USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Report of the city of Somerville 1920 > Part 16
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.In hospitals for the sick in other towns, cities and state 48
In care of state division minor wards (children) . 16
Table No. 2. PARTIAL SUPPORT (Outside Relief).
'Families
244
Persons aided (including hospital cases)
1023
Burials
Permits to State Infirmary . 7
Average expenses to the city for each (carriage for three) $3.54
Table No. 3. AID UNDER 1913 LAW (Mothers' Aid).
Number of applications from widows or deserted women . 92
Number of families aided at close of year .
65
Number of children®
335
Number of out-of-town families
19
Number having no settlement . 23
COST TO CITY.
·Somerville settlement .
$15,941.17
·Settled in other cities and towns (reside here) ·
6,858.31
:State
7,692.52
:Somerville families living in other cities and towns 4,159.06
$34,651.06
.
·
10
Amount allowed each family, from $4.00 to $16.00 per week .
244
ANNUAL REPORTS.
Table No. 4.
REIMBURSEMENTS.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
$19,835 92
City of Boston
4,130 70
Brockton
698 90
66
66
Chelsea
67 0,
Everett
520 07
66 Gloucester
145 71
66
66
Lynn
108 40
Malden
451 12
66
Medford
322 39
Town of Acton
17 14 .
Millis
312 29
66
Watertown
30 00
Winthrop
21 00
Individual
495 10
$28,947 71
Table No. 5. SOMERVILLE HOSPITAL (PATIENTS ON CITY BEDS)
Patients having settlement in Somerville
70
Patients having settlement in other cities and towns
2.7
Patients having no settlement (chargeable to State) .
53
Total number of patients sent to hospital
150
Amount paid to hospital .
$7,779.29
Table No. 6.
POPULATION AND GROSS EXPENDITURES, 1900 TO 1920.
Population
Year
(Estimated)
1900
*61,643
(Misc.
$23,697.62
Home,
$5,528.83) Total
$29,226.45
1901 -
62,500
29,171.15
6,622.43
6.6
35,793.58
1902 -
63,500
28,667.04
7,396.64
66
36,063.68
1903
-
65,500
30,470.20
7,548.39
38,018.59
1904
69,500
20,476.54
6,563.11
27,039.65
1905
-* 69,272
17,527.88
7,474.36
25,002.24
1906
72,000
66
18,237.53
6,806.79
25,044.32
1907
-
74,000
17,852.20
7,001.23
24,853.43
1908
- 75,500
17,955.34
6,875.56
24,830.90
1909
75,500
16,843.17
7,562.83
24,406.00
1910
77,236
16,110.42
7,695.89
23,806.31
1911
78,000
16,327.56
66
7,842.03
24,16. "
1912
81,000
19,201.33
8,998.97
66
28,200.30
1913
82,000
21,827.73
10,945.95
32,773.68
1914
85,000
35,619.68
11,200.25
46,819.93
1915
*86,854
45,490.98
11,218.65
56,709.63
1916
90,000
51,759.62
11,593.41
63.353.03
1917
90,000
53,653.33
13,417.77
67,071.10
1918
90,500
63,420.48
15,411.20
78,831.68
1919
91,000
67,682.53
15,789.34
83,471.87
1920
-* 93,033
77,456.57
17,308.29
94,764.86
* Census
66
66
66
66
.
Cambridge
1,791 97
Table No. 7. Expenditures in Detail for the Year 1920.
1920
Cash Allowance
Med. Att. and Medicine
Board.
Groceries.
Somerville Poor in other Cities and Towns.
Dry Goods and Shoes.
Burials.
Salaries.
Fuel.
Sundries.
Cash Paid Out.
Telephone.
Stationery and Printing.
Somerville Hospital.
State Institu- tions.
Other Institu- tions.
Nursing.
