USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1903 > Part 21
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278
ANNUAL REPORTS.
maintain any such institution or be liable for the board, care, treatment or act of any insane person. As soon as practicable after the first day of January in the year nineteen hundred and four the state board of in- sanity may transfer all insane persons who are cared for by the Common- wealth, or by any city or town, or by any board of officers thereof, and who are not cared for in any hospital, asylum or receptacle maintained by the Commonwealth, to such hospital, asylum or receptacle so main- tained as the said board of insanity may deem expedient; but nothing contained in this act shall be held to prevent the state board of insanity from placing insane persons at board in accordance with the provisions of law.
The following tables give the details of the work of the de- partment :-
TABLE NO. 1. Full Support (during the year).
In Somerville city home (men 16, women 11) .
27
In private families
3
In Somerville hospital .
176
In hospitals in other towns and cities for the sick
40
In Massachusetts school for the feeble-minded
5
Insane persons in private families
1
Insane persons in hospitals
.
.
126
TABLE NO. 2. Full Support (at present time, December 31, 1903).
In Somerville city home (men 12, women 7)
19
Insane in hospitals (we are reimbursed for 10) .
100
Insane in private families
1
In hospitals (sane)
.
.
TABLE NO 3. Partial Support (Outdoor Relief).
Families
232
Persons aided
1,188
Burials
6
Permits to Tewksbury almshouse .
9
.
16
279
SUPPORT OF POOR DEPARTMENT.
TABLE NO. 4. Reimbursements.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
$1,966 05
City of Boston
1,017 08
" Cambridge
371 74
66
Chelsea
53 20
Everett
15 00
66
Gloucester
31 80
66
Haverhill
10 00
66
Lawrence
7 00
66
Lowell
85 07
66
Lynn
44 70
66
Malden
166 40
66
Marlboro
18 00
66
Medford
171 00
66
Newton
42 00
66
Springfield
36 20
Worcester
36 00
66
66 Woburn
5 20
Town of Andover
23 00
66 Belmont
15 00
66
Canton
8 50
66
Concord
2 00
66
66 Hingham
3 50
66
Medfield
60
66
Revere
10 00
66
66 Rockport
42 80
Saugus
35 00
66
66 South Framingham
27 80
66
66 Wakefield
3 00
Guardians, relatives and individuals
2,863 79
$7,349 09
TABLE NO. 5. Somerville Hospital (Patients on City Beds).
Patients having settlement in Somerville
70
Patients having settlement in other cities and towns
27
Patients having no settlement (chargeable to state)
79
Total number of patients sent to hospital
176.
Money paid hospital by the city for patients settled in Somerville
$5,000 00
Amount reimbursed to the city and paid to the hospital
for patients not settled in Somerville
2,190 87
Total paid to the hospital
$7,190 87
Harwich
47 00
Milford
29 29
Fall River
151 37
280
ANNUAL REPORTS.
TABLE NO. 6. Population and Gross Expenditures, 1883 to 1903, Inclusive.
Year.
Population (Estimated).
Expenditures.
1883
27,000
$15,959 80
1884
28,000
17,272 52
1885
*29,992
16,430 32
1886
32,000
14,341 83
1887
34,000
13,430 89
1888
36,000
13,375 98
1889
39,000
14,610 92
1890
*40,117
15,261 14
1891
43,000
15,980 49
1892
46,000
17,015 30
1893
48,000
17,799 58
1894
50,000
19,733 13
1895
*52,200
20,755 46
1896
54,000
21,999 79
1897
56,000
25,681 47
1898
57,500
28,522 21
1899
60,000
28,924 39
1900
*61,643
City Home,
5,528.83
1901
63,500
City Home,
6,622.43
35,793 58
1902
.
65,000
City Home, 7,396.64
1903
.
67,000
City Home,
7,548.39
38,018.59
*Census.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR OF SOMERVILLE. Since the Reorganization in 1885.
Hon. Mark F. Burns, chairman ex-officio 1885
1888 inclusive
Colonel Herbert E. Hill
·
1885
1889
Charles S. Lincoln, Esq., chairman .
