USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1877 > Part 13
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It is estimated that the whole number of books now on the shelves of the library is 6,696. Several hundred additional vol- umes have been ordered and are already on their way. The various acquisitions of the year have made a considerable extension of shelving imperative. This, happily, we have been able to effect without materially encroaching upon the already too limited floor- space. Some innovations touching the internal arrangements and service of the library have been made with a view to the convenience of patrons, and in every way we have aimed to make its resources inviting and accessible to all. Under the vigilant administration of Miss H. A. Adams, who was unanimously re-elected librarian. the routine of the library has been orderly and efficient, and we have no loss of consequence to report, either through accident or
220
through failure to recover books loaned. The reading-table has been regularly supplied to the fullest extent of its capacity with newspapers and the best periodicals of the day. Many have availed themselves of its privileges, notwithstanding the overcrowding of the apartment and the general inconveniences of the place.
You will remember that at the beginning of the year a special appropriation of $1,500 was asked for. This sum was devoted to a somewhat special purpose, and has been expended with unusual care. It had become evident to us that the library had grown disproportionately in certain directions. The newer literature of such departments as Fiction. Popular Science, and Belles-lettres was found to be well represented, while there was a notable lack of the older and standard works in all departments. Indeed, there were important branches of human knowledge scarcely represented at all. This condition of affairs was in no wise due to a mistaken or short-sighted policy of earlier officials. It was rather a necessary result of the peculiar conditions under which the library has grown up. Beginning with a small endowment, and dependent for its growth on small annual appropriations, it was of course impossible to realize anything like an ideal proportion and completeness. About all that could be done, and under the circumstances the wisest thing to do, was to meet the always pressing demand for books of the day. This demand must still, we suppose, engage the major part of our annual appropriation, but we felt that the time had come for us to begin to make good the most serious of the deficiencies to which we have referred, and to aim henceforth at a certain completeness and symmetry in the growth of the library.
We had come to feel, moreover, that while the claims of the gen- eral reader were undoubtedly paramount, the more advanced stu- dents in our midst - the teachers, editors, lawyers, physicians, and clergymen of Somerville - have a right in the library, and might fairly look to it for certain special aids, such, for example, as are afforded by the standard works of reference and the acknowledged classics in their several departments of inquiry. The office of a public library is in fact complex. To many it is simply a source of entertainment, to others it is a kind of higher school ; to still others it should be an instrument, an ally for enlarging the bounds of human knowledge and promoting the higher welfare of society. Assured of views like these, we have aimed to administer our trust in a large and enlightened way; and we are persuaded that the
221
library has grown during the year, not merely in extent, but in point of proportion and quality.
The financial statement for the year 1877 is as follows : -
Credit balance from 1876,
$451 30
Appropriation for 1877,
1,500 00
Amount of dog-license,
1,362 30
From catalogues and fines,
206 18
$3,519 78
Expenses for 1877 : -
For purchase of books,
$1.280 53
For salaries,
1,123 35
For incidentals,
257 18
$2,661 06
Balance to new account, $858.72.
We should add, perhaps, that this balance is somewhat fictitious, inasmuch as orders amounting to $500 or upwards have been given for books not yet received.
Respectfully submitted.
W. G. TOUSEY. HENRY H. BARBER. ALBERT M. ROBINSON. WILLIAM VEAZIE. ROSWELL C. DOWNER. WILLIAM H. BRINE.
FRANCIS H. RAYMOMD.
THOMAS J. BUFFUM. EDWIN S. CONANT.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR,
FOR THE
Year ending Dec. 31, 1877.
CITY OF SOMERVILLE.
IN BOARD OF MAYOR AND ALDERMEN. Feb. 26, 1878.
Report accepted, referred to Committee on Printing, with instructions to cause the same to be printed in the Annual Report, and sent down for concurrence.
CHARLES E. GILMAN, Clerk.
Concurred in.
IN COMMON COUNCIL, Feb. 27, 1878.
SOLOMON DAVIS, Clerk.
REPORT.
