USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1895 > Part 4
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PUBLIC PARKS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS.
It is to be regretted that Somerville has not within her own borders any extensive public park, and that her territory is now so compactly built upon it is hardly probable that such a park can at any time hereafter be secured. Nothing is more conducive to the health and happiness of a crowded population than large, open spaces, where the blessings of light, air, and beautiful scenery may be enjoyed by all classes. The most populous of our American cities have pur- sued a wise and liberal policy in laying out and beautifying public pleasure-grounds, and in our Commonwealth the Legislature has of late enacted laws which make it much easier than in former years to set apart extensive tracts of land as public reservations. Under the authority conferred by these laws large unimproved areas have already been taken and dedicated to the perpetual use of the people. The reservation in which Somerville is chiefly interested, and the one from which her citizens are likely to derive greatest benefit, is known as the " Middlesex Fells." It is a wild, woodland region, dotted with miniature lakes, and characterized by remarkably diversified natural scenery.
It is expected that the Fells reservation will ultimately embrace not less than thirty-five hundred acres, and it will remain for all time a vast pleasure ground for the recreation and refreshment of all who may resort to its peaceful, wooded slopes. As our own people become better acquainted with the Fells, they will more fully appre- ciate the rare beauty and picturesque charms of the region, and increasing numbers will each year avail themselves of the advantages afforded by such a magnificent forest domain for rest, for exercise, and for communion with nature. Improvements in facilities for public travel are being constantly made, and it is probable that lines
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of street cars will, at an early day, connect our city with some of the main entrances to the Middlesex Fells.
Somerville has been liberally assessed for the cost, and will be called upon to pay her full share towards the maintenance of the Metropolitan Park system. It therefore behooves us to use the utmost diligence in promoting all measures which will make the benefits of the system available to our citizens. We stand in urgent need of broad, well-kept roadways or boulevards, running through our city, and connecting the park systems of Boston, Brookline, Newton, and Cambridge with the Middlesex Fells and other public reservations situated in the northerly suburbs. By an Act of the Legislature passed in the year 1894, the Metropolitan Park Commissioners were authorized to lay out and construct such connecting roadways or boulevards. Initial steps were taken by the retiring City Council, acting in conjunction with a committee of our citizens, to secure for Somerville a short stretch of boulevard, extending from Powder- house square to the lower Mystic Lake, there to meet a boulevard which should continue along the easterly shores of the Mystic Lakes, through the Abbajona River valley and the village of Winchester, to the Fells. Before the claims of Somerville could be presented to the Commissioners they had already laid out work sufficient to ex- haust the entire appropriation authorized by the Legislature for boulevard purposes. No further appropriation having been provided, Somerville will be obliged to wait until such time as her representa- tives in the General Court can secure additional boulevard legislation favorable to her interests. I believe an effort should be made in that direction during the present year, especially in view of the fact that our city must pay a considerable part of the cost of boulevards now in course of construction for the benefit of neighboring cities and towns. It certainly seems just that some slight advantage should inure to Somerville from the assessments levied upon her for boulevard purposes.
In our zeal to secure the highest benefits from the Metropolitan Park system, let us not neglect the small but picturesque pleasure- grounds within our own borders. We are all proud of the park on Central Hill, and its beauty will be even more marked when the plan for its development, repeatedly urged by our retiring Mayor, is fully carried out. What it lacks in area is made up for in grandeur of situation. Fortunate, indeed, was it for our city that such a tract
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C-MAYOR'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF 1896.
of land should have been early acquired and set apart for public uses. Few cities in this country have a pleasure-ground on an equally com- manding and conspicuous site, in a location so central and convenient. At present its beauty is grievously marred by the buildings standing on its two prominent corners ; but these defects will be ultimately removed, and noble and imposing structures occupy the places now in a measure defaced by the unsightly City Hall and Engine House.
The Nathan Tufts Park is unique and attractive, and will be much frequented in the future on account of the historic associations which cluster around its central object, the venerable Old Powder House.
