USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Melrose > The history of Melrose, County of Middlesex, Massachusetts > Part 34
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While the prize-mast. r was carnestly engaged in keeping up with the chpper, a very novel scene was being enacted. in be hold. One of the boards which seemed to form a part of n stationary Poor, was lifted hom its : lace and the head of old Captain Enoch Nightingale appeared through the arertora. In a moment more, another board was re- moved, and ere long forly stout fisticr. inen, all well ormed, had rome up from their place of concealment. It was but a moment's work to Jeap on delli and ere the thunderstruck lieutenant cook see fiom whence came the enemy, he was bound hand and foot and so were his wen, while the poor prisoners were set bee from the long boat. Obce Nighinate took the helin, and his father pointing a corled pistol at the head of the English officer and :- ' Da you ainn' we are ja euroest or not ?
. } hou'd ch'nh you were," replied the trembling rfiver.
. . Then I yon do not oney me you will ; et a bullet through your head in on instant. Now !and The clipper."
. Scorpion ohoy,' shou.ed the heutco. ant, as it for det life.
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Siar, oh ' stay, and bem the warning.
TERMS.
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NEWSPAPERS.
a steeple ? When there was but one minister to "break the bread of life " to all classes ; teaching his way to Heaven? Do you remember the pastures where the cattle once grazed in their quietness; not thinking a railroad was slumbering in their path ? Do you remember Ell Pond where the pickerel so tempted the plowman's boy ; and from whose depths the salt rheum doctor took many a turtle of monstrous size, to prop his inner man? And do you remember when, way back of the fatherest uplands, where the rattlesnakes were molested but few times during the year, where lived an old negro who was a boy in the Indian War, and who died, as near as could be ascertained, at the advanced age of one hundred and sixteen years? The footing of it two and a half miles to the post-office? The day's journey to Boston and back ?
Not a single store-keeper's firm, as now existing, appears in its columns; the nearest approach to any business existing being that of Bugbee & Howard, now Bugbee & Barrett. We then had a "Melrose Temperance Saloon," in Boardman's Block, Essex Street. There was also an account of the pre- sentation of a silver cake basket and spoons to Miss Sarah F. Norris, soprano, and a Bible to Mr. George Newhall-our Town Treasurer for twenty-seven years-chorister, by the First Baptist Society.
THE MELROSE JOURNAL. The next local paper to be pub- lished in the interest of Melrose affairs, was the Melrose Fournal, which was established December 10, 1870, by Henry C. Gray. This was the first weekly paper. From the salutatory: "We need not assure our readers that we intend to make of this a live paper. We shall print no other; we would have our name at the head of no other." At this time the paper was printed for three different towns, with proper name for each town: Stoneham Sentinel, Reading Chronicle and Melrose fournal; the work being done in Stoneham. Mr. Gray was alone until October 19, 1872, when he formed a co-partnership with L. S. Metcalf, who, in a few year became the sole proprietor, Mr. Gray going to Malden to assume the ownership of the Malden Mirror. October 2, 1875 a rival paper appeared: The Melrose Record, George M. Ray and J. W. McIntyre, proprietors. This had but a short life, expiring April 29, 1876. Meanwhile the late William L. Williams had become connected with the Fournal as editor. Mr. Metcalf sold the paper in May, 1876, to Messrs. G. A. Kimball & Co., during which year the work was done in the Waverley Building, on the corner of Essex and West
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
Emerson Streets. Several changes took place between the years 1876 and 1878, the owners being respectively Walter R. Phillips, Joseph P. Baker and A. J. Hoyt; the office being re- moved from the Waverley Block to Boardman's Block, Main Street, its present quarters.
When Mr. Hoyt assumed control, Mr. Baker started a rival, The Melrose Weekly Visitor, February 16, 1878. Mr. Hoyt was unsuccessful and Mr. Baker continued the Visitor until July 26, 1879, when the paper was sold to Messrs. George W. Reynolds and Aubrey W. Dunton, and the old name Melrose Journal resumed. Messrs. Reynolds & Dunton continued to issue the paper until August 1, 1880, when the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Reynolds continued as the proprietor until February 23, 1884, when he sold out to William L. Williams Mr. Williams died January 12, 1888, and was succeeded by his son, Leonard F. Williams, who continued until March 16, 1889, when W. B. Howe became the proprietor. He remained the proprietor until May 10, 1890, at which time Charles H. Adams purchased the plant, and he still remains publisher and proprietor with David G. Davidson, manager, carrying on a job and book printing business in connection with the news- paper.
