USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1909 > Part 21
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"Professor Jevons once pointed out in an effective para- graph the wider opportunity which such a library affords. 'If a beautiful picture is hung in a private house,' he said, 'it may be gazed at by a few guests a score or two of times in the year. If it is hung in a public gallery it will be enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of persons whose glances, it need hardly be said, do not wear out the canvas. The same principle applies to books in common ownership. If a man possesses a library of a few thousand volumes, by far the greater part of them must be for years untouched upon the shelves; he cannot possibly use more than a fraction of the whole in any one year. But a public library of five or ten thousand volumes may be used a thousand times as much. It is a striking case of what I call the multipli- cation of utility.'
"The Laurentian library was and still is the possession of the few; the great nobles created it, and it represents an intel- lectual world from which the many were excluded. Its books were chained to the reading desks, and these still remain as types of mediaeval exclusiveness. But this branch, like your central library, like the public library of to-day everywhere, is
277
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
for all, that all may have an equal opportunity to share in the intellectual benefits which books confer.
"The public library is therefore in the highest degree rep- resentative of democratic thought and aspiration. It is in this way set apart from all other libraries. It is above all else a modern institution of an advanced type, instinct with life and movement. Its office is not merely to keep literature from perishing, although it should preserve with especial care the literary records of local history and of current events. But
it is established chiefly to make books instruments of human welfare and a broader culture among the weaker folk, the men and women who make up the rank and file of our great indus- trial towns and cities. Not merely to pass on the torch from generation to generation, but to let its light shine here and now, illumining minds heretofore dark. This, above all other func- tions, is its prime duty, and in doing this it renders its highest service to the community.
"That the public library may be of the greatest possible usefulness, its agencies are multiplied. Its books are lent with as little formality as possible to the schools, and to other public institutions and to study classes. A central collection is no longer sufficient to meet the public need. Branches and de- livery stations bring the books close to the reader and open them to wider public use. Each branch becomes an intellectual centre for its own district. The residents of the neighborhood may regard the branch as their special library. Here they may acquire the love of books as a source of innocent enjoyment, the help of books in the development of intellectual power and in the enrichment of life. Here, too, the children will soon know the custodian as counselor and friend. Here they will find, no doubt, a carefully-selected collection of such books as children love,-stories, travels, history, biography, and nature books. The advantages which a few exceptionally favored children now have at home, this branch will freely offer to all children. Some one has said that a great love of books is like a personal introduction to the great and good of all times. This personal introduction the public library through all its agencies aims to give to those who will accept its ministrations. "Through such a branch as this, those who administer the library come into closer personal relations with those who use it than is otherwise possible. The librarian who is to have charge here will soon know you intimately. She will have op- portunities to discover your personal needs in regard to books and to supply them. !
"Through this multiplication of its agencies for distribu- tion, the public library confers unquestioned benefits upon the individual citizen, but it does not exist primarily for the indi- vidual. Its only warrant for maintenance as a civic institution is that through the benefits received by the individual larger community benefits result.
278
ANNUAL REPORTS.
"Its work with the children, its aid to the artisan and me- chanic in enlarging their industrial efficiency, its benefits to the general reader who comes to it for relaxation from the activi- ties of our sometimes too strenuous industrial and business life,-these finally broaden into social benefits, as those who use the opportunities it offers become better fitted to meet and mingle in their various civic relations.
"The idea still persists that, since the great libraries of the world, however useful, were principally used by scholars or lit- erary folk. so the public library is mainly for the few. That was not the idea which inspired those who originated it. They intended by means of it to carry still farther our system of popular education.
"The public schools exist not for the benefit of the in- dividual, but for the benefit of the community. From that point of view the sort of education given in them is to be considered. And as Dr. Richardson, the scholarly librarian of Princeton University, once put it, 'A public library exists not for the bene- fit it will be to John Smith, but for the benefit the benefiting of John Smith will be to the community. It is because John Smith's improvement is of value to the community as a whole that taxation is justifiable for the support of libraries, no less than for the schools.' That, I am sure, is also the view of Mr. Carnegie in his gifts to these institutions.
"This conception of the purpose of such libraries helps in the solution of various problems of management. Take the question of the selection of books for your more or less incom- pletely-filled shelves. Shall demand be the guide? Shall the book asked for by the largest number be the one bought? Let 11s see. 'If a book used by John Smith only will benefit the community more than another used by fifty or 100 persons, that book is the more suitable for purchase. For the value of a book to the community does not necessarily depend upon the number of persons who use it, but upon the net product of value growing out of the increased social efficiency of, it may be, the one person only who uses it.' The value of the public library, therefore, as a civic institution depends upon the success with which it promotes, through all its agencies, 'common honesty, common sentiment, common happiness, and common action.'
