USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1896 > Part 4
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At the very commencement of your term of service you will be called upon to grapple with the intricate question of the re- vision of our city charter. Having lately made a somewhat ex- tended statement to the Charter Commission of my own views upon the subject, I shall not take time to-day to enter into any detailed recommendations. I will simply state that I heartily ap- prove, in the main, of the suggestions contained in the majority report of the Commissioners.
I trust you will enter upon the study of the question with un- biased minds, and conduct your investigations in a broadly non- partisan spirit. I would specially counsel you against a narrow conservatism in dealing with so important a topic. It is not enough to say that we have secured fairly good results under the old charter, hence it is inexpedient to sanction radical changes. If we had been controlled by the same sort of reasoning in the past, we should to-day be riding across the country in stage coaches, and reading "Pilgrim's Progress" by the light of a tal- low candle. If you take time for thorough investigation, you will find that the leading recommendations of the Commissioners conform to the best thought and practice of modern times upon the subject of municipal government.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
I cannot speak in too high praise of the earnest, efficient work which is being done in our public schools. We have a corps of able and enthusiastic teachers, teachers who realize the
52
ANNUAL REPORTS.
dignity and responsibility of their vocation, and labor with tire- less zeal for the welfare of the pupils under their charge.
The sentiment of our community will not tolerate the slight- est lowering of the standard of our public schools. The tax- payers do not regret the expenditure of any dollar which goes for the erection of commodious school buildings, for the compensa- tion of intelligent and faithful teachers, for the carrying out of the best methods of public instruction. Wherever else we may look for scepticism upon the subject of free public education, we shall find no trace of it in any city of this Commonwealth. In a free republic like ours everything depends upon the intelligence and virtue of the masses. It is to the schoolrooms of the land we must chiefly look for the inspiration and training which shall de- velop the noblest traits of character, which shall foster the loftiest patriotism, which shall produce the highest types of citizenship.
Schoolhouses must be built to meet the demands of our rapidly growing city, but in their erection and equipment no un- necessary expense should be incurred. In dealing with those in- tellectual agencies, which are the very foundation of all our ma- terial and moral prosperity, no niggardly policy should be pur- sued; but care and prudence should be exercised in the manage- ment of a department which calls for such liberal expenditures of money. Those who are entrusted with the administration of our public schools ought to feel it their duty to make the burden of taxation as light as is compatible with the highest efficiency of the system.
Many of our citizens will be surprised to learn that the new English High School building is already outgrown. It was sup- posed that, upon the completion of this building, the needs of the High school pupils would be supplied for many years to come; and yet we are confronted with the unwelcome fact that there have been times during the past year when all the attendants at this school could not be accommodated with desks. The School Committee recommend that steps be taken at once to enlarge the building by the addition of a wing projection containing seven rooms. At the time the plans of the building were accepted, it was not known that provision must be made for a manual train-
53
MAYOR'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
ing plant, and no suitable rooms were allotted by the architect for such a department. The present manual training quarters, in the basement of the building, are not well adapted to the pur- pose, and some disturbance is occasioned in the schoolrooms above by the noise and vibration of the machinery. At the earli- est practicable day a wing should be added to the building for the exclusive accommodation of this department. There would be some advantage in placing the manual training department in a separate building, as is done in Cambridge; and it is possible that the vacant engine house at the corner of Highland avenue and Walnut street could be fitted up for such a purpose. This build- ing is heavily timbered, and otherwise well constructed to with- stand the jar of heavy machinery. As a temporary expedient, for the accommodation of pupils during the present year, I would recommend the transfer of the office of the Superintendent of Schools to some other building. The rooms which he now oc- cupies in the English High School building can then be con- verted into a classroom for about forty pupils. I would also sug- gest that you institute a careful inquiry into the feasibility of plac- ing additional seats in existing classrooms. In last year's in- augural address I reluctantly called attention to a serious blunder which had been made in the size of the several classrooms. We now fully realize the costliness of the mistake, when we are asked to enlarge a new building which should have furnished ample accommodations for many years, but for the strange oversight of those who planned the edifice. Would it not be proper, merely for the information of the public and as a guide for future action, to make such investigation as shall fix the responsibility for a blunder which will cost our city thousands of dollars, a blunder for which no human ingenuity can provide a remedy? We are all proud of the English High school as a branch of our educa- tional system. It is doing a grand work, and its rapid growth proves how highly it is appreciated by the public. Its usefulness must not be impaired by any narrow or thoughtless parsimony.