·
1885
1887
Hon. Edward Glines
1885
1887 66
Charles G. Brett, president
1885 April 1893
66
Edward B. West, president
1888
to date
Daniel C. Stillson
1888 April 1892
Hon. Charles G. Pope, chairman ex-officio
1889
1891
66
Hon. Wm. H. Hodgkins, chairman ex-officio, 1892 James G. Hinckley May 1892
1894
66
Albert W. Edmands, now vice-president Herbert E. Merrill
May 1894 .
to
date
Ezra D. Souther
.
1895 Feb.
1898 (Died)
Hon. Albion A. Perry, chairman ex-officio .
1896
1898 inclusive
James H. Butler .
March 1898
1899
Hon. George O. Proctor, chairman ex-officio, 1899
·
·
·
Nathan H. Reed, president
1890 April 1894
1895
66
May 1893
to
date
66
Miscellaneous, $23,697.62
29,226 45
Miscellaneous, $29,171.15
Miscellaneous, $28,667.04
36,063 68
Miscellaneous, $30,470.20
281
TABLE 7. Expenditures, in Detail, for the Year 1903.
1903.
Dry Goods.
Board.
Groceries.
Towns and Cities.
Boots and Shoes.
Medicine.
Burials.
Salaries.
Fuel.
Sundries.
Public Institutions.
Somerville Hospital.
Total.
January .
$124 28
$468 11
$217 42
$4 95
$324 33
$154 15
$63 88
$4,056 29
$133 33
$5,546 74
February .
31 00
352 27
603 00
$13 75
4 00
$5 00
340 33
40 35
56 73
15 00
133 33
1,594 76
March
$3 00
75 36
364 49
69 40
16 25
3 52
40 00)
308 33
212 65
111 81
3,831 23
133 33
5,169 37
April .
2 00
161 58
344 76
128 00
48 62
10 00
308 33
74 85
128 95
132 54
133 33
1,472 96
May
.
.
30 81
269 31
36 37
11 00
308 33
65 02
175 43
133 33
1,036 80
June
.
.
.
87 51
436 65
133 33
1,674 41
August
7 00
38 01
284 23
32 16
9 00
* 1 40
10 00
316 66
61 30
331 96
133 33
1,225 05
September
134 01
199 50
102 70
9 85
.
·
·
408 87
133 33
1,409 59
November
89 01
261 03
24 00
10 75
85
316 66
108 85
46 78
255 95
133 33
1,247 21
December
5 50
38 01
24 00
29 15
316 72
18 00
63 71
724 24
1,219 33
Totals .
$17 50
$952 84
$3,512 29
$1,636 23
$70 60
$110 63
$80 00
$3,798 00
$608 85
$840 95
$16,651 44
$2,190 87
$30,470 20
POOR DEPARTMENT.
SUPPORT OF
·
.
106 30
242 49
336 47
. ·
·
.
·
52 88
3,624 52
133 33
4,573 45
October .
.
·
·
38 01
368 53
84 71
·
6 14
.
·
.
·
.
·
. ·
· .
308 33
49 04
3,383 00
133 33
4,300 53
July
79 26
333 57
2 00
12 00
15 00
316 66
316 66
316 66
53 34
·
·
·
.
282
ANNUAL REPORTS.
TABLE NO. 8. Recapitulation (Miscellaneous).
Appropriations Reimbursements
$21,630 00 7,349 09
Total receipts
Total expenditures
.
$28,979 09 30,470 20
Account overdrawn
$1,491 11
Net expenditures
$23,121 11
.
City Home.
Owing to grading the lawns and other permanent work which has been done to improve the grounds during the past season the farm work has been somewhat retarded.
Considering the cold, backward season and short crops of vegetables we have had a very successful season on the farm. Better prices have been received than during 1902, two thou- sand five hundred and fifty-seven dollars and sixteen cents having been realized from the sale of produce and pork.
During the year four hundred and sixty-six feet of steel wire fence have been built on Broadway. Also, thirteen hundred and seventy-seven feet and six inches of six-foot high wooden picket fence have been built from the bridge on Broadway to the rear of the city home buildings and from the rear of the Irving Russell house along North street and the boulevard to Alewife brook.
