USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Chelmsford > Town annual report of Chelmsford 1901 > Part 4
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731 25
Support of poor.
Receipts
2,259 73
5,657 30
....
...
856 10
Highways.
Receipts
978 10
6,841 91
363 81
Groton road.
1,500 00
1,690 25
190 25
State aid receipts ..
1,108 00
1,158 00
...
50 00
Receipts
126 00
392 00
34 00
Repairs of public building.
400 00
1,393 99
993 99
Town officers and committees.
1,700 00
2,566 68
866 68
Cattle inspection ..
50 00
64 40
14 40
Collection and abatement of taxes.
650 00
1,256 78
Care of village clock ..
30 00
30 00
Care and improvement of cemeteries ... Receipts
78 50
126 18
152 32
.....
Receipts
Adams Library.
800 00
800 00
Memorial Day.
100 00
77 59
22 41
Street lighting.
1,000 00
1,023 58
23 58
Schoolhouse loan, North Village ..
1,070 00
1,070 00
Schoolhouse loan, Centre Village ..
1,200 00
1,200 00
Interest schoolh'se loan, Centre Village
336 00
336 00
Interest schoolh'se loan, North Village
406 60
406 60
Transportation of school children
1,100 00
1,503 45
Pine Ridge cemetery .
Receipts
60 00
432 05
North Chelmsford library.
400 00
400 00
Grading North Chelmsford school.
500 00
468 13
31 87
Improvements Town Hall, No. Ch'sf'd.
300 00
300 00
Watering trough, South Village ..
100 00
112 90
12 90
Mrs. Mary McMahon, land damage.
350 00
350 00
Fire apparatus
500 00
Receipts
8 00
497 96
10 01
Crossing at Centre.
50 00
70 82
20 82
New school, North Chelmsford, unex- pended balance.
1,558 52
1,452 79
105 73
$42,505 86
$49,195 12
$ 618 09
$7,307 35
6,689 26
6,689 26
$19,195 12
$49,195 12
$7,307 35
$7,307 35
Appropriations.
$35,451 12
Amount of bills paid.
$49,195 12
Receipts
7,054 74
Deficit
6,689 26
$42,505 86
$42,505 86
....
Wood lot-Expense ..
Receipts
540 00
5,500 00
.....
....
.. .
Indigent soldiers and sailors.
300 00
....
...
403 45
300 00
.. .
72 05
500 00
703 50
1,725 48
521 98
Receipts
12 22
1,367 26
$126 85
.......
Apparatus
. .
2,300 00
1,097 57
1,396 10
606 78
200 00
Miscellaneous expenses
. .
....
TREE WARDEN'S REPORT.
I have attended to my duties as Tree Warden, and would say there being no appropriation at my disposal, I have confined my operations principally to suggestions from the Selectmen and such duties as arose from time to time.
This past year being the first under the existing law, I was anxious to get some idea of the extent of my duty. I have counted over eleven hundred transplanted trees within the lim- its of the highways and the common grounds. There must be many besides that I have not seen, and from careful observation I estimate the transplanted trees to constitute about ten per cent. of the trees which are or soon will be valuable shade trees. So it will be seen that the trees which come under the protection of the town are quite an item.
These trees should, from year to year, receive a certain amount of attention, and it might be deemed expedient to plant a limited number of trees each year in and about the different villages of the town as the citizens might dictate.
In some places guards should be used to protect from horses.
Our trees are liable any year to become infested with insect pests, which at present we have no means of combating. The greatest danger which menaces our trees is from corporations which do business in and through our town by means of wires. In the past, in the construction of lines, trees have been. merci- lessly cut and mutilated, but under the present law I trust these abuses will be largely prevented.
I would suggest that all tree-loving citizens co-operate with the Tree Warden to prevent violations of the law.
GEORGE B. B. WRIGHT,
Tree Warden.
LIST OF JURORS AS PREPARED BY THE SELECTMEN, MARCH 13, 1901.
Byam, Frank C., farmer. Byam, Chas. W., farmer. Blaisdell, Ervin A., machinist. Day, George W., retired. Dix, R. Wilson, stone contractor. Emerson, Herbert H., farmer. Hodson, H. R., farmer. Hodge, George Y., clerk.
Hall, Wm. H., pattern maker.
Holt, Chas. H., machinist. Holt, Chas. A., farmer. Lee, Wm. M., farmer. Lapham, Wilber E., farmer.
