USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > City of Melrose annual report 1885-1889 > Part 39
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41
314
I
. .
Emerald
. .
..
. .
Emerson Place
1,159/2
3,987
6
2
. .
Essex.
1,890
3
2
..
Felton Place.
245
...
I
Fifth.
934
3
..
First.
1,883
3
2
...
. .
Florence
1,3401/2
I
2
.
Foster.
682
1,47012
2
I
2
.
Franklin
3,3051/2
1,169
4
2
.
.
. .
. .
Goodyear Avenue ..
1,235
398
4
2
. .
.
.
Green ...
2,700
3
2
.
. .
Greenwood
1,263
I
2
. .
Grove ..
1,865
1,6691/2
4
.
...
. .
Grundy Place.
202
I
Herbert.
220
...
. .
High.
376
I
I
J
Hillside Avenue ...
337
29I
I
Howard.
922
383
2
. .
Hurd .
768
I
Ingalls Court ..
209
. .
I
Irving.
· 387
T
..
Lake Avenue.
1,230
T
2
Lebanon
3,175
2
3 . .
Linden ..
200
I
Linden Place.
286
.
Lin'd Ave. & Lynde
3,336
3
2
. .
Lynde Place ...
380
I
I
·
Main ..
4,010
4,359
1,069
701
IO
2
2
3
I
Melrose. ..
....
..
·
Melrose Place.
. .
.. . . .
.....
. . ..
..
. .
. .
Mt. Vernon ..
551
I
..
..
. .
. .
I
Mt. Vernon Place ..
....
..
...
.....
. .. . .
224
I
. .
. .
. .
...
. .
. .
.....
..
. . .
.
Maple and Poplar ..
....
2,2651/2
2
. .
3
2,449/2
2
5
673
I
.....
...
.....
.....
.
·
.
.
·
.
.
·
.
..
·
.
.
.
.
.
·
..
..
. .
.
I
Batchelder
834
.
. .
.
.
.
.
.
.
·
4
.
.
.
. .
.
Dill's Court.
360
Elm ..
1,057
I
. .
508
I
2
251
.
I
Emerson
Gooch.
657
I
. .
Glen.
532
T
. .
...
. .
..
1581/2
I
600
Highland Avenue ..
250
. .
I
... .
I
. .
. .
.
2
.
.
.
.
...
4
.
.
.
. .
.
. .
..
.
I
I
Hydrants.
I
.
32
REPORT OF WATER SUPERINTENDENT.
TOTAL AMOUNT AND LOCATION OF MAIN AND DISTRIBUTING PIPES TO PRESENT TIME .- Continued.
FEET OF PIPE.
GATES.
STREETS.
16-in.
14-in.
12-in.
IO-İn1.
8-in.
6.in.
4-in.
2-in.
Hydrants.
16-in.
12-in.
| Io-in.
| 8-in.
6-in.
4-in.
| 2-in.
Myrtle.
2,230
3
Ninth .
255
Oakland
1,161
I
Orient
1,047
I
2
Orient Place.
184
I
Orris
1,268
3
Otis
780
Panama
I12
Para .
268
Perkins
236
I
Pine .
338
I
Pleasant
I86
1,125
I
I
Porter ...
2,5141/2
3
Pond to Wy'ngAve 3,810
2
Pratt
378
I
I
Prospect Avenue. .
500
I
I
Pump to int'secton
3,032
2
Prospect
1,026
I
I
Reservoir
96
Rowe.
950
552
2
3
I
Res. to Ravine Rd
1,370
Russell
448
I
·
Sanford
220
. .
.
School
495
.
.
Second ..
1,318
4
..
.
Seventh
288
I
Short
216
2
.
Sixth ..
810
3
.
Stevens Place.
IIO
216
Summer
961
2
Summit Avenue ...
442
I
Suction
250
.
521
I
Tenth.
419
2
Third .
371
247
2
1
Tremont
3,180
500
3
4
I
Trenton
1,223
2
2
2
.