To his Honor the Mayor, and the City Council :
GENTLEMEN, - We would respectfully submit a brief account of the work of the Board of Overseers of the Poor, for the year 1877. a statement of some of the results, and a few suggestions in regard to plans for the future.
The poor have generally been assisted at their own homes, being suppled with food, fuel, and such other necessaries as were required to relieve their destitution.
To do this properly requires much time and great care, that the deserving may be provided for, while the undeserving may be un- successful in any attempts to obtain aid from the city.
As a means of obtaining a careful history of every applicant for aid, we require answers to the following list of questions. Each list is numbered, indexed, and kept for future reference.
From the answers to these questions, we usually obtain pretty correct information in regard to the immediate necessities of the applicant, to the ability of his relatives to assist him, to the causes which led to his destitution, and to the nature and place of his set- tlement. If we do not obtain all the information that is necessary, we get that which will guide us in subsequent investigations of the case.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR. QUESTIONS IN REGARD TO APPLICANTS.
1. Name?
2. 'Number in family ?
3. Color, sex, age?
4. Date and place of birth ?
5. Residence, Street and No. ?
6. Residence previously ?
7. When and how came to State?
8. When and how to Somerville ?
9. Lived here since, and how long ?
10. Occupation ?
225
11. Condition, int. ins. id. ?
12. Natur'd? P'd taxes or assessed ?
13. When and how long ?
14. Where and on what ?
15. Owned real estate ?
16. What, where, and when ?
17. Held office, what, how long, and where ?
5
18. Apprenticed, and to whom?
19. Prop. and means ? Money in bank? State Aid?
Pensions ? Family in Army or Navy ? Rela- tives able ?
20. When and where before aided, and ceased to be aided ?
21. By what town and where then residing ? S
Husband or W fe. Ancestors * of Husband or Wife.
22 When and where married ?
23. Name and age ?
24. Date and place of birth?
25. Occupation ?
26. Residence and settlement?
27. Date and place of death and age then ?
28. Natur'd? P'd taxes or assessed ?
29. When, where, how long ? and on what ?
30. Real and per. est. means?
31. Name and age ?
Descendants * of Applicant.
32. Residence ?
33. Occupation ?
34. Natur'd? Paid taxes, etc. ?
35. Property and means ?
36. Name and age? Ancestors * of Applicant.
37. Date and place of birth ?
38. Occupation ?
39. Residence and settlement?
40. Date of death, and age then?
41. Natur'd ? P'd taxes or as'd ?
42. Property and means ?
* Write ages after names, and other matter relating to each person under the names. Indicate children by c., grandchildren by g. c., father and mother by f. and m., grandparents by g. f. and g. m., and prefix p. or m. to indicate paternal or maternal grandparents.
15
226
We have often been told that we have aided undeserving per- sons, that many of them are in no sense destitute, and that in some instances the recipients of public charity own houses and lands, and have money in the savings banks. In every instance where our informant has given the name of the supposed impostor, we have found that he, and not ourselves, had been misinformed. Still, we probably have assisted some who could have done without the aid, and we would thank any one for information that will help us in the better discharge of our duty.
ALMSHOUSE.
We have had but two persons in the almshouse during the year. One of them, a woman, an inmate for many years, is partially insane. The other, a man fifty years of age, formerly a resident of this city but latterly of Boston, then in easy circumstances, but now penniless, after having partially recovered from an attack of erysip- elas at the Boston City Hospital, was sent by the Overseers of Public Institutions of that city to the almshouse in the Charlestown District. We found him there, much weakened by his recent sick- ness, but on the highway to a speedy recovery. We gave him permission to remain until he had sufficiently recovered to be able to maintain himself by manual labor. But when that time came he was not disposed to relinquish his comfortable quarters and easy life, giving as an excuse the impossibility of obtaining employment, and not till we had directed him to work under our Superintendent of Streets did he leave the almshouse, and not then to work upon the streets, for he quickly found employment elsewhere. The above is one of many illustrations that might be given of the tenacity manifested by some to continue recipients of public charity.