The old spring in the meadow has been drained by laying two hundred and thirty-eight feet of six-inch tile pipe, bringing three fourths of an acre more land under cultivation.
The produce raised on this land during the season has prac- tically paid for all the expense incurred in draining the spring.
One hundred feet of six-inch pipe have been laid and a cov- ered cesspool built to take care of the waste water from the wash house.
A driveway with a stone foundation has been built in the rear of the outbuildings with an entrance from North street. All heavy teaming will now be done over this driveway.
The lawns, which were partly graded during the fall of 1902, were brought to grade and seeded down, which adds greatly to the appearance of the grounds.
Three hundred and ninety-eight and five-tenths square feet of artificial stone walk with steps and buttresses have been laid from Broadway to the front entrance and the office door.
283
SUPPORT OF POOR DEPARTMENT.
Products of Farm.
The following is the amount of produce raised on the farm during the past year, but which does not include the vegetables required for use in the home :-
46,000 roots celery; 11,526 heads lettuce; 16,451 bunches beets; 13,484 bunches radishes; 2,403 bunches onions; 1,342 bunches carrots ; 1,608 heads endive ; 4,733 cucumbers ; 450 sum- mer squash ; 213 bushels beet greens; 121 bushels string beans ; 107 bushels onions ; 409 bushels spinach; 181 bushels dande- lions ; 94 bushels celery leaves ; 6 bushels peppers; 19 bushels beets ; 18 bushels peas ; 20 bushels tomatoes ; 15 bushels carrots ; 18 barrels apples ; 3,127} pounds pork, 77 pigs.
TABLE NO. 1. Permanent Repairs and Fixtures.
Building wooden picket and steel wire fence
$1,240 95
Laying drain tile, drain pipe and building cesspool
84 20
Granolithic walk
147 15
Grading lawns
224 48
Hot-bed fence and pig pen
25 57
Electric light fixtures
1 76
House furnishings
74 50
New body for manure wagon
96 11
65 gal. Farmer's Boiler
36 75
1 steel wheelbarrow .
11 25
New tools
13 85
Live stock
51 37
Laying water pipe for lawns
40 63
$2,075 57
Living expenses
5,472 82
Total expenditures
$7,548 39
225 feet garden hose
27 00
284
ANNUAL REPORTS.
TABLE NO. 2. Reimbursements.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts (board)
$15 17
Board of sundry persons, etc.
249 27
Produce and pork sold
2,557 16
Wood (for poor families)
193 75
Freight money returned .
3 80
$3,019 15
TABLE NO. 3.
Number weeks' board of inmates
924 3-7
Average weekly cost of inmates to the city
$2 65
Number males admitted during 1903
10
Number females admitted during 1903
2
Number males discharged during 1903
8
Number females discharged during 1903
1
Number males supported during 1903
22
Number females supported during 1903
8
Number inmates in Home January 1, 1904
20
TABLE NO. 4. Living Expenses.
Groceries and provisions
$1,491 23
Salaries and wages
2,383 86
Dry goods and clothing
186 36
Boots and shoes
69 06
Medicine
51 50
Shoeing horses
36 25
Hay and grain
500 69
Telephone
49 96
Seeds and fertilizers
119 38
Swill and bedding
162 42
Cash, paid by warden, car fares for warden, inmates and laborers
37 75
Ice
15 15
Sundries
316 78
Repair on wagons, tools, harnesses, and hot- bed sash
53 43
Credits:
Commonwealth of Massachusetts (board)
$15 17
Board for sundry persons
249 27
Produce and pork sold
2,557 16
Wood for poor families
.
.
3 80
.
3,019 15
Net living expenses
.
$2,453 67
.
$5,472 82
.
193 75
Freight money returned
(not including fuel and lights)
285
SUPPORT OF POOR DEPARTMENT.
TABLE NO. 5.
Reimbursements
$3,019 15
Extra Expenses on Farm.
Wages of extra help
$855 19
Feed for one horse
118 92
Seed and fertilizer
119 38
Shoeing one horse
12 08
Repair on wagons, etc.