Tibbetts Place.
144
I
.
Union
673
2
6
3
.
Vine
691
. .
4
..
Walnut
1871/2
I
Walton Park
1,097
2
2
Washington
960
3
2
. .
Waverly Place
6901/2
I
I
.
West Hill.
158
I
Wing
375
I
Willow
663
·
..
I
Winter
241
I
Winthrop Place.
520
I
Winthrop,
6951/2
2
. .
Woodland Ave ....
134
I
.
Wyoming Avenue.
3,360
1,076
3
3
I
. .
Waste .
55
51
3
2
Youle ..
1,6551/2
2
I
Grove, South. .
232
I
. .
South.
I
...
. .
South
228
I ...
. .
Bellemont, West ..
I ...
..
Orris, South .
162
I ...
. .
. .
7,170 96 8,752 960
1,235
28,700
89,298
:10,993
I42 5 62
2 39 137 :21
·
.
.
.
Upham
5,581
2
Vinton
4,81712
436
7
Warren. ..
1,342
2
3,025
Tappan
. .
1,331 1/2
I
I H
I H .
I
6
Total length of main and distributing pipes, 27 85-100 miles.
158
302
STREET MAINS. TABLE SHOWING LOCATION, SIZE, LENGTH OF PIPE, ETC., LAID IN 1889.
12
Street.
Size of Pipe. 12 10 8 6 4
Cost of Pipe.
Labor.
Bbls. Cement.
Sand. Loads.
Cost Per Foot.
Gates. Cost.
Hydrants. ,6 4 Cost. 6 4
Cost.
Bellevue ave.
642 26 $264 60
$118 12
36 $54 00
5 $8 75
662/3
I $18 50
2 $66 00 I I $20 76 $550 73
Botolph,
Ledges.
232 412
226 40
215 12
29
43 50
5
8 75
78 4
2 29 00
I
33 00 II
3 25
564 02
Melrose
I35
54 00
24 32
8
12 00
I
I 75
68 14
I
18 50
I
6 25
116 82
Whittier & Sanford
946
IO
381 40
127 53
154
8I 00
IO 50
62 7-9
I
18 50
2
66 00
6
31 50
716 43
Cleveland
197
49 10
35 75
8
I2
I
I 25
49 15-19
I
15 IO
Union
I43
42 90
16 50
12 00
I
I 50
51|
I 6
3 60
I
33 00
I
3 00
II2 50
Albion
H
32
9 60
6 00
2
3 00
Dill court
H
H
8
2 40
9 00
I
I
50
50
2
2 40
I
33 00
48 80
Linwood ave.
222
66 60
29 30
9
13 50 I I 50
51
3
18 60
129 50
Sixth
518
155 40
78 38
2I
3I
50
2
.50
5I 46-51
I
14 50
I
3 25
286 53
Woodland ave
I
I34
40 20
41 18
6
9
00
I 25
68 5-13
I
1
33 00
I
4 00
128 63
Gooch
320
96 00
61 66
12
18 00 I
I 25
55 9-32
I
14 50
I
3 00
184 4I
Franklin
L.
150
60 00
115 12
9 00
1 50
124 II-15
Sanford
220
88 00
30 56
12
18 00
I 1/2
2 00
63
Pleasant
186
74 40
13 52
IO
15
00
I
I 50
56 I-9
Grove, off Whitman
158
63 20
30 56
8
12 00
I 12
2 00
68 1-7 I
18 50
5 25
131 50
.
