USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Attleboro > Reports of town officers of the town of Attleborough 1914 > Part 11
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We had several delays, but the most of them were unavoidable. During the year 1912 we were unable to get steel girders suitable for this building until late in the fall. Again we were delayed in wiring the building. After being as- sured that the electric wiring would be satisfac- tory if it was installed according to the rules and regulations of 1911 of the New England Insurance Exchange, we were ordered to stop work and re- move all wires and place them in tubes. This delay not only cost us weeks of time and $2,300 for the installation in tubes but nearly $1,000 for damages to perishable material which was at that time in the building.
The Committee, the Builders, and the Archi- tects have worked in unison. There is one, not on this committee to whom we owe much, Mr. Fales, the Superintendent of Schools. He has always met with us and with his experience assisted us in many ways, especially in the equipment of the building.
The Committee since 1911 have held more than one hundred and twenty-five business meet- ings besides many others where no records were taken. Scarcely a day has passed but that some one of the committee was at the building under construction.
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ANNUAL REPORT
The Committee visited the following cities and towns to inspect school buildings, furniture and equipment, Leominister, Revere, Peabody, Framingham, Wellesley, Reading, Woburn, Brain- tree, Milton, Newton, Watertown, New Bedford, Pawtucket, Providence, North Grosvenordale, and Putnam, Conn. From the schools and buildings in these places we saw many things which we carried here.
Construction
The foundations are erected on solid hard pan and are built of solid concrete masonry, all concrete being mixed with a steam mixer. The retaining walls on the lot lines and all foundations are provided with expansion joints, thereby les- sening the liability to large cracks.
The exterior walls above the foundations are constructed of the best made hard burned, sand struck brick, faced and wire cut laid in Portland cement mixture.
All of the main supports, which carry the floors, inside walls and roof, are erected of high grade steel. All loads which are carried by steel col- umns, beams and girders are based upon "Carne- gie formulas", a method which is recognized by authorities as one of the best for calculating safe loads for heavy steel construction.
The entire steel frame is riveted together and painted with a heavy coating of "graphite" preservative. All partitions throughout the building are fireproof construction, being erected of hollow blocks with sufficient air space for insulation. These blocks are all laid in Portland cement and are plastered with fireproof adamant plaster.
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ANNUAL REPORT
All four flights of exit stairs leading from the corridors and class rooms are constructed in the latest methods. The main supports are heavy steel channels and angles and upon these is erected reinforced concrete. The stairs are all finished in granolithic and all steps are provided with a patent safety tread and painted with a gray concrete preservative. These exit stairs are all enclosed in smoke tight wells and all exit glass light doors are protected with wire glass.
Each floor is constructed on heavy Georgia hard pine timbers which are supported at the ends in masonry walls or on steel girders. Special point was made in the method used in fire stop- ping the various floors of the building. Each floor is entirely shut off from the one below, and around all air passages, ducts and flues, are placed fireproof smoke stops and fire stops, which run at floor junction with outside walls. This makes the building practically fire tight. The ceilings are plastered on fire proof asbestos fire board and the best hard plaster was used.
It is of special importance to note the ar- rangements of this building for quick exit. All class rooms are so arranged that they not only enter into the large corridors but are connected with each other so that scholars may pass from room to room, without entering the corridors, to any stairway that is clear which would prevent corridors from becoming blocked. The outside doors are equipped with safety panic fastenings which will open when pressure is brought to bear on the inside.
The general arrangement of the building is as follows:
In the basement are the main toilets with open plumbing, two shower baths, manual train-
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ANNUAL REPORT
ing rooms, locker rooms equipped with steel lockers, a finely equipped lunch room and a large gymna- sium with a visitors' gallery around it. The basement floors are all concrete with the excep- tion of the gymnasium which is provided with a maple floor laid on a concrete base. The finish is in North Carolina pine.
