USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Lincoln > Town Report on Lincoln 1902-1906 > Part 34
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Commissioners of the town of Lincoln and the Board of Water Commissioners of the town of Concord, their officers and agents.
By order of the Board, SAMUEL W. ABBOTT, Secretary.
A true copy.
Jos. S. HART,
Sec'ty Board of Water Commissioners of the Town of Lincoln. Attest:
Lincoln, Mass., Sept. 11th, 1903.
116
Committee on Claims ..
The Committee on Claims submit the following report :-
In their last report, (Town Book 1904-1905, pp. 132-3,) the committee referred to the status of the long-standing litigation in which the Town is concerned in matters arising out of the takings incident to the Sandy Pond pumping station and the re-adjustment of land damages for re-locating the County road near the house of Francis Smith. There have been no further proceedings in these matters during the year. The litigations remain in the position in which they were, and call for no additional notice at this time.
As, during the year, the amendments deemed advisable in the Town by-laws have not been matured, or submitted to the Attorney General for approval, we recommend, for the reasons last year set forth, that the votes passed at the ad- journed Town meeting of 1904 with respect to the appoint- ment, functions and authority of a Comptroller be again passed. The proper articles looking to such action should be inserted in the warrant for the coming annual Town meeting.
The delay in perfecting the amendments found by expe- rience to be necessary or desirable in the Town By-laws is to be regretted. It has been due to causes for which the Com- mittee on Claims is in some degree responsible, but in greatest part beyond their control. The necessary steps have been taken to bring the business to a close without further delay.
The Committee has recently received the following com- munication from the Water Board :-
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"Lincoln, Mass., January 11, 1906.
MR. CHARLES F. ADAMS,
Chairman, Committee on Claims, Lincoln, Mass. SIR :- The following vote was passed at the Water Board Meeting held this day :-
Voted :- It is the opinion of the Water Board that the con- dition of Sandy Pond is such at the present time that some action should be taken by the Town of Lincoln which will compel the Town of Concord to seek another water supply. We respectfully call the attention of your Board to Section XI of Chapter 188 of the Acts of the year 1872, and to Article VI of the By-Laws of the Town.
(Signed)
Very respectfully, JOS. S. HART, Secretary.
As the foregoing communication did not reach the Com- mittee until after the beginning of the current year, no formal proceedings in accordance with its suggestion have yet been initiated. The Committee, however, has the matter under formal advisement, and has communicated with the Concord Water Board. So far as legal questions, and possible future legal proceedings, are involved, the matter has been placed in the hands of Henry E. Warner, as counsel for the Com- mittee and Town. The Committee on Claims, however, en- tertains a confident belief that whatever assurances and changes are necessary for the security of Lincoln in this matter can be obtained without recourse to legal steps or seeking additional legislation. The 'representatives of the Town of Concord have thus far evinced a disposition to approach the issue in a friendly spirit and with an earnest desire to reach some practical and business-like conclusion satisfactory to all concerned.
The Committee, during the year, has received from the present vigilant Tree Warden, Mr. Edward R. Farrar, repeated communications relating to the apparent failure of land owners
118
of the Town to understand the significance of the statutes re- lating to shade trees upon highways, and their protection. In many cases trees coming within both the spirit and the letter of the law have been treated by abuttors as if they were their personal property.
They have been cut down without permission, and, in some cases apparently for the purpose of selling the wood of such trees as a mere marketable commodity. Heretofore, the Committee on Claims has not proceeded under these communi- cations from the Tree Warden. They have assumed that the violations of law arose from ignorance, and the prevalence of the traditional idea that trees on the public ways are the property of those owning the adjacent land. Such, however, is not the case. Shade trees upon our roads are public prop- erty; and, as such, are carefully protected by statutes, carry- ing a sufficient penalty in cases of their violation. The Com- mittee has been forced to the conclusion that, in many cases, residents of Lincoln will not become satisfied of this fact until the law is enforced in some individual case. They take this opportunity, therefore, to give public notice through the Town book, that hereafter in all cases of violation of the statutes for protecting shade trees on the public highways brought to the notice of the Committee, either through the Tree Warden or by their own observation, as individuals, the law will be rigorously enforced, and the payment of the pre- scribed penalties exacted.
