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 1907 > Part 15
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Mrs. Annie L. Burgess, Alfred LeBrecque, Mrs. Esther G. Smith,
Mrs. George Kippen, .
Mrs. Eva N. Mayforth, Charles J. Buckman, Mrs. Mary E. Ingram,
Shennan Street. Parkhurst Street. Winthrop Street. Weymouth Street. Winthrop Terrace.
Hull Street. Hull Street. Sea Street.
Island Avenue.
Babcock Street.
Post Island.
Turner Street.
Hough's Neck. Parkhurst Street.
Babcock Street.
Hull Street.
Germaine Street.
Post Island.
Sea Street.
Littlefield Street.
Darrow Street.
Shennan Street.
Winthrop Place.
Winthrop Terrace.
Babcock Street.
Post Island.
Parkhurst Street.
Sea Street.
Adams Shore.
Island Avenue.
Babcock Street.
Parkhurst Street.
Winthrop Street.
Rock Island Road.
Shannon Road. Sea Street.
Sea Street. Hull Street. Island Avenue. Sea Street.
365
C. H. Baird, 2 cottages, John Delaney, Frederick Jones,
Mrs. Abbie F. Baker, Fred S. Wylie,
F. J. Homerman, John A. Stewart, William F. Mitchell,
Mrs. A. G. Youngquist,
F. S. Belcher & C. Munsie, Mrs. Agnes E. Woodman, Olaf Hanson, T. F. Callahan, Augustis Dugan, Hallgren, R. S. Phillips, Charles Svenson, Mrs. Elizabeth F. Green,
Number of Permits, 70.
Sea Avenue. Sea Street.
Edison Park .
Strand, off Elm Avenue.
Bromfield Street.
Wollaston Beach.
Vassall Street.
Watkins Street.
Beach Street.
Wollaston Beach.
Channing Street.
Squantum Street.
Squantum Street.
Squantum Street.
Squantum Street. Marshall Street.
Squantum Street.
Squantum Street.
Estimated Cost, $51,425.00.
MERCANTILE.
A. Petta,
W. A. Dunham, office, C. H. Leonard, C. P. Howe, Milledge LeClair,
Joef Ericson, Mrs. Ella I. Newcomb, William Norrie, Henry Coram, Josephine Maglotte, Patrick F. Downey, Patrick Dolan, William Perkins,
Number of Permits, 14.
Canal Street.
Sea Street.
Sea Street.
Houglı's Neck.
Sea Street.
Whitwell Street.
East Howard Street.
Payne Street.
Willard and West Streets.
Willard Street. Squantum Street.
Oak Street.
Weymouth Street.
Estimated Cost, $4,665.00;
366
.MANUFACTURING.
Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Bishop & LeCount, Joseph Casna & Co.,
Williams Bros.,
Rendle & Lundberg,
Kavanagh Bros.,
Prout & Deacon,
Bishop & LeCount,
Wire Fabric Co.,
Frank Burgess,
Tubular Rivet & Stud Co., C. B. Robbins Iron Co., Pneumatic Scale Corp., Ltd., Number of Permits, 13.
East Howard Street.
Brooks Avenue. Vernon Street. Totman Street. Vernon Street.
Penn Street. off Brook Road.
Brooks Avenue.
Hayward Street.
Hayward Street.
Linden Street.
Newport Avenue.
Newport Avenue. Estimated Cost, $43,185.00
MISCELLANEOUS.
Garage, F. O. Wellington, Greenhouses,
Edward McMulkin,
Henry Taylor,
William Patterson,
Storage of Boats, Baker Yacht Basin,
Joseph Lizzotte & Co.,
Adams Street.
Hancock Street. Elm Street. South Central Avenue.
off Washington Street. off Edison Park.
Public Bath :
M. Piispanen Buckley Street
Amusement Buildings :
Colonial Amusement Co.