Total
January
$177.78
$21.80
$187.86
$374.50
$529.95
$457.01
$478.13
$4,218.10
$7.64
$10.25
$292.86
$33.00
$48.25
$9.00
$6,846.13
February
167.92
10.92
115.44
198.00
652.41
$72.00
424.72
$ 1.00
3,350.46
7.28
3.00
855.43
312.54
6.50
$152.00
6,329.62
March.
173.78
25.87
563.29
233.75
159.30
496.06
630.28
30.00
3,391.40
8.34
4.75
2,208.20
292.01
4.00
8,221.03
April
170.29
19.07
246.42
144.00
29.34
447.68
8.33
3,483.40
7.84
4.00
545.80
44.14
10.00
5,204.76
May
127.22
18.62
95.29
265.00
83.00
25.00
522.10
8.33
4,293.60
7.70
25.39
475.80
7.50
266.82
6,221.37
June
119.58
20.65
556.27
207.50
167.86
$5.50
447.68
8.33
3,438.90
7.94
31.46
663.40
311.99
2.00
169.73
6,158.79
July.
99.36
9.07
231.36
125.00
289.58
8.00
597.43
19.00
4,285.60
17.86
4.50
477.40
96.72
2.50
1,337.10
7,600.48
August
99.36
25.62
100.36
162.00
439.01
12.50
3,382.70
21.85
4.00
521.80
37.53
4.50
4,811.23
September
97.58
30.00
604.27
292.00
288.48
105.00
481.01
16.50
3,530.20
19.99
454.60
233.14
1,257.54
7,410.31
October.
92.36
17.16
223.07
160.50
222.36
106.00
555.43
17.50
4,493.70
10.54
593.20
90.49
122.85
12.00
6,717.16
November
90.58
11.35
103.57
178.00
62.00
481.01
307.15
17.50
3,591.30
20.96
3.00
438.40
6.00
743.87
6,054.69
December.
82.36
692.21
67.00
16.00
545.12
250.71
17.51
3,539.40
2.00
252.40
232.00
5,696.71
Totals.
$1,498.17 $210.13
$3,719.41
$2,407.25
$2,438.28
$13.50
$370.00
$5,894.26
$1,710.72
$156.50
$44,998.76
$119.95
$110.34
$7,779.29
$264.35
$1,358.31
$64.00
$4,159.06 $77,272.28
Somerville Poor in other Cities and Towns 1913 Law.
44.45
245
SUPPORT OF POOR DEPARTMENT.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR OF SOMERVILLE
Since the reorganization in 1885.
"}Hon. Mark F. Burns, chairman, ex-officio . 1885
1888
inclusive
¡Col. Herbert E. Hill
·
1885
1889
¡Charles S. Lincoln, Esq., chairman
.
1885
1887
¡Hon. Edward Glines .
1885 .
1887
¡Charles G. Brett (president 1888-1892) .
1885 Apr. 1893
Edward B. West (president May, 1894- February, 1912)
1888
to
1912
¡Daniel C. Stillson
1888 Apr. 1892
¡Hon. Charles G. Pope, chairman ex-officio
1889
1891
¡Nathan H. Reed (president 1893 to April, 1894 .
1890 Apr. 1894
+Hon. William H. Hodgkins, chairman ex- officio
1892
1895
¡James G. Hinckley
May, 1892 ·
1894
¡Albert W. Edmands
May, 1893
Oct. 1918
(Died)
+Herbert E. Merrill .
. May, 1894
1909
inclusive
+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
Henry F. Curtis, M. D.
1910
to date* inclusive
Philip Koen
1912 Nov. 9, 1916
Michael Coll
November, 1916
to date*
Fred E. Durgin .
October, 1918
to
date*
Table No. 8. RECAPITULATION (Miscellaneous).
Expenditures and transfers
$77,167 07 net
Reimbursements
28,947 71
Net cost to city .
.
$48,219 36
* Present Member
Deceased
Respectfully submitted, WM. E. COPITHORNE, General Agent.
