USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Somerville > Somerville, Mass.; the beautiful city of seven hills, its history and opportunities > Part 4
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
BOARD OF HEALTH.
Somerville from its earliest history has given evidence of its interest in matters pertaining to the health of its inhabitants, and has been lavish in its expenditures of money to promote the best of sanitary conditions. Ample sewers have been con- structed to care for every foot of our territory, and under the direction of an intelligent, efficient, and aggressive Board of Public Health, rules have been made and enforced for the abatement of any nuisance which may arise. This city will not tolerate offensive conditions in bakeries; damp cellars are looked after; where cows are kept the conditions must be cleanly ; defective drains are immediately corrected; drainage into cellars prevented ; fish offal is quickly cared for ; food can- not be exposed to dust ; hens and other fowl must be properly housed ; premises cannot be kept dirty ; rubbish must be taken from cellars; stagnant water must not be allowed to pollute
61
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
the surface in any locality, and many other matters likely to promote the public health are enforced. In order to keep cows, swine, goats, hens, etc., and to collect grease, first a per- mit must be obtained. Pedlers are licensed by the board after a statement from the sealer of weights and measures showing that their scales and measures are correct. Then each month they are required to present their vehicles at the police station to be inspected by an agent of the board.
The collection of garbage is done under the direction of the board at the expense of the city. Table waste must be kept in covered receptacles, which are frequently emptied by city employees.
The board keeps a record of deaths and their causes. Physicians are required to report to it immediately diseases dangerous to the public health. Since 1907 the board has had medical inspection of schools, and the value of the system has been fully demonstrated. Children unfit for school have been sent home with a slip advising that the family physician be con- sulted. The school buildings are monthly inspected, and every precaution taken to insure proper and healthful conditions. Their last published report will show that the year previous 1,032 children were sent home.
The board has under its direction a hospital for contagious diseases and a tuberculosis hospital. The bacteriological de- partment is one of the important ones. The board has an expert in plumbing, the inspector of buildings having the granting of licenses to plumbers. There is also an inspector of animals and provisions, and under his observation comes fish, meat, fruit, and vegetables. Somerville is one of the largest quarantine stations for the export of animals in the United States. Under this department fish, meat, fruit, and vegetables nınfit for food are condemned and destroyed.
The department of inspection of milk, like all other de- partments under the board, is carried on in the interest of our people without fear or favor. Somerville inhabitants consume about 23,000 quarts of milk daily, supplied by 110 milkmen directly to the consumer, or through 472 stores licensed to sell milk. The members of the Board of Health are: Wesley T.
62
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
Lee, M. D. (chairman). William P. French, and Jackson Caldwell.
OVERSEERS OF THE POOR.
"The poor ye have always with you," and Somerville is no exception to any other community. A liberal appropria- tion is made when necessary for the support of the poor. The money is expended under the direction of a board of overseers of the poor, consisting of Henry F. Curtis (chairman), Albert W. Edmands, and Philip Koen. They have a secretary and general agent. The city physician, C. Clark Towle, M. D., is under their direction, and the warden and matron of the city home. The board expends annually about $16,000 for fuel, food, etc., and about $3,000 to other cities and towns for the support of poor having a settlement in Somerville. There are only thirty-one inmates at the city home. Dependents upon city charity are few when compared with our total population.
SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
This department is in charge of John H. Dusseault, and has every facility for carrying on its work, and under its energetic chief sees to it that those who deal in commodities sold by weight have their scales and balances up to the graduated standard, and that their measures hold the quantity determined by the official standard. The administration of this office has given great public satisfaction.
CITY ENGINEER.
This department is presided over by Ernest W. Bailey. The engineering department has many details of work, com- prising surveys, estimates, lines, grades, titles, plans, etc., in connection with sewers, highways, sidewalks, bridges, abolish- ment of grade crossings, water works, public grounds and parks; establishing street lines and grades; copying plans ; locating telephone poles and conduits ; erecting stone bounds, and other work of like character. The city engineer is con- sulted on all work where the advice of a civil engineer would be of service, and all plans for any work upon or under streets must have his approval. Subject to the direction of this de-
63
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
partment, public grounds and parks have been laid out and beautified. Our parks and ways reflect the high intelligence of this department, while the unseen work has indicated engi- neering ability of a high order.