Fensmere Road
Boston & Houghs Neck Steamboat Co. . Sea Street
Number of Permits, 9.
Estimated Cost, $12,450.00
367
SUMMARY.
/
Permits.
Estimated Cost.
Dwellings
83
$272,100.00
Auto Houses
23
5,104.48
Cottages
70
51,425.00
Mercantile
I4
4,665.00
Manufacturing
I3
43,185.00
Miscellaneous
9
12,450.00
Stables, etc.
39
6,693.00
Alterations
I22
118,975.00
Not built
9
Not granted
5
387
$514,597.48
Yours respectfully,
WARREN S. PARKER,
Inspector of Buildings.
ANNUAL REPORT
- OF THE -
School Department
- OF THE -
City of Quincy
Massachusetts
FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1907
16
1625
MANET
QUINCY
1889
WILLIAM G. GEEKIE PRINTER
3
SCHOOL COMMITTEE FOR 1907
.At Large. TERM EXPIRES
DR. NATHANIEL S. HUNTING, 1136 Hancock Street, Quincy.
Dec. 31, 1907
MR. ARTHUR W. NEWCOMB, Dec. 31, 1908
98 East Howard Street, Quincy Neck
DR. EDWARD H. BUSHNELL, Dec. 31, 1909
566 Washington Street, Quincy Point
By Wards.
Ward 1. MR. DEXTER E. WADSWORTH, Dec. 31, 1909
195 Goffe Street
Ward 2. MR. FREDERICK H. SMITH, Dec. 31, 1907 701 Washington Street, Quincy Point
Ward 3. MR. JOHN L. MILLER, Dec. 31, 1907
211 Franklin Street, South Quincy
Ward 4. MR. CHARLES H. OWENS, Dec. 31, 1908
64 Willard Street, West Quincy
Ward 5. DR. WILLIAM G. CURTIS, Dec. 31, 1909 10 Grand View Avenue, Wollaston
Ward 6
MR. JOHN A. DUGGAN,
Dec. 31, 1908
117 Atlantic Street, Atlantic
Chairman of the School Board. DR. NATHANIEL S. HUNTING
Secretary of the Board and Superintendent of Schools. MR. FRANK EDSON PARLIN.
Office, 8 Washington Street, Quincy. Residence, 74 Lincoln Avenue, Wollaston. Office open: Every week day, except Saturday, from 8 to 12 A. M., 2 to 5 P. M., Saturday, 8 to 12 A. M.
Regular hours of - Mondays and Fridays 8 to 9 A. M.
Superintendent:
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4 to 5 P. M.
The regular meetings of the School Board are held at eight o'clock P. M. the last Tuesday in each month.
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Standing Sub-Committees for 1907
FOR THE DIFFERENT SCHOOLS
HIGH
ADAMS
CODDINGTON
CRANCH
GRIDLEY BRYANT
JOHN HANCOCK.
LINCOLN
MASSACHUSETTS FIELDS
QUINCY
WASHINGTON
WILLARD
WOLLASTON
Messrs. Smith, Hunting, Curtis Messrs. Miller, Newcomb, Bushnell Messrs. Bushnell, Miller, Smith Messrs. Miller, Hunting, Owens Messrs. Hunting, Owens, Smith Messrs. Wadsworth, Bushnell, Owens Messrs. Wadsworth, Miller, Newcomb Messrs. Curtis, Duggan, Bushnell Messrs. Duggan, Curtis, Newcomb Messrs. Newcomb, Smith, Bushnell Messrs. Owens, Hunting, Miller Messrs. Curtis, Wadsworth, Duggan
BOOKS, SUPPLIES AND SUNDRIES. Messrs. Miller, Wadsworth, Newcomb. TEXTBOOKS. Messrs. Curtis, Duggan, Wadsworth.
TRANSPORTATION. Messrs. Duggan, Smith, Bushnell. EVENING SCHOOLS. Messrs. Owens, Curtis, Wadsworth.