STATE POOR.
The law of the Commonwealth requires the overseers of the poor to assist every one found within the limits of the city in a destitute condition, and it permits the overseers to remove those who have no settlement in the State to the State Almshouse. This law has been in operation many years, without relieving the cities and large towns from the burdens incident to a large foreign population.
Another law, which took effect during the past year, we believe
227
will more effectually protect our city in providing for the poor of this class of persons. Its object is to reimburse cities and towns for aid granted State paupers during any four weeks, provided the applicants can afterwards maintain themselves.
This law requires that the Board of State Charities shall be noti- fied in every case, and if it is found by that Board that the chances are that the family will be self-supporting at the end of the four weeks, the aid granted by the city for that time will be reimbursed by the State.
We have carefully complied with the requirements of the law in such cases as the law appeared to us to be applicable, and hope to have the expenses of this department diminished somewhat by this means.
There is another law that applies to the State sick-poor. By this law, the city is partially reimbursed for aid granted to the State sick-poor during the time they are unable to be removed to the State Almshouse.
By the conditions of the law, we must give immediate notice to the Board of State Charities. In this notice it is necessary to give the name and residence of the pauper, the name of the disease, and facts tending to show that he has no settlement in this State. It is highly important in such cases that the city physicians should immediately notify the secretary of this board, after having ascer- tained all necessary facts in regard to the case, that the latter officer may comply with the essential requirements of the law.
CITY STORE.
Since the 27th of March the poor have been principally supplied with groceries, provisions, etc., from a store entirely under the con- trol of this Board.
The goods are purchased at the lowest wholesale prices, and delivered to the poor at such an advance as will cover the expenses of the salary of the storekeeper, and the cost of the transportation of the goods to the store.
As we have no almshouse, and therefore provide for many per- sons at their homes, who would otherwise be supported in an alms- house, there are some families who depend entirely upon the city for all their provisions and groceries.
The principal articles at the store are flour. Indian meal, oat meal, rice, potatoes, white beans, salt fish, herrings, corned beef, salt pork, kerosene oil, sugar, and tea.
228
From the above list of articles the poor are supplied by the store- keeper upon the presentation of orders from the Overseers of the Poor, and with the exceptions of sugar and tea, supplied with the quantity they name, provided it does not exceed the amount granted in the orders.
The Board believing it economy to purchase good articles, have directed the storekeeper to have regard to quality as well as price.
The store has been in operation for nine months at a cost to the city of $3,766.54. During the corresponding months of 1876, the entire amount of the grocery and provision bills was $6,219.20, and for the same months in 1875 it was $4,154.39.
The store has been in operation sufficiently long to show that by careful and judicious management, there will be quite a saving to the city, and the poor will be better provided for than under the old sytem of giving orders on the different stores in the city.
WOOD.
The City Council granted the petition of this Board, to erect in the yard, in the rear of the police building, a shed suitable for storing wood and sheltering the men employed to saw and split it, under direction and control of the Overseers of the Poor.
The shed was built in the month of November, and the first wood was sawed and split on the morning of November 23d, by ten tramps, who had received their night's lodging and breakfast at the police station. Since then, on nearly every week-day morning, an average of seven tramps has worked for two hours in sawing and splitting wood, under the charge of a superintendent employed by the Board. There has not been an instance of refusal to work, nor do they manifest a disposition to shirk, but on the contrary, work smartly for the two hours. They have done the city a good service, and we believe have fully paid in this way for all expenses on their account. We have also obliged men whose settlements are in our city, who solicit aid for themselves and families, to work at the wood-pile at $1 per day until they have paid for the aid to be granted them. We grant no more aid to this class of persons than we should have done had we no wood ; but after having decided to give the supplies, we require work of the applicant. This has had the effect to cause some persons to seek for and obtain employment elsewhere, who otherwise would have importuned us for aid under the plea that it was impossible to find employment.
We believe that the two classes last mentioned, the tramps and
229
resident applicants for aid, will be equal not only to sawing and splitting wood for the poor, but to preparing all that is necessary for the schools and for other public purposes.
