USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Quincy > Inaugural address of the mayor, with the annual report of the officers of the city of Quincy for the year 1904 > Part 11
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
In order that the owners of real estate might avail them- selves of the privilege of deferred payments the work of making connections with estates was transferred by the City Council from the Commissioner of Public Works to the Board of Sew- erage Commissioners, which was the Board authorized to lay sewers, and by whom the work must be done if the city was to take advantage of the Act. The work was transferred to this Board July 31, 1899, and has since been carried on by us.
At the beginning of the year 1904 there was an unexpended balance of $592.06. $7,000 have been appropriated during the year. The expenditures to Feb. 20, 1905, have been $7,194.79 leaving a balance of $397.27.
During the year 280 connections with a total length of 13,- 154 feet have been made and the cost as determined and as- sessed upon the owners of the property was 87,009.97, an aver- age of 53.3 cents per foot or $25.03 per connection. The aver- age length of the connections was 47 feet. The total number of particular sewers to date is 1490 with a total length of 72,235 feet (13.68 miles). The average cost has been $26.18 each or .54 per foot. We believe that a comparison of this cost with that in cities where the work is done by licensed drain layers
228
will show that by doing the work itself the city has made a material saving in the cost to property owners besides having the work done in a more satisfactory manner. We have been called upon for but two stoppages during the past year. One of these was in a house connection and was caused by two large cotton rags which had been thrown into the closet, the other was in a hotel connection where the cause of the stoppage was pushed through into the sewer without learning its nature.
Scavenger Tanks
Early in 1899 the Board of Health requested that the City Scavenger be allowed to dump the matter collected from cess- pools and vaults into the sewer at or near the pumping station. We made inquiries and decided from the reports we received from other places that it would be unwise to allow the sewers to be used for this purpose. Later that season, however, at the earnest request of the Board of Health, we built a special man- hole in Quincy street, Ward 5, which was fitted with a screen and a connection with the water pipe for flushing. The scav- enger was allowed to discharge matter from cesspools through this special manhole. There was sufficient flow in the sewer at this point to dilute and carry along the matter so discharged without sedimentation. Vault matter could not be disposed of in this manner as the manhole was quickly filled and the screen clogged. The Board of Health found it increasingly difficult and at last impossible to provide a dump where vault matter could be satisfactorily disposed of, and in 1902 in response to a request from the Mayor the Sewerage Commissioners constructed two covered tanks for the treatment of the matter from both cesspools and vaults. These are similar in design and are located, one at South Quincy on the extension of Penn street and the other on Quincy street in Ward 5. The tanks are about five feet deep below the level of the floor, are built of concrete and are divided into three compartments. The first compart- ment is four feet by eight feet and has a four inch water pipe with perforations on three sides near the bottom. The second
229
compartment is also four feet by eight feet and the third compartment is three and one-half feet by seventeen feet. There are two screens, one between the first and second com- partments and the other in the third compartment near the out- let. There is a stop plank between the second and third com- partments and the outlet is an eight inch pipe located one foot above the bottom of the tank at the point of discharge. There is an additional discharge pipe fitted with a valve at the bottom of the tank at the point of discharge so that the tank can be drained when desired. The scavenger dumps the vault and cesspool matter collected into the first compartment where it is broken up and diluted by the force of the water. The screen between the first and second compartments retains the coarser materials, ashes and cinders settle in the second compartment, while the fine ashes and silt remain in the third compartment. Sufficient water is used to cause a proper dilution and the efflu- ent is carried away through the sewers without appreciable sed- imentation. This method of disposal is entirely satisfactory for the matter from cesspools and well kept vaults, only a small proportion of the solids being retained in the tanks. There are many vaults, however, which are used as dumping places for ashes, bottles, tin cans, rags and other rubbish. All of this rub- bish is retained in the tank and has to be removed and buried. It not infrequently happens that more than half of a load of vault matter is thus retained.
This adds very materially to the cost of maintenance. Either the throwing of ashes and rubbish into vaults should be stopped or some other method of disposal should be provided for the matter from vaults which are used as receptacles for ashes and other rubbish.
Flushing
For the cleaning of sewers, manholes at summits and where necessary at other points, have been connected with the city water mains with 1} inch pipes. When it is desired to flush a sewer, plugs are inserted in the sewer in a manhole and the valve
.
