USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Attleboro > Reports of town officers of the town of Attleborough 1915 > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13
Finberg Play-ground. 100.00
Total
$1,600.00
The Park Commissioners recommend that in as much as with the extra expense of Play-ground work and the increasing cost of maintenance of the Park, that the extra amount of $1,600.00 be appropriated for 1916, out- side of the regular appropriation.
(Signed)
CHARLES A. MOOERS, SOLON D. BUSHEE, JOHN E. ANDERSON.
Park Commissioners of the City of Attleboro.
To the Honorable Mayor and Council of the City of Attleboro :-
Gentlemen :-
The Park Commissioners herewith submit their report on July 4th Celebration for the year, 1915.
To Appropriation $500.00
$500.00
Le Claire's Band, music
$126.00
R. I. Fireworks Co., fireworks. 150.00
Sun Pub. Co., printing entry blanks. 4.50
91.12
W. H. Saart Co., cups for prizes.
C. M. Robbins Co., medals for prizes
16.50
77
ANNUAL REPORT
M. F. Ashley & Co., lumber
$8.24
Frank X. McGrath, handicapper
6.80
H. S. DeGroat, postage and stamps 4.00
F. W. Woolworth Co., 100 flags.
2.25
H. R. Frechette, 7 sign cards.
1.00
Capron Park, preparing for 4th of July events
56.00
Balance on hand, Dec. 31, 1915 33.59
$500.00
The Park Commissioners recommend that the same amount of $500.00 be appropriated for the 4th of July Celebration, 1916.
(Signed)
CHARLES A. MOOERS, SOLON D. BUSHEE, JOHN E. ANDERSON.
Park Commissioners.
78
ANNUAL REPORT
PLANNING BOARD
December 6, 1915.
To His Honor, Harold E. Sweet, Mayor, and the Honorable City Council, of Attleboro, Massachusetts :-
Gentlemen :---
Chapter 494 of the Massachusetts Statutes, approved April 16, 1913, was entitled, "An Act to provide for the Establishment of Local Planning Boards by Cities and Towns."
It enacted that every City of the Commonwealth, and every town hav- ing a population of more than 10,000, should create a planning board "whose duty it shall be to make careful studies of the resources, possibilities and needs of the city or town, particularly with respect to conditions which may be injurious to the public health, or otherwise injurious in or about rented dwellings, and to make plans for the development of the municipality with special reference to the proper housing of its people.
The City Council of Attleboro, on March 2, 1915, approved ordinances providing for the creation of this planning board, consisting of six mem- bers, and, on March 16, 1915, approved the nominations of the Mayor for this board, consisting of Joseph Finberg, George A. Sweeney, Raymond M. Horton, Milford E. Bliss, Mrs. Josephine Hammond, and Mrs. Mary G. Mullaly.
The law provided that the board shall make a report annually to the council or governing board. In accordance therewith the board submits its first annual report.
CITY AND TOWN PLANNING.
The question is asked by most of the citizens and even ourselves before becoming more acquainted with our work, "What are the duties of the City Planning Board? What is City Planning?" In studying the matter up and listening to the reports of the various heads of the City Planning Boards, we have found that City Planning is forethought on the part of the people as a whole to prevent haphazard city building; proper housing; each street should have a building line beyond which no house can project; fire escapes; relation of height of houses to width of streets; clean streets and unnecessary noise; a plan for public building to so build and so group as to be impressive in appearance, and convenient to each other. The city should not only be convenient for business and healthful for residents, but beautiful to look at and thereby attract strangers to the city. Improve- ments in the surroundings of the people is a means to produce better citizen- ship. Men and women lose hope and ambition when their surroundings are unpleasant. One of the first steps toward transforming men and women to good citizens who will contribute to the welfare of the community is to give them pleasant and even beautiful surroundings.
City planning is simply the exercise of steady oversight as will permit the orderly and sightly development of a city in its environs. Adding rational lines with proper regard for welfare and amenity, convenience and also for industrial advancement.
The cooperation between planning boards, civic and social organizations as well as individual citizens is the most essential thing now.
.
79
ANNUAL REPORT
On March 23, 1915, the board held its first meeting and organized as follows:
Mr. Joseph Finberg, President. Mr. George A. Sweeney, Secretary.
During the year we have had ten meetings and have endeavored to do our duty along the lines laid out by the Homestead Commission and the boards of other cities.
