USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Norwood > Norwood annual report 1927-1929 > Part 10
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A claim against Michael F. Connors of Boston for automobile property damage in a small amount is pending and this depart- ment has been directed by the General Manager to bring suit to enforce collection of the claim.
Action to enforce for the benefit of Martin King, a town em- ployee, the liability of Albert W. Lyon for personal injuries sus- tained by King while engaged in street work on Washington Street
169
on April 9th, 1927, when struck by an automobile operated by Lyon was directed, but upon a waiver of his compensation claim against the Town and a suitable release suit was not brought.
Miscellaneous
The following matters which received attention appear to be of sufficient importance to warrant a place in this report in the form stated and indicate the character and extent of the activities of the law department which of necessity are largely for the guidance of the officials in the performance of their extensive and varied duties.
Takings. Preparation of orders of taking and incidental papers and attention to title questions and releases as follows:
Land of Brooks Heirs, at corner of Railroad Avenue and Central Street (formerly Market Street); in fee for Municipal Light De- partment purposes.
Land of Doane and others, Trustees, (Winslow Park); fee for park purposes.
Land of S. Seveniauskas on River Street; in fee for park pur- poses.
Lands of Winslow Brothers & Smith Company and Norwood Housing Association, Inc .; easement for street purposes re Central Street widening.
New Ways.
Street running northwesterly from Nichols Street Extension.
Street extending southerly from Bellevue Avenue.
Street being an extension of Bond Street.
Street being an extension of Chickering Road.
Street being an extension of Rosemary Street.
Street called Walter Road, connecting extension of Chickering Road with extension of Rosemary Street.
Widenings. Alterations by widening of existing streets as to portions thereof, viz .:
(a) Neponset and Dean Streets.
(b) Railroad Avenue and Monroe Street.
(c) Prospect Street and Prescott Avenue.
(d) Nichols Street and Prospect Avenue. Selectmen
Proposed Washington Street Building Line questions and at- tendance at hearing.
Vehicle regulations and street traffic automatic stop signals.
Main drain layouts Nichols to Bullard Streets.
Use of Ellis Park property for skating questions.
170
Action as to Police Department matters.
Action with respect to adoption of playground law and per- formance of duties under it.
Washington Street widening questions particularly as to damages involved.
Compensation to public works employee during illness questions. Buckmaster Pond water height situation.
Traffic light signal regulation.
Proposed new way from Walpole and Bond Streets to Nichols Street questions.
Board of Survey.
Extent and character of liability in damages upon the establish- ment of exterior lines of located way.
Procedure in establishment of exterior lines of located ways. Papers for use prepared.
Finance Commission.
Town Meeting procedure as to action on street layouts.
Legislation relative to gas companies.
School Building expansion program and Norwood Civic Asso- ciation property in relation thereto.
Peabody Trust Fund situation and action.
School Committee.
Shattuck School grading contract questions with respect to bids.
Transportation of school children-opinion to Superintendent Grant.
Morrill Memorial Library Trustees.
Action as to acceptance of gifts also as to repairs and addition to library building.
Action as to mutilation of books.
Town Planning Board.
Attention to proposed zoning by law questions and changes in draft to be presented at town meeting and to article for warrant and vote under same.
Conferences with Chairman and others as to action to be taken also as to approval by department of the Attorney General.
Board of Registrars.
Nomination papers situation and action-hearing attendance.
Board of Assessors.
Tax questions.
171
Town Treasurer and Collector of Taxes.
Victory Fertilizer Company tax claim and condition and action. Karalekas tax collection questions.
Board of Appeal under Zoning By-Law.
Action re Nickerson Building situation. Attendance at hearings.
General Manager.
Terrill, Connors, Billings, Domico and Massief claims.
Buckmaster Pond situation.
School children fares-motor bus transportation.
Right to sue for injury to employee.
King accident claim and compensation situation questions. Payment of wages to injured employee.
Town Clerk and Accountant.
Clerk of Selectmen.
Taxation of real estate questions.
Vacations for laborers questions.
Walpole sewer system legislation.
Legislation re extension of South Metropolitan Sewerage System in the Neponset River Valley.
Apportionment of taxes as to notice to mortgagees.
New sewer lien statement and assessment.
Action as to real estate tax assessment.
Drain situation as to Fahey land.
Sidewalk assessment and apportionment questions.
Betterment Assessment questions.
Action re taking land for overdue taxes including notice and service and re release and apportionment as to certain parcels.
Restraint of dogs questions.
Nomination papers questions.
Alterations of pole locations and pole line agreements.
Traffic regulation questions.
Zoning By-Law publication questions.
Building Inspector.