39 04
Swill and bedding
161 42
1,306 03
Balance
$1,713 12
TABLE NO. 6. Property at the Somerville City Home, January 1, 1904.
Land
$25,500 00
Buildings
5,600 00
Furnishings, stock, tools, provisions, etc.
7,350 78
$38,450 78
TABLE NO. 7. Recapitulation.
Appropriation
$4,500 00
Reimbursements
3,019 15
Total receipts
$7,519 15
Total expenditures
7,548 39
Account overdrawn
$29 24
Net expenditures
$4,529 24
This report, with tables, is respectfully submitted.
EDWARD B. WEST, Overseers ALBERT W. EDMANDS, of the
HERBERT E. MERRILL, Poor.
REPORT OF THE CITY PHYSICIAN.
OFFICE OF CITY PHYSICIAN, January 20, 1904.
To His Honor, the Mayor, and the Board of Aldermen :-
Gentlemen,-The following is a summary of the work I have performed during the year ending December 31, 1903 :-
Thirteen hundred and eleven house visits have been made. Six hundred fifty-five persons were treated at my office. Forty persons were vaccinated. Eleven women were attended in child- birth. One hundred eleven persons have had teeth extracted. Twenty-three visits have been made at the police station. Under the rules of the board of health two hundred and nine cultures for release have been taken in cases of diphtheria.
A hospital for contagious diseases is becoming more and more a necessity. I believe that in not a few instances lives would be saved if the first case of diphtheria or scarlet fever that appears in a household could be removed to the hospital. The lack of proper sanitation in many of the homes, especially of the poor, without doubt increases the mortality.
Many cases should be cared for by a trained nurse. Again, the time of the quarantine would be much less, which is a matter of no small importance. Sometimes the children of two families are kept from school for three or more weeks on account of one case. Such an institution is much needed and would be a blessing to our city. Whatever tends to promote the health and safety of the community should not be neglected. I therefore recommend that a hospital for contagious diseases be established.
Respectfully submitted, ALVAH B. DEARBORN, City Physician.
1
REPORT OF THE CITY ENGINEER.
OFFICE OF THE CITY ENGINEER, CITY HALL, SOMERVILLE, January 20, 1904. To His Honor, the Mayor, and the Board of Aldermen :-
Gentlemen,-In accordance with the provisions of the city charter, the following report of the work done and expense in- curred for the year ending December 31, 1903, by the depart- ments under my charge and supervision, including Engineering, Sewers, Public Grounds, and other public works, is herewith pre- sented.
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT.
Statement of Expenses, 1903.
Salary City Engineer (including mainte-
$2,800 00
Salaries of assistants
8,101 91
Stakes, tools, and general supplies (outside work) ·
78 89
Draughting materials and office (inside work)
supplies
115 15
Maps and binding plans
252 19
Setting stone bounds for defining street lines Car fares
209 57
Telephone, postage, and incidentals
96 89
Transferred to Observatory on Prospect Hill account
303 03
Total expenditure in the department
$12,021 88
CREDIT.
Appropriation
$11,900 00
Amount received for making acceptance
plans .
28 00
Amount received for inspection services, sewer construction work
3 75
Amount received from Boston Elevated Railway Co., services rendered ·
107 80
Amount received from City of Medford, services rendered .
120 23
Amount received from Metropolitan Park
20 00
$12,179 78
Balance unexpended
$157 90
Commission, services rendered
64 25
nance of team)
288
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Classification of Expenditures, Assistants' Salaries.
