USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1885 > Part 3
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6 00
Aug. 14. Erastus H. Thompson, Lot No. 155,
10 00
4 bound posts and setting,
6 00
Sept. 1. Ann Frances Tucker, Lot No. 46,
40 00
4 bound posts and setting,
6 00
Sept. 3. George B. Talbot, Lot No. 42,
25 00
4 bound posts and setting,
6 00
Sept. 9. Olive S. Winslow, Lot No. 47, 4 bound posts and setting, 6 00
1885.
Jan. 8. Selectmen's order, No. 313, town appropriation, 100 00
Jan. 23. Edward H. Morrill, Lot No. 106, 25 00
4 bound posts and setting, 6 00
25 00
Frank T. Morrill, Lot No. 107, 4 bound posts and setting,
6 00
George H. Morrill, Lot No. 108,
25 00
4 bound posts and setting,
6 00
George H. Morrill, Jr., Lot No. 109, 4 bound posts and setting, 6 00
25 00
Edmund J. Shattuck, Lot No. 110, 25 00
4 bound posts and setting, 6 00
Rebecca G., Albert G. & C. Eastman Webb, Lot No. 146, 40 00 4 bound posts and setting, 6 00
25 00
4 bound posts and setting,
25 00
Jan. 31. Walter S. Beals, Lot No. 144, 4 bound posts, 5 00
$684 75
Jan. 27.
Alfred M. & Walter C. Shapleigh, Lot No. 24, 6 00
40 00
40 00
$25 00
59
with Town of Norwood.
CR.
CR.
1884.
June 12.
By Cash paid L. W. Bigelow, Treasurer,
$ 91 75
Sept. 9.
66
66
231 00
1885.
Jan. 8.
66
66
100 00
24.
. .
66
66
201 00
27.
66
66
. 6
31 00
31. 66
. . . 6
30 00
$684 75
60
HIGHLAND CEMETERY COMMISSIONERS in account with TOWN OF NORWOOD.
1884.
DR.
Feb. 1. Balance on hand, Receipts from Treasurer,
$ 46 59
684 75
$731 34
1884. CR
Jan. 31. By C. Willis Morse, laying Groveland avenue, $ 3 00
June 6. John C. Pond, in full for cleaning and grading avenues, 28 00
1885.
Jan. 30. S. B. Corliss, in full for bound posts, 60 00
W. A. Talbot, in full for plants, and labor on plant beds, and phosphate, 78 15
C. Willis Morse, in full for measuring lots, 3 00
C. B. Dexter, in full for setting posts, 11 lots, painting and repairing gates, opening and shutting gates, 17 75
Webb Brothers, for Yale lock, and 4 extra keys, 2 17
Jan. 31.
Francis Tinker, in full for recording 31 deeds, 7 75 Balance on hand, 531 52
$731 34
TOWN MEETING WARRANT.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
NORFOLK, SS.
To either Constable of the Town of Norwood, in said County, GREETING :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are hereby required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Norwood qualified to vote in elections and town affairs, to meet in Village Hall, in said Town, on Monday, the second day of March next, at one o'clock in the afternoon, then and there to act on the following articles, viz :-
ARTICLE I. To choose a Moderator to preside in said meet- ing.
ARTICLE 2. To choose all necessary Town Officers for the year ensuing.
ARTICLE 3. Shall licenses be granted for the sale of intoxi- cating liquors in this Town? The check-list shall be used and the vote shall be by separate ballot, and ballots shall be Yes or No in answer to the question.
ARTICLE 4. To hear and act on the report of the Auditors on the Selectmen's, Treasurer's and Collector's accounts.
62
ARTICLE 5. To see if the Town will accept of the list of Jurors as prepared by the Selectmen and posted as required by law.
ARTICLE 6. To see if the Town will authorize the Collector of Taxes to use the same means a Town Treasurer may use when acting as Collector.
ARTICLE 7. To see if the Town will fix the time within which taxes assessed therein shall be paid, and authorize the Col- lector to charge interest at the rate of seven per cent., or less, a year, on all taxes remaining unpaid at that time.
ARTICLE 8. To see what compensation the Town will allow for the collection of taxes.
ARTICLE 9. To hear and act on the reports of Committees.
ARTICLE 10. To see what sum of money the Town will raise and appropriate for the Repairs of the Highways, and agree upon the method of repairing the same.
ARTICLE II. To see what sum of money the Town will raise and appropriate for the Support of Schools the ensuing year.