COAL.
There have so often been complaints of the delay in filling the orders for coal, that we are of the opinion that the interests of the poor and the city would both be better secured by having the delivery of the wood and coal under the immediate supervision of this Board. Such an arrangement would necessitate the erection of another shed of sufficient dimensions to contain a year's supply of coal.
BURIAL-GROUND.
For several years, in the annual reports and other communica- tions to the City Council, the importance of having a burial-ground under the control of the city, not only as a place for the burial of paupers, but for the use of other persons, has been urged by the Board. We would again call your attention to the fact that we are still without a burial-place. We do not desire a large outlay for this purpose, but it seems to us not only fit but necessary for a city of nearly 22,000 inhabitants to possess at least one burial-place.
EXPENSES.
The net expense for the support of the poor, as will be seen by an appended statement, has been considerably less than the previ- ous year, and quite within the sum appropriated by the City Council.
This diminution in the expense is undoubtedly the result of sev- eral causes, but we believe it has been mainly owing to the fact that the orders for supplies have not only been granted. but have been filled under the supervision of the Board. It does not follow because we have been enabled to reduce the expenses $3.000 in one year, that we can continue the reduction in the same ratio. There are many matters connected with this department over which we have little or no control. For instance, the bills for the main- tenance of the inmates at the hospitals for the insane must be paid. The same is true in regard to the expenses of the inmates of the State Reform School and of those in the State or county prisons or reformatory institutions.
While it has been and will continue to be our aim to keep the expenses of this department as small as is consistent with the obli- gations that the community owe to those in want, we feel that
230
neither the City Council nor the tax-payers desire us to go one whit beyond this point.
We would respectfully call your attention to the appended table.
ANSEL LEWIS, THOMAS CUNNINGHAM, HORACE CHAPIN, Overseers of the Poor.
EXPENSES OF THE DEPARTMENT.
House rents,
$650 20
Groceries and provisions,
6,687 72
Fuel,
3,144 32
Boots and shoes,
691 47
Dry goods and clothing,
61 41
Furniture,
12 75
Aid to paupers residing elsewhere,
1,741 17
Board of paupers in private familes,
303 74
Board and nursing in insane asylums,
1,068 50
Board in Charlestown Almshouse,
317 74
Board of paupers at Reform Schools,
174 00
Medical examinations and medicines,
26 00
Burial expenses of paupers,
605 25
Food for lodgers,
327 44
Transportation, expressing, etc.
98 39
Books, stationery, and printing,
81 82
Expenses of the store,
153 63
Expenses of the wood-shed,
90 20
Salaries of overseers,
900 00
Salary of clerk,
200 00
Laundering,
2 00
$17,337 75
RECEIVED.
For barrels sold by storekeeper,
$18 18
For board of pauper at Brattleboro' Insane Asylum,
463 00
From State,
274 64
For board of pauper at Charlestown,
51 00
From cities and towns,
3,174 36
$3,981 18
$13,356 57
Net expense,
REPORT
OF
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH.
CITY OF SOMERVILLE.
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN, Jan. 3, 1878.
Accepted, referred to next city government, to be printed with the City Reports for the year 1877.
GEO. I. VINCENT, Clerk pro tem.
CITY OF SOMERVILLE.
THE Committee on Health have disposed of all the business re- ferred to them during the past year.
The appropriation for Health Depart- ment, made April 4, 1877, was The committee have expended : To Henry Gray, contractor for collect- ing house offal, $1,800 00
$3,400 00
To Highway Department for collecting ashes, 508 31
For all other expenses, including the caring for small-pox cases, fu- migating houses, burying ani- mals, and printing, 300 03
Aggregate of expenditures, $2,608 34
Leaving an unexpended balance of $791 66
GEO. C. SKILTON, Chairman.
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CITY CLERK.
STATISTICS OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS IN 1877.
THE statistics of births, marriages, and deaths in the city of Somerville, for the year 1877, are as follows : -
BIRTHS.