The first floor contains seven class rooms, principal's and teachers' rooms and assembly hall seating approximately nine hundred persons. There are also emergency toilets for both girls and boys.
The second floor contains seven class rooms, gallery of the assembly hall, library, small recita- tion rooms and emergency toilets.
The third floor contains three class rooms, typewriter and bookkeeping departments, domes- tic science room, retiring room, physical labora- tory, chemical laboratory equipped with the latest designs in chemical tables and a lecture room with raised platform for seats and equipped with an outlet for a stereoptican.
The entire building above the basement is finished in birch which is treated with a stain and varnish rubbed down. The plaster walls are all tinted and a dado of burlap is provided in all rooms and corridors and the assembly hall is decorated with gold leaf. The doors are white pine core with birch veneer.
The heating plant is what is known as a "direct, indirect mechanical system." Warm air is supplied through fire proof ducts and is forced into the rooms by two large multivane fans driven by two 10 h. p. motors; the air is heated in the basement by passing through large vento heaters. The direct heat is carried to the rooms through steam pipes to the radiators. The entire steam
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ANNUAL REPORT
plant is regulated by the Powers Automatic Regulator System, which keeps each room at any required temperature. The foul air is removed through ducts connected with each room and is pulled up and finds an outlet through the venti- lators on the roof. All toilets are ventilated through "Auto-Force" ventilators on top of the ing. There is also a system of the latest type humidifier used in connection with the heating of the building. This keeps the humidity in the class rooms under all conditions and in all tem- peratures, the same.
The building is piped complete for a vacuum cleaner system which may be installed at any future time.
The boilers are placed in a fire proof building erected in the rear of the school house connecting with the basement by an underground tunnel. The boilers are 200 h. p. each and are set in brick "Hartford Boiler Inspection Settings."
This building is wired so that at any time it can be connected with the town fire alarm ser- vice. There is also a school fire alarm on each floor and a standpipe equipped with 100 feet of hose on each floor ready for immediate use.
There is a telephone in each room connecting with the principal's office and a time clock in each room regulated by a master programme clock from the same office.
Your committee have labored long and faith- fully, have given of their time and money that this building might be one of the best in town, with what results time will only tell. We no doubt have made mistakes but we feel that we have done the best we knew how. Following you will find the financial statement from Jan. 1st., 1914 to the finish of the building. Three Thousand
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ANNUAL REPORT
Dollars of the overdraft is due to the changes made in the wiring by the Inspector after the committee was assured that the Rules of the New England Insurance Exchange would be satisfactory. The balance was made up of ex- penses which could not have been foreseen by the committee but were considered necessary to com- plete the building properly and were contracted for by the committee.
Respectfully submitted, W. J. NEWMAN, HAROLD E. SWEET, OSCAR WOLFENDEN, M. F. ASHLEY, ALDRO A. FRENCH,
High School Building Committee.
NEW HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING.
Dr.
Balance from 1913
$26,957.95
Overdraft. 7,545.31
Total
$34,503.26
Cr.
By Hooper Waters Co., builders $22,524.12
Stone & Underhill, heaters. 3,734.90
Cooper & Bailey, archts. 920.20
Att. Gas Light Co., installing gas 21.70
A. L. Bemis, furniture . 489.50
R. Wolfenden & Sons, coal 169.65
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ANNUAL REPORT
R. H. Jones, lawn dressing. . . . . . 33.25
American Seating Co., furniture. 4,306.63
Crooker & Co., electric fixtures. . 972.00
Crooker & Co., exit signs. .
34.50
H. C. Barden, light bulbs.
128.00
J. L. Tobitt & Co., curtains
210.00
G. A. Sweeney, furniture.
52.15
G. A. Sweeney, lawn dressing . . .
2.25
Robert Barnes, cleaning building 25.25
Morandi, Proctor Co., furniture.