Sewers,-comprising surveys, estimates, profiles, lines,
grades, titles, plans, assessments, and all engineering work relating to sewers $2,441 11 . Highways,-comprising plans, estimates, titles, profiles, lines and grades, and all other engineering relating to the department 756 66
Sidewalks,-comprising profiles, lines, grades, measure- ments, titles, costs and assessments 959 38 Bridges and Subways,-comprising surveys, plans and estimates 58 02
· Water Works,-comprising lines, grades, locations of mains, gates, hydrants and services, and other matters relating to water department 221 11
Public Grounds,-comprising surveys, plans, estimates, profiles and grades, including laying out of parks and grounds 283 81
Public Buildings,-comprising surveys, estimates, lines 66 04 and grades, and other work relating to construction Street Numbering,-comprising locations of buildings, plans and affixing street numbers on houses 351 82
Street Lines and Grades,-comprising establishing of lines, grades, and miscellaneous data given parties for building and grading 105 91
Middlesex Registry,-comprising copying of plans and ab- stracts from deeds filed, and examination of titles 131 27
City Survey,-comprising lines, angles, and measurements, calculations of traverses, and locations of division lines and buildings 764 84
Prospect Hill Park,-comprising surveys, calculations, taking of land plans, construction plans, profiles, deeds, and general engineering work in laying out and constructing 760 69
Railway, Telephone, Electric Light, and Gas Light Com- panies,-comprising grades, plans, profiles, and office notes, locations of poles and conduits 49 74
Stone Bounds,-locating and setting 182 43
Office Work,-comprising records of all locations, in- dexing, typewriting, calculations, and general draughting 603 16
Miscellaneous Work,-comprising preliminary surveys, de- signs, sketches, etc., relating to various schemes for different committees 50 74
Vacations and Sickness
315 18
Total
$8,101 91
Office Records and Value of Instruments.
Number of survey note books, sewer permit
books, and deed books .
250
Number of plans, including sewers, high- ways, parks, house lots, etc. 6,000
Value of field instruments, tools, and office instruments
$1,500 00
The total cost of maintaining the city engineer's department since it was established (1872-1903, both years inclusive), has amounted to $203,020.50.
289
CITY ENGINEER.
General Work. The number of assistants employed during the year has varied according to the amount of work, the regular department force being ten and the maximum number employed fourteen.
The office work has been continued on the same general system as in past years, all survey notes and records of sewers, drains, highway work, water works, etc., have been indexed, all plans of estates in Somerville filed at the registry of deeds, East Cambridge, have been copied and indexed, and all new plans of work made in the office recorded for future reference.
Titles have been examined and abstracts from deeds made at the East Cambridge registry for the purpose of assessing on the property owners of estates assessable for the construction of new highways, sidewalks, and sewers; and amounts computed and schedules of assessments made out for the proportional part of the cost of construction.
A number of street names have been changed and new street numbering plans have been made, old plans revised, houses plotted and numbers affixed to buildings throughout the entire city. There are many streets, avenues, courts, and places in the city of the same or very similar name, which should be changed to prevent the confusion and inconvenience now existing.
During the year the department has made plans and estab- lished grades for the acceptance under the betterment act, of eight new public streets, a total length of one mile; all of these plans have been copied and filed at the Middlesex registry as required by law. A portion of these streets have been graded and macad- amized and assessments levied.
In conjunction with the acceptance and laying out of Claren- don avenue as a public highway by the city, agreements have been executed with the abutting owners of ledge property so that blasting and the removal of stone from this ledge can be carried on under certain restrictions, and when the work is entirely com- pleted the present dangerous and unsightly ledge-hole, over which there has been so much controversy in the past as to blast- ing rights, will have been improved in appearance and the city's valuation increased in this locality.
A number of plans have been made and photographs taken at the request of the city solicitor, for the various departments, to be used in court cases and hearings where accidents have oc- curred and the city's interests were involved or damages claimed by reason of some work done by the city.
Surveys and plans have been made for the purpose of ac- quiring land for new public buildings, and lines and grades given for construction work on new schoolhouses and fire stations.
290
ANNUAL REPORTS.
A large amount of engineering services has been required in making plans and profiles, and laying out and constructing the new park and observation tower on Prospect Hill and new play- grounds in different sections of the city.
Lines and grades have been given for setting 18,273.5 linear feet (3.46 miles) of new edgestone, and the resetting of 11,810.5 (2.24 miles) of old edgestone, and the measurements taken for computing assessments.
7,617.7 square yards of new brick sidewalks and 215.4 square yards of granolithic walk have been laid (about 2.08 miles in length) and 5,856.6 square yards of old brick sidewalks relaid.
5,988 square yards of new paved gutters have been laid and 548 square yards of new brick, concrete, and granite crossings constructed, requiring lines, grades, and measurements. (See tables in this report for cost of work and total lengths of side- walks constructed in the city.)