Number of births registered in Somerville in 1877,
639
More than last year, 3.
Males, 316. Females, 323.
Number of cases of twins, 4.
Born American parents,
255
Born foreign parents,
284
Born American male and foreign female,
35
Born foreign male and American female, 49
Unknown,
16
639
MARRIAGES.
Number of intentions issued in 1877,
186
More than last year,
23
Marriages registered,
167
NATIONALITY OF THOSE REGISTERED.
Both parties American, 113
Both parties foreign, 33
10
American groom and foreign bride,
Foreign groom and American bride, 7
Unknown, 4
167
234
First marriage of Second marriage of Third marriage of Fourth marriage of
293
36
4
1
334=167 couples.
Oldest persons married,
66
Yonngest person married,
17
DEATHS.
Number of deaths in Somerville in 1877, Less than last year,
443
1
Ages.
Males.
Females. 122
236
Between 10 and 20,
9
12
21
66
30
" 40,
15
21
36
40
50,
.19
12
31
66
50
" 60,
10
12
22
66
60
" 70,
11
9
20
70
" .80,
13
16
29
66
80
"' 90,
3
8
11
66
90 "100,
1
2
3
206
237
443
Oldest person deceased, male, 95 years.
NATIONALITY.
Born in Somerville,
177
Other places in United States,
179
Of foreign birth,
81
Unknown,
6
Total,
443
CHARLES E. GILMAN.
City Clerk.
20
30,
11
23
34
Totals.
Under 10 years,
114
៛
CITY GOVERNMENT FOR 1877.
MAYOR. AUSTIN BELKNAP. House, Central Street ; Office, City Hall.
ALDERMEN. WARD ONE.
RICHARD E. NICKERSON
JOHN F. COLE
WARD TWO.
JAMES LONG
WM. C. TALLMAN
WARD THREE.
GEORGE C. SKILTON
Mills Street.
JOHN R. CONANT .
Marshall Street.
WARD FOUR.
JAMES B. DAVID .
J. A. CUMMINGS
Belmont Street. Wallace Street.
COMMON COUNCIL.
STILLMAN H. LIBBY, President, .
Elm Street.
WARD ONE.
OLIVER J. DAVIS .
J. P. LOVERING . GEORGE H. CROSBY
ALONZO BOWERS .
WARD TWO.
THEODORE D. DENNETT
SEWARD DODGE
ALLEN O. RILEY . .
ELIJAH WALKER .
Pearl Street. Benedict Avenue. Perkins Street. Franklin Street.
Emerson Street. Union Square. Prospect Street. Pleasant Avenue.
Pearl Street. Perkins Street.
School Street. Washington Street.
236
WARD THREE.
ROLLIN M. BALDWIN E. G. WOODWARD
S. T. LITTLEFIELD
LUTHER B. PILLSBURY
Albion Street.
Oakland Avenue. Broadway.
Mills Street.
WARD FOUR.
STILLMAN H. LIBBY
ASA DURGIN
M. W. CARR
M. S. ANDREWS .
Elm Street.
Broadway. Craige Street. Appleton Street.
CITY CLERK. CHARLES E. GILMAN, Office, City Hall.
CITY TREASURER. AARON SARGENT, Office, City Hall.
CITY MESSENGER. JARIUS MANN, Office, City Hall.
CITY ENCINEER. GEORGE A. KIMBALL, Office, City Hall.
CITY SOLICITOR. SAMUEL C. DARLING.
CITY PHYSICIAN. A. H. CARVILL, Office, Bow Street.
CLERK OF COMMON COUNCIL. SOLOMON DAVIS, Webster Street.
CHIEF OF POLICE. M. C. PARKHURST, Office, Police Station.
SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS. JOHN P. PRICHARD, 10 Cutter Street.
237
CHIEF ENGINEER OF FIRE DEPARTMENT.
JAMES R. HOPKINS
Wigglesworth Street.
WATER BOARD.
C. G. ROWELL, Chairman
E. S. CONANT, Clerk
EDWARD FOOTE
AARON R. COOLIDGE
LOREN W. JONES
Pearl Street.