ARTICLE 12. To see what sum of money the Town will raise and appropriate for the Teaching of Music in the public schools.
ARTICLE 13. To see what sum of money the Town will raise and appropriate for the support of the organization of the Fire Department the ensuing year.
ARTICLE 14. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of five hundred dollars for the purchase of hose, and one hundred dollars for purchase of two fire extinguishers for use of the Fire Department.
ARTICLE 15. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars for the use of George K. Bird Post No. 169, Grand Army of the Republic, for the purpose of decorating soldiers' graves, &c., on Memorial Day.
63
ARTICLE 16. To see if the Town will accept of a street as laid out by the Selectmen, commencing at Prospect street and running south to the land of Mrs. C. G. Morse one thousand and thirty-three feet, thence turning a right angle and running west to Railroad avenue, and raise and appropriate money to build the same.
ARTICLE 17. To see if the Town will accept of the exten- sion of Beach and Nichols streets to Bond street, as laid out by the Selectmen, and raise and appropriate money to build the same.
ARTICLE 18. To see if the Town will accept of a street as laid out by the Selectmen from Prospect street, near the house of Patrick Hawkins, to a point near the house of Martin Curran, 2d, and raise and appropriate money to build the same.
ARTICLE 19. To see if the Town will accept of a street from Walpole street, near the house of John Chickering, running south- east to a point near the house of Herbert N. Rhodes, and raise and appropriate money to build the same.
ARTICLE 20. To see if the Town will vote to increase the number on the School Committee from three to six.
ARTICLE 21. To see if the Town will vote to require the School Committee to appoint a Superintendent of Schools, and raise and appropriate money for the same.
ARTICLE 22. To see if the Town will instruct the School Committee to make necessary alterations in the Everett school building, and raise and appropriate money for the same.
ARTICLE 23. To see what disposition the Town will make of the money received for dog licenses. 1
ARTICLE 24. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate money for the support of the Public Library.
64
ARTICLE 25. To raise such sums of money as may be neces- sary to defray town charges not otherwise provided for the cur- rent year.
ARTICLE 26. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectmen, to borrow money in anticipation of taxes of the ensuing year, and to issue notes of the Town therefor, and the debts incurred under the authority of this vote are hereby made payable from said taxes.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting up at- tested copies at the Post Office and in each of the several Churches and Railroad Stations in said Norwood, seven days at least before the time of said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, on or before the time and day of said meeting.
Given under our hands, at Norwood, this twentieth day of February, A.D. 1885.
TYLER THAYER, Selectmen GEO. H. MORSE, of
FRANK A. FALES, Norwood.
A true copy. Attest :
Constable of Norwood.
COMMITTEE'S REPORT.
The committee appointed December 15, 1884 to take into consideration the question of a water supply for the town submit the following report.
The total lack of an adequate supply of water for fire purposes in our town is known to all. At a fire of any magnitude in the centre of the town we are practically powerless ; twice by good fortune we have narrowly escaped a serious conflagration. In the dry season of the year many of our families are subjected to much incon- venience by the scarcity or entire failure of this great ne- cessity of life.
In considering the subject, your committee after an ex- amination of several sources of supply deemed it advisable to refer the whole matter to a practical and experienced engineer to make the necessary surveys, estimates, etc., and for said engineer to make a full report on the ques- tion, that the town might act upon it understandingly. Mr. Percy M. Blake of Hyde Park was invited to meet your committee, and the matter was placed in his hands. His report is so full and complete that it leaves little for us to add except our unanimous endorsement of the same.
The chief objection that can be made to this project is the cost. It should be kept in mind that appropriations of this nature are only so much money invested, not sunk.
4
Should the supply be introduced by a private company, the amount the town would be required. to pay for its supply for fire purposes alone would exceed any probable defi- ciency from its revenue, if furnished by the town. It is believed by your committee that the increased rate of tax- ation would be very small. In view of the facts shown in this report, the committee have assumed the responsibility of petitioning the General Court to obtain for the town an act giving them the necessary authority that they may, if they think it advisable, proceed immediately to construct the works. The low rate of interest, cheapness of mate- rials and labor, make the present a very favorable time to obtain contracts for such an enterprise.
The above, with the engineer's report annexed, is re- spectfully submitted for your consideration.
J. E. EVERETT, JOHN E. SMITH, GEO. H. MORRILL,
FRANK A. FALES,
DAVID S. FOGG, THOS. J. CASEY.