230
is opened until the manhole is nearly filled with water when the plug on the lower side is pulled allowing the water to be dis- charged suddenly through the sewer. This sudden flow is quite effective in removing any deposits which may have accumu- lated.
On January 29, 1901, upon request of the Mayor the com- pleted portions of the system were transferred to the Commis- sioner of Public Works and the maintenance has been under his care since that time.
Accidents
In the matter of accidents we have been very fortunate, when beginning on day work in 1897 we thought of insuring against accidents, but after consideration decided that the city could better afford to go without insurance than to pay 2% of the pay roll for insurance on the men employed and 3% for pro- tection against loss by injury to the public which were the rates quoted at that time.
No permanent injuries have been sustained and it has been the practice of the Board in cases where the men have been hurt to pay the doctor's bills and to keep the men upon the pay roll until they were able to return to the work.
Sewer work is recognized as being dangerous and the in- surance companies have increased their rates, the last rate quoted to the City being 6% of the pay roll for insurance against loss by injury to employees and 3% againt loss by ac- cident to the public.
By exercising constant care we have been able to carry on the work in such a manner that the total amount paid out on account of accidents of all kinds has been less than } of 1% of the pay roll.
Records Of The Work
As a basis for making record and assessment plans our engineers prepared plans upon sheets of mounted drawing
231
paper four feet wide and ten to fourteen feet in length. Upon these sheets street and property lines and houses were plotted accurately to a scale of forty feet to an inch and sheets were made covering all the area in which sewers were built up to 1901. Since that time similiar plans of the larger part of the remaining area of the city have been prepared by the City Engineer and have been used by this department when neces- sary. Profiles showing accurately the grades of the street sur- faces for a large part of the city have been drawn on mounted profiie paper to a horizontal scale of forty feet to an inch and a vertical scale of six feet to an inch. As fast as built the sewers are plotted on these profiles.
For future reference record tracings are made on sheets of uniform size about 20 inches by 27 inches. These show plan and profile of the street, location of houses and depth of cellars, location and elevation of the sewers and the location of-Y- and chimney connections. There are three hundredand eleven of these plans.
Careful records of the cost of the work have been kept and a series of tables giving the cost of each sewer built is included with and made a part of this report.
On a large map drawn to a scale of three hundred feet to an inch we have shown all the completed sewers of the system as well as the location, sizes and direction of the flow in the sewers which will be required for the extension of the system. A reduced copy of this map accompanies this report.
The records of the proceedings of the Board since its organ- ization are on file in the office and a large mass of information relative to the work done by the department such as note books, plans, contracts, etc. has been carefully filed and is available for the use of the city.
Recommendations
We believe that under the provisions of the act quoted above it is the duty of the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board to take and pay for the intercepting sewers of the Quincy
232
System. We did not think it time to press the matter while the Metropolitan Sewer was under construction. Now that it has been completed and put in operation it is time for the Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board to take the intercept- ing sewers of the Quincy System contemplated in the act and we recommend that the Commissioner of Public Works and City Solicitor take action to enforce the city's rights in this matter.
Respectfully submitted, A. F. SCHENKELBERGER, T. J. LAMB, WILLIAM T. ISAAC,
Board of Sewerage Commissioners.
233
Tar Collector.
To His Honor, the Mayor of the City of Quincy :
I have the honor to submit the following report for the Tax Collector's Department for the year ending December 31, 1904. The amount of cash collected on the tax for the various years is as follows :
Tax of 1894 to 1898 Inclusive
Cash Collected
Amount uncollected January 1, 1904
$18,305 18
Amount reassessed during year 1904 55 20
Total amount uncollected .
$18,360 38
Amount abated during the year 1904
13,116 87
Balance
$5,243 51
Amount collected during year 1904
277 01
277 01
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1905
$4,966 50
Amount collected of interest . ·
35 91
Tax of 1899
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1904
$5,721 95
Amount reassessed during year 1904 28 80
Total amount uncollected
5,750 75
Amount abated during 1904
1,574 32:
Balance
$4,176 43
Amount collected during year 1904
536 20
536 20
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1905
$3,640 23
Amount collected of interest .
85 01
Amount collected of street sprink- ling .
2 13
234
Tax of 1900
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1904 . $4,933 62 Amount reassessed during year 1904 27 30
Total amount uncollected $4,960 92
Amount abated during year 1904 $579 80
Balance
$4,381 12
Amount collected during year 1904
954 93
954 93
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1905
$3,426 19
Amount collected of interest . 113 03
Amount collected of street sprink- ling .