We successfully planned and carried out a Clean Up Campaign in May and have also been instrumental in having many unsightly back yards and empty lots adjoining the Railroad cleaned up and kept in a more attractive condition. All persons spoken to in regard to these unsightly conditions on their property have cooperated with us, except in one instance.
This board also recommend to the Mayor the lighting system now in use in Monument Square.
At our meeting on April 6, we recommended that the main streets of our city within the radius of one-half (12) mile of Park Street arch be lighted every night instead of following the moon schedule as now in use.
We also recommended to the Mayor that all lights within one (1) mile of Park Street be lighted at an alarm of fire at night and remain lighted until recall is sounded or until daylight.
The board also recommended to the Mayor, that the plat called Attle- boro Park owned by the city be filled in and cleaned up and put in the care of the Park Commissioners and this has already been done.
This board also asked the Mayor to recommend to the council that proper ordinances be passed to relieve traffic conditions and congestion on several of our business streets.
We also recommended that space in Monument Square be set aside for parking of automobiles and teams.
Recommendations.
We beg to recommend for the consideration of the Mayor and Honor- able Council, the following items, which will benefit the citizens of Attle- bo ro.
Street Lighting.
1. That the city keep the streets lighted all night. A great many cities and towns smaller than Attleboro, in Massachusetts and our neighboring states have their streets lighted all night and we are certainly in need of it. If the cost to light the entire city all night will be too great, we would recommend that the streets be lighted all night in a zone of one (1) mile from the center. The safety of the people and property is to be considered. It is extremely dangerous to have the streets dark in the early hours of the morning, particularly in case of fire, the loss might be greater than the extra cost of keeping the lights all night.
3. That the city build a Public Sanitary on the Common. The health and comfort of our citizens and visitors alike demand it. We would suggest a building arranged for both sexes. It is one of the most needed things in the city and it is something that is being recommended and built in a great many cities and towns in the United States.
3. That signs with the words "Safety First," or "Drive Slowly," painted appropriately so to make them conspicuous, be put on the corners of all streets, which enter in the main streets and into the main thoroughfares. It may save a great many lives and accidents in the future.
4. The location of additional playgrounds in different parts of the city. Although we may not need them in the next year or two, at the same time it is better to acquire land when we can get it at reasonable prices, than to wait until we are actually obliged to have it and then have to pay more.
5. We call your attention to the desirability of widening South Main Street from the corner of Park to Mill and of Union Street from the corner
1
80
ANNUAL REPORT
of Mill to Park. The city engineer has prepared a plan which we heartily approve and it seems this is the proper time to take action. Later on per- manent buildings may be built to the street line and it will cost the city a great deal more to widen the streets than at this time. The Post Office is to be built next year and it would be a great deal easier to acquire or get the land now, than it will be after the building is started. The above streets are main thoroughfares and traffic is very heavy.
6. The necessity of acquiring land for a City Hall. The city is being built up rapidly each year and available locations will become more expen- sive as the years go by. While we may not need it now we certainly will within five years and action should be taken at once to secure a desirable location.
7. We cannot urge too strongly to your Honor and Council, the nec- essity of taking up the matter of traffic regulations. It is a very serious problem and one that requires considerable thought and study. It is cer- tainly a matter for your immediate attention.
8. That the City Planning Board be consulted whenever a new street is to be laid out. Many of the streets in the city have been laid out with- out any thought for the future, both in width and shape, and without any building lines.
9. That the Council authorize the drawing of a set of maps giving a survey of the streets in detail, as there are none at present. Such maps would be of great value in planning for the future.
10. We request an appropriation of one hundred dollars ($100.00) to carry on the work of City Planning
11. We wish to thank the Mayor and the City Officials for the courte- sies they have extended to us during the year, also the daily papers for their cooperation.
JOSEPH FINBERG, Chairman. GEORGE A. SWEENEY, Secretary. RAYMOND M. HORTON. MILFORD E. BLISS. MRS. JOSEPHINE HAMMOND. MRS. MARY G. MULLALY.
81
ANNUAL REPORT
POLICE DEPARTMENT
December 8, 1915.
To His Honor, the Mayor, and the Honorable Municipal Council, of the City of Attleboro.
Gentlemen :-
I herewith submit, for your consideration, the annual report of the Police Department, for the year ending November 30, 1915.
Organization of the Police Department at the close of the year, is as follows:
Lieutenant, Edmond H. Gingras.