FRANCIS M. BAKER.
PETITION.
TO THE HONORABLE, THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRE- SENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS :
The undersigned citizens and taxpayers of the Town of Norwood respectfully represent to your Honorable Body, that the town is destitute of a proper and sufficient supply of water for domestic and manufacturing uses and protection against fire :-
That in consequence of these existing conditions much valuable property is liable to be destroyed by fire at any moment, and the general health standard of the town is endangered.
That recent surveys and investigations have shown the feasibility of supplying the town with pure water from the Buckmaster or
5
Flax pond and the brook adjacent, both in the village of West Dedham.
That the cost of thus introducing water will be reasonable, and the plan economical and efficient. Wherefore, your petitioners request and pray your Honorable Body to grant to said Town of Norwood authority to take the waters above named, together with such lands as may be necessary for the purpose : with the right to lay pipes through the same and through the highways and streets of the village of West Dedham and the said Town of Norwood, to construct reservoirs and procure and operate pumping machin- ery, and do whatever may be necessary to the preservation of the supply from said sources, and the securing to the Town of Nor- wood of an efficient system of water works.
Your petitioners further request that said town may be granted authority to issue bonds to pay the cost of thus introducing water to an amount not exceeding Seventy-five Thousand Dollars ($75,- 000), and bearing interest at a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum ; said bonds to be issued at such times, and in such amounts, and to run for such periods of time not exceeding thirty years from date of issue, as said town may by vote determine.
And as in duty bound your petitioners will ever pray.
J. E. EVERETT,
C. B. DEXTER,
FRANK A. FALES,
ALBERT G. WEBB,
DAVID S. FOGG.
M. M. ALDEN,
JOHN E. SMITH,
ELIJAH WHEELOCK,
THOMAS J. CASEY,
FRANKLIN RUSSELL,
GEORGE H. MORRILL, GEORGE W. GAY,
FRANCIS M. BAKER,
FRANCIS E. EVERETT,
JOSHUA A. CROCKER,
HENRY R. ELLIS,
JAMES A. HARTSHORN,
WILLIAM FISHER,
GEORGE E. METCALF,
T. F. GUY,
J. M. WINSLOW,
LEWIS DAY,
L. W. BIGELOW,
GEORGE S. WINSLOW.
6
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
SECRETARY'S DEPARTMENT,
BOSTON, January 30, 1885.
I approve the publication of the above notice in the Norwood Review and Dedham Transcript.
HENRY B. PIERCE, Secretary.
7
To J. EDWARD EVERETT, FRANK A. FALES, DAVID S. FOGG, JOHN E. SMITH, FRANCIS M. BAKER, GEORGE H. MORRILL, THOS. J. CASEY,
COMMITTEE ON WATER SUPPLY, NORWOOD, MASS.
Gentlemen :
At your request and under your authority I have made such surveys and examinations as were necessary to en- able me to report to you a practicable plan for introducing into Norwood, a supply of pure water for domestic and manufacturing uses and protection against fire.
As my instructions directed me to consider every source of supply available, the study has taken some time, but I feel assured that the results of this study as I am able to give them to you will be satisfactory to your citizens.
The first question which arises when the subject of a public water supply comes up for discussion in a commu- nity is "what will the introduction of pure water accom- plish ? "
The next question very properly will be "what will the project cost ? "
The third question generally is "how much will it add to the tax levy ?"
These are all proper questions, and I will try to answer them definitely and plainly in the following
REPORT.
It seems hardly necessary to describe at much length the advantages of a public supply of pure water, for there are so many towns and villages provided with the same that the practical results are familiar to all observing people.
8
The saving of much labor in the family by substituting simple faucets for the well, cistern and pump or bucket ; the delivery of water on the upper floors of the house, thus saving the effort of carrying it up stairs by hand ; the opportunity to keep the lawn and flower beds fresh and green, and the street and sidewalk free from dust in warm weather, and to wet the roofs and walls of the house in case of an adjacent fire are some of the domestic advanta- ges gained by the construction of water works.
Any improvement that facilitates household work, that lessens physical labor in the kitchen and laundry, and adds to personal comfort in warm weather has a practical value which can be expressed in dollars and cents. The muscu- lar effort expended in pumping the water required for the daily use of an ordinary family is considerable, especially where the water is drawn from a deep well by means of a common suction pump, which gets out of order easily, or " works hard."