1 30
Tax of 1901
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1904 . $10,115 16
Amount reassessed during year 1904 26 40
Total amount uncollected $10,141 56
Amount abated during year 1904 144 16
Balance
$9,997 40
4,147 63 Amount collected during year 1904 4,147 63
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1905 $5,849 77
Amount collected of interest . 615 87
Amount collected of street sprink- ling .
32 79
235
Tax of 1902
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1904 . $80,542 44
Omitted assessment warrant . 4 79
Amount reassessed during year 1904 26 10
Total amount uncollected $80,573 33
Amount abated during year 1904 842 07
Balance
$79,731 26
Amount collected during year 1904 74,231 20
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1905
$5,500 06
Amount collected of interest . 6,262 69
Street Sprinkling of 1902
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1904 . Amount reassessed during year 1904 1 41
$726 14
Total amount uncollected $727 55
Amount abated during year 1904
2 22
Balance
$725 33
Amount collected during year 1904
660 74
660 74
Amount uncollected Jan. 1 1905 · 64 59
Tax of 1903
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1904 . $173,554 23 Amount reassessed during year 1904 26 39
Total amount uncollected . $173,580 62
Amount abated during year 1904 1,880 63
Balance . $171,699 99
139,560 65 Amount collected during year 1904 $139,560 65
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1905 . $32,139 34
Amount collected of interest
4,282 09
37
19
$74,231 20
236
Street Sprinkling- 1903.
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1904 $1,566 51' Amount collected during year 1904 1.,199 96. 1,199 96
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1905
.
$366 55
Tax of 1904
Total amount committed for collec-
tion . $452,863 70 .
Amount abated during year 1904 5,253 25
Balance
$447,610 45
265,908 10. Amount collected during year 1904 265,908 10
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1995 $181,702 35 Amount collected of interest . 211 55.
Street Sprinkling of 1904
Total amount committed for collec-
tion .
$3,554 95
Amount abated during year 1904 7 06
.
Balance
$3,547 89
Amount collected during year 1904 1,872 40
1,872 40
Amount uncollected Jan. 1, 1905
$1,675 49
Excise Tax of 1904
Amount committed for collection viz :
Old Colony Street Railway Co. $3,262 32
Amount collected during year 1904 3,262 32 $3,262 32
237
Sewers
Amount collected during year 1904 on sewer construction $22,642 28
Amount collected during year 1904 on interest 694 07
Amount collected during year 1904 ! on sewer connection 6,356 81
Amount collected during year 1904 on interest ·
73 70
Permanent Sidewalks
Amount collected during"year 1904 on permanent sidewalks . $983 72
Amount collected during year 1904 on interest
56 37
·Costs collected during year 1904 .
2,917 86
Total amount of cash collected for
.year 190.4
$537,978 32
Respectfully,
EDGAR G. CLEAVES,
Tax Collector.
238
Report of Inspector of Milk
To His Honor the Mayor of the City of Quincy:
The Inspector of Milk respectfully submits the following report :-
The amount collected for license-fees during the year is $17.50.
In previous reports it has been suggested that the present mode of conducting the business of this department is open to criticism. There certainly is much to be criticised, but much to be said as to the reason why such a condition exists.
In the first place, the Inspector of Milk has no permanent office, and as the appointment changes, so does the location of the office. It seems to the present Inspector that some part of the City Hall might well be utilized as an office, and with regular office hours, properly advertised, the needs of the public better attended to.
The apparatus of the present office is obsolete, and should an inspector of our City attempt to convict with no analysis save that preformed with the instruments on hand, it is very doubtful if such evidence would be accepted.
An appropriation for proper instruments and a permanent office are the two absolute requisites for the proper conduct of this department.
FREDERIC J. PEIRCE.
Inspector of Milk.
239
Sealer of Weights and Measures
To His Honor the Mayor of the City of Quincy :
DEAR SIR : I hereby submit my report for the year end- ing Dec. 31, 1904.
Scales examined .
326
Milk jars examined
0
514
Milk jars found large
2
Milk jars found small
6
Weights examined
916
Weights found (large) heavy
9
Weights found light
26
Weights condemned
2
Dry measures examined
181
Dry measures found large
1
Dry measures found small
5
Dry measures condemned
6
Wet measures examined
207
Wet measures found small
1
Wet measures found large
1
Wet measures condemned
2
Scales condemned
4
Total
2,209
Total for testing .