Patrolmen,
Arthur F. Gaffney,
Thomas F. Gilroy,
John Bora,
William J. Sargeant,
Albert E. Sears, Charles W. Balser, William D. Norwood, Edward E. Gobin, Chauffeur.
Reserve Officers.
Ernest G. L. Hemple, Martin J. Tierney,
Terence E. Flanagan, Frank McKay,
Eli Mills.
During the year 1915, the Police Department made three hundred and two (302) arrests, for the following crimes and misdemeanors:
Male
Female
Male Female
Assault and battery. . . 11
Evading carfare . . . . 4
Assault to rape. 1
Failing to restrain dog. . . 4. Failing to send child to school. 1
Assault with dangerous weapon . 1
Abandonment of family 1
Gaming . 5
Adultery 1
1
Indecent exposure . 1
Bastardy 1
Idle & disorderly 1
Contempt of Court 1
Larceny. 18
Cutting tree unlawfully 3
Larceny in a bldg 2
Common drunkard 1
Larceny from person 5
Cruelty to animals 3
Malicious mischief. 3
Drunkenness 114
1 Neglect to provide. 8
Disturbance 5
Neglect of children .
3
Disorderly house
1 Obstructing an officer 2
Common night walker. .
Delinquent child 5
1 Practising medicine without registration. . 1
150 3
55 3
82
ANNUAL REPORT
Male
Female 3
Male Female 55 3
Receiving stolen property. . 1
Violation of food law 5
Setting fire on land
1
Violation of weekly payment law 2
Stubborn child.
3
Violation of peddler's
Selling drug to procure abortion. 1
law. 2
Violation of liquor law . 9
1
Trespass
12
Tramp.
11
Vagrant.
5
Uttering threats.
1
Unlicensed dog.
10
190
3
105
4
105
4
Total arrests.
295
7 -302.
In January 1915 a much needed increase was made to the police force by appointing three extra regular patrolmen, which permitted the patrolling night force that the city had before.
While the efficiency of the Police force was greatly increased, the need for additional men on the force seems to me to be quite urgent. The intro- duction of traffic regulations means another officer on the day force, and it would be impossible to take a night officer for this duty and to guarantee at night the usual protection to the city. I would recommend the appoint- ment of three additional patrolmen which would bring the force somewhere near the standard that is maintained in cities of like size.
I cannot urge too strongly the need of a new police station. It is im- possible for me to set forth the inadequacy of the present one, its lack of proper quarters for the officers, and its unfitness for the confinement of pris- oners.
The Police force has now reached a point where some form of police signal should be installed so that police headquarters would be in touch with the patrolmen at least once an hour. I would recommend that the same system which is used in most cities be adopted, namely, the Gamewell Sys- tem.
A police patrol wagon which could be used as an ambulance has been repeatedly recommended and I take this opportunity to renew this recom- mendation.
The auto that is now used by the department has outlived its useful- ness and should be disposed of at the earliest opportunity as it is a big ex- pense to the city and is in constant need of repairs. The repairs and upkeep of this car cost the city $703. 53 for eleven months of this year. I would recommend that a touring car, of some reliable make, be purchased for the use of this department in the investigation of the numerous cases that it is called upon to make, where a patrol wagon could not be used. The sooner this is done will mean a saving to the city.
I recommend that the sum of $14,750. 00 be appropriated for the main- tenance of the Police Department for 1916 and for every additional officer appointed an appropriation of $925.00 should be made.
I respectfully ask at this time that some provision be made for officers who advance money to the city in the investigation of cases, that they may be reimbursed for such expenses and not be compelled to wait a month and sometimes six months before a case is finally disposed of in court. I ask that the sum of $400.00 be appropriated for this purpose.
During the year 1915 the city has been clean and quiet, no special dis- turbance having taken place, nor any unusual crime committed.
Brought forward 150
Violation of auto law 27
-
83
ANNUAL REPORT
The officers have done their duty to the best of their ability in the en- forcement of law and the preservation of public peace and order.
In conclusion, I wish to convey my thanks to your Honor and to the Municipal Council, for the hearty co-operation and interest taken in the Police Department. In this I am conveying the thanks of the Department as well as my own.
It has been a pleasure to have Your Honor keep in such close touch with the Department and its work for the past year.
Respectfully submitted,
EDMOND H. GINGRAS,
Lieutenant of Police.