Permit questions under zoning by-law.
Action as to Laundry Building permit application (Cottage Street site) and hearings attended.
Chief of Fire Department. Claim for damage to automobile. Garage location re proximity situation.
Board of Relief
Relief situation and action.
172
Senior High School Building Committee.
Arbitration procedure as to sub-contractor claim and application to situation.
Payments to contractor and receipts for same.
Grading contract questions and opinion as to situation.
Memorial Municipal Building Committee.
Attention to contract and indemnity bond questions also to questions as to bids and postponement of award; various confer- ences; articles for warrants and action under same.
Metal Pole Line and Wooden Pole Line Agreements
With Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Company.
These matters called for considerable attention. As to the metal poles, the question of the future use of certain poles on Washing- ton Street between Railroad Avenue and Guild Street upon com- plete title vesting in the Town through purchase of the interest of the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Company therein re- ceived extended consideration due to the fact that the Street Railway Company was to continue to use the poles while the Town was enlarging its own use.
Numerous conferences were held with the officials of the Street Railway Company and an amicable agreement was finally reached and embodied in the revised agreement wherein the use of the poles and the liability of the respective parties were carefully defined and an important problem was satisfactorily solved.
As to the wooden pole line in which the Street Railway Com- pany, the New England Telephone and Telegraph Company and the Town through its Municipal Light Department were jointly interested certain new poles were set and certain other poles were relocated, necessitating changes and consideration of the propor- tions in which the respective parties would contribute to the cost and maintenance of the poles. After extended negotiations a new agreement amending the existing agreement was made whereby the proportions should be the same as before.
Betterment Assessments.
Attendance at numerous conferences and at abatement hearing. Attention to orders of assessments and other papers and to various questions as to expert advice and as to action re Town square and other public improvements.
Street Layouts
Attention to preparation of layouts from data furnished as to various new ways and street widenings. Questions re notice to owners.
173
General.
Articles and motions under annual and special town meeting warrants prepared.
Attention to deed of Standard Oil Company of New York con- veying to the Town easement in land at corner of Railroad Avenue and fronting on Washington Street for public way pur- poses and to title search and to action thereon.
Deed and incidental papers prepared conveying Pleasant Street land of Fred L. Fisher purchased for school purposes.
Official reports prepared.
Attention to budget requirements.
Attention to Maguire and Keohane releases.
Conclusion
No comment appears to be necessary with respect to matters pending in the department at the beginning of the year 1928 as aside from the suits reported above all are of a routine character. As in past years confidence and consideration have been shown by all the Town officials with whom this department has had contact and is gratefully acknowledged as in the generous co-operation extended by Clerk Pendergast.
Respectfully submitted,
JAMES A. HALLORAN, Town Counsel.
174
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE MORRILL MEMORIAL LIBRARY FOR THE YEAR 1927
To the Citizens of Norwood:
It has been our pleasure to report for some years past an increase in circulation over each preceding year. This has shown a mode- rate but steady growth in the usefulness of the Library to all parts of the community but the astounding increase for 1927 over 1926 of 7,784 volumes, bringing the total circulation for the year up to 90,166 volumes, only goes to show that the establishment by the Trustees of branch libraries in several of our public schools, with- out additional cost to the town, together with the work which the Library is doing in connection with the higher grades in our school system, was exceedingly wise in its conception. For it has made our Public Library not only a source of pleasure and infor- mative reading for the general public but, in addition, has made it a workshop auxiliary to our educational system, and thus augurs for increased circulation and usefulness in the years to come, an end to which your Trustees and the Library staff are bending their endeavors. In this way is the Library becoming better known and more widely used.
In the early part of the year the Library received the Warren H. Cudworth Memorial Collection, consisting of a splendid library of classical authors and other works, from the estate of the late Mr. Cudworth. It also received the sum of $500. from the same source, to be known as the Cudworth Fund for Encouraging the Use of Pure English, the income of this fund to be used for the purchase of books especially connected with the purpose expressed in the title of the fund.
Beginning in the early summer, the Trustees have been devoting much attention to the preparation of tentative plans and estimates for the proposed addition to the Library, for the erection of which the necessary funds were provided through the bequest of the late Mrs. Alice H. Plimpton. These efforts have reached their fruition in the appointment of the building committee authorized at the Special Town Meeting of December 28th, 1927, and it is hoped that the committee will be able to complete the necessary details so that the work may commence in the early spring.
Fortunately the mutilation of books rarely occurs. When it does occur, however, it is the intention of the Trustees to see that the offender is punished. Lately a case has been in the court covering
175
the mutilation of several reference books by a boy and the Court has ordered that the matter be settled to the full satisfaction of the Trustees. In addition to this incident another case occurred in which an adult mutilated two books and was forced to make restitution.