SPECIAL SUBJECTS. Messrs. Newcomb, Bushnell, Duggan.
RULES AND REGULATIONS. Messrs. Smith, Newcomb, Owens.
TEACHERS. The Chairman, Messrs. Owens, Wadsworth.
FINANCE AND SALARIES. The Chairman, Messrs. Smith, Miller.
5
Report of the School Committee
To the Citizens of Quincy :
The School Committee desires to submit the following report in which the expenditures of 1907, the comparative cost of our schools, and the pressing need of additional ac- commodations, are the chief topics considered.
The school budget for the year 1907, as presented to the City Council by the School Committee, called for an ap- propriation of $133,565, including $1,500 for evening schools. The City Council saw fit to reduce this amount to $131,065 by cutting $500 from the estimate for books, supplies and sundries, and $2,000 from teachers' salaries.
It has always been the intention of the School Depart- ment to live within its appropriations and, on account of a series of unfortunate conditions, it has been able to do so this year. The budget is always made up early in January. At that time it was supposed that the High School would be speedily finished and furnished ready for school uses in all departments, except the gymnasium; but in this hope we were disappointed, for there was a delay of several weeks in the equipment of the laboratories and drawing room, while the domestic science and manual training rooms are still unfur- nished. By using the High School teacher of drawing as supervisor of drawing in the elementary schools for a part of the year, by employing a supervisor of drawing only three days a week for several months, by employing an inexperi- enced supervisor since September, and by employing no teach-
6
ers of domestic science and manual training, there has been a saving of over $1,400 in teachers' salaries. Again, through the resignations of more than thirty teachers, including the head master of the High School, and by employing inexperi- enced teachers, with few exceptions, to take their places, there has been a saving of about $1,000 in salaries. There was also a saving of $180 in salary at the Coddington School, due to the fact that when the building was moved one room was rendered useless and the children who should have occupied that room were crowded into the remaining rooms which were already overcrowded. Although expenses have been reduced in these ways they have been reduced at large educational cost to the children, for they have been deprived of opportunities which they have a right to expect and to demand. By closing other departments and some of the schools still greater sav- ing of the same character is easily possible. Such saving, however, is the worst kind of extravagance.
The expenditures for books, supplies and sundries have been less than anticipated because nothing has been spent for the departments of manual training and domestic science.
The people of this city should distinctly understand that in recent years the public schools have been receiving rela- tively less and less money for their support. In 1901-2 the school appropriation amounted to $5.05 on each thousand dollars of valuation ; in 1902-3 it amounted to $4.88 on each thousand ; in 1903-4 it was $4.81; in 1904-5 it was $4.60; in 1905-6 it was $4.50; and in 1906-7 it was $4.48 per thousand. That is, in six years the appropriation diminished 57 cents on every thousand dollars of valuation, which means a reduc-' tion of over $15,000. During that period the proportion of the taxable property of the county appropriated for the support of the schools increased 19 cents on every thousand dollars, and 25 cents on every thousand dollars in the state. While we have been rapidly decreasing the percentage of our tax devoted to the schools, the county and state have been increasing. According to the latest report of the State Board of Education, when Quincy appropriated $4.48 per
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thousand of valuation to the support of her schools, Fitch- burg appropriated $4.67 per thousand; Hingham, $5.57; Medford, $5.35; Taunton, $5.32; Woburn, $5.52; Melrose, $5.04; Brockton, $5.74; Chicopee, $6.29; Braintree, $6.36; Chelsea, $5.80; Everett, $6.96; Weymouth, $7.66; Abing- ton, $8.75. Over two hundred and twenty other cities and towns appropriated a larger per cent. of their valuation than did Quincy, one town appropriating $10.12 on a thousand. In 1901-2 Quincy's rank among the cities and towns of the state in this respect was one hundred forty-three; in 1906-7 it had fallen to two hundred twenty-three. This means that in six years our rank fell eighty points. If Quincy contin- ues in this direction at the same rate, she will be at the very bottom of the list in less than ten years.