:246
ANNUAL REPORTS.
REPORT OF WARDEN OF CITY HOME.
City Home, January 1, 1921.'
To the Overseers of the Poor, Somerville, Mass. :-
Gentlemen :- I submit the following as the report of the Warden of the City Home for the year ending December 31, 1920 :-
Table No. 1.
'Number of weeks' board of inmates
2,273-5
Number of males admitted during 1920
11
Number of females admitted during 1920
15
Number of males discharged during 1920
8
Number of females discharged during 1920
10
Number of males supported during 1920
32
Number of females supported during 1920
42
Number of males died during 1920
5
Number of females died during 1920 .
11
Number of inmates in home, December 31, 1920 .
40
City Home Hospital.
Number of weeks' board
599-3
Number of patients admitted
30
Number of patients in hospital, December 31, 1920
11
Table No. 2.
Reimbursements
$9,916 33 .
.Net expenditures
..
-
.
.
·
7,391 96
$17,308 29
Appropriation
. $17,318 00
Balance
9 71
$17,308 29
Respectfully submitted,
J. FOSTER COLQUHOUN, Warden.
.
.
·
·
.
247
SUPPORT OF POOR DEPARTMENT.
REPORT OF THE CITY PHYSICIAN ..
OFFICE OF THE CITY PHYSICIAN, Somerville, January 1, 1921.
To His Honor, the Mayor, and the Board of Aldermen : -
Gentlemen :- The work of your City Physician during the year 1920 is presented in the following abstract :-
Office consultations and treatments
322
Total outside visits
.
1138
Confinements
.
.
6
Vaccinations
87
Visits at City Home
120
Attended at police station
22
Examinations :-
For legal department
16.
For highway department
19
For police department
31
For fire department
18
For water department
2
For pension
10
Respectfully submitted,
C. CLARKE TOWLE, City Physician ...
248
ANNUAL REPORTS.
REPORT OF RECREATION AND PLAYGROUND COM- MISSION.
January 1, 1921.
To the Honorable, the Mayor, and the Board of Aldermen of the City of Somerville, Massachusetts :
The Playground and Recreation Commission submits the following report for the municipal year just closed.
The Commission expended $5000 during the last year, an increase of $1322.57 over the expenditure of 1919. It has con- ducted the work along the lines already laid down but has not started any new lines. Detailed information about the social center movement, the summer playgrounds, and the school gardens will be found in the statements prepared by the lead- ers of those enterprises, which are filed herewith. The careful reading of these reports will show that the work of the year has been conducted even more successfully than last year.
· The civic social worker has developed in the Clark Ben- nett School and in the Bingham School a social center move- ment of good promise. At both of these places, classes have been carried on in response to the needs of the community and entertainments of an interesting and instructive nature have been given at frequent intervals. These two schoolhouses have, through the agency of the social center work, given a larger measure of service to the community than ever before. Not- withstanding the fact that neither building has provisions de- signed for adult use, they have afforded a meeting place where the adults of the neighborhood have conducted these community undertakings with interest and benefit. While it cannot be said that the social center work was started during this last year, it is nevertheless true that its present development is due to the energetic work of the civic social worker, Miss Minnette Zuver, who was engaged by the Commission last March. She has been assisted by volunteers from the several women's clubs and by a number of paid workers. Prominent citizens have made addresses at the evening meetings and musicians have given their services as entertainers.
The summer playground work was conducted in as suc- cessful a manner as could be expected when it is considered that the amount of money spent for this purpose was but little in excess of the amount needed for the salaries of the instruc-
249
PLAYGROUND AND RECREATION COMMISSION.
tors. The supervised summer playgrounds afford a safe place for young children during the vacation weeks. Mothers can trust their children to the care of the supervisors of the sum- mer playgrounds with the assurance that the children will be safe and happy and in the way of learning useful rather than harmful things. In a city so crowded as Somerville with only the public parks as play spaces, it is most desirable that there should be these play centers for children on all of our public parks. The director of playgrounds asks for the provision of two additional instructors in order that two more supervi playgrounds may be opened this summer. The Commission hopes that this request can be met in order that a slight ex- tension of the work may be made this year.