Grove, off Goss
228
91
20
36 64
12
18 00
2
2 50
65 1-16 I
20 60
I
5 25
174 19
Grove, off Faxon
232
92 80
32 98
12
18 00
2
2 50
62 18-29 I
18 50
164 78
Third
IO4
4I 60
17 79
8
I2 00
2
2 50
71 I2
22 00
95 89
First
80
32
00
II 59
4
00
I
I 25
63 II-30
Gooch
337
IOI IO
48 64
16
24
00
21/4
3 00
52 50-67
3 25
179 99
Second
I33
53
20
20 00
9
13 50
I
I 50
66 7-22
I
33 00 6
$5 25
126 45
Circuit
282
84 60
33 70
I2
18 00
2
2 50
4914
2
00
144 80
Off Orris,
162
64 80
46 89
IO
15 00
I
I 25
72 65-81 I
18 50
I
5 25
151 69
Off Bellemont
302
90 60
42 42 13
19 50
2
2 50
50 9-IO
I
14 50
I
3 00
172 52
Melrose place
163
48 90|
21 55
1 7
10 50 2
2 50
51 I-5
4
2 40
I
33 00
I
3 00
45
Chestnut Park
6
3 60
I
33 00
55 20
6 00
I
I
50
I
6
I
185 62
138 56
104 42
REPORT OF WATER SUPERINTENDENT.
33
Branch.
Total.
Cost.
Cost.
6 4
83 45
6
00
113 20
8
.
I
I
50 84
6
34
REPORT OF SINKING FUND COMMISSIONERS.
REPORT
OF THE
WATER LOAN SINKING FUND COMMISSIONERS.
MELROSE, Dec. 31, 1889.
The Water Loan Sinking Fund Commissioners present the following report, covering the year ending with the above date.
The amount on hand in cash at the beginning of the year was . $2,418 05 Received from various investments, interest 1,687 31
Received from the Water Board, being surplus
income for the year ending Dec. 31, 1888 3,829 22
There has been invested in mortgages on real estate in Melrose 2,500 00
Deposited in Suffolk Savings Bank, Boston 1,000 00
Deposited in Five Cents Savings Bank, Boston 1,000 00
Deposited in Melrose Savings Bank
3,424 58
For particular account of the above receipts and investments, reference is made to the re- port of Mr. George Newhall as treasurer of the Sinking Fund.
35
REPORT OF SINKING FUND COMMISSIONERS.
The present condition of the Sinking Fund is as follows :
Invested in mortgages on real estate in Melrose $16,300 00 Invested in Melrose Water Bonds, high service,
4s, due in 1905 13,000 00
Invested in Melrose Water Bonds, construction 4s, due in 1907 3,000 00
United States bonds, 41/2 per cent.
3,500 00
City of Providence 5 per cent. bonds
1,000 00
Deposited in Savings Banks :
Suffolk, of Boston $1,000
Five Cent, of Boston .
1,000
Melrose Savings Bank
3,424 58
5,424 58
$42,224 58
This amount will be further increased when the
fund receives from the Water Board the surplus income for 1889 $4,284 50
The first issue of water bonds was $100,000.00. These bonds will fall due July 1, 1890. To meet them we have the above-named fund, together with such interest as may be earned during the next six months ; the premium from the sale of our present securities, and the premium, if any, from the sale of such new bonds as the town may decide to issue, and this aggregate amount will, your commissioners estimate, amount to $50,000.00, leaving $50,000.00 to be paid from the proceeds of an issue of new bonds, or in some other manner.
Your commissioners would recommend the issue of new bonds for $50,000.00 in pieces of $1,000.00 each, bearing interest at the rate of four per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually ; said bonds to be made payable as follows: $10,000.00 on July 1, 1895, and $10,000.00 each year there-
36
REPORT OF SINKING FUND COMMISSIONERS.
after, till all are paid. Your commissioners estimate that with the saving of interest in the refunding of this portion of the loan, and from the growing surplus coming annually to this fund from the water department, the Sinking Fund will easily pay these bonds as they become due. In con- nection with this, your commissioners would call your attention to the fact that the second issue of these bonds, $50,000.00, will become due in 1892, when some provision will have to be made for their payment.
The total water debt, after paying the above sum of $50,000,00, will still amount to $167,000.00, as the issue of new bonds since 1885 has increased the debt somewhat faster than the Sinking Fund has increased.
STATEMENT OF WATER DEBT.