Quincy has also in recent years appropriated a contin- ually decreasing amount of money per pupil for the support of her schools, based upon the average membership. In 1901-2 the expenditure per pupil was $22.33; in 1902-3, it was $21.89; in 1903-4, $21.75 ; in 1904-5, $21.06; in 1905-6, $20.88, and in 1906-7 it was $21.52; thus showing a net de- crease of $0.81 per pupil in six years. During this time there was a very substantial increase in the average cost per pupil both in the county and in the state, amounting to $2.07 and $3.49 respectively. That is, Quincy has quite regularly re- duced the amount appropriated for the education of each child while the county and the state, as a whole, have regularly in- creased the amount. During the period under consideration Quincy fell behind the average of the county $2.88 per pupil and behind the state $4.30 per pupil, but as Quincy in 1901-2 was already $7.29 below the average of the county and $4.71 per pupil below the average of the state, the difference last year became $10.17 per pupil below the average of the county and $9.01 below the average of the state. Perhaps the mean- ing of this can be better appreciated when it is stated that, if Quincy had spent as much per child as it did in 1901-2, over $4,500 more would have been required in 1906-7; or, if it had spent as much per child as the average of Norfolk
S
county, it would have required nearly $56,000 more; or, if it had spent as much as the average of the state, over $50.000 more would have been required.
Last year, when it cost Quincy $21.52 per pupil to main- tain its schools, Braintree paid $24.34; Weymouth, $24.87 ; Taunton, $25.83 ; Brockton, $25.98 : Chelsea, $23.68. Everett, $25.96; Hyde Park. $29.25 : Medford, $29.62; New Bedford, $28.95 ; Fitchburg. $30.15 ; Malden, $30.77 ; Melrose, $26.44 ; Waltham, $32.80: Dedham, $32.84; Boston. $36.98; and Milton, $48.23. Nearly two hundred cities and towns paid more than did Quincy, one town spending $68.01 per pupil, while the average for the state was $30.53.
An examination of the expenditures for books, supplies and sundries gives similar comparative results. For half a dozen years, at least, before the free textbook law was passed the average per capita cost for these items was larger in Quincy than for any year during the last ten, with one ex- ception. The free textbook law was passed in 1884. From that time up to 1898 the minimum annual per capita cost was $2.18, the maximum was $2.92 and the average $2.49. Dur- ing the last ten years the annual per capita cost has exceeded $2 but once, the average being $1.82. This shows an average annual saving of 67 cents per pupil over the preceding four- teen years. On a membership of 5,600 pupils this represents an annual saving of over $3.700. While the expenditure for books, supplies and sundries has been gradually decreasing in Quincy it has remained practically constant throughout the state and county. The state average during the last six years was over $2.41 per pupil and the average of the county over $3.24. Is this showing a credit or a discredit to the only city in the county? The facts and figures seem to demonstrate con- clusively that a suitable and adequate equipment of the schools cannot be provided year after year for less than $2 per pupil. At times our economy has deprived the children of much needed textbooks and supplies, and has seriously interfered with their work and progress.
Teachers' and janitors' salaries. notwithstanding the in-
9
crease given two years ago, tell the same story. A thorough examination of all school expenses will convince any unprej- udiced person, acquainted with modern educational standards, not only that no money is being squandered in this depart- ment but that the city is receiving unusually large returns upon the amount expended.
The congestion at the Lincoln School mentioned in our last report continues and relief must soon be provided or some of the pupils will have to be put upon a half-time schedule as it will be impossible to seat them upon the floor space. Temporary relief was secured last September through the transfer of a large number of pupils to the John Hancock building.