The statute provisions relating to this subject have been collected and published by the proper authorities; and, on application either to the members of this Committee, or to the Tree Warden, Mr. Farrar, copies of the same will be fur- nished to any citizen, or land owner.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
CHARLES F. ADAMS, MOORFIELD STOREY, JULIUS E. EVELETH,
Committee.
Lincoln, Feb. 12, 1906.
119
·
Report of the Board of Health.
Again the town is to be congratulated on its freedom from any serious epidemic of contagious disease.
There have been several cases of scarlet fever but most of them have been easily traceable to sources outside the town; also two cases of typhoid fever.
The premises where any contagious disease has occurred have been very thoroughly disinfected under the supervision of some member of the Board.
We would once more strongly urge the town to take some action in relation to furnishing more sanitary and hygienic accommodations for the scholars now attending the Centre schools.
Respectfully submitted,
S. H. PIERCE, JOS .. S. HART, S. H. BLODGETT.
1
120
Regulations of the Board of Health of the Town of Lincoln.
ADOPTED JUNE 12, 1899.
PROTECTION OF WATER SUPPLY.
1. No person shall drive any horse, cow, or other neat cattle, to or into the waters of any pond in the Town of Lincoln, which is used as a source of public water supply, or place any such animal on or near the shore thereof, for the purpose of permitting such animal to wade in the waters thereof, or to drink therefrom.
2 No person shall permit any cow, horse, or other domes- tic animal either belonging to him or in his care or charge, to go to or into the waters of any pond in the Town of Lincoln which is used as a source of public water supply, for any purpose whatsoever.
3. No person shall throw, put or discharge into the waters of any pond in the Town of Lincoln used as a source of public water supply, any manure, offal, sewage or refuse or decaying matter.
4. No person shall deposit, or cause to be deposited, upon the shores of any pond in the Town of Lincoln used as a source of public water supply, between low water mark of such pond and a line measured one rod above the high water mark, any manure, offal, refuse or decaying matter.
SWINE.
5. No person shall keep swine within the limits of the Town after he has been notified by the Board of Health not to do so.
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6. Swine in herds, exceeding five in number, shall not be kept or allowed to pasture within five hundred feet of any public street or way.
OFFENSIVE TRADES.
7. The Board of Health hereby adjudges that the ex- ercise of the trade or employment of keeping swine within the limits of the Town is a nuisance and hurtful to the in- habitants thereof, and dangerous to the public health. No person, firm or corporation shall engage in, or exercise within the limits of the Town of Lincoln the trade or employment of keeping swine without having first obtained a permit therefor in writing from the Board of Health ; and such per- mit may be revoked at any time by the said Board.
8. The Board of Health hereby adjudges that the ex- ercise of the trade or employment of slaughtering cattle, swine, sheep or other animals, or of conducting a melting or rendering establishment, is a nuisance, and hurtful to the inhabitants of the Town, and dangerous to the public health. No person, firm or corporation shall engage in or exercise within the limits of the Town of Lincoln, the trade or em- ployment of slaughtering cattle, swine, sheep or other animals or of conducting a melting or rendering establish- ment.
OFFAL, MANURE, ETC.
9. Kitchen refuse or what is known as "City Swill" or offal from swine pens, slaughter houses, vaults or cesspools, shall not be carried over any public street or way within the limits of the Town except in water tight receptacles, which shall be closely covered.
10. Offal or manure from swine pens, slaughter houses, vaults or cesspools, when deposited upon the fields shall be thoroughly plowed under and covered within twelve hours after such deposit ; or, if for any reason not so plowed under and covered, such offal or manure shall be wholly removed within the said time after such deposit.
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11. All owners or occupants of any premises within the limits of the Town of Lincoln, shall, on or before the first day of June, in each year, remove all offal, manure and other foul and offensive substances or matter from all swine pens, slaughter houses, vaults and cesspools situated upon their premises ; and shall thereupon immediately cleanse and thoroughly put in order all such swine pens, slaughter houses, vaults and cesspools.