After an absence of several years, Mr. Dunton returned to Melrose and associated himself with Samuel G. Potter, who had been foreman of the fournal, and under the firm name of Dunton & Potter, established themselves as job printers, and began the issue of a new weekly newspaper, The Melrose Reporter. The first number was issued October 8, 1887; and from that day both papers have made their welcome weekly visits to the citizens of Melrose. As has the fournal, so has the Reporter carried on book and job printing from the date when first established; and for many years the Annual Town and City Reports have been printed at the Reporter office. November 1, 1899, the Daily Reporter was established. It continued during the period of transition from Town to City, giving full reports of nominations, elections, and the inaugura- tion of the new city government. January 15, 1900, it was suspended. October 1, 1900, the firm of Dunton & Potter was dissolved by the retirement of Mr. Potter, and Ralph II. Wilbur became a partner under the firm name of A. W. Dunton & Co.
On the 15th of November, 1901, a new weekly paper was
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NEWSPAPERS.
established by Samuel G. Potter, formerly of Dunton & Potter, publishers of the Reporter. As its name indicates, the Melrose Free Press has no subscription list, but is given free to the citizens, being sustained by its advertisements. Thirty-four hundred copies are printed and distributed each week. Its legend is "A Newspaper for Everybody." Among other things in its "Greeting," it said:
We intend to make the Free Press valuable, not only as an advertis- ing medium, but we feel that it will be sought after as a good local newspaper without price. ... We believe in the advancement of Melrose in every way, and will strive to advocate those things which are for the greatest good to the greatest number.
The Press has adopted a unique feature for each issue. A cartoon, vividly depicting some local political issue, striking feature, existing evil, or public want, is given. The cartoonist is Arthur M. Blackstone.
As an aid and adjunct to the educational interests of the schools of Melrose, a monthly magazine has been established, the first number of which was issued in January, 1900. It is called High School Life, and is edited by the pupils of the High School, from year to year. The contributions are by the pupils, aided by the teachers and superintendent. These are not only interesting, but highly beneficial ; creating and encouraging a love for writing, anding largely their study of composition and rhetoric, ability of expression, and the form- ing of a general and uplifting love of literature.
March 29, 1902, two young schoolboys, Merritt and James Ward, publishers and editors, thinking there was still room in the newspaperdom of Melrose for another visitor, issued a new monthly called The Enterprise. It is a small affair, but shows enterprise in effort as well as name. One of the cardinal principles in its salutatory was :
Locally we shall always do what is in our power for the election of the person for office whom we think the most capable and honest, regardless of politics whatever.
CHAPTER XXIII.
FIRE AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
M ELROSE is fortunate in having a well-organized and fully equipped Fire Department. It possesses good engines, good hose carriages, good quarters, and good men to care for and protect our city, which is not niggardly in its appropriations for fire purposes; consequently our firemen are ever alert, doing their best to save property at every alarm; and for years past we have had no large fires. The most destructive fire we ever had was over thirty-one years ago, when nearly all the stores and dwellings on the west side of. Main Street, between Foster and Essex Streets, including Lyceum Hall, were destroyed. This occurred August 20, 1870, six days only before the Spot Pond water system was ready for use. The next most destructive one took place November 30, 1875, when Concert Hall and Boardman's Block, on the corner of Main and Essex Streets, were burned.
The first fire-engine stationed in North Malden, was " The Endeavor," bought by the Town of Malden in 1846. The engine house, recently destroyed, was situated on Main Street, a little way north of the First Baptist Church. Before the engine house was built the engine was kept in a barn which stood north of the Methodist Church, at the junction of Main and Green Streets, near where now stands the house of William H. Wells. At the time Melrose was incorporated and for many years after, this was the only fire protector in use. When new fire apparatus was purchased, the old Endeavor was cast aside; and for many years it was stored in the basement of the City Hall. It was finally purchased by John W. Farwell,1 and is now in use at his mills in Lewiston, Maine.
1 November 11, 1890, it was voted: That the Selectinen be authorized to dispose of the old Endeavor en- gine and the town hearse, and use
such portion of the proceeds as may be deemed necessary for the building of a shed in the town pound.