Despite very unfavorable spring weather which interfered greatly with spring planting and caused many farmers to abandon undertakings in large part, the school gardens were a decided success. The report of the supervisor shows that the value of the crops far exceeded the total cost of production. In addition to their economic value, the gardens have been a valu- able means for teaching children to work. Inasmuch as the success of a garden is directly dependent upon the intelligent care which is given to its cultivation, the young gardener is compelled to know what he ought to do and how to do it if he wants to secure a good return. The relation between cause and effect is so obvious that even a child can see it. Con- sequently the child who works in a garden is forming a habit of doing well today's task in order to obtain a future benefit.
While this is a brief recital of the activities which have been conducted under the direction of the Recreation and Play- ground Commission, it does not embrace all of the agencies which have worked for the recreational welfare of the city, nor all of the recreational facilities which the city affords to its citizens. Among the former should be numbered the women's clubs of the city, which have supported social welfare work by generous contributions of money and. personal service. These clubs have organized a ways and means committee under which each club is represented whose business it is to encourage and develop the civic social welfare work. This committee has kept open the Neighborhood House and has furnished money and workers for the social centers at the Clark Bennett and Bing- ham Schools. In connection with this report, there is filed a statement of the money which has been contributed by this organization. Another organization which has been of great assistance to the work is the Somerville Playgrounds Associa- tion. This association for many years has supported summer playground work and during the last year has contributed to
250
ANNUAL REPORTS.
its support a generous sum of money. Churches of the city also have contributed both money and supplies to help summer playgrounds.
Without the help of these organizations, the Commission could not have given so large a service to the community. Had it been necessary to pay for the services rendered by the volun- teers of these organizations, the total amount involved would have been beyond the resources of the Commission. It is the belief of the Commission that for the present, at least, the sup- port of organized public recreation must come largely from private sources. It is the hope of the Commission, however, that as private interest increases and as the gifts from private funds grow, there may be a corresponding enlargement of the amounts which the city can allot for public recreation. One of the serious problems of urban life is a provision for the proper use of the leisure of adults as well as that of children. Any money which the community devotes to providing wholesome outdoor recreational opportunity for citizens is a sum well in- vested whose whole benefits accrue to the persons from whom the money is drawn and whose return is rich in happiness and contentment.
Other recreational opportunities which the city provides for its citizens are the public parks, playground areas, and the Somerville Bathing Beach. While these undertakings are not directly under the control of the Commission, they are never- theless allied interests which should be taken into account in any statement of the total of the city's recreational enterprises.
Respectfully submitted,
CHARLES S. CLARK Supt. of Schools, Chairman MRS. A. H. WEEKS MRS. CHARLES E. MONGAN ERNEST W. BAILEY, City Engineer J. FOSTER COLQUHOUN, City Warden GEORGE L. DUDLEY,
Commissioner of Pub- lic Buildings, Secretary.
251
PLAYGROUND AND RECREATION COMMISSION.
REPORT OF THE CIVIC SOCIAL WORKER.
To the Members of the Recreation and Playground Commis- sion : -
When I started my work last March in Somerville about. 35 small boys, 15 girls and 3 young men were attending the. Bennett Social Center. There were no boys above the age of 16. At the Bingham Center there were 30 girls and no boys. The attendance has grown steadily. At the Bennett School Center there is now an attendance of 70 boys and young men. between the ages of 16 and 24, and an equal number of girls. There is an average of 60 boys and 60 girls in attendance at the. Bingham School Center. In addition twenty or more non-Eng- lish-speaking adults have patronized these social centers. Thus, an average of 250 persons is reached and influenced each week,. and occasional mass meetings make the number much higher.