Pearl Street.
Broadway.
Columbus Avenue.
Appleton Street.
SUPERINTENDENT OF WATER WORKS. NATHANIEL DENNETT, Office, Prospect Street.
OVERSEERS OF POOR. AUSTIN BELKNAP, Mayor, Chairman, ex officio. Central Street, Office, City Hall.
HORACE CHAPIN, Secretary
Office, Union Square.
THOMAS CUNNINGHAM
Oak Street.
ANSEL LEWIS
Webster Street.
ASSESSORS.
THOMAS CUNNINGHAM, Chairman
Oak Street
FRANK G. WILLIAMS
Albion Street.
GEORGE W. HADLEY
Perkins Street
GEORGE I. VINCENT, Clerk
Cherry Street.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE 1877. HON. AUSTIN BELKNAP, Mayor, ex officio. STILLMAN H. LIBBY, President of Common Council, ex officio.
WARD ONE.
JOHN H. BUTLER .
Benedict Street.
SANFORD HANSCOM, M. D.
Perkins Street.
HENRY M. MOORE
Myrtle Street.
WARD TWO.
CHARLES S. LINCOLN
Laurel Street.
MICHAEL F. FARRELL
E. T. LUCE .
Grand View Avenue. Pleasant Avenue.
238
WARD THREE.
HENRY F. WOODS
Forster Street.
JOSEPH P. WILLIAMS
.
Adams Street.
HENRY F. SPENCER
Sycamore Street.
WARD FOUR.
COL. CHARLES F. KING
Summer Street.
HORACE CHAPIN
Beach Street.
WALTER W. COLBURN
Grove Street.
Chairman, HON. AUSTIN BELKNAP.
Secretary and Superintendent, JOSHUA H. DAVIS
JOINT STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE CITY COUNCIL FOR 1877.
ACCOUNTS. - Aldermen Skilton and Cole ; Councilmen Davis, Carr, and Woodward.
BURIAL-GROUNDS. - Aldermen Long and Nickerson ; Council- men Bowers, Dodge, and Durgin.
CLAIMS. - Mayor and Alderman Conant ; President of Council ; Councilmen Davis and Dennett.
FINANCE. - Mayor, Aldermen Cole and David; President of Council ; Councilmen Bowers, Woodward, Carr, and O'Riley.
FUEL AND LIGHTS. - Aldermen Conant and Tallman ; Council- men Bowers, Walker, and Andrews.
FIRE DEPARTMENT. - Aldermen David and Cole ; Councilmen Dennett, Crosby, and Baldwin.
HIGHWAYS - Aldermen Cole and Cummings ; Councilmen Crosby. Dodge, and Littlefield.
ORDINANCES. - Aldermen David and Skilton ; Conncilmen Pills- bury, Durgin, and O'Riley.
PUBLIC PROPERTY. - Aldermen Nickerson and Long ; Council- men Lovering, Durgin, and Baldwin.
PRINTING. - Alderman David ; Councilmen Pillsbury and Walker.
STATE AID AND SOLDIERS' RELIEF. - Aldermen Conant and Tall- man ; Councilmen O'Riley, Pillsbury, and Andrews.
WATER. - Aldermen Long and Skilton ; President of Council ; Councilmen Woodward and Davis.
239
STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN FOR 1877.
SEWERS. - Aldermen Tallman, Skilton, and Cummings.
ELECTIONS. - Aldermen Tallman and Cummings.
ENROLLED ORDINANCES. - Aldermen Cummings and Conant.
LICENSES. - Aldermen Tallman and Cummings.
HEALTH. - Aldermen Skilton, Nickerson, and L'ag.
POLICE. - Aldermen Nickerson and David.
COMMITTEES OF COMMON COUNCIL.
ELECTIONS AND RETURNS. - Councilmen Littlefield, Lovering, and Carr.
ENROLLED ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS .- Councilmen Andrews, Crosby, and Dennett.
352 569
1877
206077 REF. TACK
1
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