Bonds due July 1, 1890 $100,000 00 Less estimated available assets in Sinking Fund 50,000 00
$50,000 00
Bonds due Oct. 1, 1892 (6 per cent. )
50,000 00
High Service, due Nov. I, 1905 (4 per cent)
37,000 00
Construction Bonds, due May 1, 1907 (4 per ct.) 30,000 00
$167,000 00
Respectfully submittted,
DANIEL RUSSELL, JOHN W. FARWELL, ROYAL P. BARRY, Water Loan Sinking Fund Commissioners.
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
OF THE
MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY
FOR THE
YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1889,
MELROSE : DUNTON & POTTER, PRINTERS. 1890.
3
MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
TRUSTEES OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The trustees of the public library in submitting their nine- teenth annual report, take pleasure in stating the progress that has been made during the year, in the general work of the institution.
Early in the spring we placed in the library and reading room the books purchased from the William Emerson Bar- rett Fund, relating to Architecture, Landscape Gardening and Interior Decoration; and distributed throughout the town finding lists, containing the titles of these, as of the other works in the library bearing on the same subject.
To make the library more helpful to the public schools, the trustees have informed the teachers, that at any time when especial topics are to be used in the lessons, the librarian will make a list of the books in the library pertaining to the subject, provided she is duly notified of the topic; and will send the same to the teacher so requesting it.
Heretofore, the library has been opened on Wednesday afternoon and evening, but by dispensing with the afternoon hours of this day only, and opening on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from four to five p. m., we have a daily distribu- tion of books, thereby increasing the efficiency of the circu- lation and more generally meeting the wants of the patrons. Library hours will be Monday and Wednesday, from 6.30 to
4
MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
9 p. m. ; Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 4 to 5 p. m. ; Satur- day 2.30 to 9 p. m.
The reading room will be open as usual. every evening in the week, also on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, with the exception of legal holidays and the monthly meet- ing of the school committee.
The rule, regarding the distribution of books, has been so modified that hereafter no book returned to the library will be delivered the same day. We regret that abuse of the privilege of transferring from card to card necessitated this change.
The income from the Horatio Nelson Perkins Fund, has been expended in continuing the early history of our re- public, by purchasing the Life of Washington from 1776-77 in five volumes, by Washington Chauncy Ford.
Government Reports of Working Women in large cities, and Marriage and Divorce 1867-1886, have been received through the kindness of Mr. C. S. Mixter, to whom, as to all other donors of books or pamphlets, the thanks of the board are extended.
We call attention to the Query Book, which, with pencil attached, will be found on the reading desk in the reading room. We hope it will be used discreetly, as it is intended only for such questions as remain unanswered after thorough search by the querist.
What are we to do for library room, is still the perplexing question ? Each year perceptibly diminishes our space for storing the books, as well as the shelf room for those in daily use, and crowds the patrons nearer and nearer the door; yet the outlook for better accommodation does not brighten.
May we suggest a Memorial Hall, one that would archi- tecturally honor not only our fallen, but our living heroes? One that would have room, not for the books as now arrang-
5
MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
ed, but would permit of a complete classification of the whole library, including its valuable war records and public documents.
The faithful librarian and her assistants have cheerfully attended to their increasing duties.
The statistics of the library and reading room will be found in the annexed report of the librarian.
For the year 1890-91, your trustees ask an appropriation of seven hundred and fifty dollars and the dog tax, for the library and reading room.
Respectfully submitted,
ELBRIDGE H. GOSS, CHARLES C. BARRY, RUBY F. FARWELL, MARY L. CHARLES, CHARLES A. PATCH,
Trustees.
6
MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
STATEMENT OF HORATIO NELSON PERKINS FUND. JANUARY 1, 1889, TO JANUARY 1, 1890. CR.
By balance on hand Jan. 1, 1889 . $500 90 , interest from Melrose Savings Bank 20 00
$520 90
DR.
To cash paid G. P. Putnam's Sons, book
20 00
Balance on hand
500 90
$520 90
STATEMENT OF THE WILLIAM EMERSON BARRETT FUND.