16.50
Library Bureau, filing cabinets. . 43.50
Jones, McDuff & Stratton, furni- ture. 31.08
E. C. Newman & Co., cartage .. . 17.71
Freight, express etc .
56.35
Blodgett Clock Co., program clocks.
714.02
Total
$34,503.26
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF STREETS
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen of the Town of Attleborough :
Gentlemen: I herewith submit my first annual report as Superintendent of Streets for the year ending December 31, 1914.
I am gratified to say a good many of the streets are in good condition as compared with last year. However, there are many which are still very poor and there is not a great deal to be done in a permanent way until the house con- nections to the sewer are made. All trunk lines to the outskirts seem to be in good condition, and I would recommend that all roads which are now in good condition and macadamized to be given a coat of tar, which goes far towards saving them.
The fact that the voters adopted the eight- hour law for employees of this department added greatly to the expenses this year. It necessitated the employment of an extra man at the stable as caretaker, a loss on every laborer on the highway of one hour per day, and an approximate loss on all town teams of from one and a half to two hours per day, and on all hired teams of about one hour per day, the whole cost of which amounted to over $3,000.00.
We employed one regular foreman, four team- sters, two shovelers, one street cleaner permanently with another about eight months and an average of fifteen laborers.
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ANNUAL REPORT
All streets were scraped and the gutters cleaned.
A summary of the work follows:
North Division.
The following new macadam road was laid from the general appropriation :
West Street from Newport Avenue to
Orr's factory.
750 feet
Crushed stone used .
487 tons
Subsoil used
18 yards
The following were rebuilt macadam roads from the general appropriation:
County Street from North Main Street
to Thacher Street.
6,000 feet
Crushed stone used .
2,160 tons
Subsoil used .
30 yards
North Main Street from the Railroad
Crossing to Brady's Corner 800 feet
Crushed stone used .
160 tons
Subsoil used.
8 yards
South Main Street from County Street
to Mill Street, on west side of car track. . 720 feet
Crushed stone used .
121 tons
Subsoil used .
6 yards
South Main Street from Railroad Arch
to Lamb Street.
2,800 feet
Crushed stone used .
216 tons
Orange Street from Pine Street to South Main Street. 700 feet
Crushed stone used
242 tons
Subsoil used .
6 yards
Pleasant Street from the Railroad Arch to the Attleboro Ice Co. was redressed with macadam. 250 feet
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ANNUAL REPORT
The following streets have been graveled from the general appropriation :
Maple Street from South Main Street to Pine street. 500 feet
Gravel used .
240 yards
Maple Street from Thacher Brook to
Martin Street. 400 feet
Gravel used .
155 yards
South Main Street from Lamb Street to Dexter Street. 1,700 feet
Gravel used .
25 yards
Falmouth Street from Brook Street to
Morey Street. 900 feet
Gravel used .
105 yards
Lindsey Street from Pleasant Street to Railroad Bridge. . 1,500 feet
Gravel used .
250 yards
Commonwealth Avenue from John Bates' North Attleboro Line 1700 feet
Gravel used .
350 yards
Mechanic Street from Dennis Street to Highland Country Club 350 feet
Gravel used . 88 yards
North Main Street from Brady's Cor- ner to Holden Street. 900 feet
Gravel used. 72 yards
Park Street from George Street to Cum- ming's Corner. 747 feet
Material used.
733 yards
This street was improved
with the material removed
from Park Street between North Main Street and the Railroad Arch. The road was low at this point so we filled in and graded same with the road machine then rolled thoroughly.
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ANNUAL REPORT
Emory Street from Forest Street to Park Street. 900 feet
Material used 290 yards
This street was improved with the material removed from Park Street between North Main Street and the Railroad Arch, and in the same manner as Park Street from George Street to Cun- ming's Corner.
Robert Street from Twelfth Street to Summer Street. 400 feet
This street was improved by making a 6-inch cut at the center point and bring- ing to a grade on both ends.
Gravel removed .