STREET COMMISSIONER.
Asa B. Prichard is street commissioner, and has charge of the construction, alteration, repair, maintenance, and manage- ment of ways, streets, sidewalks, and bridges; also, the setting out and care of shade trees, the suppression of moths and beetles that are injurious to the trees, and the supervision of street sprinkling. This department keeps up to date in mat- ters of modern construction of streets, and was the first to use tarvia as a road binder. Our streets give evidence of the in- telligence and ability of this department. Some idea of the magnitude of its work may be gleaned from the last published report, which shows these facts: The city ledge is worked summer and winter, the steam drill working 273 days. The stone crushing plant worked 257 days, producing 8,769 tons of crushed stone, which was not enough for our needs, and 3,285 tons had to be purchased under contract. All streets, both public and private, were cleaned spring and fall, and paved streets swept as often as necessary. In all the public squares and along prominent highways push cart men sweep up the dirt. Cleanliness of streets is enforced by this department. There are a number of bridges, and this department keeps them in excellent repair. Two hundred and fifty trees were set out, and fifty-eight dead and dangerous trees were removed. Spraying of trees prevents the ravages of insect pests, and everything is done to retain our beautiful shade trees. Street sprinkling is done by this department either with water, oil, or tar. This branch of the work is self-supporting, as it is paid for by abutters. The department uses three steam road rollers : has laid many yards of granolithic sidewalks at the low cost of $1.51 per square yard; keeps streets free from snow and ice during the winter months ; issues permits for the open- ing of streets by individuals and companies. There are seventy-six miles of public streets and twenty miles of private
VIEW LOOKING DOWN BROADWAY. BUNKER HILL MONUMENT IN THE BACKGROUND
65
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
streets, or a total length of ninety-six miles, under the watchful care of this department. The suggestion carried out in con- structing street railroads on a concrete base with paving blocks grouted is an improvement greatly appreciated by residents along street car lines. There has been transferred from the Board of Health Department to this department the collection of ashes and rubbish. The department is doing this work well, collections being made each week.
The commissioner shows gratification over his successful experience with tarvia macadam, which produces such excel- lent results at a cost of eighty-two cents per square yard. His formula for tarvia macadam construction is as follows: "Shape up the street to sub-grade by filling or excavating, roll the sub- grade, spread and roll four inches to six inches of egg stone, spread and roll two inches of nut stone, fill all voids with hot tarvia from the tank, spread pea stone as quickly as possible, and roll with steam roller until macadam becomes a solid mass."
COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
Walter T. Littlefield is the present commissioner of public buildings. He is also inspector of buildings, and annually in- spects about 1,500 buildings in process of construction. He issues many plumbing permits each year. Under this depart- ment school hygiene is an important work in the interest of teachers and pupils, and includes sanitation, heating and ven- tilation, lighting, drinking fountains, dirt control, color scheme, and temperature supervision. This department has provided every school building with some form of a flushing sanitary system that must be kept in a healthy condition. There are twenty-five heating and ventilating systems requiring constant attention and a large amount of fuel. The method of install- ing bubbling drinking fountains, in its important effect, origi- nated with our present commissioner, since which time the laws of our state require their use in all school buildings. This de- partment uses the best-known method of dust control and has studied the color scheme, so that schoolrooms shall be pleasing to the eyes of pupils, as well as non-injurious to the sight. The department keeps a daily record of the temperature of every
66
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
schoolroom, and any extraordinary variation of temperature is remedied. This department superintends all changes made in public buildings, and has charge of our bathing beach and poll- ing booths.
COMMISSIONER OF ELECTRIC LINES AND LIGHTS.
Walter I. Fuller, as commissioner, inspects electrical wir- ing in all buildings in the city. He attends to the construction, maintenance, and operation of the fire and police alarm system. He has supervision and inspection of poles and wires on the streets, underground conduits and wires, and street lighting. Under his ever watchful eye wiring by incompetent persons is prevented, and good work is demanded that electrical appa- ratus may be safe for consumers of electricity and properly in- sulated to prevent fire. The fire alarm system is always kept in first-class repair, and careful attention is given to the con- dition of poles and wires of electric light, railroad, and tele- phone companies. Attention is also given to the 500 arc and 758 incandescent electric street lights that our reputation as a finely-lighted city shall at all times be maintained.