Martin, Wm. E., mill hand.
Naylor, Samuel, traveling salesman. Parkhurst, Alfred G., painter.
Perham, Walter, vinegar maker. Robbins, Edward J., clerk. Snow, Geo. F., farmer. Stackpole, James A., farmer. Swett, Geo. W., iron moulder. Sampson, James A., machinist. Smith, Geo. H. (No.), painter. Sweetser, Herbert C., saw and grist inill. Warley, John S., stone cutter. Wright, George B., nurseryman. Ward, James W., steel worker. Warren, Arthur M., insurance agent. Warren, Joseph E., farmer.
REPORT OF BOARD OF HEALTH.
Some good work has been done by this board the past year.
Nuisances in various parts of the town reported have been attended to, the Cattle Commissioners have been notified at different times of diseased cattle, and other work pertaining to the board has been done. But few contagious diseases have been reported.
Measles. 2
Typhoid Fever 1 Scarlet Fever 4 Diphtheria 1
the necessary steps being taken in each case.
Respectfully submitted, WALTER R. WINNING, Chairman.
REPORT OF CATTLE INSPECTOR.
Number of cattle inspected. 403
Number of cattle killed. 7
Respectfully submitted.
E. C. PERHAM.
February 25, 1901.
COMMONWEATH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
Middlesex, ss.
To either of the Constables of the Town of Chelmsford, in said County. GREETING:
In the name of the Commonwealth aforesaid, you are hereby required to notify the legal voters of said Chelmsford to meet at the Town Hall, at Chelmsford Centre, on Monday, the twenty- fifth day of March current, being the fourth Monday in said month, at nine o'clock in the forenoon, then and there to act on the following articles, viz:
Article I. To choose a Moderator.
Article 2. To hear reports of town officers and commit- tees, and act thereon.
Article 3. To determine the manner of collecting the taxes.
Article 4. To determine the manner of repairing the high- ways, townways and bridges.
Article 5. To choose all necessary town officers.
Article 6. To act in relation to the list of jurors as pre- pared by the Selectmen.
Article 7. To raise and appropriate such sums of money as may be required to defray town charges for the current year.
Article 8. To see if the town will authorize the Treasurer to borrow such sums of money as may be required for the demands upon him, in antici- pation of the taxes of the current year, and payable therefrom.
Article. 9. To see if the town will vote to grant licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquors for the current year.
Article 10. To see if the town will authorize the Selectmen to act as its agent in any suit or suits which may arise during the current year; also, in such other matters which may arise requir- ing, in their judgment, the action of such agent, and to employ counsel therefor.
Article II. To see if the town will vote to accept the legacy of one hundred dollars, in trust, from Susan N. Whittemore, the income of the same to
65
be expended in forever keeping in repair her burial lot in the cemetery at Northi Chelmsford.
Article 12. To see if the town will vote to accept the gift of fifty dollars, in trust, from Mrs. J. E. Rich- ardson, the income of the same to be expended in forever keeping in repair the Heywood lot in the South Chelmsford Cemetery.
Article 13. At the request of the Selectmen, to see if the town will vote to build a barn and sheds at the Town Farm for the use of the Highway Department, raise and appropriate a sum of money for the same, or act in relation thereto.
Article 14. At the request of George T. Sheldon, George C. Moore and others, to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate a sum of money for the purpose of heating the Town Hall at the North Village, or act in relation thereto.
Article 15. To see if the town will make an appropriation to the North Chelmsford Library Associa- tion on condition that the books of said library shall be free to all inhabitants of the town, or act in relation thereto.
Article 16.
At the request of Harry B. Richardson, M. A. Warren and others, to see if the town will vote to accept the way known as Amherst Street, extending southerly from Main Street to Princeton Street and situated between Dartmouth and Grosvener Streets, near the Lowell line, or act in relation thereto.
Article 17. At the request of Wilson Waters, H. S. Perham and others, to see if the town will vote to mark in a substantial and suitable manner the graves of soldiers of the Revolution in the burying grounds of Chelmsford, raise and appropriate a sum of money therefor, or act in relation thereto.
Article 18.
At the request of A. H. Sheldon and others, to see if the town will vote to instruct the Selectmen to give official names to the streets in the several villages of the town, cause suitable sign boards to be erected, and appropriate a sum of money therefor.