42 yards
Stone removed.
36 tons®
Hazelwood Avenue from North Main Street to Bank Street. 300 feet
This being a new street it was necessary to do a large amount of work in preparing it. There was some ma- terial removed and consid- erable stone blasted. As there was no special appro- priation therefor, the ex- penditure came from the general account.
Material removed . 80 yards
Total number of feet of road improved . . . . 22,317 Total number of yards of gravel used 2,308 Total number of yards of subsoil used, . 68
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ANNUAL REPORT
Total number of tons crushed stone used ... 8,893 Total number of tons crushed stone drawn to crusher from gravel bank. 4,594 Total number of tons crushed stone to patch streets. 339
Total number barrels tar used to patch
streets. 27
Total number of loads of snow removed ... .2,714
Tarric Pavement.
A new road was installed on North Main Street from the junction of Mechanic Street, ex- tending to the Railroad crossing. The Selectmen decided to use Tarric Pavement and awarded the contract for constructing same to the Independent Coal Tar Company of Boston, Mass., at a cost of $2,000.
This street was built from the stone block pavement along the car track to the edge-stone on the opposite side of the street. The surface of the road was picked up and graded. The subgrade was rolled very hard and upon this a 2-inch course of No. 1 stone, which had previously been well tarred was laid and rolled. Over this was placed a 1-inch course of No. 2 stone, thoroughly tarred and lightly rolled. The top coating consisting of a mixture composed of pea stone, sand and hot tar, (the proportion being 55 gallons of tar per cubic yard of sand and pea stone), was laid 1-inch deep. The last coat was rolled very hard to a finished surface.
The contract was accompanied by a five-year guaranty, and a bond was given by the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company of Balti- more, Md.
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ANNUAL REPORT
This fall the Selectmen decided to repair Park Street from North Main Street to the Rail- road Arch, and Tarric Pavement was used on this street.
This street was excavated to a depth of 8 inches and , the good material removed to the lower end of Emory Street and Park Street near the Cummings residence, to be used in repairing these roads. The subgrade was thoroughly rolled and all soft places dug out and filled in with field stone. Upon this foundation was placed 6 inches of No. 1 crushed stone, and thoroughly rolled.
The Independent Coal Tar Company then laid the 4-inch Tarric Pavement, consisting of a 4-inch course of No. 2 stone, thoroughly tarred and lightly rolled with a 2-inch coat of pea stone, sand and tar in the same proportion as was used on North Main Street, for which they charged fifty cents per square yard. The total cost of laying this pavement in Park Street was approxi- mately eighty-two cents per square yard.
SPECIAL APPROPRIATIONS.
Ten Mile River and Thacher Brook Drain.
The drain has been thoroughly cleaned from Cambridge Street to Maple Street, and the grass and brush cut and removed from the banks of the drain.
The Ten Mile River has been cleaned from County Street to a point near Sixth Street, a large amount of refuse being taken from the river bot- tom.
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ANNUAL REPORT
Maple Street Bridge.
There was an appropriation of $500 for the construction of a bridge on Maple Street over Thacher Brook Drain. We decided on construct- ing a steel and concrete bridge at this point. The bids we received called for an expenditure of about $700. As the appropriation was insufficient for such a structure, we did nothing with it and the same remains unexpended.
Thacher Street.
A special appropriation of $500 was made to improve this street from County Street to Snell Street, a distance of 1,900 feet. The road was picked up, rolled, graded with the road machine and the low places filled in with gravel.
Gravel used . 118 yards
South Avenue and West Street.
A special appropriation of $500 was made for the improvement of these streets. They were picked up and rolled, commencing at Orr's factory and continuing for a distance of 6,700 feet to a point where the road is macadamized near the Uhlig farm.
Gravel used . 532 yards
Park Street.