The West Somerville and Winter Hill districts were greatly relieved last year by the completion of the William H. Hodgkins schoolhouse, and the addition of five rooms to the Jacob T.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
Glines building. The Sanford Hanscom schoolhouse, when fin- ished, will meet the requirements of East Somerville for several - years to come. This year your efforts should be directed to pro- viding accommodations for other parts of the city.
The erection of a new twelve-room building in the Spring. Hill district ought not longer to be put off. I would recommend that a lot of land be purchased and plans for the building pro- cured at the earliest possible moment. Every public-spirited citizen regrets that such unsuitable and dilapidated buildings as the Beech-street and Franklin schoolhouses should have been so long kept in use. Their places should be immediately taken by a spacious modern building, similar to those erected of late in other parts of the city. No better location could be found for the new building than on the Beech-street lot.
You ought also to consider the advisability of building a four-room schoolhouse on Washington street, between the Fitch- burg railroad and Beacon street. Such a building is needed for the relief of the schools in the Prospect Hill district, and would permit of the abandonment of the old Harvard schoolhouse. Large sums have been expended during the past year in the im- provement and repair of some of our older school buildings. A new heating and ventilating system has been adopted for the Luther V. Bell school, and the old sanitary appliances in the Forster school have been replaced by modern fixtures of the most approved design. I believe these two buildings are now in ex- cellent sanitary condition. I would advise the purchase of a lot of land near the corner of Central and Albion streets as a site for a twelve-room schoolhouse.
I would recommend such changes in the city ordinances as will permit of the payment of school teachers' salaries on the first day of each month.
There never was a time when our free public schools were held in higher esteem than at the present hour. They are so broad in their scope and catholic in their spirit as to commend themselves to men of all classes, conditions, and creeds. They stand for the very highest and finest type of Republican com- munism, where the representatives of every race and creed sit at
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MAYOR'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
a common table and partake of a repast which each has helped to furnish. They are, and ought always to remain, absolutely non-sectarian. · While the teaching of creeds and dogmas is pro- hibited within their hospitable walls, the precepts of natural re- ligion and the ethics of undogmatic Christianity are carefully in- culcated. Each child is taught obedience to the universally recognized moral law; is ceaselessly reminded of the obligation which he is under to cultivate the best traits of kindness, truth- fulness, honesty, purity. This is all we have a right to expect in schools supported by representatives of every sect and shade of belief. God forbid that the harsh clamor of political strife or the fetid breath of sectarian hate should ever profane those sacred temples of humanity, wherein our children daily worship at the stainless altar of wisdom and virtue.
SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL.
Most earnestly I renew the recommendation contained in last year's inaugural address for the erection of a soldiers' monu- ment on Central Hill. Every instinct of patriotism demands that this work shall not be longer delayed. It has ceased to be a mere question of expediency, and has risen to the dignity of a sacred obligation. It must not be confounded with any other project, however meritorious.
I have not a word to say against any proper and lawful plan for providing the Grand Army of the Republic with a suitable room for its business and social gatherings. I will cheerfully do all in my power to secure some place where the priceless memen- toes of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars may be preserved and properly displayed. But when I speak of a soldiers' memorial, I mean something altogether different from these. I have in mind a monument which shall stand upon our beautiful central hilltop, in the sight of all our people, telling its own story of the heroic exploits of the valiant men of Somerville; the men who cheerfully offered up their lives on the altar of their country. When they left their homes, more than thirty years ago, their eyes turned lovingly to that grassy eminence, crowned in those days with only two plain brick buildings,-the one a schoolhouse,
.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
and the other a house consecrated to the worship of God. The spot was dear to them; but they knew not whether their eyes should ever look upon it again. During those direful years of conflict they endured every hardship and made the grandest sacrifices, and it is our duty to see to it that a suitable memorial shall tell to the oncoming generations the story of their heroic deeds. Such a memorial is not to be found in any room in a pub- lic building, but rather in a votive shaft which shall stand out by itself, under the same blue sky beneath which they camped on many an anxious day and many a lonely night; out in the glare of the midsummer sun, whose scorching rays they endured on many a tiresome march; out in the wind and storm and tempest, before which their dauntless spirits never quailed. Such a me- morial, as I have said, would tell its own story. Every man, woman, and child, looking upon it, would know that it stood as this city's tribute to the memory of her valiant sons, and genera- tions yet unborn would gain inspiration and learn priceless les- sons of patriotism from its silent but eloquent form. Let no man say that Somerville cannot afford thus to commemorate the fidelity of her martyred children. She will indeed show her pov- erty in the highest traits of gratitude and affection if she longer neglects a tender and sacred duty to her brave and loyal sons.