The Broadway Park becomes more attractive each passing year, as the trees attain larger growth. Strenuous measures should be adopted to restrain the rowdyism - much of it attributable to visitors from a neighboring city - which too often prevails there on summer evenings. I sincerely hope that no encroachments will be permitted on any of our public grounds or parkways merely to serve utilitarian purposes. I would recommend that you give careful attention to the trees growing in our parks and streets. They add much to the attractiveness of the city, and should be cared for and trimmed by persons fully qualified for the task. Our citizens should be en- couraged to set out trees in front of their estates, for in no other way can they so effectively and permanently beautify our residential districts.
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT.
Somerville has to-day the following street mileage : Public streets, 52.8 miles ; private streets and ways, 33.5; total, 86.3 miles. During the past year ten private streets, whose combined length was .9 of a mile, have been accepted by the City Council, and 1.7 miles of private streets laid out on plans, a part of the latter having been already opened to public travel. Over four miles of edgestones have been set, and 9,776 square yards of brick sidewalks laid.
One of the most important items of work done by the department during the year 1895 was the paving of Medford street, from the Cambridge line to the Fitchburg railroad. Owing to the peculiar nature of the subsoil in this locality, it was found necessary to lay a concrete foundation for the support of the granite paving blocks. For several years this particular piece of street has been in a deplor- able state, and in wet weather almost impassable. It is now in a
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condition to meet the requirements of the heavy teaming from the great slaughtering establishments located in that neighborhood. Much work has been done around the new English High School in the way of grading, and in the construction of drives and walks.
Particular attention should be given by you, gentlemen, to the care of our streets, especially the main thoroughfares. Their present condition furnishes just cause for criticism and complaint to all who are obliged to use them. Some means for their radical improvement ought to be speedily adopted. Public interest in the subject of good roads is being everywhere awakened. We are beginning to learn that they are a splendid investment for any city. They save money. They attract a desirable class of residents. They conduce to the happiness and prosperty, as well as the greater safety, of all who travel over them. More is lost by reason of poor roads than is com- monly thought. The mere wear and tear of vehicles and injury to horses are no insignificant items, not to mention loss of time and temper. The discomfort and vexation caused by rough, dirty, ill- kept streets are not the less real because they cannot be computed in dollars and cents.
The advent of the bicycle was the harbinger of better highways. A man may drive a dumb beast day after day over the worst roads, and scarcely give a thought to their defects; but when his own muscles become the propelling power, his voice is instantly raised in protest. The wheelman is first to detect rough places in a street, and to insist upon their repair. The bicycle has become something more than a toy, or a mere means of recreation. It is now almost universally recognized as an instrument of utility, and its usefulness would be greatly enhanced by the building of better roads. The day laborer, the artisan, the clerk, the merchant, the professional man and woman, find in the silent steed the best form of rapid transit, as well as a dispenser of health and happiness. I believe I am justified, in view of the present extended use of the bicycle by all classes and by both sexes, in urging upon your attention the claims of the wheelmen and wheelwomen for better roads in Somerville. I have sometimes thought it would be a good preliminary discipline for a Superintendent of Streets in our city to give him a bicycle, and compel him to ride about twenty miles each day along our principal thoroughfares.
It is easy to point out defects in our streets. It will be your duty to discover and apply remedies. At this time I can only make the most general suggestions.
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C-MAYOR'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF 1896.