$115 91
Cash paid City Treasurer
115 91
·
240
Amount expended was as follows :
1904.
April 18, Johnson & Brooks
$3 00
April 30, George Weston
36 13
Aug. 8, Allen Bros.
9 00
Aug. 12, F. F. Green
7 18
Aug. 25, L. A. Chapin .
3 45
Sept. 28, J. McFarland & Son
5 10
Sept. 28, F. F. Green . ·
2 50
Oct. 19, Malden Specialty Co.
2 16
Dec. 23, M. I. Gatcomb for rent, sundries, horse hire
106 48
Total
$175 00
Yours respectfully,
MAURICE I. GATCOMB,
Sealer of Weights and Measures.
241
TReport of City Engineer.
To His Honor the Mayor of the City of Quincy :
I herewith submit the fifth annual report of the Engineer- ing Department for the year ending Dec. 31, 1904.
The usual appropriation of $2,500 was passed with the budget and has been expended as follows :
Appropriation $2,500 00
Pay roll
$2,126 20
Office supplies 307 75
Postage, expressage and transpor-
tation
66 05
$2,500 00
The following streets or portions of streets have been ac- cepted and laid out as ways of the city. Grades have been given for construction and stone monuments set at the principal boundary points :
Name From To Length
Width
Sea avenue Sea street Island avenue
1975 ft.
40 ft.
Edison Park Wash't,n st Land of Gavin Channing st Billings rd. Met. Parkway
1220 ft. 40 ft.
855 ft. 40 ft.
Total
4,050 ft.
242
Committees of the City Council
The following work has been done on request of the Chair- man of committees or for different members of the City Council: Plan and profile of Channing street, Ward 6 for acceptance.
66 of the extension of Coe street, Ward 6 for ac- ceptance.
Plan and profile of Hunt street, Ward 6 for acceptance.
of Upland road, Ward 1 for acceptance
66
of Charles street, Ward 2 for acceptance.
of Eustis street, Ward 5 for acceptance.
66 of Glencoe Place Extension, Ward 2 for ac- ceptance.
Plan of the proposed entrance to Mount Wollaston Cemetery.
Public Works Department
The work for this department has been done by request of the Commissioner. Lines and grades for construction of Penn street Extension : lines and grades for drain off Sagamore street ; lines and grades for Federal avenue : lines, grades and schedule for Willard street, paving and edgestones from Robertson street to the Milton line : lines and grades on Sea avenue and Sea street for construction : lines, grades and schedule for Whitwell street edgestone : levels on Lincoln avenue gutters : lines and grades for Bennington street gutters : lines and grade for the reconstruction of Goffe street. All lines were given for the extension of watermains.
Also many small jobs too numerous to mention. An en- tirely new set of thirty-six street watering plans have been made to replace the old tracings which have been in use for years, and entirely worn out from constant reference.
City Solicitor
Upon request of the City Solicitor, the following work has been done. Plans and blue prints made of the land damage
243
case of Wight against the city on Des Moines road. A survey of fifteen acres of land owned by the City of Boston at Squan- tum Head, made for the purpose of taxation. Measures taken and lot staked for the transfer of the new school house lot in Ward 6. Survey of land made on Grove street for damages case of King against the city, also plans of Faxon road made for land damage case of Lee et al. against the city. Plans were made and hearings attended for the widening of Hancock street bridge and Weymouth Fore River bridge.
Park Commissioners
Levels were taken and a cross section plan made of Ward 2 playground. Lines were staked on Ward 3 playground. Elevations were taken for flodding the meadow in Merrymount Park.
Police Department
An accurate course on Adams and Washington streets was measured off of one-quarter and one-half miles each for testing speed of automobiles.
Cemetery Department
Lines and grades have been given for all new lots and paths in Mt. Wollaston Cemetery, also lines and grades for the change at the main entrance. The plan and index of the old Hancock Cemetery have been completed and are now on file in the office of the City Clerk.
City Clerk
All the record plans of the City Clerk's office have in former years been folded and filed in two books and by constant reference have been badly cracked and torn. This year these plans to the number of three hundred and sixty-six (366) have
244
been mounted on cloth and filed in a case of drawers installed in the vault for their better protection and reference. The cost of this work was charged to the general appropriation for en- gineering.
Assessors' Department
The balance of the appropriation made in 1903 for asses- sor's plans has been expended in making surveys and plans in Wards 3 and 5. In Ward 3 there are completed seventy plans and in Ward 5 one hundred and eleven plans.