I shall be compelled to discuss, in later messages to your honorable boards, certain questions of great importance relating to the water, health, street lights, and poor departments, and, possibly, to the establishment of free public baths. It seems proper to suggest, in this connection, the propriety of printing in the annual reports all messages from the Mayor to the City Council which relate to subjects of general and permanent in- terest. In conclusion, permit me to remind you, gentlemen, that you are trustees for the entire body of citizens who dwell in Somerville, and should act with that prudence, diligence, and honesty which are demanded of those who are clothed with the highest fiduciary powers. It will not always be a safe rule to in- quire what you might be justified in doing with your own money
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MAYOR'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
under similar circumstances. Trustees are held to a much stricter accountability than this. They must so handle the funds with which they are entrusted as to carry out the objects of the trust in the most prudent and advantageous manner. You have taken an oath to serve your fellow-citizens with honesty and fidelity, and I believe you will strive to the utmost to keep invio- late your pledge. Many of you have accepted public office at a great sacrifice of private interests. For the services you render the city no pecuniary recompense is received. And yet, I feel sure that you will spare neither time nor thought in dealing with those important questions which are committed to your hands. You are the successors of a long line of men who have made a proud record in the offices which you now hold, and I trust the next Mayor of Somerville will be able to say of you, as I so gladly say of them, that they responded cheerfully to the demands which office-holding made upon their time and energy; that they performed every public duty with tireless zeal and unwavering in- tegrity.
We ought to feel proud of this city in which we dwell, especi- ally of the historic associations which cluster about her soil. Cold, indeed, is the patriotism of that man who, walking these streets to-day, hears not from afar the bugle notes of freedom, sees not the bright gleam of those beacon fires of liberty which were kindled upon these hills more than a century ago. Somer- ville is favored in many important respects. Her standing is high among the cities of the Commonwealth. She represents all that is best in material prosperity and moral advancement. To be connected with the municipal government of such a city is an honor to be highly prized, and I trust no one of us may ever be unmindful of the grave responsibilities incident to such an ex- alted position. Whether Somerville shall continue in her course of prosperity and fame depends largely upon the wisdom and prudence which you, her chosen representatives, shall display.
REPORT
OF THE
TREASURER AND COLLECTOR OF TAXES.
CITY OF SOMERVILLE.
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN, January 27, 1897. Referred to Committee on Finance, and sent down for concurrence. GEORGE I. VINCENT, Clerk.
IN COMMON COUNCIL, January 28, 1897. Referred to Committee on Finance, in concurrence. CHARLES S. ROBERTSON, Clerk.
CITY OF SOMERVILLE.
IN COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, February 12, 1897.
TO THE CITY COUNCIL OF SOMERVILLE :-
The Committee on Finance report that in compliance with Section 10, of Chapter 4, of the revised ordinances, they have, in conjunction with the Auditor, and in the manner prescribed by said section, examined and audited the books and accounts of the Treasurer and Collector of Taxes for the year ending December 31, 1896.
The said books and accounts were carefully compared with the books, records, accounts, papers, vouchers and documents of the Auditor, Treas- urer, City Clerk, and the several committees, boards and officers of the city, and with the certificates and statement transmitted by the City Clerk, as provided in Section 5 of said chapter.
The committee also carefully verified the cash balance at the close of business, February 12, 1897, as shown by the books and accounts of the Treasurer, such verification having been made by an actual count of the cash on hand and statements from the banks in which the funds of the city were deposited.
The committee take pleasure in reporting, as the result of their exami- nation, that no error or discrepancy was discovered in the accounts and records of the Treasurer and Collector, and expressing their cordial approval of the remarkably neat, methodical and accurate manner in which he has kept the books and accounts of his department, as well as the general efficiency displayed by him in the performance of his important and arduous official duties, and recommend that his report be accepted, and printed in the. annual reports of 1896.
ALBION A. PERRY, GEO. E. WHITAKER, L. HERBERT HUNTLEY, F. DE WITT LAPHAM, J. W. MACDONALD,
Committee.
IN BOARD OF ALDERMEN, February 24, 1897. Accepted, and sent down for concurrence.