"You can only get the best out of it by using it. This youngest library in the world is meant for use. For that pur- pose it is established directly at your doors. It is the friendly hand of the greater institution on the hill yonder, reaching out for the especial welfare of this part of your city. Things not fully used, no matter how valuable, become to that extent merely a burden. There is an old New England phrase that designates the possessor of unused land, which is merely a source of expense for taxes without bringing in revenue, as 'land poor.' The equipment of such a library as this, if not
1
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
279
utilized, becomes of no more value than such unused land, and these books, if not read, might as well be burned, or chained up, as of old in that grand Laurentian library.
"Are you interested in any special subject? Would you like to have a wider knowledge of the world's progress and his- tory, or of the great changes that have occurred in scientific thought during the last fifty years? Or something about the growth of our great industries? Or perhaps something of the literature of your own trade or profession? Or become ac- quainted with at least a few of the great writers? This branch will contain something for you among these subjects. It is es- tablished and will be maintained to help you. If you want any- thing that it can furnish, ask for it. The custodian is here partly to respond to your queries. If you ask questions that she cannot immediately answer, which is possible, she will, no doubt, if given opportunity, find answers. If you want a book which is not here, no doubt it will be obtained for you upon request, or perhaps a better one substituted for it.
"Speaking of the influence of books in disseminating ad- vanced ideas, Voltaire remarks: 'Twenty-volume folios will never cause a revolution. It is the little portable volumes . . . that are to be feared.' It is, I think, true that the little portable volumes are the ones to be loved. You have a great advantage in a library like this, since its books, like its building, are new. The collection, as it grows from day to day, need contain nothing that is not immediately useful in the world of the pres- ent. The foundations of the great libraries are often laid with great books, too ponderous to read, heavy literature in every sense. That repository of curious information, 'In a Club Cor- ner,' recounts that the first books given to Dartmouth College were of this kind, old folios, some of them two feet long, eighteen inches wide, and six inches thick. 'An old librarian of the college has said that these old folios were never read. Those who affected to know more than their classmates took them out. One learned senior told him he always had three charged to him, one for a footstool, one for a cushion for his chair, and one for his water pail to rest on.'
"Here there is lacking the flavor of antiquity, and books will not be bought for hoarding behind glass cases, or for the beauty of their bindings. There is little of the sentiment that lingers within the walls of the old libraries, where through the ages studious men have walked, and pondered, and dreamed, written their poem, or essay, or sermon for the bene- fit of their fellows, lived their short lives, and passed away; old libraries, like the Laurentian, with its priceless treasures, or the Bodleian, the oldest library in England, where the sun streams through the high windows upon the dark old volumes of for- gotten lore.
" 'But there is one glory of the sun, and another glory of
280
ANNUAL REPORTS.
the moon, and another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory.' It is the proud distinction of this newest library that, without the beauty that is consecrated by time, without the treasures of art and literature that the world rightly counts among its dearest possessions, it nevertheless stands as an efficient agency in hastening the dawn of a new day. It possesses the glory of present service rather than that of past achievement. This branch would have never come into being except for the intellectual treasures which those older libraries contain ; but its peculiar office is to turn into popular channels the life-giving stream that springs perennially from the ancient fountains.
"Contrasting these volumes in active use, few though they may be, and of little value as compared with the splendid col- lections of the great libraries or the beautifully-bound volumes of the private collector, I leave with you the hope that by using them you may have towards them something of the feel- ing that Dobson expresses as to the books in his own library :-
" 'They dwell in the odour of camphor, They stand in a Sheraton shrine, They are "warranted early editions," Those worshipful tomes of mine ;-
"'In their creamiest "Oxford vellum," !
In their redolent "crushed Levant," With their delicate watered linings, They are jewels of price, I grant ;-
** "'Blind-tooled and morocco-jointed, They have Zaehnsdorf's daintiest dress, They are graceful, attenuate, polished, But they gather the dust, no less ;-
""'For the row that I prize is yonder, Away on the unglazed shelves, The bulged and bruised octavos, The dear and the dumpy twelves, --
""'Montaigne with his sheepskin blistered, And Howell the worse for wear, And the worm-drilled Jesuits' Horace, And the little old cropped Molière,
"'And the Burton I bought for a florin, And the Rabelais foxed and flea'd,- For the others I never have opened, But those are the books I read.' "
BOARD OF HEALTH.
1909.