Adams Shore, Germantown, and Houghs Neck have al- ways been included in the Coddington district and the pupils from that section have been transported at public expense. The number of these children has increased so rapidly in the last few years and has now become so large that it is not only more economical for the city but better for the chil- dren to provide a school for them at Houghs Neck. At pres- ent there are eighty-five pupils being transported, eight from Germantown, nine from Adams Shore and sixty-eight from Houghs Neck, and it costs the city $19.25 a week; but dur- ing the fall there were over a hundred and it cost over $30 a week for transportation, the cost for the year being nearly $1,000, which is an increase of forty-eight per cent. in three years. There promises to be about one hundred twenty pupils in this section next fall, enough for three rooms or classes. Of course it will cost no more for teachers and for textbooks and supplies for these pupils in one place than in another, therefore the economic question lies between the cost of trans- portation and the cost of fuel and care of a building at Houghs Neck. It should not cost over $150 for fuel nor over $300 for the care of a four-room building, or $450 for both. As transportation next year cannot reasonably be reck- oned less than a thousand dollars, there would be a saving of at least $550 which would pay the interest on the original cost of the building.
IO
But there are other reasons why provision should be made for these children at Houghs Neck. The Coddington and Washington Schools are very much overcrowded and something must be done immediately for their relief. The prospect is that the new Coddington building will be filled as soon as it is built. If a hundred or more pupils can be taken from the Coddington by establishing a small building at Houghs Neck, then the Coddington could relieve the Wash- ington School for a year or two and thus delay the call for an additional building in that district. Again, it is decidedly objectionable to have so many children away from home all day, eating a cold lunch, running about City Square for two hours at noon and being exposed to the physical and moral dangers incident to transportation. Under the present ar- rangement it is necessary for some of the teachers to remain at the Coddington building during the noon hours to keep the building open and to look after the children.
Although they have not been officially handed over to this department, two new school buildings have been occupied this year, the High in January and the Quincy in September.
In June the resignation of Mr. Charles F. Harper, Head Master of the High School, who had been chosen to take charge of the high school at Syracuse, N. Y., at a large increase of salary, was received.
After accepting his resignation the Committee adopted the following testimonial by unanimous vote :-
"It is with deep regret that we accept the resignation of Mr. Charles F. Harper, who, since May, 1899, has so faith- fully and efficiently served the City of Quincy as Head Mas- ter of its High School.
Mr. Harper came to Quincy with an enviable reputation and he has fully justified it during the time he has been with 11S.
In the organization and administration of the school during a period of phenomenal growth and under most diffi- cult conditions, he has shown unusual energy and executive ability.
II
From the first he has had the hearty co-operation of his teachers, the respect of his pupils and the confidence of the community.
He has proved himself a man of pleasing personality, of even temper and of sterling character.
His influence as a man and as a citizen has always been . right and wholesome. He has worked unsparingly for the upbuilding of the school and for the welfare of the young people under his charge."
The Committee fully realizes how large is the amount of money required annually for the support of the schools but feels that the Council appreciates the fact that the schools are our most important public institution, and that they are the very foundation of intelligent citizenship upon which the future welfare of our city so largely depends.
1907 was indeed the banner year for the schools. The new High School building and the new Quincy School at Atlantic were completed and occupied during the year, and an appropriation of $70,000 was made for a new Coddington building. This certainly should be satisfactory evidence to the citizens of Quincy that money is being appropriated and provision is being made as fast as possible to meet the great and increasing demand of a young and rapidly growing city.
The above report presented by a special Committee, consisting of Mr. Frederick H. Smith, Mr. John L. Miller, and Mr. Arthur W. Newcomb, was adopted as the annual report of the School Committee Tuesday evening, December 31, 1907.
FRANK E. PARLIN, Secretary.
13
Report of the Superintendent
To the School Committee of Quincy :
Herewith I submit my eighth annual report which is the thirty-third in the series of annual reports by the superinten- dent of public schools and the fifty-eighth of the printed re- ports of the School Board of Quincy.
The Motor Side of Education.