There were completed January 1st, 1905 Wards 1, 2, 3, 5, at a total expense of $3,000. Another appropriation of $1,000 was made late in December 1904, which should be used to com- plete Ward 6. (During the year the plans already made have been changed to correspond with all recent transfers, thereby keeping the plans at all times up to date. Appropriations for assessors' plans should be continued until the whole city is complete, that assessments may be made on a comprehensive basis.
House Numbering
This work has been carried on in conjunction with the as- sessors' work. During the year fourteen plans have been made and numbers assigned to three hundred and forty houses (340). This work should be continued that the city as soon as practic- able, may be numbered on a uniform scale.
Recommendations
I would recommend that the plan of the Hancock Cemetery be lithographed and about five hundred (500) copies of the plan and index be made. These might be sold at a small figure, thus giving the public interested a chance to obtain them at no ex- pense to the city. I would also suggest that the City Council be instructed not to pass on plans of any description until they have first been approved by the City Solicitor and City Engineer.
Respectfully submitted HAMILTON FLOOD, City Engineer.
.
245
Report of City Physician
-
To His Honor the Mayor of the City of Quincy :
The following report as City Physician for the year 1904 is respectfully submitted :---
Visits to the Almshouse, thirty.
Visits to the outside poor, one hundred and ten.
Visits to Police Department, ten.
Attendance at District Court one.
Civil service examination of applicants for the Police De- partment, fifteen.
Civil service examination of applicants for the Fire De- partment, five
JOHN F. WELCH, M. D., City Physician.
246
Report of Inspector of Animals
To His Honor the Mayor of the City of Quincy :
DEAR SIR :- I have the honor to submit the report of the In- spector of Animals for the last nine months of the year ending Dec. 31, 1904.
One horse has been destroyed that had glanders, and the stables that he had been kept in thoroughtly disinfected, the horses that occupied those stables with him have been examined several times and no symptoms of glanders found in any of them.
Six hundred ninty-five (695) cattle and ninety-six (96) swine, the stables and surroundings were inspected on the annual tour of inspection.
Respectfully
H. L. SOUTHER V. S.
Inspector of Animals.
247
Adams Academy
-
To His Honor the Mayor of the City of Quincy :
The Managers of Adams Academy beg leave to submit the following report of the Master of the school for the year 1904. LUTHER S. ANDERSON, JOHN A. BERNHARD, GEORGE B. DEWSON,
WILLIAM EVERETT, WALTER S. PINKHAM,
JOSEPH M. SHEAHAN,
Board of Managers.
The master of Adams Academy has the honor to submit to his colleagues of the board of managers his report for the year 1904.
All the candidates for different colleges, whether as "final" or as "preliminary" which were offered by the Academy were successful. One pupil who passed with success the examina- tion at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology having changed his plans during the summer vacation found ready en- trance to Amherst College.
At the close of the school year the master had the pleasure of making public announcements that the surviving executor of the late Robert Charles Billings had included the Academy
248
among the recipients of that munificent testators bounty. £ A fund of twenty-five hundred dollars, to be called the Robert Charles Billings fund, is in the hands of the Supervisors the income to be expended for annual prizes, and the surplus, if any, for the assistance of graduates of the Academy in college. This gener- ous gift is the first which the Academy has ever received from an entirely outside source.
At the beginning of the school year a number of desirable- pupils, who had entered in the Quincy High School transferred themselves to the Academy because of the congestion in the for- mer Institution. It has been suggested that this operation might take place to a much greater extent so as in fact to relieve the High school altogether of the overflow of boys. While the Academy would be able and glad to increase its number some- what by these means, viz :- the capacity of our building, nor the sums at our disposal for teachers' pay could reach beyond a very moderate part of the relief which seems to be required.
The great and anxious interest taken in school athletics at this time leads the master to state that football has been dis- continued as an organized sport for some years at the Academy. Four years ago one of the best players and steadiest scholars met with a bad fracture. The next season there was no attempt to organize a team. In the following year when one was arranged, several parents peremptorily refused to let their sons play matches; and immediately after the game began its encounter with other schools, one of the best players was in- capicitated in such a way as to induce the master to dissolve the organization. Last autumn as parents continued their op- position, no team was formed. It seems certain thatfor boys at least some less strenuous modification of the game must be instituted.
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.