USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > City of Melrose annual report 1885-1889 > Part 32
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REGISTRARS OF VOTERS.
ALFRED HOCKING, Chairman, Term expires May 1, 1890
WALTER BABB,
66 1892
VICTOR C. KIRMES,
1891
JOHN LARRABEE, Town Clerk.
ENGINEERS OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
A. WILBUR LYNDE, Chief.
WALTER B. ELLIS (resigned),
SAMUEL LEAR, Clerk. ALBON W. PARKER.
MEASURER OF WOOD AND BARK, WEIGHER OF HAY AND COAL. SETH E. BENSON. .
SURVEYOR OF LUMBER.
POUND KEEPER.
W. TRUMAN HOWARD.
COMMITTEE ON CEMETERIES.
GEORGE NEWHALL, DANIEL RUSSELL,
JOHN LARRABEE.
FENCE VIEWERS.
DEXTER PRATT, WALTER C. STEVENS.
OTIS HOWARD,
FRANK GIBBONS,
FIELD DRIVERS. HENRY B. NEWHALL, W. TRUMAN HOWARD.
POLICE OFFICERS. FRANK M. MCLAUGHLIN, Chief.
HENRY B. NEWHALL, W. A. CASWELL, A. WILBUR LYNDE, OSBORNE E. DROWN, CHAS. H. FULLER, HENRY BARRON, SAMUEL LEAR.
FOREST FIRE WARDS.
DEXTER PRATT,
CALVIN LOCKE,
CHASE C. WORTHEN, JAMES MARSHALL,
HENRY BARRON.
SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. THOMAS T. BAILEY.
REDFORD M. RAND, D. T. STOCKWELL, CHARLES F. W. FOGG, JEROME T. SMITH, JAMES DAVIDSON,
HENRY A. LEONARD.
REPORT OF THE SELECTMEN.
To the Inhabitants of Melrose :
Your selectmen respectfully submit their report for the financial year ending Dec. 31, 1889:
HIGHWAYS.
The general appropriation for repairs, etc., at the annual meeting, amounted to the sum of $6,000. You also appro- priated $1,000 for the purpose of purchasing crushed stone, but at the adjourned meeting the selectmen were instructed to apply said sum to the general uses of the highways, rather than for special expenditure, as previously voted. At the November meeting you added $500 more, making a sum total of $7,500, for general repairs, irrespective of special appropriations for use on the following streets, etc., viz .: First, Third, Sixth, Eleventh, Highland, Russell, Adams, Sylvan, Batchelder and Bellevue avenue extension; also for removal of ledges, etc., on Upham and Vinton streets, and for the construction of a sidewalk on Upham street. These various special appropriations aggregate the sum of $3,750, making a grand total of $11,250, all of which will be found duly accounted for under appropriate headings in the financial statements hereto annexed. For econo- mical distribution of labor and material, we have found it necessary in some cases to work one job in connection with
8
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
others, and thus various items are necessarily condensed in our statements, as it would be extremely difficult to desig- nate, with any degree of accuracy, the exact spot whereon every load of gravel was dropped or every cent's worth of labor expended. Sylvan street, Batchelder street, the exten- sion of Bellevue avenue and the Upham street sidewalk are instanced as examples where the labor and material on one was so interwoven with the other, or with general repairs, as to be almost inseparable. As the town thought wise at the annual meeting to direct the selectmen to suspend negotia- tions for the purchase of a stone crusher, as ordered at the previous meeting, we have been obliged to do without this very serviceable machine. Blue gravel has been heretofore. obtained principally from the pit of the Boston and Maine Railroad, at Island Hill, Malden. This source has been re- cently cut off by the refusal of the corporation to allow the town further privileges. As stated in our report of last year, the question of obtaining suitable gravel for our high- ways is a very serious one and demands early attention. If the experiences of almost every town and city in our vicin- ity are to be considered of value, the purchase of a stone crushing outfit seems to offer the only practical solution of our increasing difficulties in road making and repairing. Following your instructions, we have applied the contract system to every item of sufficient importance, with excellent financial results, as far as the town is concerned.
In addition to the foregoing, the public should bear in mind that a vast amount of work is annually expended on a variety of items and taken from the highway fund, which cannot be readily detailed, such as the cleaning of catch basins, gutters, etc., the trimming of trees, fencing dangerous places and many other things which demand the attention of this board.
9
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
STREETS REPORTED AND ACCEPTED.