The number of leaders and classes have also grown. There are now eight regular paid leaders, and at some times during- the year twelve have been employed. An orchestra composed of three young men from the Bingham School Center is paid upon occasion for services at either center. Three volunteer workers: have at different times given their help by teaching sewing, dramatics and music.
Classes are now being conducted at the Bennett Social Center as follows :
For girls : in sewing, dramatics, aesthetic dancing, and physi- cal culture ;
For boys: in wrestling, modern dancing, basket ball, rope· quoit, boxing and physical culture.
The following classes are being held at the Bingham Social Center :
For girls : modern dancing, millinery, dressmaking and nurs- ing ;
For boys: dancing and basket ball, including games with matched teams.
During the year three dramatic entertainments have been given by the young people themselves, and two bazaars for the sale of fancy work made by the girls have been held.
At the Bingham School Miss O'Neil held a millinery ex- hibition and sale. A course in citizenship lectures has been given at both centers and nineteen prominent citizens have vol- unteered for this work. At these meetings twenty musicians, eight vocal soloists, five readers, and ten representatives of women's club, have given their services.
252
ANNUAL REPORTS.
These centers have been open an average of three nights each week and some times five nights a week, and large num- bers of Greek, Italian and English-speaking residents have been reached. At the Bingham School rehearsals are being carried on for the presentation of the operetta "The Disagreeable Prin- cess." Plans are being made for an Italian mass meeting to be conducted at the Bennett School. At a mass meeting held last Spring, seventy-five attended and of that number twenty later joined classes for the study of English. At a recent mass meet- ing for Greeks, of the fifty who attended, twenty-two joined such classes.
The Neighborhood House, which is run in connection with the social center work, has been open five days a week from March to July. It was opened again in November and since that time has been thoroughly renovated. During the year two matrons have been employed, at different times, and eight other persons have been engaged to teach cooking and sewing. The clubs of the neighborhood use this house for a meeting place.
The civic social center work is advancing steadily but we need more equipment and money to carry the work further. Added interest and co-operation on the part of the citizens of Somerville would be of valuable assistance.
Respectfully submitted, MINNETTE. ZUVER, Civic Social Worker.
253
PLAYGROUND AND RECREATION COMMISSION.
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF SUMMER PLAYGROUNDS.
To the Members of the Recreation and Playground Commission of Somerville : -
In presenting my annual report of the activities of the summer playgrounds to your body, I desire to summarize the accomplishments of the past season, and to point out sugges- tions for the work in the future.
Grounds. Grounds were conducted on seven plots of the city during the summer of 1920, the number and location being the same as at the close of the season of 1919. Because of existing conditions in the matter of equipment, it seemed ad- visable that the same grounds be operated as heretofore. In the opinion of the director this lay-out does not adequately meet the needs of the city, especially in the proportionate allotment of playgrounds to the density of population. In this regard I repeat again the recommendation made a year ago for the fitting out of the Athletic Field on Alewife Brook as a play- ground by the erection of swings, slides, and other apparatus. As an alternative for this recommendation I submit the plan of the early grading of the land behind the Western Junior High School and its adoption as a playground. Either of the above locations would be more suitable for play on a larger scale than the present Hodgkins School ground, which is the only playground in populous Ward 7. The Kent Street and Bennett Playgrounds are other locations in the city where more ample space is desirable. I am also of the opinion that the grounds on Central Hill Park should be opened as a quiet pla ground during the summer under supervision. The large num- ber of children who frequent this spot in the warm weather, many of them accompanied by elders, would thus be provided with an opportunity for play and handwork, and at the same time it would help to accommodate the small children who live in the vicinity of the playground formerly located at the Bell School which had to be abandoned because of the erection of the Junior High School on that site.
The large number of girls at Richard Trum Park last sum- mer would seem to warrant the employment of a lady super- visor for girls at that place hereafter.