84
ANNUAL REPORT
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Attleboro, Mass., January 14, 1916
To the Mayor and Council of the City of Attleboro,
Gentlemen :-
The Trustees of the Attleborough Public Library report an eventful year for the City's Library. All previous records for registration, loaning of books and attendance in the reading room, have been far exceeded. De- tails of these items are presented fully in the accompanying annual report to the Trustees by the Librarian. For this excellent and most satisfactory showing, much credit is due to the unusual abilities of Miss Eugenia M. Henry, who was called to a larger position last summer. Her efficient work for the last eight years together with the help of an able corps of assistants, has placed the Attleborough Library among the most modern and efficient. The Trustees are confident that the new Librarian, Miss Helen M. Claflin, a graduate with honors from the New York State Library School, will main- tain the library at this high, if not a higher standard of efficiency.
It has become very evident that there is a pressing need for the removal of the children's room to the ground floor. This will make the present chil- dren's room available to relieve the frequently crowded condition of the reading and magazine room. This change involves considerable expense. Not only must funds be provided for the finishing and furnishing of the new children's room and the re-equipment of the present one, but also for the added expense of a special supervisor for this important and growing depart- ment.
The Library appropriation last year of $7500 proved a little stringent, in view of the fact that under the new City Charter, the fine money, amount- ing to about $300 a year, must be turned into the City Treasury. Under the Town government, this money was retained by the Library, making the fund thus available, $7800, $300, from the fines and $7500 by appropriation. It is because of this condition that the Trustees have asked this year for an appropriation of $7800, in reality the same as 1914.
When one considers the large and increasing services rendered by the Library to the men, women and children of all Attleboro, this appropriation is comparatively small and must necessarily increase with the enlargement of the Library's usefulness.
Respectfully submitted,
Board of Trustees of the Attleborough Public Library.
JOSEPH L. SWEET, Chairman, LEONARD I. LAMB, THOMAS E. McCAFFREY, ELIZABETH J. WILMARTH, ELEANOR S. CARPENTER, CHARLES S. HOLDEN, MARK E. ROWE, IRENE T. HILL,
85
ANNUAL REPORT
January 4, 1916.
To the Trustees of the Attleborough Public Library:
I have the honor to submit the report of the condition and work of the library for the year ending January 1, 1916.
Books Lent.
With the year 1915 our library makes a new record in circulation, with a total of 71,425 books lent during the year. A gain of 6,033 over the cir- culation of the preceding year shows a growth exceeding that previously considered normal. In 1907 this library's circulation was 38,998. In eight years the number of books lent yearly has been almost doubled. These figures speak for themselves as do those 1 subjoin:
Number of days on which the library was open for the circulation of books, 305.
Circulation statistics, divided as follows:
Adult department.
48,914
Children's department.
22,511
Outlying schools.
2,495
1. South Attleboro
584
2. Dodgeville.
259
3. Hebronville.
504
4. Briggs' Corner.
238
5. Washington School.
910
The total circulation is classified as follows, with two previous years added for reference and comparison:
1915
Per Cent
1914
1913
General works
2028
2.84
1746
1856
Philosophy
519
. 73
575
334
Religion.
586
.82
527
499
Sociology
2,588
3.62
2,302
2,274
Philology
220
.31
185
116
Natural science.
1,325
1.86
1,064
1,083
Useful arts.
1,873
2.62
1,638
1,364
Fine arts.
1,917
2.68
1,687
1,427
Literature.
2,635
3.69
2,414
2,498
History
1,461
2.05
1,118
1,205
Travel. .
1,577
2.21
1,761
1,350
Biography
1,260
1.76
1,267
885
Fiction
53,436
74.81
49,108
43,742
71,425
100.00
65,392
58,573
The unusual impetus in circulation growth during the past two years must have a definite cause. This we attribute largely to Attleboro's business depression during this period and to the consequent increase in the time which working men and women have found available for reading. That this is but a factor contributing to the increase has been shown in the cir- culation statistics for recent months of 1915 when many shops have been working overtime. During these months a steady increase in circulation over the same months of last year's business depression is a gratifying proof that the library is growing in interest and in service to the community.
Registration.
Total numbers of borrowers registered:
December 31, 1915.
8,425
Number of cards cancelled. 470
Borrowers using cards. 7,955
Number of new registrations during the year 1915. . .
770
86
ANNUAL REPORT
Accessions.
Books in the library January 1, 1915.