Mount Vernon street, as extended; Brown street, Summer street, as widened, straightened and extended; First street, extended; Sixth street, Eighth street, Third street, extended; Bellevue avenue, extended; Batchelder street, Crystal street, Woodland avenue, Botolph street, West Hill avenue, High- land street, Pratt street, Cliff street, Russell street, Adams street, High street, Sylvan street, as widened; Grundy street, Walton Park and Sibley street, the latter when finished to the satisfaction of the selectmen.
MAIN STREET WIDENING.
This great public improvement has been completed at a very moderate cost, and we think we voice the opinion of a very large number of our citizens, that the principal avenue of our town ought to be continued sixty feet in width to the Wakefield line. The County's share of the widening, as awarded by the commissioners, has been paid into the town treasury.
LEDGES ON UPHAM AND VINTON STREETS.
These ledges have been removed within the amount of your appropriation, and Vinton street rebuilt, from Perkins to Orris street, in excellent shape, under contract with Mr. Philpot.
DRAINAGE.
Following your instructions, we relaid the drains in Foster and Mount Vernon streets, both of which we are pleased to state are working perfectly.
IO
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
CEDAR PARK AND WOODLAND AVENUE DRAINS.
At the November meeting we were instructed to obtain the services of a competent engineer and construct a drain to relieve Cedar Park, for which $1,000 was voted. By advice of the engineer, we have laid a pipe under the Bos- ton and Maine railroad, connecting with the Essex street system, which has been remodelled and continued with a fifteen-inch pipe east of Myrtle street, through Upham street to Ell Pond brook. By bringing the drain in this direction we relieve Dix Pond of the surface water flowing from Essex street and the vicinity of Mr. Bartlett's stable, and giving an extra catch basin at the corner of Main and Upham streets, into which we propose to conduct the over- flow of the stone watering trough, a source of great annoy- ance at present. By contracting this work in connection with the Woodland avenue drain, etc., for which $500 was voted, we shall be enabled to complete both of these much- needed improvements at a very low figure, and we think to the perfect satisfaction of all concerned, although it is a matter of regret that the lateness of the season will prevent completion until spring opens. The pipe work was con- tracted for with Mr. W. B. Ellis, and the grading of Wood- land avenue with Mr. John Duff. they being the lowest bidders.
ELL AND SPOT POND BROOKS.
These brooks were carefully cleaned out this season. We think it would be wise for the town, at the annual meeting, to consider the question of widening and deepening the channels of these important streams, to the full limits estab- lished by the county commissioners.
II
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
STREET LIGHTS.
The town is still served with electric light by the Malden Company, which furnishes twenty-six arc and forty incan- descent lights, at a total annual cost of $3,320. We believe that the time is not far distant when it will be a matter of economy for the town to furnish its own power and light all our streets with electricity. The Wheeler Reflector Com- pany has furnished one hundred and fifty-one kerosene lamps at an expense of $1,516.61. Total expense of street lighting, as shown elsewhere, $4,838.40.
POLICE.
With the additional appropriation voted by the town, we have reorganized the force substantially as outlined at the annual meeting, and as we think with improved efficiency. The duties of the various members of this department are thus defined:
The chief is to be on duty at the Town Hall from I P. M. until evening, having general control of the force at all times.
Officer O. E. Drown is on duty at Town Hall from 7 A. M. to 12 M.
Officer W. A. Caswell is on duty at Melrose depot from 7 to II P. M., and after that hour his beat is in the center of the town.
Officer Jerome T. Smith is at Wyoming and vicinity from 7 P. M. to 4 A. M.
Officer C. F. W. Fogg is at Melrose Highlands and vicin- ity from 7 P. M. to 4 A. M.
Chief McLaughlin is also probation officer.
For arrests made during the year we refer to the report of the chief of police herewith.
12
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
MELROSE COMMON.
In conjunction with the Improvement Society, we have expended your appropriation of $150 as directed. Every citizen should view their "breathing space" and note the change which has taken place through the efficient labors of Mr. Folsom and his public-spirited associates of the Im- provement Society.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Mr. Walter B. Ellis, after a long and faithful service as engineer, tendered his resignation, and Mr. Albon W. Parker was appointed to the vacancy. We are pleased to call attention to the excellent service rendered by officers and men during the past year, and while the department is composed of such material we have little to fear from the devouring element.
NORTH METROPOLITAN SEWERAGE SYSTEM FOR THE MYSTIC AND CHARLES RIVER VALLEYS.