The uncertainty of a supply drawn from wells and cis- terns, becomes in many cases an expensive reality as those who have been obliged to buy water by the cask or barrel in seasons of drought can testify.
The expense of digging and lining a well or building a cistern is frequently a large item in the cost of providing a home or residence, and nearly ail of this expense can be saved to house builders, and the imperfect results follow- ing in the use of many wells and cisterns avoided, where a public water supply is available.
For this reason a town or village having such a supply offers a pecuniary advantage to people looking for a place to build and establish homes. The practical results in this direction are to be seen in the permanent growth of many of the enterprising towns which have constructed water works within the last few years.
A consideration of greater domestic importance is the
9
safeguard to health which is found in a pure drinking water.
Two of the greatest enemies of health are bad air and polluted water. One affects the system through the lungs, the other through the stomach and intestines, both pro- ducing headaches, depressions, fevers and in many cases poisoning the blood and causing debility and death. Pure air, however, is abundant and free to all who will use sim- ple means of ventilation, but pure water by ordinary wells and cisterns is an impossibility under many circumstances and in many localities. It is not at all difficult to perceive the reason for this, and a little reflection will show to the most careless observer that many people are drinking from day to day the filtered essences of the domestic wastes and filth hidden away in cesspools, privy vaults and stable cellars.
The family well, cesspool and privy vault have very properly been called the triangle of the dooryard, and it is plain enough that if these conveniences are located within an ordinary house lot, that not more than thirty or forty feet of earth or ground can separate them. In fact, there are to be found in every village, and no doubt in Norwood, cesspools or sink spouts receiving or discharg- ing sink wastes and chamber slops within fifteen feet of the well from which all the drinking water used by the family is obtained.
In such cases the water is pumped from the well, used and saturated with putrefying filth, and returned to the ground or cesspool and allowed to settle or soak away into the well again. The filtering capacity of the soil is the only protection the well has against contamination, and this is effective for a short time comparatively, after the rotation just described begins.
I have known instances where contamination of the soil could be traced to sources more than one hundred feet
IO
distant, and some light porous soils will permit still more remote pollution.
Cisterns can be so constructed as to practically exclude subsoil waters, but the washings from a dusty roof will produce an effect on the water stored in such receptacles after a while, requiring their cleaning out.
To those who may doubt whether the dangers described above actually exist it may be said :
First, that water dangerously polluted with organic in- fusions or impregnations is often agreeable to the taste, especially when iced, and hence its poisonous qualities may not be detected by the most sensitive palate.
Second, that many wells become impure by slow pro- cesses of accumulation, and the change in the taste of the water is made so gradually that constant users fail to de- tect it.
Third, that many thousand samples of water taken from wells existing under all possible conditions, many of them supposed to be remarkably pure, have been carefully ana- lyzed and pronounced unfit for drinking or culinary use.
It is unusual to find a well water in a thickly settled village which will "keep over night" and be palatable the next morning, yet this is a very reasonable test to apply to ascertain its freedom from putrefying elements.
A slight warming will produce changes in water thus polluted, causing it to smell perceptibly of decay.
Among the more serious diseases which may be caused by drinking impure water are typhoid and scarlet fevers and diphtheria.
A public water supply thus becomes a promoter of health and life by placing within reach of every citizen a safe substitute for poisonous drinking water. The results will be seen in the absence of typhoid epidemics, and the diminished number of cases of scarlet fever and diph- theria.
II
The value to manufacturers of a reliable supply of pure soft water is indicated by the very general adoption and use of the same by them, in towns where water works have been constructed. All manufacturing establishments us- ing steam power require a never-failing water supply for their boilers, while many use water directly for scouring, washing and bleaching.
Light power is frequently furnished by motors connect- ed with the street mains, for the smaller operations of the jeweller, dentist, sewing room or cabinet maker. Fam- ily sewing machines can be run at small expense, and buildings lighted by electricity by the same means.
The protection of combustible property against fire af- forded by efficient water works is a most important con- sideration. The plan which is proposed for your town in this report will provide a system of piping and fire hy- drants competent to furnish on Washington street, in the center of the village, not less than eight fire streams sev- enty feet high, any one or all of which can be made avail- able at any time of day or night, and in the coldest weath- er, by simply opening the hydrants. The pressure through- out the entire district piped will be sufficient to force water through ordinary one inch hand hose to the roofs of dwelling houses. With such modern facilities for extin- guishing fires, it would be faulty management alone under which private or public property could be destroyed.