An appropriation of $1,000 was made for the improvement of this street from the Sanitarium to Briggs Corner, and a portion of this for a dis- tance of 1,276 feet was improved. The road at the above mentioned place has always been low and
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ANNUAL REPORT
muddy, so we deemed it best to bring the road to grade, which was about 20 inches higher. The Taunton & Pawtucket Street Railway Company raised their tracks to the grade of the road and the road was widened. We now have a substantial and permanent road in this section of Park street. Gravel used . 1,914 yards
Tappan Avenue.
There was a special appropriation of $225 for the improvement of this street, which was brought to a grade for a distance of 310 feet, from Dunham Street to Pearl Street.
Crushed Stone used . 198 tons
Field Stone used 21 tons
Subsoil used . 9 yards
Material removed 18 yards
Wolfenden Street.
An appropriation of $160 was made for the improvement of this street. It was found necessary to cut some portions of the street and to raise other places several inches in order to bring to grade. The street was then laid with 6 inches of gravel part of which was taken from Robert Street. We also constructed a sidewalk on one side of the street.
Gravel used . 175 yards
Pleasant Street.
Under the special appropriation of $1,000, the macadam on Pleasant Street was rebuilt from Starkey Avenue to a point where the State High- way commences, the distance being about 4,000
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ANNUAL REPORT
feet. I would recommend that this section of the road be tarred soon, if it is possible to do so.
Crushed stone used. 1,119 tons Subsoil used . .. 39 yards
Material removed . 138 yards
James Street.
It was necessary to perform considerable work on James Street, for which an appropriation of $500 was made. In order to get the street to the proper grade a large quantity of material had to be taken away, the greater part of which was sand. Of this we took 643 yards to the Bliss School yard, 361 yards to Cummings Park and 145 yards to the Union Street yard to be used on the sidewalks in winter. We placed the street in good condition for 300 feet between School Street and East Street and graveled the same.
Gravel used . 140 yards
Foster Street.
The work on this street was done under con- tract by Olof Pearson. The street, gutters, and sidewalks were laid with tar concrete at a cost of $389.50. The amount of appropriation was $250. The abutters on this street have been assessed a betterment tax amounting to $150.20, which is now due. This being the case there remains a balance of $10.70 of this appropriation.
Catch Basins, Culverts and Bridges.
The following bridges were replanked :
Olive Street. Labor, $11.75 Material, $128.05 $139.80
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ANNUAL REPORT
Lindsey Street.
Labor, $ 6.75 Material, $75.99 82.74
Total expended on bridges, $222.54
Four new catch basins were built, one at the corner of Bank Street and Sanford Street, two on Newport Avenue, and another near the Dodgeville Church in South Main Street.
Catch-basins cleaned once. 70
Catch-basins cleaned twice. 30
Catch-basins cleaned three times 16
Akron pipe was laid as follows:
Pleasant Street .. . . 28 ft. 12-in. pipe
Pleasant Street ... . 36 ft. 20-in. pipe
South Main Street. 15 ft.
12-in. pipe
County Street. . . . . 22 ft. 12-in. pipe
Deantown Road. . . 33 ft. 20-in. pipe
Bank Street. 2 ft., 8 ins. 12-in. pipe
Turner Street. 9
12-in. pipe
Wolfenden Street .. 22 ft.
8-in. pipe
Total number of feet Akron pipe laid, 167 ft., 8 ins.
Sidewalks.
Ash sidewalks have been constructed as follows:
Lindsey Street. 1,500 feet
Dennis Street. 1,682 feet
School Street
460 feet
Pearl Street. 210 feet
Sturdy Street. 138 feet
Total number feet new ash sidewalks. 3,990
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ANNUAL REPORT
Ash sidewalks were recoated as follows:
Emory Street. 575 feet
Horton Street. 150 feet
Pleasant Street 330 feet
Parker Street.
390 feet
Brook Street 825 feet
Park Street. 1,674 feet
James Street.