In popular thought and speech, brain and muscle are usually contrasted and represented as antagonistic factors in the development and education of man. Persons talk just as if one could be developed without the co-operation of the other and as if the best training of one could be secured only by the neglect of the other. Until recent years, the methods of education were almost universally in harmony with this opinion ; but the modern study of the history of man and of the nervous system and development of the child, has proved it not only very unwise but diametrically wrong. Instead of being independent and antagonistic they are closely and re- ciprocally related, and, where natural methods prevail, each co-operates with the other to the great benefit of both. Man- kind attained civilization through observation and action, not through the study of books. The human brain was built up by exercise of the senses and the muscles rather than by pas- sive meditation. Large areas of the brain are devoted to the stimulation and co-ordination of muscular movements and
I4
are the home of motor ideas. Professor O'Shea is entirely correct when he says, "Muscular knowledge was fundamental in the race, and it is the basis of all true learning in the indi- vidual." If a child is ever to become man, he must recapitu- late the development of the race. He starts as an inferior animal and can become a philosopher or a saint only by pass- ing through the intermediate stages, physical as well as mental. At birth he is the most imperfect and helpless of creatures. Under favorable conditions he does not reach maturity much before the age of thirty. It is only slowly that he is trans- formed from animal to man, from a motor to a mental being. With the child thought comes after action and only develop- ment will reverse the order. He thinks with his muscles, or rather with his whole body. It is quite as much feeling as thinking. He craves the exercise of all his motor powers and responds to every stimulus with action. The normal child is incessantly in motion when awake and the motion does not entirely stop when he is asleep. During the first dozen years of his life his education can best be secured through his senses and muscles as they are the natural avenues to his mind. No new idea or thought is really understood and appreci- ated by him until he has lived it, has acted it out. New knowledge or a new interest starts him on a new line of investigation and action, and he investigates and acts with a concentration and intensity rarely approached in the school room. His whole life is dynamic and he is wonderfully busy organizing his body and conquering a world. His brain does not even get its growth until about the eighth year and then it requires as many more years of sensory and motor experi- ence to develop and organize it into an efficient instrument of thought. The child certainly should be assisted in his inves- tigations and guided in his activity, but to send him to school at the age of five years, give him a book and make him sit still for four or five hours a day during ten months a year, is not only to dwarf his development and to hinder his education but is to practice cruelty' upon him which should be as strongly forbidden by statute as it is by the laws of nature. The
15
leading biologists, physiologists, neurologists and psychologists unite with the leading educators in their protest against the excessive bookishness and sedentary character of education and the persistent neglect of motor, manual and industrial training. The Greeks were much wiser in this respect, at least, than we are. In the first place, they did not send their children to school until they were seven years old. During the next seven years the course of study consisted almost entirely of games, sports and gymnastics, and, to the very end, motor training was most prominent. The result was a strength, beauty and perfection of the human body secured by no other people or system. If one questions the intel- lectual results, we can only say, judging from their laws, literature and art which survive, we have a long way yet to go before equalling them. Their education produced not only men of thought and imagination, but men of energy and action, men of force, courage, endurance and leadership, the founders and defenders of modern civilization. What other country of its size can match it in the number of its immortal names ?
We neither advocate nor desire the restoration of Greek education, for something better is possible, if we do the best we know. We plead for the rights of children, the right to be children, to play and work as children, to associate with nature and to obey the fundamental laws of their being, the right to physical as well as intellectual training, the education of body as well as of mind, of muscle as well as of brain.
The weakness of our educational methods appears no- where more clearly than in the common physical defects and in the general lack of energy, enterprise, initiative, executive ability and constructive imagination among the graduates of our school and colleges. They are too anæmic, and there is little surplus vitality. They are afraid of physical effort, do not aspire to leadership, lack motor ideas, prefer sedentary. occupations and do not push forward to independent positions and original plans of action. They lack resistance and courage and dynamic force. These results are just what might be
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