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FIRE AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
For the 250th Anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of Malden, Mr. Farwell kindly allowed the " Old Endeavor" to be brought to Melrose, and it was drawn in the procession, May 23, 1898, manned by a company organized for the occa- sion, as noted in the account of that celebration.
There was in use for a number of years, another engine stationed on Washington Street, on the old "Jabe Lynde" place, as is seen by the following :
THE OLD ENDEAVOR.2
MELROSE, October 21, 1869.
Permission is hereby granted to Joseph Grundy, Jr., to form a private fire association, to man the engine upon his premises.
J. C. CURRIER, J. D. WILDE, LEVI S. GOULD, Selectmen of Melrose.
2 This picture of the old Endeavor was reproduced from a faded daguerrotype now in possession of the Fire Department; evidently taken soon after its purchase in 1846 when it was Endeavor No. 3- changed to No. I, after incorpora- tion of Melrose - manned by its
first company, from what is now the High School lot, looking across Main Street and Dix 'Pond, then much larger than in recent days, extending up to the land of Dr. Levi Gould, who lived in the house now standing opposite the Metho- dist Church. Old residents recog-
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
The engine referred to is one that was acquired by Joseph Grundy, Sr., when he came into possession of the old brass foundry at the " Red Mills," and moved to Melrose in 1866. This engine formerly belonged to Charlestown, and its trimmings, part of which are now in possession of Edward L. Grundy, were from the old Hancock engine.
The company formed was first called the Grundy Hose Co. Then it was the Wyoming Hose Co., and out of that grew the present N. D. Blake Hose Co.
With the view of increasing our facilities for giving alarm in cases of fire, and as an improvement on the old system of bell- ringing, the following article appeared in the warrant for March 5, 1888 :
To see what action the town will take to establish telephonic or electrical communication between the outlying districts and the centre for fire alarm and police service.
Sidney H. Buttrick, Walter B. Ellis, A. Wilbur Lynde, John Singer, Jr., George T. Brown, John B. Souther and John P. Deering were appointed a committee to investigate and report. March 26th, this committee reported and the following vote was passed :
That the subject matter of this article be referred to a committee con- sisting of the board of selectmen, Royal P. Barry and Sidney H. Buttrick, who shall have full power and authority to purchase and cause to be constructed, a fire alarm system, which in their judgment shall be adequate to the needs of the town, and that the sum of seventeen hundred dollars be raised and appropriated for the purposes named.
This resulted in establishing the Gamewell system of fire alarm, which has thus far proven very efficient and satisfactory. The system now consists of thirty-six street boxes, one school box, three tower strikers, four gongs, three indicators, and twelve tappers, located in different sections of the City. About sixty-five miles of wire is required to keep all this various electrical apparatus in good working order. In 1901, the gravity battery system then existing was changed to the present storage battery system.
In 1890, a movement was renewed, which had been previously defeated, to purchase a steam fire-engine; and on March 24, it was voted:
nize some of the faces; among Lamman Green and James G. them George Washington Grover, Emerson.
Philip McMann, Orrin Brown,
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FIRE ยท AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
That the chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Mr. Walter Babb, and the engineers of the fire department be a committee to purchase a steam fire-engine with necessary appurtenances, that the sum of four thousand five hundred dollars be appropriated therefor, and that the treasurer be authorized to pay for the same out of any funds now in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
This committee purchased a Clapp & Jones, No. 3 machine, with a capacity of six hundred gallons per minute. The price paid was $3,200.
1
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CENTRAL FIRE STATION.3
The property of the City for fire purposes, including houses and apparatus, in charge of the Fire Department, is as follows: The Central Fire Station, a handsome brick building, situated on Main Street, just north of the City Hall, was built in 1895. at a cost of $20,000 ; and is furnished with all modern improve-
3 This represents the fire appara- with fire and steam ready, Charles W. Edwards, driver; and the Lib- erty Bigelow Hook and Ladder Co., James Waldo Emerson, driver.
tus leaving the station at an alarm of fire : The wagon, Dean T. Stock- well, driver; the engine, No. I,
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
ments, making it one of the best equipped fire stations in the Commonwealth.