JANUARY 1, 1889, TO JANUARY 1, 1890.
CR.
By amount of gift .
$100 00
interest from Melrose Savings Bank 2 92
$102 92
DR.
To cash paid DeWolf, Fiske & Co., books $26 62
" T. W. Ripley, printing
75
· Balance on hand
75 55
$102 92
COLLECTIONS BY LIBRARIAN.
For catalogues sold during the year 8 40
fines collected 71 54
$79 94
Less for sundry expenses, post-office box, tapes,
carpet, stamps, stationery, etc. 26 16
Balance on hand ,
Respectfully submitted, · $53 78
C. A. PATCH,
Treasurer.
MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 7
STATISTICS FOR 1889.
Number of volumes in library, Jan. Ist, 1889
7,816
66 purchased this year 369
donated
IO
379
in library, Jan. Ist, 1890 8,195
66 persons using library, Jan. Ist, 1889 .
3,170
66 cards issued this year 321
“ relinquished this year 37
284
persons using library, Jan. Ist, 1890 3,454
Largest number of volumes issued in one day · 495
Smallest
·
56
Average
66
66
Mondays 97
Saturdays
375
Whole
66
March
3,533
May . ·
2,705
66
66
66
November · 2,932
December 2,370
66
66
in 1889
33,052
READING ROOM.
Number of persons using the reading room, Jan. I,
1889
10,908
Number of persons using the reading room, Jan. I, 1890 11,70I .
Largest number of visitors in one month
1,282
Smallest 66 .6 812
Largest 66 66 66 day I43
Books brought from library for use in reading room I24
Number of books replaced in 1889 . 100
re-bound . 771 magazines bound for library · 30
66
66
.
8
MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
LIST OF PUBLICATIONS.
MAGAZINES.
DONORS.
American Agriculturist
American Naturalist
Art Amateur
Art Magazine, Cassell's
Atlantic
Academy
Daniel Jefferson.
Century
Chambers .
Chautauquan
Cottage Hearth
Cosmopolitan
F. P. Shumway. A Friend.
Eclectic
English Mechanic
Electrical Review
G. W. Mansfield.
Forum
Gartenlaube
Harper's .
Young People .
Bazar
Weekly
Littell's Living Age
London Punch
London Illustrated News
Lippincott's A Friend. Literary World Daniel Jefferson.
Magazine of American History
Modern Light and Heat
G. W. Mansfield.
Nation
North American Review .
New England .
Outing
9
MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
MAGAZINES.
DONORS.
Overland .
Popular Science Monthly
Scribner's
St. Nicholas
Science
Scientific American
W. B. Howe.
Scientific American, Architect and Builder
Wide Awake
Political Science Quarterly
DONATIONS. Pamphlets.
Number of pamphlets in library Jan. 1, 1889 . 1,054
Annual Report of Boston Public Library
I
" Chelsea
I
" Chicago 66
I
66 " Holbrook “
I
" Lancaster " 66
I
" Malden
I
66
" Manchester, N. H., Public Library I
66
I
" Watertown
I
.
.
I
66
" Somerville 66
.
I
Report of Librarian of Maimonides Library Official Gazette of U. S. Patent Office
53
The Tuftonian .
I7
Bulletin of Boston Public Library
2
Progress and Poverty
D. Jefferson I
Letters on the Annexation of Santo Domingo
.
I
Causes and Prevention of Idiocy I .
A Letter for State Reform School for Girls " 3Ist Annual Report of the Washington Home
66
·
I
1,143
I
.
I
66 " Newton
.
" Woburn 66
IO
MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
BOOKS.
DONORS.
BOOKS.
The Fisheries and Fishing Industry in United States, Geo. B. Goode, Henry C. Lodge. Lectures on Science and Art, D. Lardner, 2 vols., H. R. Curtis. Travels in the Great Western Prairies,
T. J. Farnham, H. R. Curtis. Book of the Indians of North America, S. G. Drake, . H. R. Curtis.
The Mountain Hero, H. W. DePue, H. R. Curtis.