REPEAL.
12. These regulations so far as they agree with former regulations shall be deemed a continuation thereof ; but otherwise all former regulations are repealed.
PENALTY.
13. Whoever violates any of the above regulations is liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for each offence. Public Statutes, Chapter 80, Section 18.
Amendments.
ADOPTED JULY 19, 1901.
1. No person shall convey, or cause to be conveyed, swill, house offal, or refuse or decaying matter over any public street or way in the Town without a written license therefor issued by the Board of Health. Such license shall be exercised at all times in accordance with the require- ments of the Board and of its officers, and may be revoked at any time. The ninth (9) regulation of the Board is hereby repealed.
2. No owner or occupant of land or premises within the Town shall permit any swill, house offal, or refuse or decay- ing matter, brought from without the limits of the Town, to remain upon his land or premises for a period exceeding twenty-four hours in any case; provided, however, that any of the said substances may so remain after the said time
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if placed in receptacles or otherwise disposed of in a manner previously approved in writing by the Board of Health.
Whoever violates any of the above regulations is liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for each offence.
Public Statutes, Chapter 80, Section 18.
ADOPTED JANUARY 16, 1902.
3. The Board of Health hereby adjudges that the deposit of sputum in public places is a nuisance, source of filth, and cause of sickness, and hereby orders: That spitting upon the floor, platform, or steps of any railroad station, car, public building, hall, church, market, store, or any sidewalk immediately connected with said public places, be, and hereby is prohibited.
Whoever violates any of the above regulations is liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars for each offence.
Public Statutes, Chapter 80, Section 18.
A true copy of the regulations of the Board of Health of the Town of Lincoln and all amendments thereto.
Attest : JOSEPH S. HART,
Secretary of the Board of Health.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF LINCOLN
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR 1905
OL
S.A.PRE
.
-
127 SCHOOL COMMITTEE
EDWARD E. BRADLEY, Chairman.
EDWARD R. FARRAR, Secretary.
Term expires 1906
66 1907
HENRY E. WARNER. 66 66 1908
Superintendent of Schools W. N. CRAGIN Supervisor of Music
BETSY B. HARMON
Supervisor of Drawing EMILY L. HAINES Supervisor of Physical Culture HARRIETTE F. SAWIN
TEACHERS
Centre Grammar
CARRIE B. CHAPIN
Centre Sub Grammar
1
GRACE ROBINSON Centre Primary HATTIE B. HEATH
South Sub Grammar S. ELLEN BROWN South Primary
I. BEATRICE FARNSWORTH
JANITORS
Centre
EDWARD BANNON
South MATTHEW H. DOHERTY
TRUANT OFFICER
FRED E. COUSINS
-
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The following table shows the number of hours per week devoted by the teacher to each subject in the several grades above the third :
COURSE OF STUDY.
SUBJECTS :
IV
V
V1
VII
VIII
Opening Exercises
cal+
3
Reading and Spelling
51
42
4
4
4
Language
4
4
4%
44
44
Writing
1
1
1
1
1
Arithmetic
4
44
4+
44
4₺
History
1
2₺
22
Geography
3
3₺
3
22
2₺
Physiology
Singing
1%
1%
12
1₺
1%
Drawing
1}
1}
1}
12
12
Gymnastics
12
Miscellaneous
1}
10/00
12
Recess
-
14
14
14
1
1
1
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Report of the School Committee.
To the Citizens of Lincoln:
In making the annual report upon the schools your com- mittee desire to present a definite statement of the work that is being done, that parents and all who are interested can see what the pupils are actually doing in the several grades. The number of hours per week that are devoted to the different studies is given that it may be evident where the emphasis is being placed. From an examination of the table it will be seen that practically twice as much time is given to teach- ing the pupils to read and write the English language as is given to any other subject. This is as it should be, for the ability to use the English language correctly is of fundamental importance, both as a mark of a cultivated mind, and as a qualification for obtaining many positions in the business world that the graduates of our schools aspire to fill.