250 feet
School Street
470 feet
Total number of feet of walks recoated . 4,664
Gravel sidewalks have been constructed as fol- lows:
Park Street on Finberg Play- ground . .
510 feet
Robert Street
1,100 feet
Total number feet gravel walks made 1,610
Total number feet side- walks made. 10,264
Total number of loads of ashes used on all sidewalks. 3,284
Total number of loads of gravel used on all sidewalks. 823
Total number of tons of crushed stone . used on all sidewalks 74
Total number of yards of sand used on sidewalks. 158
Total number of loads of dirt removed from gutters. 4,946
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ANNUAL REPORT
Concrete Walks.
Concrete walks have been constructed as follows:
South Main Street. 423 yards
Beacon Street . 45 yards
Ellis Street. 76 yards
Manchester Street 251 yards
Pleasant Street
190 yards
Hope Street.
588 yards
Peck Street. 362 yards
Dunham Street
132 yards
Emory Street.
279 yards
John Street. 225 yards
North Main Street 45 yards
County Street. 989 yards
Total number of yards new concrete walks made . 3,605
Concrete crosswalks have been constructed as follows:
County Street . 20 yards
Summer Street 18 yards
Hope Street. 53 yards
Sanford Street 36 yards
East Street.
42 yards
Fifth Street .
20 yards
First Street. 35 yards
Eldridge Street 42 yards
Fourth Street.
17 yards
Dunham Street
5 yards
Bank Street. 22 yards
John Street. 11 yards
Total number of yards crosswalks
structed .
con- 321
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ANNUAL REPORT
Walks Redressed.
The following walks have been redressed:
South Main Street . . . 242 yards
Park Street & Common. 198 yards
County Street.
117 yards
Park Street & Union Street . . 267 yards
Pleasant Street .
53 yards
Total number of yards walks redressed, 877
Besides the above mentioned concrete work there was about $42 expended in patching and small repairs in various parts of the town.
Brick Crosswalks.
Owing to the destructive qualities of the street oil on the tar concrete crosswalks it was de- cided to lay some different material for this pur- pose which would be permanent.
We laid five of these walks which consisted of Vitrified Shale repressed Mayer Paving Brick blocks laid on a 6-inch foundation of cement con- crete.
These five walks were laid in the following places :
Forest Street at Pleasant Street number bricks used. 540
Morey Street at Park Street number of bricks used 540
Wall Street at County Street number bricks used. 850
Bank Street at Park Street number bricks used . 850
Sanford Street at Bank Street number bricks used. 760
Total number of bricks used 3,540
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ANNUAL REPORT
Curbing.
New curbing was placed in sidewalks on the following streets:
James & School Streets .26612 feet
Morey Street . 357
feet
Robert Street. 6161/2
feet
County Street . 730
feet
Horton Street. 259
feet
North Main & West Streets. 351
feet
Bank & Holden Streets. 266 feet
Howard Avenue. 274
feet
Manchester Street 252 feet
Perrin Street. 267
feet
Total number of feet new curbing 3,639
Reset Curbing.
Curbing has been reset in the following streets:
Fourth Street. 50 feet
Robert Street. 250 feet
Total number of curbing reset .
300
Cement Curbing.
New cement curbing was set in Dodgeville village at an approximate cost of 56 cents per foot.
Number of feet of new cement curbing set . . . 325
Gutters Paved.
James & School Streets. 89 yards Bank & Holden Streets 89 yards County Street . 243 yards
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ANNUAL REPORT
Horton Street. 86 yards
Howard Avenue 91 yards
Morey Street. . 119 yards
Manchester Street.
84
yards
Perrin Street. yards
89
North Main & West Streets. yards
117
Robert Street. yards
289
Fourth Street 17 yards
Total number yards of gutter paved . .. . 1,313
Street Sprinkling and Oiling.
Water was used on the streets for laying the dust up to May 8, when the first oil was used on streets in the center of the town.
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