The first requisite in the building and care of roads is intelligence and skill on the part of the road builder. No appropriation of money, however liberal, will take the place of the wise brain and the cunning hand. We ought to insist that our Superintendent of Streets should study and master all of the details of the best modern methods of road construction and road repair, and at once give to the public the benefit of his research. He, in return, has a right to demand that his department shall not be used to pay political debts or dispense official favors. The making and repairing of our highways can never be safely left to empirical, haphazard methods. Road-building is taking its place among the exact sciences, and demands for its successful prosecution the best obtainable talent. Our streets should be constructed of suitable material, and in such a manner as to pre- sent a smooth, hard, and durable surface. When so built they should be carefully watched, and all hollows, ruts, cradle-holes, and irregu- larities of surface promptly attended to. If trifling defects are neg- lected, serious damage is sure to result to the highway, until the entire roadbed must be rebuilt. I would recommend that a broad and rational plan be adopted for the permanent improvement of our principal avenues, especially those which are subjected to the heaviest traffic. As soon as the ground is free from frost, work upon one or more of these avenues should be commenced, and carried for- ward with thoroughness and vigor. Would it not also be a good practice to make it a special duty of one or more of the employees of the department to drive over our main thoroughfares at frequent in- tervals, and remove all loose stones and other unsightly and danger- ous objects, as well as report upon defects in the roadbed? I have observed large cellar stones lying in our streets day after day, just as they were dropped from the carts of careless teamsters, until a police- man or some public-spirited citizen took the trouble to place them in the gutter. Bits of electric wire and other unsightly débris are per- mitted to remain in the highway or on the sidewalk for an indefinite time. All this gives our streets an untidy appearance, and would not be tolerated for a single day in many English and Continental cities. In view of the urgent demand for the macadamizing of some of our principal streets, and the probability that the highway appropriation will be heavily taxed for the rebuilding of Mystic avenue, I would recommend that no paving be done the present year, except to complete work already undertaken.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
HEALTH AND STREET LIGHTS DEPARTMENTS.
I shall content myself at this time with a mere reference to the departments of Health and Street Lights. They are both of prime importance, but I have had no opportunity to study the details of their work, or make inquiry as to their needs. It may be deserving of some thought as to whether the duties of the Inspector of the Board of Health, and the Superintendent of Collection of Ashes and Offal might not be performed by the same person, and thus dispense with the services of one salaried officer. The cost of street lighting last year was $45,000, being three fourths as much as the entire sum appropriated for the building and maintenance of our highways. Our streets are now well lighted, and further expense in this direction should only be incurred in response to urgent requirements.
DEATH OF THOMAS R. ROULSTONE.
The office of Inspector of Buildings and Superintendent of Public Buildings became vacant in October last by the death of Thomas R. Roulstone. Mr. Roulstone had served the city in many capacities with distinguished ability and scrupulous fidelity. He was a man of exalted character and unblemished reputation. He endeared himself to all his associates by his genial manner and kindly services; he won the respect and confidence of the entire community by an exemplary private life, and official conduct which was absolutely above reproach.
CITY HALL ACCOMMODATIONS.
Probably no subject has of late been more discussed by our citizens, or evoked greater diversity of opinion, than that of the erection of a new City Hall. We all agree that such a building is needed ; we all know it would add much to the attractiveness of our Central Hill Park. Something must be done the present year in the way of giving relief to the departments now crowded together in the old City Hall building. If a new building could be erected without imposing too grievous a burden of indebtedness, I should not hesitate to commend the measure to your immediate action. For reasons which have been fully set forth in other parts of this address, I am persuaded that we ought not to enter upon such a costly undertaking in the present condition of the city's finances.
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C- MAYOR'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF 1896.
A City Hall, so beautiful and spacious as to comport with the magnificent Central Hill location, and meet the future demands of our growing city, could not, in my judgment, be built for less than $300,000. Such an expenditure would swell our funded debt to formidable proportions, cripple many departments of the city's ser- vice, and retard important public enterprises which require immediate attention. I therefore recommend that you take early steps towards increasing the accommodations at City Hall by an enlargement of the old building, and, perhaps, by a transfer of some of the minor departments to the vacant Engine House at the corner of Highland avenue and Walnut street. I am aware that the old buildings cannot be remodeled in such a manner as to make them pleasing objects from an architectural standpoint. They can be put in a condition to serve the practical needs of the departments for several years to come ; and this by the expenditure of a sum no greater than would be necessary to meet the interest and sinking fund requirements for a single year of such a debt as would be created by the erection of a new City Hall.
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
This popular branch of our educational system is in the hands of able and cultured citizens. With its practical management the City Council is not concerned. And yet, so large a place does the Public Library fill in the life and thought of our people, that I cannot refrain from making brief mention of it. It is the treasure-house of the intellect, a university whose curriculum the wisest man or woman never outgrows. No matter how meagre our purse, how humble our station, the Public Library brings to our fireside the rarest gems that ever sparkled in the coronet of human genius; it gives us closest companionship with the sages, the heroes, the saints of every age and every clime.