GEORGE I. VINCENT, Clerk.
IN COMMON COUNCIL, February 24, 1897. Accepted, in concurrence.
CHAS. S. ROBERTSON, Clerk.
CITY OF SOMERVILLE.
Treasurer's Office, January 20, 1897.
To the Honorable, the Mayor, and City Council of the City of Somerville :-
Gentlemen,-The undersigned presents herewith the twenty- fifth annual report of the financial condition of the city, and a statement showing, in detail, the receipts and disbursements for the year ending December 31, 1896.
The value of the property of the city December 31, 1895, was $2,356,620.40. The property acquired during the year was as follows :-
City Hall Improvement $16,137.53
Fire Department, Fire Station No. One 22,052.93
Fire Department, Fire Station No. Four, Im-
provement 7,054.42
Fire Department, Land for Fire Station, Claren- don Hill, Ward Four . 2,464.20
Highways, City Stable 1,441.00
Highways, Steam Road Roller, No. Two 3,500.00
Schoolhouse, English High 6,843.73
Schoolhouse, Jacob T. Glines, Addition 27,260.71
Schoolhouse, Ward One (Sanford Hanscom) 17,434.78
Schoolhouse, Ward Four, William H. Hodgkins 38,269.12
Water Works Extension . 16,631.83
Total amount of property acquired during the year $159,090.25 Making the value of the public property, December 31, 1896, as per Table A, $2,515,710.65.
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
The Funded Debt, December 31, 1895, as per Table B, of the last annual report, was $1,506,500.00.
The debt was increased during the year by appropriations as follows :-
City Hall Improvement $22,000.00
Fire Department, Fire Station, Ward One . 6,500.00
Fire Department, Fire Station, Ward Four, Im- provement 5,000.00
Fire Department, Land for Fire Station, Claren- don Hill, Ward Four 2,500.00
Highways, City Stable
2,000.00
Highways, Steam Road Roller, No. 2
3,500.00
Renewals of Funded Debt
47,000.00
Schoolhouse, English High
7,000.00
Schoolhouse, Jacob T. Glines, Addition
22,000.00
Schoolhouse, Land, Spring Hill District
3,000.00
Schoolhouse, Land, Ward Three
6,000.00
Schoolhouse, Luther V. Bell, heating, ventilat-
ing and sanitary apparatus .
6,500.00
Schoolhouse, Ward One .
35,000.00
Schoolhouse, Ward Four .
9,000.00
Total amount of appropriations on Funded
Debt account
$177,000.00
For which the following bonds were issued, viz .:-
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2058 to 2067, payable 1897, interest 4 per cent
$10,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2068 to 2077, payable 1898, interest 4 per cent
10,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2078 to 2087, payable 1899, interest 4 per cent
10,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2088 to 2097, payable 1900, interest 4 per cent
10,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2098 to 2106, payable 1901, Amount carried forward
$40,000.00
65
REPORT OF THE TREASURER AND COLLECTOR OF TAXES.
Amount brought forward
$40,000.00
interest 4 per cent 9,000.00-
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2107 to 2115, payable 1902, interest 4 per cent 9,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2116 to 2123, payable 1903, interest 4 per cent 8,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2124 to 2131, payable 1904, interest 4 per cent 8,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2132 to 2139, payable 1905, interest 4 per cent 8,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2140 to 2147, payable 1906, interest 4 per cent 8,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2148 to 2155, payable 1907, interest 4 per cent
8,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2156 to 2163, payable 1908, interest 4 per cent
8,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2164 to 2171, payable 1909, interest 4 per cent
8,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2172 to 2179, payable 1910, interest 4 per cent
8,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2180 to 2187, payable 1911, interest 4 per cent 8,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2188 to 2194, payable 1912, interest 4 per cent 7,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2195 to 2201, payable 1913, interest 4 per cent .
7,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2202 to 2208, payable 1914, interest 4 per cent 7,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2209 to 2215, payable 1915, interest 4 per cent 7,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 2216 to 2222, payable 1916, interest 4 per cent 7,000.00
Water Loan Bonds Nos. 448 to 459, payable 1897 to 1908, $1000 annually, interest 4 per cent .
12,000.00
Total amount of bonds issued in 1896 . · $177,000.00
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ANNUAL REPORTS.