ALLEN F. CARPENTER, Chairman. ZEBEDEE E. CLIFF. ALBERT C. ALDRICH, M. D.
Clerk and Agent to Issue Burial Permits. WILLIAM P. MITCHELL.
Agent. CALEB A. PAGE.
Medical Inspector. FRANK L. MORSE, M. D.
Inspector of Animals and Provisions. CHARLES M. BERRY.
Milk Inspector. JULIUS E. RICHARDSON (died October 12, 1909) ; HERBERT E. BOWMAN (appointed December 6, 1909).
Plumbing Inspector. DUNCAN C. GREENE.
Superintendent Collection of Ashes and Offal.
EDGAR T. MAYHEW.
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH.
OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF HEALTH, - City Hall, January 1, 1910. -
To His Honor, the Mayor, and the Board of Aldermen :-
Gentlemen,-We respectfully submit the following as the thirty-second annual report of the board of health, in which is presented a statement, tabulated and otherwise, of the sanitary condition of the city and the business of the board for the year ending December 31, 1909 :-
Nuisances.
A record of nuisances abated during the year, in compli- ance with notices issued by the board, or under the board's direction, is presented in the following table :-
NUISANCES ABATED IN THE CITY IN 1909.
Bakery offensive
6
Barber shops
1
Cellar damp
14
Cesspool offensive
3
Cow barn offensive
11
Cows kept without license
4
Drainage defective
21
Drainage emptying into cellar
9
Drainage emptying on surface .
13
Fish offal
3
Food exposed to dust
15
Goats kept without license
2
Hens in cellar
3
Hennery offensive
11
Hens without permit .
14
Manure exposed and offensive
9
Manure pit defective
11
Offal on land
4
Offensive odor in and about dwellings
5
Pigs kept without license
2
Premises dirty
108
Privy-vault offensive .
4
Rubbish in cellar
12
Slops thrown on surface
8
Stable infected with glanders
43
Stable without drainage
15
Stagnant water on surface
7
Water-closet defective
21
Water under stable
5
Total
. 40
.
Stable and stable premises filthy and offensive
19
283
HEALTHI DEPARTMENT.
Number of nuisances abated . . 403
Number of nuisances referred to board of 1909
14 Number of nuisances complained of .
417
Number of complaints (many covering more than one nuisance) .
348
In addition to the above, 392 dead animals have been re- moved from the public streets, and many nuisances have been abated on verbal notice from the agent, without action by the board, of which no record has been made. Each spring the whole city is examined, and cellars, yards, and alleyways where rubbish and filth have collected are required to be cleaned.
Glanders .- Forty-three cases of glanders have been re- ported during the year. Prompt action was taken in every case, and forty of the horses were killed, three being released from quarantine by order of the cattle commissioners.
Permits.
The record of permits to keep cows, swine, and hens, and to collect grease is as follows :-
Cows .- Thirty applications were received for permits to keep seventy-five cows. Twenty-seven permits to keep sixty- Six cows were granted, and three permits were refused. .
Swine .- Fifteen applications were received for permits to keep twenty-nine swine. Fourteen permits were granted to keep twenty-eight swine, and one permit was refused. The fee is one dollar for each swine.
Hens .- Sixty-three applications for permits to keep 1,144 hens were received. Forty-two permits to keep 709 hens were granted, and twenty-one permits were refused.
Grease .- Twelve applications were received for permits to collect grease, all of which were granted. The fee is two dollars. Four of the parties licensed reside in Somerville, two in Charlestown, two in Cambridge, three in Boston, and one in Chelsea.
Melting and Rendering .- Four parties have been licensed to carry on the business of melting and rendering, under the pro- visions of the revised laws of 1902, chapter 75, section 111.
Pedlers.
One hundred and thirty-eight certificates of registration were issued to hawkers and pedlers during the year under the provisions of ordinance number 27-a decrease of 134 from the year 1908. One hundred and forty-three certificates have been renewed during the year. Each pedler is required to present a statement from the sealer of weights and measures, showing that his measures have been properly sealed, before a certificate is
284
ANNUAL REPORTS.
issued to him. Pedlers are also required to present their vehi- cles at the police station the first Monday of each month for in- spection by the agent of the board, that he may see if they are kept in a clean condition, and are properly marked with the owner's name and number.
Ashes and Offal.
The collection and disposal of ashes, garbage, and other refuse materials is under the control of the board of health, and a competent superintendent is employed to take charge of this department.
To do this work seventy men are employed, and the de- partment owns and uses thirty-four horses, twenty ash carts, five paper wagons, and thirteen garbage wagons.