At the legislative session of 1889 this subject was disposed of by the passage of an act which obliges the town to be- come a party to the system. Commissioners have been ap- pointed by the governor and plans are being forwarded to commence work at an early day. The City of Malden has already taken action toward the laying of pipes, etc., and we think it would be well for the town to give the subject thorough consideration.
BETTERMENT ACTS ACCEPTED.
At the November meeting the town accepted all better- ment acts heretofore placed upon the statute books and applicable to towns.
13
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
AUSTRALIAN BALLOT SYSTEM.
In accordance with your instructions and statute law, we caused to be constructed all booths, stands, etc., necessary to conduct this method of balloting. We are satisfied that the system in general is a decided success.
TOWN HALL GAS BILL.
We desire to call your attention to the fact that during the year 1889 there was consumed in this building 374,900 cubic feet of gas, costing $749.80. We think it would be wise to take some action looking to a decrease in the cost of lighting through the introduction of electricity.
MALDEN ELECTRIC COMPANY.
During the year we have granted this company, under very strong restrictions, permits to erect quite a number of poles on the principal streets, that their wires might be taken from telephone poles and thus obtain very much im- proved telephonic communication.
REVERE WATER COMPANY.
Late in the session of the Legislature of 1889, it became known to the members of this board that the above-named corporation was, as we believed, surreptitiously endeavoring to obtain the right to take water from Bennett's Pond, near the Saugus line. This scheme was thwarted by authorizing the chairman of the board to appear before the Legislative Committee and remonstrate in behalf of the citizens of the town. The bill was so amended as to prevent their entrance upon any portion of the territory of this town, and their operations are confined to the Town of Saugus.
14
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
DAMAGES CLAIMED AND SUITS AGAINST THE TOWN.
During the past year the selectmen have settled for nominal sums the claims of Jennie G. Fox, Ella A. Locke and Nellie A. Locke. The claim of Noyes Ames, noted in our report of last year, for damages on Washington street, has been settled by the City of Malden, without expense to this town. The only suits now pending of which we as a board have any knowledge, is that of Justus Geist, for dam- ages sustained during the great flood of 1886, F. A. H. Nor- cross, for alleged damages to horse, and A. V. Lynde, Esq., vs. the Water Boards of Malden, Melrose and Medford, al- luded to last year.
SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS.
Your attention is called to the following act, passed by the Legislature of 1889. It will be observed that although the appointment of a superintendent is mandatory, the act does not prevent the election of the selectmen as surveyors of highways as heretofore. The superintendent must serve under their direction in any event, and is subject to all the duties and penalties imposed upon surveyors of highways.
[CHAP. 98.]
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A SUPERIN- TENDENT OF STREETS IN TOWNS.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows :
SEC. I. As soon after the annual town meeting as may be, the board of selectmen shall appoint some suitable per- son to be a superintendent of streets, who shall serve during the year and until his successor is appointed and qualified in his stead.
SEC. 2. Said superintendent of streets shall, under the
15
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
direction of the selectmen, have full charge of all repairs and labor required of towns upon streets, ways, bridges and sidewalks, and the care and preservation of shade trees, and in relation thereto shall have all the powers and be subject to all the duties, liabilities and penalties now or hereafter imposed upon surveyors of highways.
SEC. 3. In towns where no other provision is made, said superintendent of streets shall have full charge of all repairs required of towns upon sewers and drains, and in relation thereto shall have the same powers and be subject to the same duties, liabilities and penalties as are imposed upon said superintendent in section two of this act, in rela- tion to the repairs of streets, ways, sidewalks and bridges.
SEC. 4. When in the judgment of the selectmen the best interests of the town so requires, said superintendent may be removed from his office by said board; and when- ever a vacancy shall occur in the office of superintendent of streets, either by removal, resignation or otherwise, the board of selectmen shall appoint some suitable person to fill the vacancy, who shall hold his office until his successor is appointed and qualified in his stead.
SEC. 5. Said superintendent shall be sworn to the faithful discharge of his duties, and shall receive such com- pensation for his services as the board of selectmen or town may by vote determine.
SEC. 6. Any town which has accepted or shall hereafter accept the provisions of chapter one hundred and fifty-eight of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and seventy-one or of sections seventy-four, seventy-five, seventy-six and seventy-seven of chapter twenty-seven of the Public Stat- utes shall be exempt from the provisions of this act, until such acceptance is revoked by such town.
SEC. 7. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
SEC. 8. This act shall take effect in the several towns of this Commonwealth from and after the next annual meeting for the election of town officers which may be held subsequent to its passage. [Approved March 11, 1889. ]
16
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
RELIEF TO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS AND THEIR WIDOWS.