Webster, An Ode, F. S. Osgood
The Private Life of Monsieur Guizot, Madame DeWitt, A Friend.
Profit Sharing, N. P. Gilman, Rev. J. H. Heywood. Bibliography of Melrose, E. H. Goss.
PAPERS. DONORS.
Alta California
Christian Register
Woman's Aux. Unit. Church.
Cincinnati Gazette
London Weekly Times
Melrose Journal
W. B. Howe.
Melrose Reporter
Dunton & Potter.
New York Tribune .
National Tribune, G.A.R.
Pilot
Springfield Republican
Weekly Inter-Ocean
Weekly Courier-Journal, of Louisville, Ky.
Weekly News and Courier, of Charleston, S. C.
Woman's Journal . Mrs. M. A. Liverinore.
Youth's Companion
.
Union Signal
Miss H. G. Ricker.
The Unity Miss Clarimond Mansfield.
C. M. WORTHEN, Librarian.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF MELROSE,
FOR THE
Year Ending December 31, 1889. :
MELROSE: DUNTON & POTTER, PRINTERS. 1890.
13
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
ORGANIZATION.
JOHN O. NORRIS, Chairman,
Term expires, 1890.
MRS. S. W. BRADBURY, .
1890.
MRS. A. B. P. WATERHOUSE,
66
66 1892.
MR. C. F. LORING, .
66 1892.
MRS. A. K. MILLER,
66
1891.
MR. JOHN C. MAKER, Secretary, ·
66
66
1891.
SUB-COMMITTEES.
On Accounts.
MR. LORING.
Centre District. MRS. MILLER. MRS. WATERHOUSE.
MR. MAKER.
MR. NORRIS.
MRS. BRADBURY.
On High School.
MR. NORRIS.
MRS. BRADBURY.
MRS. WATERHOUSE. MR. LORING.
Highlands District. MRS. WATERHOUSE. MR. LORING. MR. MAKER.
MRS. MILLER.
MR. MAKER.
Wyoming District. Text-Books and Course of Study. MR. MAKER. MRS. BRADBURY. MRS. WATERHOUSE. MR. NORRIS. MRS. MILLER. MR. LORING.
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
To the Citizens of Melrose :
The report of the School Committee for the year 1889 is respectfully presented.
BUILDINGS AND OTHER PROPERTY.
These are in a better condition in many respects than at the time of the last annual report, and in no respect are they worse.
The principal repairs have been on the Grove street and Franklin school houses.
The buildings were painted outside and inside as much as necessary, the walls of the Grove street building were kalsomined, and the furniture in both buildings was scraped and finished so that it looks like new. These build- ings, those at the Centre, at Vinton street, at the Fells and at Swain's Pond, are in very good condition.
The high school building will need attention next year. It has needed repairs for some time, but the uncertainty in the mind of the committee as to the fate of the proposal to change the interior, has led them to do as little as possible. Now that the question of remodelling is settled, there is no reason for further delay.
It has been necessary to open a school this year in the old school house at the Highlands.
This involved many repairs, the purchase of a new furnace, and the expenditure of considerable money that was not an- ticipated a year ago.
4
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
Yet this course seemed wise, especially when one consid- ers the large number of young children of school age, resid- ing on the west side of the railroad in this section of the town.
Should this building and the one at Green street continue to be used for school purposes, it will be necessary to put them into the best condition possible and to keep them so.
The complaints that were formerly made of discomfort to the pupils at the Green street building, have not been re- newed since the one room used was put into order for a school.
Whether a winter of extreme cold would show the old building to be unfitted for use, with better methods of heat- ing and better care than were formerly used, remains to be settled by trial.
With such a temperature as has prevailed during last win- ter and this, these rooms answer very well.
In the last report, attention was called to proper care of the furniture 'and other school property. We are pleased to note a great improvement in those respects in the build- ings that have been put into good repair, and commend the care that has been exercised by pupils and teachers.