It is occupied by the Steamer and Hose Co. No. I, Charles F. Woodward, Captain; the Liberty Bigelow Hook and Lad- der Co., No. I, which carries two hundred and fifty feet of ladders and appurtenances, Harry R. Norton, Captain, and the N. D. Blake Hose Co., No. 2, Robert Gibbons, Captain. For many years this company occupied a room in the Masonic Temple Building, on the corner of Main Street and Wyoming Avenue ; but in 1901, that location was discontinued, and it is now housed in the Central Fire Station. For the Engine and Hose Wagon, four horses and fifteen men are required ; for the Hook and Ladder Co., three horses and fifteen men ; and for Hose No. 2, one horse and eight men.
The Highlands Hose Co., No. 3, Frank H. Cheever, Captain, occupies its station on Franklin Street, Melrose Highlands, and requires one horse and eight men. The William E. Barrett Hose Co., No. 4, Charles E. Mckinnon, Captain, occupies its house on East Foster Street, and requires one horse and eight men.
The principal officers of the Fire Department as at present organized, are as follows: A. Wilbur Lynde, Chief Engineer; Joseph M. Holbrook, Assistant Engineer and Clerk; and William F. Simpson, Assistant Engineer. The amount appro- priated by the City for the Fire Department for 1902, was $11, 500.
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. The Police Department of Mel- rose is composed of a well-organized, vigilant, and efficient body of men, under the management of its Chief, Frank M. McLaughlin, who has held that position since 1884. The present force is composed of the following men: Permanent force; Frank M. McLaughlin, Chief, Osborne E. Drown, Wil- liam A. Caswell, Redford M. Rand, William C. McCarthy, Louis B. Heaton, George E. Fuller, Harry Brown, Allston H. Pineo, William H. Doherty, Christopher B. Thompson, and Frank N. Pierce. Special officers; Charles J. Wing, James H. Maine, John J. Hinds, A. Wilbur Lynde, Edgar E. Sherburne, Elvin C. Slocomb, Patrick F. Murray, Michael J. Hanley, Jerome T. Smith, and Arthur L. Brigham. Constables, George WV. Burke, William L. Pierce, Frank M. Mclaughlin and Osborne E. Drown. Bail Commissioner, Sidney H. Buttrick.
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FIRE AND POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
There is a State Police Association of which our officers are members; and January 12, 1902, the Melrose Police Associa- tion was organized, the object of which is social intercourse, protection to its members, and aid to the sick and suffering. One object this Association has in view is to raise a sufficient sum of money, by ball and concert, with which to buy a fully equipped hospital ambulance, and present the same to the City of Melrose for the general use of its citizens, in any and all emergencies.
1
CHAPTER XXIV.
CITY HALL, CLOCKS AND SEALS.
I N 1873, the Town voted to build a new Town Hall on the corner of Main and Essex Streets, where then stood the residences of George Newhall and Mrs. Mary Dix, at a cost of $93,675 ; $28,675 for the land, 44,934 square feet, and $65,000 for the building. This was at a time when money bore a high rate of interest, and twenty year bonds were issued by the Town for the cost of the building, with interest, at the rate of seven per cent. per annum; at maturity $20,000 of that amount was paid and new bonds issued for $45,000, with interest at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum. These bonds mature September 1, 1912. The building committee were the Selectmen, Daniel Russell, John H. Clark and George F. Stone, and George W. Heath, and Francis S. Hesseltine. The Hall was not finished until the following year, when the formal exercises of dedication took place June 17, 1874, when the principal address was made by George F. Stone, then a resident of our town, but now Secretary of the Board of Trade, Chicago, Ill.
From the very excellent and appropriate address of Mr. Stone, it is well to introduce here two or three sentences :
As the future historian may trace your municipal life and set in order the steps of your growth, he shall find in the record certain prominent facts which shall afford unmistakable evidence of your character, reveal the spirit by which you were animated and which was the secret of your favorable development. Among the salient points none will stand out with greater clearness and significance than the accomplishment of your purpose to build this Hall; its direct, and its indirect influences, will then be more clearly seen and its import- ance be more clearly realized than by the light of this hour.
It will I think then be recorded that from this time there seemed to be a marked improvement in your social and material aspect-your ambition was quickened-your public spirit was everywhere apparent, and from this time an enthusiastic desire to discharge every obligation of citizenship seemed to possess the inhabitants.
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MELROSE CITY HALL.
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HISTORY OF MELROSE.