The library has been greatly improved during the past year by the addition of new book stacks, which will give all the shelf room required for several years to come. A comprehensive catalogue, admirably classified, has just been issued, and this will be of much assistance to the reading public, not only in the finding of particular books, but as a guide in the judicious selection of topics for special study.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
It is the testimony of those best informed upon the subject, that our public schools were never so fully equipped for thorough, useful
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
work as at the present time. I believe the city is receiving full value for its bountiful appropriations for the School Department. There are now, in round numbers, about 8,000 children in the public schools, 750 of whom are in the High schools.
The most important event occurring during the past year, in con- nection with our educational system, was the completion and occupa- tion of the English High School building. It is indeed a noble structure, with interior appointments matching its external beauty. It was intended that the building should seat 726 pupils, and thus meet the needs of the city for many years to come. Owing to some mistake or misunderstanding, it was found, when the building was completed, that the seating capacity, including the room now used as a biological laboratory, was but 577. Each classroom is deficient in seating accommodations. The mistake will prove costly for the city, not only in hastening the time when an enlargement of the building will be called for, but also for the reason that more teachers are re- quired, and more expense is entailed for the instruction of a given number of pupils than would have been necessary with classrooms of suitable dimensions. The Superintendent of Schools believes that the building will be taxed to its full seating capacity at the beginning of the next school year. The cost of the building, exclusive of land and furnishings, was $134,400.
The completion of the William H. Hodgkins School, in Ward Four, will afford much needed relief in the westerly part of our city. The crowded condition of the schools in Wards One and Three cannot longer be disregarded. That children are compelled to attend school on one-half time, or be housed in such an unsuitable building as the one on Beech street, is indeed humiliating to every public-spirited citizen.
We shall be obliged to respond to many pressing demands from our School Committee during the present year. Additional accommo- dations are required in several parts of the city, and they must be promptly and cheerfully supplied. Whatever else we may be com- pelled to leave undone, let us not neglect our public schools, nor impair their efficiency by an unwarrantable parsimony in the annual appropriations for their support.
Somerville has always been proud of her public schools, and I am earnest in presenting their claims, because I believe they are the cornerstone of our free government. They are something more
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C- MAYOR'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF 1896.
than training-fields of the intellect, where boys and girls are fitted for a mere bread-winning existence. They are the nurseries of purest democracy, the conquerors of those implacable enemies of republican institutions - intellectual narrowness, and class hatred. Within their hospitable precincts gather the children of all our people, standing on a plane of absolute equality, inspired by common aims, and united by common sympathies. They are there taught the lesson that there is but one true aristocracy - that of the intellect and conscience. At a time when the mind is most receptive, when the heart is most warm, our future rulers, both in the realm of the State and in the realm of the home, learn to love and respect each other, - a lesson of paramount importance in a country like ours, whose chief glory should be sought in the temples of peace, and not on the fields of war. Let us all strive to uphold and improve our splendid system of free public education, until its superiority over all methods of private instruction is acknowledged by every citizen.
SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL.