WATER COMMISSIONER.
Frank E. Merrill, as the water commissioner, has charge of our water works. The entire population is on lines of pipe and supplied with pure water. The highest building elevation in the city is 145 feet, and the lowest is thirteen feet. The system is adequate for all our needs, manufacturing or do- mestic.
Previous to the introduction of the Metropolitan water supply, Somerville had always been dependent upon neighbor- ing municipalities for its water. The first company to do a water business here was the Cambridge Aqueduct Company in 1837. In 1861 an act of the legislature enabled Charlestown to take the Mystic Lake water, and authorized that city to sell its surplus water to towns through which the pipes passed. A large portion of these works were located in Somerville, and became then the means of Somerville's supply. The reservoir
67
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
was located on College Hill, and the pipes leading therefrom supplied Charlestown and the distributing pipes of Somerville. In the process of time this supply became polluted because of population and manufacturing plants upon the water shed. The state took the water of the south branch of the Nashua river from a point in the town of Clinton, Mass., and conveyed the same to the inhabitants of the so-called Metropolitan dis- trict, of which Somerville is an important factor. The streams which unite in West Boylston to form the south branch of the Nashua river take their rise on the easterly and southerly slopes of Mt. Wachusett in the central part of the state. A storage reservoir was located in Clinton, which wiped out a thriving town, four cotton mills, four churches, six school- houses, and nearly seven miles of railroad, and required 1,711 inhabitants to seek other homes. The reservoir is nearly eight miles long, two miles wide, with a shore line of thirty-five miles, its surface 6.56 square miles, forming the largest body of fresh water in Massachusetts. The water is conveyed from the res- ervoir through an aqueduct to Chestnut Hill reservoir. From this point, to supply the North Metropolitan district, of which Somerville is a part, the water flows through pipes to Spot Pond in Stoneham, which serves as an equalizing and distribut- ing reservoir. On the line of one of these mains, near Spot Pond, is a pumping station for the entire northern high-service district. From this the highlands of our city derive their water supply, and the lower sections are served direct by forty-eight- inch pipes, one passing through Willow avenue in West Somer- ville, and the other through Union square and Walnut street, on their way to Spot Pond.
Starting with two and a half miles of pipe, nineteen fire hydrants, and twenty stop-gates in 1868, the city now has ninety-five miles of pipe, 1,140 hydrants, 1,469 stop-gates, and about 6,500 water meters for individual consumers. The Met- ropolitan supply is of good quality and ample. Its use has been unrestricted since its introduction, notwithstanding an ex- tremely dry year, which caused a shortage in the water supply of many places. It is estimated that the supply of water would be ample if there was a drought for several years.
68
1
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
POLICE DEPARTMENT.
Under the leadership of Chief Charles A. Kendall, the police department is a well-disciplined and efficient force for the protection of our city. Like other departments of the city, it grows in numbers and importance as the years recede. It is in many respects a model organization, and enjoys the confi- dence of all good citizens and the fear of law breakers.
In 1865 a police board was formed, with Town Constable Horace B. Runey as chairman, and Jairus Mann, who had been a constable from 1858. September 6, 1867, Robert R. Perry, now captain of police, and James Hanley were appointed per- manent night watch. The force was reorganized in 1871 and enlarged to thirteen men. Upon the organization of the first city government, in 1872, Melville C. Parkhurst was appointed chief of police, holding the position until 1908, when he was re- tired on a pension. February 1, 1873, Robert R. Perry was made captain of police, which rank he has held uninterruptedly to the present time, with the distinction of being the oldest offi- cer, in point of service, in the department. The office of lieu- tenant was created in 1875. In 1877 the police force was
twenty-four men. September 1, 1888, the police signal system was established. The emergency ambulance was introduced in 1894. An act of the legislature of 1895 limits the reserve force to ten, and the regular force is recruited from this number when necessary. The present force consists of a chief, captain, three lieutenants, four sergeants, one inspector, fifty-eight patrolmen. eight reserve officers, and three patrol drivers. The Somerville Police Relief Association, of which all the men upon the regu- lar force are members, was organized in 1872, and was incor- porated December 19, 1881.