Respectfully submitted,
WILLIAM T. WHEDON, MAUDE A. SHATTUCK, W. W. EVERETT, A. MARION WAIN, JULIA A. MCCARTHY, WALTER BLAIR, Trustees of the Morrill Memorial Library.
-
176
LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
To the Board of Trustees:
The following is a statistical report of the Morrill Memorial Library, arranged according to the form recommended by the American Library Association.
Name of Library
Morrill Memorial Library
Town
Norwood
Name of Librarian
Jane A. Hewett
Date of Founding
1873
Population served
15,000 (approximate)
Assessed valuation
$26,464,530.00
Terms of use
Free for lending; free for reference
Total number of agencies
4
Number of days open in 1927
303
Number of hours open each week
66
Number of staff
5
Increase
Number of volumes at beginning of year
29,499
Number of volumes added by purchase.
1,569
Number of volumes added by gift.
310
Total number at end of year.
31,278
Number of magazines currently received
87 titles
101 copies
Number of publications issued each year
4
Use
Fiction Non-fiction
Foreign
Total
Adult
39,910 8,845
457
49,212
Juvenile
23,222
8,349
31,571
Balch School
3,603
High School
1,169
Shattuck School
940
Winslow School
2,547
Deposits in other Schools
1,214
90,166
Number of pictures lent.
7,489
Finance
See Report of Town Accountant.
177
Registration
Adult
Juvenile 440
Total 671
Total number of registered borrowers (Re-registration was begun in July.)
1771
1608
2380
Books Added to the Library in 1927
Adult
Juvenile
Total
General Works
26
2
28
Philosophy
10
1
11
Religion
10
4
14
Sociology (includes fairy tales)
105
152
257
Philology
3
0
3
Natural Science
14
26
40
Useful Arts
30
18
48
Fine Arts
59
9
68
Literature
49
58
107
Description and Travel
63
21
84
Biography
99
18
117
History
40
24
64
Fiction
400
638
1038
908
971
1879
Gifts
The Warren H. Cudworth Library of about 1000 volumes. (This is not included in the above table.)
Books and pamphlets have been received from:
American Tree Association
Mrs. L. C. Marshall
Anonymous
Miss Mary Marshall
Frederick A. Cleveland, Ph.D.
Massachusetts Agricultural College
William W. Cook
Thomas E. Mitten
Mrs. Edward Cunningham
Mrs. C. J. Prescott
Dennison Manufacturing Co.
Universalist Society of Norwood
Miss Lucille Foster
Mr. Frank Smith
Miss Florence Hill
Mr. Fiske Warren
Judson Press
Magazines have been received from: Mrs. L. C. Marshall, Miss Maude A. Shattuck, Mr. William T. Whedon.
Pictures have been received from Miss Susan Dana Wheelock. Respectfully submitted,
JANE A. HEWETT. Librarian.
Number of borrowers registered, 1927
231
Congregational Church School
178
ANNUAL REPORT OF BUILDING INSPECTOR
January 1, 1928.
To the Selectmen of Norwood,
Gentlemen:
I herewith submit the following as the annual report of the Inspector of Buildings of the Town of Norwood for the year 1927:
Building Permits Issued
No. of Permits
Estimated Value
Dwellings
82
$511,205
Additions
62
35,185
Garages
113
63,500
Industrial Plants
9
53,500
Storage Buildings
5
10,500
Stores
7
48,950
Barns
1
425
Hospital
1
52,000
Municipal Building
1
295,387
Total
283
$1,070,652
Respectfully submitted,
F. M. DOUGLASS, Inspector of Buildings.
179
REPORT OF THE TOWN GAME WARDEN
February 1, 1928.
To the Selectmen of Norwood,
Attention of Mr. Thomas B. Mulvehill.
Dear Sir:
I herewith submit my annual report as Town Game Warden.
Attention has been given the enforcement of the Statutes relating to Fish and Game during the past year. I have been out upon the fishing streams and ponds and lands frequented by game one hun- dred and forty-three days.
I have found it necessary on two occasions to ask for complaints against persons for violation of the Fish and Game Laws. These complaints were brought before the District Court of Northern Norfolk and both were fined.
There appears to have been a small increase in the number of pheasants. There appears to be a small increase in quail, about ten per cent of the previous year.
There has been a five-year lease or agreement with the Proprie- tors of the New Pond and the Department of Conservation into which continues the conditions that persons fishing in the New Pond must have a State License or conform to the other provisions of the Law.
The Department of Conservation have placed fourteen hundred white perch in the New Pond on April 5, 1927.