A little more than thirty years ago one of the greatest wars ever known in the history of the human race, and fought wholly within the borders of our own land, was brought to a close. For four long years the heroic citizen soldiery of the North stood in the heat and smoke of battle, struggling with matchless valor for the preservation of their country, and the glory of her flag. To the ranks of that magnificent Union Army, Somerville contributed her full quota of brave and patriotic men. They went from their homes blest with the benedictions of all good men, and the prayers of all true women, ready, if need be, to lay their lives on the altar of their country. Some of them sleep to-day in unmarked graves on Southern battle- fields. Many who survived the bloody conflicts have since gone to join their martyred comrades in that palace of immortality where their valiant spirits dwell. Others of their number still walk our streets, waiting a little until they, too, shall respond to the call of the Great Commander. And yet, I blush to say, no suitable monument has yet been reared on any of our hills, inscribed with the names of the men who did and dared so much in the hour of their country's peril. This matter has already been too long delayed, and I believe we have no moral right to further slight the memory of the dead, or ignore the oft-expressed wishes of their surviving
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comrades, by allowing our gratitude for their heroic services to vent itself in mere words. The soldiers themselves are, no doubt, the best judges as to the form of the memorial. Much has been said and written in favor of the erection of a beautiful public building which should contain a Memorial Hall. For my own part, I am reluctant to wait until the financial condition of our city shall warrant the building of such an edifice. It seems to me that no memorial would be so appropriate as a graceful shaft, standing on a conspicuous spot in our Central Hill Park, with the names of the honored dead engraved upon it. A room in a public building would be, much of the time, inaccessible to the great body of our people, and would not stand out with the clear and unmistakable significance of a granite monument. Already we have upon the crown of Central Hill two substantial and imposing school buildings and a public library. Before the lapse of many years we shall erect near the southerly corner of the park a still grander piece of architecture in the form of a new city hall. In these buildings -representing respectively our splendid system of free public education, and the best form of municipal government yet devised by man-will stand embodied the genius of our American Republic. What could be more fitting than to place in the midst of these enduring emblems of free education and free government a stately shaft, raised in memory of our gallant brothers who gave their lives for the preservation and perpetuation of such noble institutions? The form of memorial which I have suggested would stand for all time in plain view of our people, teaching to the oncoming generations its sublime lessons of patriotism. Above a populous city of peace- ful homes it would rise in proud companionship with the still loftier shaft on Bunker Hill, reminding us, as we go about our daily toil, that the sires who died in the earlier time transmitted to their sons their spirit of heroic, self-sacrificing valor. At a later day, when a City Hall is erected, a spacious room should be set apart therein for the use of the Grand Army of the Republic, and for the proper preservation and exhibition of those records and mementos of the Civil War which are so precious in the sight of our surviving soldiers, and will ever be fondly cherished by their sons. It is not probable that we can expend in a single year a sum suffi- cient to erect and complete an appropriate soldiers' memorial. We can, at least, make a beginning. I would, therefore, recom-
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C- MAYOR'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF 1896.
mend that an appropriation of not less than $10,000 be made the present year as the first contribution to a fund, to be known as the " Soldiers' Memorial Fund." Each succeeding year a further appro- priation can be made, until the sum thus set apart shall be sufficient for its sacred purpose.
Gentlemen of the City Council : -
Already I have trespassed too far upon your time and patience, and yet many things of great importance remain unsaid. In conclu- sion, I would urge each one of you, in the performance of your official duties, to keep ever in mind the idea that you are the representative of the entire city, and not alone of the neighborhood or ward in which you chance to dwell ; that you are the servant of all the people, not of any one class, party, or faction. It is no trivial matter to be intrusted with the management of the affairs of a municipal corpora- tion representing more than 52,000 people, and to supervise the dis- bursement, in a single year, of not less than a million dollars. Such a trust calls for the exercise of rare patience, wisdom and fidelity. Success will crown your efforts if you employ in the service of the city the same sagacity and zeal which you have found indispensable in the successful prosecution of your own private business. I do not doubt that you all enter upon the year's work with a fixed deter- mination to give to it your best thought and endeavor; that each of you stands here, like myself, untrammelled by a single pledge or obligation save that which is involved in your public oath of office. It is not reasonable to expect that you will be in full accord upon all the questions which may arise; but however widely your opinions may differ, never forget the obligation you are under to conduct your deliberations and debates with dignity and decorum. The good name of Somerville is, in large measure, committed to your keeping, and your acts and words, as recorded in the daily press, will contribute either to her glory or her shame. While it is your duty to be ever vigilant, and to insist that the official conduct of your associates shall conform to the highest standards of rectitude, you ought, nevertheless, to be very careful not to injure the reputation of a brother man, or bring disgrace upon our honored city by indis- creetly giving voice to heinous charges which have no foundation save in the imagination of jealous and evil-minded men. If you perform every duty with earnestness, integrity, and impartiality, you
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