Somerville has always been comparatively free from crime, chiefly because it is a residential place of God-fearing and law- abiding people, where the sale of intoxicating liquors is pro- hibited by an overwhelming public sentiment, and the police de- partment enforces the liquor laws as well as all other laws. Until 1854 criminal cases were taken to Charlestown or to East Cambridge for trial. From 1854 until 1872 Francis Tufts was trial justice, and for many years cases were tried in his office, corner of Medford and Washington streets. In 1861 the court
69
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
was removed to what had been the schoolhouse on the corner of Prospect street and Somerville avenue. A police court was. established April 23, 1872. Court was held in a room in the city hall until the completion of the police building on Bow
POLICE STATION, BOW STREET
street, in 1875. This structure, erected at a cost of about $50,000, furnished, was for the accommodation of the police de- partment, the police court, the Somerville Light Infantry, and the overseers of the poor, and contained a large hall for ward and city purposes. The police court is at present presided over by Judge L. Roger Wentworth.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
In 1838 one fire engine had been generously given this section, then Charlestown, the "Mystic No. 6," it being the cast- off "tub" of Company No. 6, of the peninsula, which then be-
70
1
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
came No. 7. A wooden structure was built for this hand en- gine at the corner of Washington and Prospect streets. It was a small machine fed with buckets. Its company of thirty-five members included most of the then prominent citizens of Som-
CENTRAL FIRE STATION
erville. After repeated efforts, in 1849 the new "crack Hunne- man tub" was purchased and christened Somerville No. 1, and "Mystic 6" was sold as junk for $33. In 1850 an act of the legislature was passed "to establish a fire department in the town of Somerville." The department organized with Nathan Tufts as its first chief engineer. In 1853 the first engine com-
71
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
pany demanded a raise of pay from $1.50 a year to $1 per month, per man, that an entertainment fund might be estab- lished. The selectmen hesitated over such a large outlay, and the company went out of business, although it is recorded of them that they stood ready for service, in case of emergency, as if their names had still been carried on the pay-roll. In about a year the selectmen yielded to their demands, and the pioneer strike was ended. In those days there was much rivalry and exciting contests when "tubs" of neighboring towns came here to test the power of their hand engines with ours. In 1865 David A. Sanborn and Jairus Mann were sent by the town to New York, where they purchased our first hose carriage, and "Liberty Hose Company No. 1" came into existence. March 30, 1866, the volunteer system was abolished, and May 26, 1866, a steam fire engine, the first built by Hunneman & Co., arrived. Frank O. Hudson was chosen foreman of the company organ- ized in connection with the new engine. Winter Hill Hose Company No. ? , originally named "Carlton," was organized December 1, 1869. In 1867 an independent company was formed, Caleb A. Page, foreman, to run the hook and ladder truck, bought in 1863. Since 1870 there have been, as in all other departments, notable increases in the personnel and equipment of the fire department.
There are now eight fire stations, located and equipped as follows: The Central fire station, 261 Medford street-One third size Metropolitan engine, hose wagon, chemical engine, relief hose wagon. Engine 2, corner of Broadway and Cross street-One Silsby engine, hose wagon, combination ladder truck and chemical. Union-square station, Union square- Ladder truck, combination hose and chemical wagon, relief wagon, Silsby engine. Engine No. 4, corner of Highland ave- nue and Grove street-Silsby engine, hose wagon. Hose No. 5, 651 Somerville avenue-Combination hose and chemical wagon. Engine No. 6, Teele square-One Metropolitan en- gine, combination hose and chemical wagon. Ladder No. ? , 265 Highland avenue-Ladder truck, automobile combination chemical and hose. Hose No. 2, Marshall street, near Broad- way-Combination hose and chemical wagon. The manual
S.F.D. No.1
AUTOMOBILE_COMBINATION CHEMICAL AND HOSE TRUCK
73
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
force consists of sixty-three permanent men, forty-one call-men, and one relief driver. There are forty-four horses and about 12,000 feet of hose. The department has a pension roll the expense of which is about $2,500 annually. For equipment and efficiency it compares favorably with any other fire department in the state.