The attention of the town is also called to chapter 298 of the Acts of 1889, hereto appended, under which we have found it necessary to furnish assistance to certain soldiers who were entitled under provisions of said act. We respect- fully request an appropriation to cover what may be neces- sary during the coming year.
[CHAP. 298.]
AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE CITIES AND TOWNS TO FURNISH RELIEF TO SOLDIERS AND SAILORS AND THE WIDOWS OF SOLDIERS AND SAILORS WHO SERVED IN THE ARMY OR NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows:
SEC. I. Whenever any person who served in the army or navy of the United States in the war of the rebellion, and received an honorable discharge therefrom, and who has a legal settlement in a city or town in this Common- wealth, becomes from any cause, except his own criminal or wilful misconduct, poor, and entirely or in part unable to provide maintenance for himself, or whenever such a per- son has died and left a widow without proper means of sup- port, such person or his widow shall be supported wholly or in part, as may be neeessary, by the city or town in which they or either of them have a legal settlement. Such relief shall be furnished at the home of the beneficiary, or at such other place in the Commonwealth, other than an almshouse, as the mayor and aldermen of such city or the selectmen of such town may deem right and proper.
SEC. 2. Cities and towns shall raise and appropriate money for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this act.
SEC. 3. Chapter four hundred and thirty-eight of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and eighty-eight is here- by repealed.
17
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
SEC. 4. This act shall take effect upon its passage. [ Approved May 3, 1889. ]
BURIAL OF SOLDIERS AND SAILORS.
Under the provisions of chapter 395 of the acts of 1889, hereto appended, we have appointed Gilbert N. Harris as agent of the town to carry out the provisions of said act.
[CHAP. 395. ]
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE BURIAL OF DECEASED INDI- GENT OR FRIENDLESS SOLDIERS, SAILORS OR MARINES OF THE LATE WAR.
Be it enacted, etc., as follows :
SECT. I. It shall be the duty of the mayor of each city and of the selectmen of each town of the Commonwealth to designate some suitable person or persons, who shall serve without compensation, and shall be other than the overseers of the poor or those employed by them, whose duty it shall be, under regulations established by the commissioners of state or military aid, to cause to be properly interred the body of any honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine who served in the army or navy of the United States during the late war who may hereafter die in such city or town without leaving sufficient means to defray funeral expenses.
SECT. 2. The expense of such burial shall not exceed the sum of thirty-five dollars. Such burial shall not be made in any cemetery or burial ground used exclusively for the burial of the pauper dead or in that portion of any burial ground so used : and provided, that in case relatives of the deceased who are unable to bear the expense of burial desire to conduct the funeral they may be allowed to do so and the expense shall be paid as herein provided.
PERAMBULATIONS OF TOWN LINES.
In company with the selectmen of Wakefield, we have perambulated the lines between the two towns and found the boundary stones in good condition, as per our joint re- port spread upon the records of the town.
18
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
BOARD OF HEALTH. (J. P. DEERING, Chairman.)
For the year ending Dec. 31, 1889, there have been reported to the Board thirty-two cases of contagious dis- eases, classified as follows :
MONTHS.
Scarlet Fever.
Diphtheria.
Typhoid Fever.
January
I
February
March .
I
3
I
April
I
I
May
I
2
June.
3
I
August
5
September
I
I
3
October.
I
I
December.
2
I
10
9
13
I
July .
I
November
Sixty-six cases were reported last year, showing a very large per centage of decrease the past year as compared with 1888, also a decrease of twenty-one cases as compared with 1887. We think this is due in part to the better sani- tary regulations that have prevailed. Our citizens in gen- eral taking more interest in the matter, thereby aiding us in our endeavors to abate nuisances as soon as they appear. Early in the fall we adopted the plan used in the cities of this Commonwealth, of placing upon the premises where infectious diseases existed a card designating the particular disease, and requiring the same to remain posted until the attending physician notifies us that no further danger of contagion may exist. This we think, with the assistance rendered by the school committee, has been of advantage in preventing the spread of disease, more particularly among the children attending our public schools. Thirty-
19
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
four notices were served to owners regarding nuisances existing upon or about their premises. In one case only were we obliged to order premises vacated for want of proper sanitary conditions.
Officers McLaughlin and Drown were appointed as spec- ial agents of the Board; they have rendered very efficient service. One hundred and twenty-eight deaths have been registered during the year, of which number four persons were non-residents, making the total number of deaths in Melrose, 124, which includes five residents of Melrose who died elsewhere, and in previous years were not reported as now required by law.