The amount of time and attention that is being given to music and drawing is amply justified in the results that are being attained in these directions, and your committee feel that the schools are to be congratulated on having secured and retained such efficient instruction in these departments. We desire in this connection to record our appreciation of the service that has been rendered to the schools of the town by Miss Annie M. Barnes, as special instructor in music for nearly five years, and our sense of loss in her death. She possessed unusual gifts as a teacher, and by her personal character won for herself a warm place in the regard both of her pupils and
130
of the regular corps of teachers. Miss Betsy B. Harmon has been engaged as her successor.
In June Miss Harriet F. Sawin resigned her position as teacher of the sub-grammar school at the centre to pursue further studies at Wellesley College. Her resignation was accepted with regret. During the year she had voluntarily and without extra compensation given special instruction in physical culture one afternoon each week to the schools at the Center. This instruction she kindly offered to continue this year in connection with her studies upon the same conditions as last year, the town to pay only her travelling expenses. Your committee, recognizing the value of the mental as well as the physical training to be derived from such instruction desired to have it continued, but thought it best to put this work upon a similar basis, as regards compensation, to the other special instruction given in the schools. We hope that a way may be provided for continuing this instruction after this year. Miss Grace Robinson, a graduate of the Framing- ham Normal School, and a teacher in the schools of Framing- ham, Mass., was called to be Miss Sawin's successor. For the rest the teaching force remains unchanged, and by another year's quiet, faithful work these teachers have added to the town's indebtedness to them, an indebtedness that is not can- celled by the payment of their salaries.
Your committee are convinced that the course of study in our schools ought to be strengthened by the addition of manu- al instruction. At present the minds of the pupils are being trained almost exclusively through the acquisition of facts and through dealing with abstract ideas as gained from text books and the lips of the teacher. This must always remain a large part, and the more important part of the process of education. But it should be supplemented by work in which the pupils are required not only to receive but to express, not only to think in abstract terms and to memorize but to deal with concrete facts and to create. The child who has been
131
taught to think patiently and accurately through the use of his hands has received, along with any practical skill that he may acquire, mental training of high quality. One of the most importantfactors in the education for life of the country boy and girl is the manual training that they receive in their homes through learning to do useful work and to make useful things. Yet in the case of a large part of this home work there is lacking the qualities of exactness and finish. The definite instruction in various forms of manual work as given in the school seeks to secure just these two invaluable quali- ties. A piece of work is not properly done until it is done accurately, and until it is completely done.
There are in our schools most of the time some pupils who through lack of interest in their studies or through inaptitude do very mediocre work, and who suffer from the conscious- ness that they fall below the standard. Such pupils find no pleasure in their work, and derive little real benefit from it. It is just such pupils who are likely to be waked up mentally by manual instruction. In this work they very often excel others who are brighter in their studies. It in they find pleasure and take pride, and for the first time find themselves. The introduction of manual instruction would be worth all it costs for the help that it renders to such pupils alone, who while they may not be inferior in ability have yet failed to find intellectual awakening and mental training through the study of books. One of the faults of our educa- tional system in the past has been the insistence that all children shall find their intellectual training in the same way and along a single path. Today in the higher forms of educa- tion it is recognized that the man who is trained in the techni- cal school is as truly an educated man as the one who is trained in the classical course. Provision ought to be made in the earlier stages of education for the similar training of those who never go to college.
There is an evil incident to our present school system
132
that is well nigh universal, for it runs from the lower grades of the common school through the college course, yet an evil which perhaps cannot be wholly avoided, which is this: we set a standard of accurate work and call it 100%; we then pro- ceed to call some lower mark, down to 60 or even 50%, the passing mark, the mark that will be accepted as meeting the requirements of the school or college for promotion to a higher rank. That is, we allow our youth at the time when ideals are being formed and habits of work are being fixed to settle down into doing work that is a long way from accurate, to become content to do work that is passably bad. They get accustomed to thinking of perfectly accurate work either as not necessary, or as not for them attainable. Many a man in active life today can bear personal testimony to the per- nicious effect of this system upon the character of the student.