Ashes .- The ashes and non-combustible materials are de- posited upon the city dumps at Winter Hill and West Somer- ville. The combustible materials are burned in the incinerator which was built last year near the city stables, except those ma- terials which can be sold at a profit, such as clean paper, rags, and bottles.
During the year 48,506 loads of ashes and 3,300 loads of refuse material have been collected and disposed of.
Collections are made weekly, and the districts and days of collection are as follows :-
MONDAY, DISTRICT NO. 1.
Comprises the entire area extending easterly to the cities of Boston and Cambridge, from a line drawn across Somerville, commencing on Mystic avenue, and extending through Cross street, Central square, Medford street, Washington street, Prospect street, Webster avenue, Tremont street to the Cambridge line, and including collection on both sides of the above-named streets along the division line described.
TUESDAY, DISTRICT NO. 2.
Comprises the entire area extending westerly from the previously- described district number 1 to a line drawn across the city, commencing on Mystic avenue, and extending through Wheatland street, across Broadway, through Walnut street, and extending across Bow street and Somerville avenue, through Hawkins street, Washington street, Perry street, Wyatt street, Concord avenue, crossing Beacon street to the Cambridge line, and including collection on both sides of the above- named streets along the division line described.
WEDNESDAY, DISTRICT NO. 3.
Comprises the entire area extending westerly from the previously- described district number 2, to a line drawn across the city, commenc- ing at the Medford boundary line at Main street, and extending easterly along said Main street, across Broadway, through Sycamore street, thence easterly on Highland avenue, through School street, thence westerly on Somerville avenue, through Dane street and Washington street to the Cambridge line, and including the collection on both sides of the above-named streets along the division line described.
285
HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
THURSDAY, DISTRICT NO. 4.
Comprises the entire area extending westerly from the previously- described district number 3, to a line drawn across the city, commenc- ing at the Medford line at Magoun square, and extending on Medford street to Lowell street, thence easterly on Somerville avenue and through Park street to the Cambridge line, and including the collection on both sides of the above-named streets along the division line de- scribed.
FRIDAY, DISTRICT NO. 5.
Comprises the entire area extending westerly from the previously- described district number 4, to a line drawn across the city, commenc- ing on Broadway, and extending through Willow avenue to the Cam- bridge line, and including the collection on both sides of the above- named streets along the division line described.
SATURDAY, DISTRICT NO. 6.
Comprises the entire area extending westerly from Willow avenue to the Medford, Arlington, and Cambridge lines.
Offal .- During the year the board has continued to dispose of the city offal at its garbage plant adjacent to the city stables. This offal is sold direct to farmers and others, and is handled in a thoroughly sanitary and satisfactory manner. The demand for the garbage lias exceeded the supply, and in its disposal there has been an entire absence of objectionable features. The financial returns to the city are large.
During the year 7,900 loads of offal have been collected.
Two collections are made in each district weekly, and dur- ing the summer months an extra collection is made at hotels, stores, and other establishments producing large quantities of offal.
Stables.
Under the provisions of sections 69 and 70 of chapter 102 of the revised laws of 1902, twenty-nine petitions for licenses to erect and use stables were received and disposed of as fol- lows :-
Number granted 15
Number refused
14
Board of Infants.
Fourteen parties, whose applications were first approved by this board, have been licensed by the state board of charity to care for thirty-seven children, in this city, under the pro- visions of chapter 83 of the revised laws of 1902.
Deaths.
There were 988 deaths and sixty-four stillbirths in the city during the year, as specified in the following table, which shows an increase of deaths over the previous year of eighty-five.
286
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Deaths at Somerville hospital during the year 60
Deaths at Cherry-street hospital 2
Deaths at hospital for contagious diseases 24
Deaths at home for aged poor (Highland avenue), 65
Deaths at City home
7
DEATHS BY AGES.
AGES.
Total.
Male.
Female.
Under one
169
93
76
One to two
29
19
10
Two to three.
18
11
7
Three to four
5
3
2
Four to five .
9
6
3
Five to ten
20
11
9
Ten to fifteen
16
7
9
Fifteen to twenty
22
10
12
Twenty to thirty
52
31
21
Thirty to forty
72
29
43
Forty to fifty
73
31
42
Fifty to sixty
94
44
50
Sixty to seventy
145
59
S6
Seventy to eighty .
175
84
91
Eighty to ninety
75
29
46
Ninety and over
14
4
10
Total
988
471
517
Of the stillborn, 41 were males and 23 females.
289
HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
Mortality in Somerville in 1909.
January.
February.
March.