This is as it should be, and we venture to say that those rooms that have been cared for best, have on the whole witnessed greatest progress in study, and the best conduct and spirit in the pupils.
Ventilation is the most important subject that has been before your committee with reference to the condition of our buildings.
Like most of the towns of our state, we have not a single building that is properly ventilated.
It is true that some are provided with fireplaces, and that a fireplace with a fire in it produces some change of air, but by no means such a change as is required to remove impure
5
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
air from a room 25 x 30 feet, containing fifty or more pupils.
The best authorities all agree that about 50 cubic feet are required by each pupil, every minute; this makes 2500 cubic feet per minute for a class of 50 pupils. Now, if the ventil- ating opening is one foot square, there must be a current passing through it at the rate of 2500 feet per minute to do what is required.
This must satisfy every one that although a fireplace in an ordinary house, occupied by half a dozen people, affords a very satisfactory means of ventilation, it is of very little account in a crowded schoolroom.
Of still less use are the ordinary ventilating ducts usually built in the corners of schoolrooms, and opening into a ventilator, so-called, on the roof of the building.
There is usually very little motion of air through them, and frequently none at all, because there is nothing to give it motion.
The remedy lies in having larger openings for the admis- sion of pure air, which in cold weather should be first warm- ed, and larger openings and flues for the removal of the foul air, and in these flues some heating apparatus or a revolving fan to create a current of sufficient velocity to do the busi- ness.
To introduce either of these plans will entail some expense, both for introduction and for maintenance, espec- ially in the matter of fuel; but something of the kind is demanded by the law of the State, recently enacted, and by the health, comfort and progress of our children.
There is no more fruitful cause of disease than the foul air of our schoolrooms.
"For there are not only the inevitably vitiating effects produced by respiration and the constant activity of the skin in persons who are healthy and cleanly, but the addi- tional exhalations proceeding from unclean bodies, from
6
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
ill-odored mouths, from decaying teeth, from dirty clothing too frequently accompanying the schoolboy or schoolgirl to the crowded room which is the scene of their daily tasks.
The effects of breathing and re-breathing an atmosphere thus charged with harmful matters are not far to seek. We all remember the unpleasant closeness, the headache, the languor, and sometimes nausea, resulting.
Besides these direct effects of inhaling a foul atmosphere, an indirect and not less significant consequence is recog- nized.
Disease may be powerless in its assaults on the perfectly healthy human system, while it may find lodgement in a body which bad air, by lowering the tone and depressing the vital vigor, has made an easy victim of epidemic influences.
Many a case of sickness proves fatal on account of an unperceived prostration of the sufferer's strength by contin- uous exposure to an atmosphere impure from the exhala- tions from the body."
All over our State there is great activity in striving to remedy this condition of things in schoolhouses.
Within two years the neighboring city of Chelsea has spent thousands of dollars in improving the sanitation and ventilation of her schoolhouses. Malden has done the same, and other towns and cities are following the example.
If the health and bodily vigor of our children did not call loudly upon us to act, if humanity did not urge upon us the necessity of doing something, common-sense, which says that, in order to obtain our fair share of the desirable exo- dus from the cities into suburban towns, building them up in material prosperity, we must not lag behind in those matters that make a town desirable for residence, would cause us to try to obtain the best that can be had.
We recommend the consideration of this matter in the appropriation for school contingent expenses this year, in order that a beginning, at least, may be made.
7
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
The subject of school accommodations is one that must be frequently considered. In September all our rooms will probably be occupied, as many of the classes are so crowded this year that we cannot avoid opening additional schools next year.
The high school needs additional room and better facili- ties for doing its work. Its numbers are constantly increasing, and it should have appropriate quarters fitted up in a way that will be as good as those of other first-class towns in the State.
Melrose is not so poor that she needs to defer action in this matter. We believe that the time has come for the erection of a good high school building, of such dimensions as will accommodate the growing wants of the school for many years, and of such a character in design and construct- ion as will be creditable to our town.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.