The feeling of security which prevails in a town thus protected is shown in many ways. Insurance premiums are lowered and policy amounts can be reduced with safe- ty, both resulting in actual saving. Some manufacturers effect reductions in insurance amounting to many times the cost to them of all the water needed for their manu- facturing purposes.
The cost of all public reservoirs or fire cisterns is avoided, together with the uncertainty attending their use,
.
I2
and the efficiency of the fire department is increased ten- fold.
The destruction of manufacturing property is one of the most serious losses that can result to a town. from its neg- lect to provide adequate protection against fire. This can be plainly illustrated as follows : The property of the N.Y. & N.E.R.R. Company in Norwood is valued by your assessors at $120,000, on which a tax of $1,300 was paid last year. If that property should be destroyed by fire and the company should, after collecting its insurance, de- cide to establish its works in some other town, there would evidently be a lowering of the town valuation and a loss to the town treasury of the annual tax of $1,300. But the average town expenses could not be reduced. Schools, highways and other departments must be supported. The total appropriations by the town for the year 1883 amount- ed to $23,734, which, after deducting poll taxes amounting to $1,584, established a tax rate of $11.50 per $1000. If the railroad company's property had been deducted from the valuation of the town for 1883, the tax rate would have been $ 12.26 instead of $11.50, an increase of seven. ty-six cents per $ 1000.
The permanent, or even temporary withdrawal from a town of manufacturing capital is to be regretted, and af- fects every property owner to a greater or less degree.
With these many advantages of a public water supply, there is yet another. It is felt by all property owners, and is visible in the external improvement of streets and door yards. It cannot be denied that an abundance of pure water, available to any citizen at a small annual cost, and without labor on his part, makes possible many im- provements that are denied to those towns in which reli- ance is placed solely on common wells and cisterns,
As the property on a street improves in appearance, it increases in value, and as streets improve, the entire town progresses towards a more substantial growth, and a better
13
and more expensive class of buildings. Without a public water supply the development of the most energetic town is unsatisfactory, if not practically impossible beyond a certain stage ..
The necessity of such an addition to the natural advanta- ges of the most favored town even, has been recognized so extensively that the year is not far distant when the town or village without its public water supply will be the rare exception.
We will now consider the
SOURCES AVAILABLE.
and their adaptability to your requirements. The town of Norwood contains a population of about 3,000, five-sixths of which, or 2,500 reside within the limits of the village. We will allow that a population of 5,000 may within a few years be gathered within the district, and that 300,000 gal- lons daily will be required to supply the village at that time. This amount we will call the minimum quantity to be furnished by any source adopted. The junction of Walpole, Washington and Guild streets may be taken as a central point of distribution, and two thousand gallons (2,000 gals.) per minute as the amount to be delivered at that point by any plan.
The sources examined were as follows :
Ist. Traphole or Tadpole brook, from its junction with the Neponset river to its head-waters near Moose hill in Sharon.
2d. Bubbling brook.
3d. Foundry or Colburn's brook in West Dedham.
4th. Tisdale's or Pettee's pond in Walpole,
5th. Ellis' mill-pond.
6th. Buckmaster or Flax Pond.
7th. The polluted condition of the Neponset river pre- cludes any consideration of that stream for your purposes.
14
Sth. A supply from the Dedham Water Company's works.
The surveys made showed the Foundry brook in West Dedham (3) to be the highest of these sources, the upper, or Foundry pond being 215.7 feet above mean sea level in Boston Harbor, 44 feet above the high water level of Buckmaster pond, and 93 feet above the ground floor of Village Hall building in Norwood.
Buckmaster pond (high water level, Jan. 14, 1885) is 171.7 feet above mean sea level and 49 feet above Village Hall building. It will be convenient in referring to the other sources examined to compare their respective levels with that of Buckmaster pond.
Traphole brook has its origin in the easterly slope of Moose hill, Sharon, rising on the Smith farm. The bed of the brook where it crosses the road west of the North Sharon school house is on a level with Buckmaster pond, or 171.7 feet above mean sea level. The average daily- yield of the brook at this point will not exceed 300,000 gallons, but to derive this amount from the water-shed, no water must be wasted. In other words, a storage reservoir large enough to hold the spring floods and heavy fall rains would be necessary. I have been unable to find a loca- tion for such a basin on the line of the brook, or in its neighborhood, and were such a basin to be constructed, the cost of the work, including the preparing of the site for the proper storage of pure water would be dispropor- tionate to the quantity of water which would be available ..
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