The average cost for the year of setting edgestone has been eighty-one and one-half cents per linear foot and laying brick sidewalks ninety cents per square yard.
Lines and grades have been given, measurements taken, and computations made for the laying out and constructing of new streets, the reconstructing and repairing of old streets. In the construction of new streets and sidewalks the department work should be so changed that the city engineer shall keep a tabulated account of the total cost of the entire work, including all meas- urements and materials used, so that the correct cost is readily obtainable and assessments can be accurately made.
Lines and grades have been given for paving with granite blocks a section of Church street, south of Somerville avenue, an area of 728 square yards.
Lines and grades have been given the water department when requested.
9,480 feet of new mains with hydrants and gates have been located ; 144 water services located and sketches made showing the buildings, services, gates, etc., for the water office.
During the year stone bounds have been set in concrete at street intersections and angles, for permanently defining street lines, and there are many more of these bounds to be set in various parts of the city as the yearly appropriation will allow.
The gas, electric light, telephone and street railway com- panies have filed plans showing locations in the city's streets of mains and tracks laid and poles erected as required by the city ordinances.
THORNDIKE-STREET SUBWAY, WEST SOMERVILLE.
291
CITY ENGINEER.
The Boston Elevated Railway Company has been granted permission to lay double tracks in sections of Springfield street for turnouts and when completed there will be less delay on this line. This being a narrow street the roadway is to be paved from curb to curb where the turnouts are laid. Alterations and improvements have been made in the track locations at the junction of Cross street and Broadway, and the double track lo- cation rebuilt with heavy rails on Broadway, from the Charles- town line to Winter Hill, the grade being materially changed through the parkway. A petition is still pending before the board of aldermen for a double track location in Mystic and Middlesex avenues from the Charlestown line to the Fellsway boulevard, and extending to Wel'ington and Medford.
The laying of these tracks will necessitate the filling to grade, macadamizing, and constructing of these avenues to their full width, sixty-six and sixty feet, respectively, at a cost of about $7,400.
Bridges, Subways, and Grade Crossings. The new bridge over the Boston & Maine railroad at Sycamore street, com- menced in 1902, has been completed, and at School street a new bridge has been constructed the full width of the highway, fifty feet. Granite abutment walls were built in new locations, lengthening the bridge and necessitating the changing of the grade of the city's highway; the railroad company bearing the total expense of constructing these bridges.
Another highway bridge should be constructed over the line of this railroad, at Lowell street, a most important cross-town street in the centre of the city. Probably satisfactory arrange- ments can be made with the railroad company for the building of this bridge in the near future.
A new bridge has been constructed by the metropolitan park commission over Mystic river, on the line of the Fellsway boule- vard and Middlesex avenue. This bridge is about 515 feet long in Somerville, and seventy feet wide, with a roadway fifty-four feet in width and equipped with a retractile draw. The boulevard in Somerville between this bridge and Mystic avenue is to be widened.
A subway has been constructed for foot passengers under the Lexington and Arlington branch of the Boston and Maine railroad at Thorndike street, West Somerville. This under-pass is wholly within the railroad location, being eighty-five feet long, eight feet wide, and seven feet high, inside dimensions, con- structed mainly of Portland cement concrete with I beams sup- porting the roof. The side walls are finished with opalite tile and the floor and steps of granolithic construction with iron hand-rails and guards at the entrances.
The contract was awarded by the Boston and Maine railroad company and the work completed under the supervision and in-
292
ANNUAL REPORTS.
spection of the city's engineering department; the total cost of the structure amounting to about $3,800, the city bearing the total expense.
On the Fitchburg division of the Boston and Maine railroad, there are nine grade crossings within the city limits, a number of which are dangerous and should be abolished as speedily as possible. The city has a petition pending before the courts in reference to the abolition of these grade crossings.
Two of these crossings, at Somerville avenue and Medford street, on account of their location must be changed at the same time, and will require a large expenditure of money and exten- sive alterations in streets, railroads, buildings, and other property in the vicinity, involving the interests of many parties ; the other seven crossings could be abolished independently of the Somer- ville avenue and Medford street work.
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