The following bonds became due and were paid during the year, viz .:-
City Loan Bonds Nos. 1254 to 1263, interest 4 per cent $10,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 1593 to 1601, interest 4 per cent 9,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 1734 to 1752, interest 4 per cent 19,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 944 to 948, interest 4 per cent 5,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 1053 to 1062, interest 4 per cent
10,000.00
City Loan Bonds Nos. 1123 to 1126, interest 4 per cent . City Loan Bonds Nos. 1175 to 1181, interest 4 per cent · City Loan Bonds Nos. 1373 to 1396, interest 4} per cent ·
4,000.00
7,000.00
24,000.00
Sewer Loan Bonds Nos. 1 to 7, interest 5 per cent
35,000.00
Sewer Loan Bond No. 55, interest 4 per cent
1,000.00
Sewer Loan Bond No. 38, interest 4} per cent · Sewer Loan Bonds Nos. 74 to 77, interest 4 per cent
4,000.00
City Loan Paving Bonds Nos. 16 to 20, interest 4 per cent
5,000.00
Water Loan Bonds Nos. 125 to 136, interest 5 per cent .
12,000.00
Water Loan Bond No. 137, interest 5 per cent ·
500.00
Water Loan Bond No. 285, interest 4 per cent
1,000.00
Water Loan Bonds Nos. 321 to 323, interest 4 per cent
3,000.00
Water Loan Bonds Nos. 403 to 404, interest 4 per cent
2,000.00
Total amount of bonds paid during the year $152,500.00 Leaving the net Funded Debt, December 31, 1896, as per Table B, $1,531,000.00.
1,000.00
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REPORT OF THE TREASURER AND COLLECTOR OF TAXES.
RESOURCES.
Assessors' warrant for the tax levy, assessed upon the polls and estates of the inhabitants, as follows :- Real Estate valuation
$45,224,800.00
Personal Estate valuation
3,846,000.00
Total valuation
$49,070,800.00
A rate of $15.40 on $1,000.00 valuation, with 15,361 polls at $2.00 each, gives the total amount of tax levy
$786,412.32
Borrowed on Funded Debt account to provide for the cost of public improvements, and re- newals of City Loan Bonds ·
177,000.00
Revenue from the Water Works 94,270.17 ·
National Bank and Corporation taxes ·
21,843.77
Court fees, fines, etc. 5,210.00
Received of County Treasurer for dog licenses .
2,506.29
Unexpended balances of 1895
162,693.51
Received from other sources
55,730.46
Total amount of resources
$1,305,666.52
The appropriations, credits, and balances of the various ac- counts were as follows :-
Accounts. Appropriations. Credits. Expenditures and Balances.
City Hall Improvement :-
Appropriation, Funded Debt account . $22,000.00
Transferred from other accounts .
$2,399.46
Expenditures .
$16,137.53
Balance to be ex- pended in 1897 8,261.93
County of Middlesex :- Appropriation 43,327.63 Expended, County tax 43,327.63
.
.
68
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Accounts. Appropriations. Credits. Expenditures and Balances.
Engineering Department :-
Appropriation
. $10,000.00
Received .
$36.34
Expenditures
Excess
$9,456.41 579.93
Excess and Deficiency :-
Balance from 1895, $1,231.33.
Transferred
to Fire
Department, $1,000.00 ·
231.33
Balance, excess in 1895 account . 231.33
Fire Department :-
Appropriation, $51,450. Transferred from other accounts, $5,000.00 56,450.00 Transferred from Ex- cess and Deficiency account 1,000.00
Received for fire alarm signal boxes, old materials, etc. 682.72
Expenditures . Deficiency .
60,930.75 2,798.03
Fire Department, Fire Alarm Signal Boxes :-
Transferred from Fire Department, Fire Station, Ward One account 1,000.00
Expenditures 975.00
Excess .
25.00
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REPORT OF THE TREASURER AND COLLECTOR OF TAXES.
Accounts. Appropriations. Credits. Expenditures and Balances.
Fire Department, Fire Station, Ward One :--- Balance from 1895 $9,208.22
Appropriation, Funded Debt account, $6,500. Transferred to other accounts, $2,189.54 $4,310.46
Received from Con- tractor for heating . Expenditures . .
42.47
$13,561.15
Fire Department, Fire Station No. Four Improvement :- Appropriation, Funded Debt account, $5,000.
Transferred from other accounts, $2,189.54
7,189.54
Expenditures
7,054.42
Excess ·
135.12
Fire Department, Land for Fire Station, Clar- endon Hill, Ward Four :-
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