To fail to properly embrace this opportunity, you would retard our growth and hinder our prosperity. To my mind it was a critical moment in our history and committed this community irrevocably to an enlightened and progressive policy. Individual enterprise and stability of citizenship were trembling in the balance and your saga- cious decision secured all. Property holders before desirous to sell and others quite indifferent decided to hold and develope, private interest and enterprise were infused with a new zeal, and men at once looked around to discover how they might bring under the benign sway of this assured policy, the natural advantages which an indulgent providence had vouchsafed. It is safe to affirm that more plans for the development of your resources were born in the hour of your de- cision to build this structure, than at any previous epoch in your municipal life, not only on account of the work itself, but also be- cause of the assurance thereby implied, that what you had done should be made to confer its fullest and richest benefits. Apathy was changed into a lively interest, and a passive policy into an animated desire to become what by every consideration of situation and intel- ligence, we should be, practical, experienced and shrewd men of busi- ness; the reflecting and educated citizen as well, quickly discerned the drift of this measure, and our largest real estate owners, alert and keen to perceive results, lent the proposition their instant and liberal support. So manifest was this step for the general good and so diffuse were its effects, that all classes instantly caught its significance and none were more strenuous in its support than the extremely prudent and conservative. . .. Narrow-minded and mistaken is that policy, which in its zeal for small taxes, shuts up every avenue of improve- ment, ignores the requirements of the times, and so defeats and frustrates the very object in view. Under such a policy valuation is kept down, population of the desirable sort is reduced and excluded, and that which is so absolutely essential to growth and success is crushed out-viz: the spirit of enterprise. ... We had reached a point in the history of our affairs when it was vital for our best inter- ests to erect this Hall ; it was an important link in a chain of improve- ments, conceived, it must be admitted, in wisdom and liberality, with- out which previous enterprise would be deprived of its full fruits. . . . Ilappily, fellow citizens, your public measures have been con- trolled by an enlightened purpose, and hence the prosperity and growth of Melrose is assured beyond the possibility of recall. . . . With these considerations we may perhaps arrive at some conception of the significance of this hour as we dedicate this Hall to the sublime rights of American citizenship-to lofty patriotism-to courageous ac- tion- to sympathetic endeavor- to the equal rights of all classes and of both sexes-to an unsullied public morality, and to an unfaltering allegiance to Him who controls alike the destinies of individuals and nations. . .
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CITY HALL, CLOCKS AND SEALS.
The City Hall is a brick structure with brown-stone trim- mings, of handsome architectural design, with a large hall and convenient internal arrangementsfor city purposes. For many years the Melrose Public Library and Reading Room occupied two of its rooms on the lower floor, and until the Young Men's Christian Association erected its fine building on Main Street, when the Town leased the Library's present quarters at an annual rental of $1,000. The Melrose Savings Bank also occupied the southwest corner room on the Essex Street side for seventeen years, when it removed to its present Banking Room in Newhall's Block, No. 541 Main Street. Now all the different departments of the City Government are accom- modated and have offices in the City Hall Building.
The clock which adorns the tower was the gift of the Hon. Daniel Russell ; and the vane was given by the late William Bailey ; and the clock on the front of the gallery in the hall was given by John W. Farwell.
The large and handsome vase, always kept beautiful with flowers, in their season, standing on the lawn on the Essex Street side of the City Hall lot, was placed there through the kindly efforts of the Melrose Improvement Society, which has done in the past so much in beautifying our city, in setting out, caring for and protecting our trees, and in freeing our highways of rubbish.
In 1901, after a constant use of twenty-seven years, the Board of Aldermen appropriated $5,800 for much needed re- pairs; $1, 100 for repairing and painting the tower and other outside woodwork, and $4,700 for the renovation of the Audi- torium and ante-rooms. New floors were laid, ceilings and walls re-frescoed, electric lights introduced, the arch over the stage changed for the better, and new settees provided; the whole forming a much needed improvement.
THE FLAG STAFF. July 4, 1898, a very handsome flag staff, which had been erected on the corner of Main and Upham Streets, opposite City Hall, was dedicated with appropriate addresses by Sidney H. Buttrick, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, George R. Jones, Levi S. Gould and George A. Smith, President of the Massachusetts Senate. The pole, in two parts, is one hundred and twenty feet high, surmounted with a gilt ball. From it a new flag was flung to the breeze
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