20
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
DISEASES OR CAUSES OF DEATHS.
Disease of brain, .
2
Phthisis, 3
Phthisis pulmonalis,
4
Consumption, .
5
Miliary tuberculosis,
2
Pleurisy,
I
Tuberculosis of bowels, I
Chronic bronchitis and ca-
Enteriditis, .
I
Cerebral paralysis, 3
Debility and old age, I Paralysis . 7
Apoplexy,
2
Cholera infantum, 4
Uræmia,
I
Railway accident, 4
Drowning
I
Electrical
I
Debility and anæmia,
I
Asphyxia,
2
Asthenia,
I
Abscess following typhitis of brain,
I
Hæmorrhage from bowels, I
Hydrocephalus,
I
Acute dropsy of brain,
I
Obstruction of bowels, I
Ch. dysentery and old age, I Septicæmia, . I
Puerperal fever, I
Imperfect development, I
Hæmotopsis,
I
Tenectus,
I
General atrophy and coma, I Pneumonia, 8
Pneumonia pleuro,
I
broncho, I Chronic catarrh, pneumo- nia and meningitis, . I Membraneous croup, I Whooping cough, I
Pericarditis,
·
I
tarrhal pneumonia, . I Peritonitis, 2
Tubercular meningitis, 5
Nervous debility and old age, . I
Pertussis and convulsions, I
Diphtheria,
3
Typhoid fever,
2
Marasmus,
3
Ovarian tumor,
I
Spina bifida,
I
Rheumatism and heart
I
disease from Bright's,
I
Bright's disease, .
2
morbus,
I
Still-born or premature birth, 8
Leucocythemia,
I
Cirrhosis of liver, .
I
Cancer,
6
Carcinoma, .
2
Abdominal tumor,
I
Heart disease,
9
66
failure,
.
I
Suicide,
I
128
2I
REPORT OF SELECTMEN.
No appropriation beyond the unexpended balance will be required for the ensuing year.
SOLDIERS' LOTS AT WYOMING CEMETERY.
The sum of $300 has been expended, according to your instructions, in grading and otherwise improving the lots voted to soldiers and their families. We respectfully sug- gest that a similar amount be appropriated for the same pur- pose the current year.
Respectfully submitted,
LEVI S. GOULD, JOHN P. DEERING, CHAS. W. HIGGINS, Selectmen.
3
REPORT OF OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
It is only a question of time when it may be thought expedient to care for our insane poor in an asylum properly constructed, to be connected with almshouse accommoda- tions of our own, as is being done with theirs by some other places.
This has been resorted to as a measure of relief for the state asylums, at their own request, because of their over- crowded condition.
Upon inquiry, we have found that the removal of these persons has somewhat reduced the expenditure of the de- partments without correspondingly increasing those of the farms in the places where it has been adopted, while it is conceded by authorities competent to judge in the matter, that the patients are fully as well cared for as formerly.
The Board of State Charities also boarding out many of the harmlessly insane in private families, subject to their own control, by the consent of the overseers of the poor of those places where the patients belonged; for the same rea- son as is the case in one instance of our own. This would seem in part, if not wholly, to solve the problem which has concerned the state authorities for several years, namely: "What shall we do with so many of our insane?" Many believe that the cities and towns should care for their own, as far as possible, leaving to the state only the care of the unsettled poor.
23
REPORT OF OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
The year has passed with very little sickness of an alarm- ing character, that most prevalent being mainly due to weather changes, exposures and to causes which depend upon some departure from the right way of living. Com- pelled as we are to maintain separate rents for large families at as low rates as possible, in order to bring our expenditures within reasonable limits, it is no wonder that violations of the laws of health in some cases are rendered imminent, and that sickness, and even filth diseases should more or less prevail; not that actual filth and dirt are always present where these diseases prevail, but that crowded tenements, bad air, poor food, deficient drainage, and in some cases the habitual use of miserable stimulants have their full share in producing sickness.
Of course, the remedy for this is a commodious, clean and comfortable home for our poor, where those addicted to drink can be restrained; where the sick can be nursed and cared for; where the old and infirm may have the attention of kind hearts and willing hands, and the feeble and imbecile be made as comfortable and happy as their mental condition will admit of, all to be under the watch and care of experi- enced and faithful attendants.
We hang this picture before our citizens to make a note of, hoping that it may help to lead up to a fuller and more efficient relief of our poor, with, as we think, about the same money that we now expend.
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