The present chief of the fire department is Sewall M. Rich, who became chief in 1908, having succeeded James R. Hopkins, retired, who had served as chief since 1872. Chief Rich has been most successful, and it is no reflection upon the brave, fearless, and most worthy citizen who preceded him for thirty- six years, to say that, under his direction, a new and better con- dition prevails. New ideas of equipment, of methods, and of purposes have brought the department nearly to the highest possible point of efficiency. The excellent discipline of the de- partment, its snap and energy in action, and its superior work indicate worthy leadership by the chief and loyalty on the part of every member of the department.
SOMERVILLE'S LIGHT, POWER, AND HEATING
ELECTRIC STREET LIGHTING.
The street lighting system of Somerville contributes in a very large measure to the impression visitors to the city get of its up-to-dateness. To the residents of the city who have occa- sion to move about through the city streets at night and in all kinds of weather, perhaps the electric lighting service furnished by the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston has become a matter-of-fact convenience. We never think of the conveniences of our sight, our hearing, or the use of our hands until we are deprived of their perfect enjoyment and use; but the moment their service is disturbed we notice it and are greatly inconvenienced. Not often nowadays is the electric street lighting of Somerville disturbed or interrupted, because the Boston Edison Company has taken such great pains to insure its certainty and stability ; therefore, the open appreciation of it is left largely to the city's visitors,
-
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
The Boston Edison Company has been furnishing the elec- tric lighting service, both for streets and for commercial pur- poses, in Somerville since 1905. From the first the company has been interested in the improvement of the service, and up to the present year, 1912, has spent in Somerville over $225,000 to make the service reliable, furnish it along lines and under conditions that meet the best business requirements of the city, and to supply mechanical conveniences that make possible a greater amount of illumination and a steady reduction of the cost of current to the city, both for its street lighting and the lighting of its municipal buildings, and for the commercial cus- tomers who use so much electricity for power and light.
The Boston Edison Company has kept the street lighting system of Somerville strictly up-to-date, and has only recently put in a large equipment of new fixtures for incandescent street lights at a cost of over $20,000, and has also introduced on Broadway a new system of luminous, or Magnetite, electric arc lighting. Along the entire length of Broadway, from the Charlestown line to the Arlington line, three and one-half miles, these luminous arc lamps are now burning, and the result is that this important thoroughfare is turned into a brilliant high- way at night. In addition to furnishing these new fixtures and these new types of lamps, the company has also changed the incandescent lamps and increased the candle power from twenty-five to forty candle power. This remarkable increase has been made, as well as all the other improvements, at the same time that the rate has been steadily reduced.
Few people realize what a great economy, what a great protection, what a great source of safety a good, reliable, ample electric lighting service is for the people of the city. It might be enough to think merely of the facility with which people can move to and fro upon the streets without danger of falling-of being always able to see their way. This really is only a minor consideration. Ample illumination prevents crime, because no one hates a light like a law-breaker. Gloomy places and black alleys in which footpads and loiterers can lurk are no longer the common thing. Of course, no city can be made in every nook and corner as bright as day, but Somerville has gone a long way toward that excellent state.
75
SOMERVILLE BOARD OF TRADE.
Then, too, good lighting contributes much to the safety of traffic in the night-time. Doctors called on urgent cases at night appreciate being able to drive through lighted streets; ambulances summoned to care for the injured and the dying do not have to slacken pace, but can rush with all speed at night, as well as in day-time-indeed, with greater speed, because the streets are clearer and the light is bright. The milkman on his early morning rounds need not stumble and clatter about his work. In some towns not as up-to-date as the city of Somer- ville, and where the all-night lighting service is not used, special provision is made for lighting the streets at the time the milk- men start on their rounds. Somerville does not have to have this special service, because it has the best service every night. Firemen whirling through the streets on urgent calls at night appreciate good lighting. The absence of proper lighting on the streets has sometimes meant disaster and the crippling of business. But with the electric lighting service Somerville se- cures, such dangers are practically avoided.
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.