17,380
Volumes added up to January 1, 1916:
By purchase. 1,070
By binding periodicals. 75
By gift. 89
Total 1,234
Volumes withdrawn during the year. 130
Number of books replaced. . 224
Actual number of books in the library, Jan. 1, 1916. 18,484
Care of Books.
Lost from shelves during 1915:
Adult department. 25
Children's department.
29
Reference Room (pamplets)
3
The statistics show an unusually large number of books lost. This is often the case with an important increase in circulation. With hundreds of borrowers passing by the library loan-desk daily, complete supervision, by a staff often inadequate for the amount of necessary desk-work, is impossible. The increased loss of books is a result.
Selection of Books.
The selection of books to meet the needs of a heterogeneous city popula- tion challenges all the imagination of a librarian and a book-committee. During 1915 the present librarian and her predecessor have tried to appraise the current output of books from the viewpoint of the public as well as from their own. The public library belongs to the people; it must meet their demands or fail to justify its name. The public's constant demand for current fiction constitutes a great problem in all public libraries to-day. Some libraries are solving this difficulty through a duplicate-pay collection. Other institutions, like our own, not ready for this step, attempt to supply the demand, however unsatisfactorily, by the expenditure of a normal amount for this class of literature. We have attempted in 1915 to give the public the better class of current fiction in this way, but we cannot overlook the fact that the public has not been appeased.
During 1915 considerable additions have been made to the books of and about music.
Growth of the work with children of the lower grades made the purchase of attractive easy-reading books for children imperative; a special shelf in the Children's Room is therefore to be set aside for these large-print books. It is not easy to turn away children who are eager for Alcott's "Little Women" or Dodge's "Hans Brinker" with the fact that "they are out". To aid in this difficulty and to make our work with the outlying schools more efficient, duplicates of the standard books for boys and girls have been purchased and are to be placed on the shelves.
Additions have also been made to the foreign books, especially to the Swedish collection.
Stereographs of South America, Switzerland and Australia have been added to the already excellent collection.
Current, as well as the older standard reference works of value are being constantly sought and acquired, many of them through use of the Daniel H. Smith Fund.
87
ANNUAL REPORT
Binding.
Number of Books rebound
658
Periodicals bound. 75
Total
733
Gifts.
The library has received during 1915 continuations of magazine sub- scriptions from friends to whom thanks have already many times been due, with the addition of the following:
School Board Journal, from Mr. Edwin Thayer.
Thanks are also due to Mr. George St. John Sheffield for 25 volumes of the Punch Library of Humor, as well as for two other works; to the Massa- chusetts Woman Suffrage Association for the gift of one volume; to Mr. Edwin Thayer for Haight's "Bar-examination Review"; to Mr. Meader for two volumes of the Proceedings of the American Bankers' Association; to Mrs. A. H. Paul for four French works; to Miss Annie Lewis for one copy of Ellis' "Fair Moon of Bath"; to the fund established by Mary Baker Eddy for 13 books on Christian Science; and to Mr. Walter E. Claflin for four volunies. The first volume of Scribner's Magazine, unbound, was a valuable gift from Miss Lydia Peck.
Reference Work.
That our reference workers have been repeatedly overtasked with the answering of reference questions during 1915 is the best proof of the library's growth in this important branch. Work with High School students has grown out of all proportion to the rest. Since the beginning of the Fall term, the close of the High School session has found a crowded loan-desk requiring a vast amount of reference work from our assistants. At those periods when High School book reports are due, three reference workers, attending strictly to the work in hand, would not be too many to carry on the work efficiently. As with its present appropriation, the library is never able to provide more than one reference worker for a few hours at a time, this phase of the work has had to suffer. A loan-desk assistant, confronting a line of waiting bor- rowers, has little time for the satisfactory handling of reference questions. A special reference assistant is a growing need to whom can be referred all questions demanding more than a superficial handling.
This year, as in the past, questions have been recorded; answers to the more difficult have been filed for easy access, and special attention paid to specific cataloging, that reference information might be made as accessible as possible through the dictionary catalog.
Reading-lists on subjects of current interest, including those on immi- gration, notable biographies, and poetry, have been compiled and mimeo- graphed by the library and distributed from the loan-desk, and, once, to the Attleboro Round Table. The list compiled from the lecture by William Lyon Phelps found hearty response and this, with the actual exhibit of recommended books, did much to encourage the reading of good fiction.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.