The Department of Conservation have re-stocked the following brooks:
Germany and Ellis Brooks, with trout, on April 9, 1927.
There seems to be very few partridges in Norwood being a smaller number than the past two years.
Respectfully submitted,
WALTER H. HOBSON,
Town Game Warden.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
OF THE
TOWN OF NORWOOD Massachusetts
FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1927
183
1
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
School Committee
1927
Frederick A. Cleveland, Pleasant Street, term expires 1930.
Arthur S. Hartwell, 90 Winter Street, term expires 1930.
Edward F. Brennan, 1 Walpole Street, term expires 1928. Charles J. Rich, 67 Beech Street, term expires 1928.
Christine L. Probert, 11 Marion Avenue, term expires 1929. Julia R. O'Brien, 4 Railroad Avenue, term expires 1929.
Organization
Dr. Frederick A. Cleveland Chairman
Irene D. Readel Secretary
Standing Committees
Education Program Committee: Dr. Cleveland, Miss O'Brien, Dr. Hartwell.
Finance Committee: Mr. Rich, Dr. Brennan, Mrs. Probert.
Janitors, Schoolhouses and Grounds: Dr. Brennan, Mr. Rich.
Fuel, School Books and Supplies: Mrs. Probert.
Appointments: Mrs. Probert, Miss O'Brien.
Committee Meetings
The regular monthly meeting of the School Committee is held at the School Committee Rooms, Junior High School, at eight o'clock p. m. on the second Thursday of each month.
Superintendent of Schools
Leonard W. Grant, 397 Washington Street. Tel. Nor. 1229-J.
The office of the Superintendent of Schools is at the Junior High School, and is open from 8:00 a. m. until 5:00 p. m. every day except Saturday, when it is open from 8:00 a. m. until 12:00 M. Telephone Norwood 0133.
Clerks
Irene D. Readel, 506 Walpole Street.
Elizabeth Zurba, 49 Saunders Road.
1
184
SCHOOL CALENDAR
1926-27
First term begins Sept. 7, 1927, ends Dec. 23, 1927 16 weeks
Second term begins Jan. 4, 1927, ends Feb. 17, 1928 7 weeks
Third term begins Feb. 27, 1927, ends April 13, 1928 7 weeks
Fourth term begins April 23, 1928, ends June 20, 1928 9 weeks
First term begins Sept. 5, 1928, ends Dec. 21, 1928 16 weeks
Holidays
October 12, Thanksgiving Day and the following Friday, Good Friday, May 30, and June 17.
No School Signal 2-2
Repeated at 7.15 a. m. No forenoon session for any school.
Repeated at 8.00 a. m. No forenoon session for first six grades.
Repeated at 12.15 p. m. No afternoon session for any grades below the Senior High School.
Repeated at 12.30 p. m. No afternoon session for first six grades.
Repeated at 6.15 p. m. No session for evening school.
-
185
REPORT OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
At the last March town meeting an appropriation of $2500 was made to enable the School Committee to employ experts to inquire into Junior High School needs and submit a plan to relieve the pressure on that part of the system. When this matter was gone into, however, it was found that the Junior High School problem was only a part of a more general one. Therefore an arrange- ment was made for the employment of Dr. Jesse B. Davis with authority to employ such assistants as he might find desirable to make a study of the whole system-especially as bearing on the
Table I. Average Day-School Membership for Senior High, JuniorHigh and Elementary, 1912-27
Year
Elemen- tary Grades
Junior High Grades
Senior High Grades
Total
Average Attend- ance
Popula- tion
1912-13
1341
261
105
1707
1618
9,793
1913-14
1447
319
103
1869
1760
1914-15
1484
387
118
1989
1886
1915-16
1543
406
148
2097
1984
10,977
1916-17
1573
376
153
2163
2036
1917-18
1718
374
158
2250
2096
1918-19
1631*
519*
188
2338
2202
1919-20
1727
536
198
2461
2329
12,627
1920-21
1872
503
254
2629
2510
1921-22
1826
577
278
2681
2550
1922-23
1902
611
300
2813
2672
1923-24
1975
682
310
2967
2852
1924-25
1985
745
341
3071
2901
14,151
1925-26
2063
802
394
3259
3099
1926-27
2062
803
394
3259
3098
14,762 +
1927/11/1
2016
832
499
3347₫
Increase in percentages
1912-27
50.2
218.7
375.2
96.1
91.5
* 9th grade abolished.
+ Estimate.
# Enrollment
186
question of building shortage and the adequacy of the educational system to meet the local community needs. The first two sections of Dr. Davis' report are included herewith for the information of citizens.