Attendance. The season of 1920 was remarkable for the attendance on all of the playgrounds. From the best possible method of counting, the total attendance of the grounds for the
254
ANNUAL REPORTS ..
summer represented an increase over the year before of more' than 10,000 individual visits to the grounds by children.
The good weather which prevailed throughout the seven weeks of the playground season undoubtedly is responsible for. some of this increase. On the other hand the work of the play- grounds during the season seemed, in the opinion of the direc- tor, to run more successfully than ever before.
As noted in the report of 1919, larger children (i.e. those· over sixteen years of age) seemed to have been entirely elimi- nated from the playgrounds. This has been true to such an ex- tent that it has necessitated the re-arrangement of ages in the- class for competition, such as baseball and' track sports. I find that the same condition prevails in other communities which conduct playgrounds, and the indication is that boys and girls of this older group are, for the most part, finding summer em -- ployment.
The figures for the season by grounds are as follows :
Bennett
13,155
Broadway
6,724
Hodgkins
4,671
Kent
7,645
Lincoln
26,270
Perry
4,770
Trum
12,285
Total
75,520
1919
1920
Total Attendance
65,000
75,520
Average Weekly
9,227
10,790
Average Daily
1,846
2,220
Finances. The budget allowed by your commission for summer playground work in 1920 was $1,722.50. This was aug- mented by approximately $400 from the Treasury of the Som- erville Playgrounds Association, making a total expenditure for the season of a little more than $2,100. Of this amount approximately $1,400 was spent for salaries of supervisors, leaving a balance of $700 for teaming, supplies, maintenance, extra labor, and the like. This latter amount while it has been sufficient for keeping the playgrounds active, does not allow any provision for more permanent equipment, or even the re- pair or replacement of what permanent equipment we now have. I suggest that it would be well for your Commission in mak- ing up its future budgets, to make provision for permanent equipment, for it must be borne in mind that the most of the frame work now on our public playgrounds has been in use for
255
PLAYGROUND AND RECREATION COMMISSION.
:a dozen years, and during that time has been exposed to the elements, and before long will have to be replaced.
It seems desirable also in alloting finances hereafter, to provide for a final demonstration such as was conducted this year on Lincoln Park. Had it not been for the money contrib- uted by the Somerville Playgrounds Association, this feature could not have been carried out during the past season.
Another desirable provision for the future would be the addition of shelters on some of the grounds particularly at such open areas as the Richard Trum Playground. A start was made in this direction during the season of 1920 by the erection of a shelter at the Bennett School Ground from funds contrib- uted by the Somerville Playgrounds Association.
To summarize the financial situation as based on the fig- ures for the past year, I would recommend that in order to carry out the above recommendations even on a small scale, the allotment for summer playgrounds for another season should be at the minimum $3000.
Supervision. The slight increase in remuneration advo- cated in my last report and granted by your commission showed its effect during the past summer. The extra inducement en- abled the director to secure the services of more proficient su- pervisors, three of whom had previously been in service in Som- erville, with the result that the success of the season can be attributed in some degree to this more efficient supervision. A comparison of the salaries paid in Somerville with those of- fered in other communities of greater Boston will show, how- ever, that in proportion to the amount spent for supervisors the results obtained in our city will compare favorably with those of other places.
The one desirable object to be obtained from the stand- point of supervision is, as far as possible and within reason, to retain the services of desirable supervisors in order that the playgrounds shall continue in efficiency.
Meetings. Following the plan of previous seasons, meet- ings of the entire staff of supervisors were held at the High School at regular intervals during the season for the purpose of concerted action throughout the city and for exchanging plans which would prove beneficial for the different grounds. Such meetings are of valuable assistance in the conduction of the work, especially for such purposes as arranging the pro- gram for the final exhibition.
Equipment. I have already alluded to the future need of permanent equipment on the grounds. Almost every ground in the city could use additional swings. The swings on Broad- way Park are in need of repair before the opening of the next
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