April.
May.
June.
July.
August.
September.
October.
November.
December.
Total.
I. GENERAL DISEASES. (A. Epidemic Diseases.)
Whooping cough .
1
1
1
Scarlet fever
2
1
3
2
1
Diphtheria
4
4
3
2
1
2
2
3
2
1
3
27
Typhoid fever
4
2
1
8
Erysipelas
1
1
Dysentery
1
1
1
1
1
8
Measles
(B. Other General Diseases.)
Addison's Disease.
Septicemia
1
1
1
1
Rheumatism
2
2
1
1
Pernicious anæmia
1
2
1
1
1
6
Cancer of anus
2
Cancer of bladder
1
1
Cancer of breast
1
3
1
2
2
1
1
1
14
Cancer of ear
1
1
Cancer intestines
2
1
2
1
2
1
2
1
1
13
Cancer of leg
2
2
Cancer of lung
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Cancer of stomach
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
13
Cancer of tongue .
1
1
Cancer of uterus
1
2
3
3
2
1
2
3
17
Cancer of vulva
1
2
Hepatic cancer .
1
1
Sarcoma of heart and spine Sarcoma of neck
1
1
Pelvic sarcoma
1
1
Syphilis
1
1
2
Tumor
1
1
1
3
Exophthalmic goitre
3
. .
. .
1
1
3
1
2
2
1
11
8
10
7
3
-1
8
4
7
5
7
4
7
77
1
1
1
1
1
1
Tubercular peritonitis
1
1
Tuberculosis of spine
II. DISEASES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM.
Meningitis
1
1
1
1
4
Apoplexy
3
12
3
8
8
8
6
7
3
3
6
3
70
Paralysis
1
1
-1
Brain diseases
1
1
1
3
Neuritis
1
1
2
Hemiplegia
1
3
1
1
1
1
1
9
Myelitis
3
Eclampsia
1
Paresis
1
1
Tetanus
1
Cerebro-spinal meningitis .
1
1
4
III. DISEASES OF THE CIRCULA- TORY SYSTEM.
Heart disease
6
7
8
6
10
5
4
7
4
6
9
8
80
Endocarditis
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
Myocarditis .
3
3
1
1
1
2
2
1
3
1
18
Pericarditis .
1
Angina pectoris
1
1
1
4
IV. DISEASES OF THE RESPIRA- TORY SYSTEM.
Pneumonia
19
13
18
12
9
3
1
6
10
10
113
Bronchitis
2
6
2
5
1
1
1
1
1
25
Asthma
Pulmonary œdema
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
9
Enıpyema
1
2
3
Pleurisy
..
.
2
2
3
La grippe
1
4
1
1
1
1
3
1
1
4
Cancer liver and kidneys
1
1
Cancer of jaw and throat
1
1
1
Glanders
1
1
Tuberculosis
1
1
1
2
10
Tuberculosis of intestines
1
1
1
1
2
4
Convulsions
1
1
1
Epilepsy
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
10 3
1
1
3
.
3
Diabetes
Tubercular meningitis
1
1
1
1
8
2
6
2
1
3 9
. .
1
1
3
9
2 2
288
ANNUAL REPORTS.
MORTALITY IN SOMERVILLE IN 1909 .- Concluded.
January.
February.
March.
April.
May.
June.
July.
August.
September.
October.
November.
December.
Total.
V. DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.
Acute indigestion
1
1
1
6
Colitis
1
1
1
10
Gastritis .
1
1
1
1
1
Peritonitis
1
1
1
5
Cholera infantum
1
9
3
18
Ptomaine poisoning
1
1
Gastric ulcer
1
2
4
4
5
3
3
2
28
Intestinal obstruction
1
1
Abcess of kidney
1
1
Appendicitis
1
1
1
1
1
1
S
1
3
1
5
Gall stones .
VI. DISEASES OF GENITO-URI- NARY SYSTEM.
Bright's disease
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
10
Cystitis
11
11
14
9
10
4
11
5
5
5
7
94
Pyelitis .
VII. CHILDBIRTH.
Childbirth
1
1
1
1
1
-1
VIII. DISEASES OF THE SKIN AND CELLULAR TISSUE.
Abscess .
1
1
Gangrene
1
1
1
IX. MALFORMATIONS.
Hydrocephalus
1
X. EARLY INFANCY.
Marasmus
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Inanition
1
1
1
. . .
3
2
2
4
3
28
XI. OLD AGE.
Old age .
1
1
2
....
1
1
1
1
S
Senile dementia
Arterio-sclerosis
1
1
2
3
1
1
1
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