It seemed desirable to continue the statistical data that has been prepared from year to year and to make certain comments on matters not mentioned in the reports of the experts and in the reports of the Superintendent and Department Heads.
Increased Population and School Membership: It is necessary only to look at Table I to understand why it is that Norwood High School demands have run so far ahead of all expectations. The fact as brought out in the report of the Superintendent is that the enrollment in the Norwood High School has increased 375%, and in the Junior High School 218% as against a population increase of 50% since 1912 has already been commented upon in other reports. In Dr. Davis' report an estimate is made as to what will be the future increase. It is obvious that this higher ratio of increase in the High School cannot continue. The fact is that not only in Norwood, but throughout the country, little attention was given to the secondary educational needs of others than those who were going to college. The rapid increase is largely due to the inclu- sion in the school program of instruction to other groups with the result that a very much larger percentage of pupils enrolled as elementary pupils continue in the system in the higher grades than heretofore. Whether or not this curriculum has produced educa- tional results that warrant the expenditure is a question discussed later in this report.
Enrollment by Grades: Statistics of enrollment by grades are shown as Table II of this report; this table also shows the losses from the system in going from grade to grade. From this state- ment it will be seen that the losses are very small. A further study has been made by Professor Blair, as shown in the report of experts attached. From this it appears that the percentage of the total in each grade, after the seventh grade has been reached, is much higher in Norwood than is shown by the reports of the National Bureau of Education. For the country as a whole the percentage of the total enrollment in grades one to three inclusive is 37.7%; for grades four to six inclusive 31.5%; for grades seven to nine inclusive 21.8%; and for grades ten to twelve inclusive 9.1%. In the Norwood system, the percentage in the three lowest grades is 27.7% as against 37.7% for the country as a whole. This probably is accounted for by the introduction of the parochial school and by the fact of the larger numbers who continue in the system higher up. In the second group (grades four to six) the percentages are almost exactly the same. In the Junior High
187
Table II. Showing Enrollment by Grades and Losses from Year to Year in Going from Grade to Grade
Grade
Enrollment
Losses Between Grades
Dec. 1 1921
Dec. 1 1922
Dec. 1 Dec. 1 Dec. 1 1923 1924
1925
Dec. 1 1926
Dec. 1 1927
1922 1923
1924 1925 1926 1927
Sr. High
283
307
319
353
409
444
499
57
55
83
69
119
56
12
67*
91*
74*
97*
103
111
128
11
13
10
10
13
7
11
102*
87*
107
113
124
135
27
22
25
19
47
29
10
114*
129
138
143
182
198
169 202
19
20
48
40
59
20
Jr. High
579
628
693
763
821
821
832
71
70
36
22
77
53
9
148
158
191
222
257
222
240
33
28
10
7
44
26
8
191
219
232
264
266
266
316
21
19
6
11
32
17
7
240
251
270
277
298
333
276
17
23
20
4
1
10
Elemen.
1826
1902
1969
2021
2039
2023
1991
23
6
24
11
10
41
6
268
293
297
302
334
2861
382
7+
1
10
2
18
16
5
286
298
312
336
304±
398
353
3
9
101
12+
** 42 + 3+
4
295
321
326
2921
356
350
321
13
11
26
2+
20 20
3
334
337
318₺
354
370
341
319
14
32+
41
2+
4 + 4+
2
351
286±
350
368
337
315
296
6
17
2
3
16 12
1
292
367
366
340
331
308
295
Special
18
29
27
25
25
11
2
2
0
* Small numbers probably due to withdrawals for war industries during years 1916 to 1918.
+ Increases.
# Membership reduced by increasing entrance age.
Due to double promotion of bright group in Balch School.
School, however, Norwood has 4.6% larger attendance than for the country at large, and in the Senior High School, Norwood has 15.1% as compared with 9.1%-a difference of 6%. This means that we have 180 more pupils in the Senior High than would be if we followed the average for the systems reporting. It seems probable that this percentage will continue to increase until a normal has been reached-having in mind the fact that we have been gradually approaching that normal over a period of years. After that normal has been reached it is not to be assumed that the increase in the Junior and Senior High Schools will be any more rapid than in the elementary grades. Therefore, we may assume that very soon we will strike a dead level, so to speak, in the secondary schools-as we have already done in the elemen- tary school-where the percentage of increase in the school pop- ulation is almost the same as the percentage of increase in pop- ulation.
Reasons for Leaving School: Last year a study was made of losses in going from grade to grade. The result is shown in Table III.
188
Table III. Showing Reasons for Losses in Going from Grade to Grade, December 1925 to December, 1926
Senior High:
Gone to Work 89
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