY REPORTS.
and reviews. The frequent calls for publications of that class which have never yet found a place in the library, by persons who are pursuing special lines of study or investigation, suggests the need of taking some early action to meet the requirement.
Five hundred and ten new signatures have been added to the Rules and Regulations during the year by persons desirous of availing themselves of the priv- ileges of the Library.
A supplementary catalogue of the books added has been prepared and will be ready for the printer with the Report of the Directors.
Respectfully submitted,
H. A. TENNEY, Librarian.
PUBLIC LIBRARY, Nov. 30, 1885.
15
PUBLIC LIBRARY REPORTS.
THE PEABODY FUND.
In compliance with the requirement of Mr. George Peabody that a state- ment should be published annually of the condition of the fund of fifteen thousand dollars given by him to trustees whom he named, the income where- of to be applied to the increase of the Public Library, in token of his pleasing associations with Newburyport in early life,-the treasurer of the fund makes known that it was at once deposited in the Institution for Savings, where it has ever since remained, subject to withdrawal only upon a written order of a majority of the Board.
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