Contrast this way of doing things with the actual condi- tions that confront the student when he enters life in the world. Employers are not looking for men who are willing to do work that is 80 % right and 20% wrong. The manufacturer who puts upon the market an article that is 70% well made and 30 % made in a slipshod way will not long hold the trade. The bank clerk or the newspaper reporter or the telephone operator whose work is 60% right and 40% doubtful is not up to the standard of efficiency required in the business world. Now, one of the most beneficial results secured by manual instruction, as in sloyd, is that the pupil is taught and inspired to do exact work, and the results that can be attained in this direction under good teaching are surprising. The defects and the excellencies of the pupil's work lie upon the surface, and can be readily recognized by his eye and hand. His in- terest and ambition are enlisted upon the side of his own im- provement, for when he sees where he made his mistake at one time he is helped to see how to avoid making the same mis- take the next time; and his natural pride in his own work is a powerful motive prompting him to do his best. This kind
133
of work carried on in connection with the regular school studies has a tendency to create better habits of attention and appli- cation in the schoo,l room and is a valuable corrective of a serious defect in our educational system.
We hope to be able in the near future to present to the town a definite plan for the addition to the present curriculum in the two upper grades of instruction under special teachers in sloyd, where tools take the place of books as the means of training, and in sewing and cooking.
The present school day of five hours could then with benefit be lengthened to six hours, the extra hour being devoted to this manual work, and as this work would give a complete change from the other work and would require active exercise instead of sitting still at desks it would not be a detriment to the health of the pupils. Beside the educational value of such work, which gives it its chief claim to a place in the school curriculum, is its practical side in developing the taste for mechanical work and skill in perform- ing it on the part of the boys, and helping them to discover ap- titudes and abilities that may guide them in the choice of their life work; while for the girls as present and prospective home makers the knowledge of cooking and sewing is of funda- mental importance.
The question has sometimes arisen in a teacher's mind in the case of a listless and inattentive pupil whether he is lazy or hungry or ill. The case that it is desired to refer to here is the hungry child. It is of great importance for the best performance of the work of the day that parents should see that their children eat a proper breakfast, and that those who remain at the school during the noon recess should bring a proper lunch. The best results both for health and for study cannot be accomplished upon an empty stomach. While the failure of the child to take sufficient food is doubtless his own fault, due to whim, or haste, or to him some other good reason, the parent has a duty in the matter, and this reference
134
to the matter is made simply by way of reminder. It has been suggested to the committee that a way might be pro- vided for furnishing a hot lunch at school for those pupils who cannot go home at noon. There are fifty such pupils in the schools at the Center, and between thirty-five and forty in. the South schools. Theoretically, such a plan could be carried out here as successfully as it is in other places, pro- vided a sufficient number of pupils took advantage of it. The subject is referred to here for the sake of finding out how many parents would like to see such a plan tried. In any case, it would have to be upon a self-supporting basis.
There seems to be a misapprehension in some quarters as regards the year at which children arrive at school age. The age of compulsory school attendance in Massachusetts is from seven to fourteen. It is very undesirable that children who are too young to take the regular work of the first grade should be sent to school. In the first place, no time is gained by such pupils, as they must begin at the beginning again the next year. In the second place, the teacher can under the. circumstances give them little of her attention, and it is un- fair to her to require her to give to them the time that she needs for her regular classes. Furthermore, it is vastly better for the children themselves to be allowed to have the free activities of play and childish duties at home, in which both mind and body are being developed in the most natural and normal way, and this during the larger part of the year out-of- doors, than to be shut up in a school room and kept quiet or allowed to squirm about on a wooden seat for five or even three hours a day. The committee would, therefore, dis- courage parents from sending their children to school until they are old enough to begin and carry on with profit the regu- lar work required of pupils in the first grade.
Repairs have been made upon the school property during the year as the need has arisen. Early in the year a new barge had to be procured. After securing prices from
135
several makers the contract to build a barge was given to Mr. J. A. Burgess, who was the lowest bidder. It was felt that Mr. Burgess would take pride in doing a good job for the town, and no cause has been found to doubt the wisdom of the com- mittee's choice of a builder. Two of the old barges were put in order by him at the same time, and one old barge was sold in part payment for the new barge.
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