66
Article 19. At the request of Royal S. Ripley, E. H. Keyes and others, to see what action the town will take in relation to providing a suitable rifle range for the State Militia, as required by law.
Article 20. At the request of Arthur M. Warren and forty others, to see if the town will dig a well and put a pump in the same at Golden Cove School, raise and appropriate the sum of one hundred dollars for the same, or act in rela- tion thereto.
Article 21.
At the request of Thomas A. Mooney and thirteen others, to see if the town will vote to accept the street known as Evergreen Street, Westlands, as shown on plan sur- veyed by Smith & Brooks, April, 1896.
Article 22. To see if the town will vote to accept the town- way as widened and straightened by the Selectmen, leading from the Westford line in West Chelmsford to the Groton road, as shown on plan of Smith & Brooks, 1900.
Article 23 To see if the town will vote to raise and appro- priate the sum of six hundred dollars for land damage on account of widening of said Westford road.
Article 24. At the request of the Chelmsford Veterans Asso- ciation, to see if the town will appropriate the sum of one hundred dollars for the observance of Memorial Day, or act in rela- tion thereto.
Article 25. At the request of Walter Perham, J. Adams Bartlett and others, to see if the town will vote to adopt the provisions of Chap. 264. Acts of 1890, authorizing the election of three Commissioners who shall have the sole care, superintendence and management of all public burial grounds in the town, or act in relation thereto.
Article 26. At the request of Henry S. Perham and others, to see if the town will appropriate the sum of two hundred dollars to provide additional fire apparatus, or act in relation thereto. Article 27. To see if the town will vote to adopt the Act of 1897, authorizing towns to appropriate money for the charges of insurance con- panies as sureties on bonds of town officials.
67
Article 28. At the request of John J. Dunn, Geo. F. Snow and others, to see if the town will vote to pur- chase a stone watering trough for the public well at West Chelmsford, appropriate money therefor, or act in relation thereto.
Article 29. At the request of Geo. B. Wright, to see if the town will vote to raise and appropriate fifty dollars to be used by the Tree Warden in the interest of the trees of the town.
Article 30. At the request of Walter Perham, E. C. Bart- lett and others, to see if the town will adopt the Australian System of balloting for town officers and upon the question of the sale of intoxicating liquors, or do anything in rela- tion thereto.
· Article 31. At the request of E. T. Adams and others, to see if the town will vote to raise and appro- priate a sum of money for the purchase of a new hearse, or act in relation thereto.
Article 32. To see if the town will vote to have a new val- uation of real estate taken the present year ; also decide by vote the way it shall be taken, and raise and appropriate a sum of money for the same, or act in relation thereto.
Article 33. At the request of the Overseers of the Poor, to see if the town will vote to raise and appro- priate a sum of money for the purpose of heating the Almshouse.
Article 34. At the request of the Selectmen, to see if the town will take the necessary steps to abolish the grade crossing on Princeton Street at the North Village, or act in relation thereto.
Article 35. At the request of Perley P. Perham, F. J. Whit- temore, Andrew M. Blaisdell, Thomas P. Sheehan and sixteen others, to see if the town will vote to reopen the schoolhouse in District No. 2 for school purposes, or act in relation thereto.
And you are directed to serve this Warrant, by posting up attested copies thereof at the Post Offices in the Centre of the town, South Chelmsford, North Chelmsford, West Chelmsford, and at the schoolhouse at East Chelmsford, ten days at least before the time appointed for holding said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make return of this Warrant with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk at the time and place of hold- ing the meeting aforesaid.
68
Given under our hands this thirteenth day of March in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and one.
JOSEPH E. WARREN, FRED L. FLETCHER , P. T. McMAHON, WALTER R. WINNING, R. WILSON DIX,
Selectmen.
I have served the foregoing Warrant, by posting up true and attested copies of the same at the places above mentioned, more than ten days before the day of holding said meeting.
G. M. WRIGHT, Constable of Chelmsford.
March 13, 1901.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
AND
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS
OF THE
TOWN OF CHELMSFORD.
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR ENDING 1900-1901.
LOWELL, MASS .: COURIER-CITIZEN CO., PRINTERS. 1901.
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
The past year has been one of great prosperity in our schools. The fact that no complaints have been made to your committee has led them to think that their efforts to bring about a high standard in our schools have been appreciated by both parents and pupils. We feel a just pride in the unity of purpose and spirit with which your committee has sought to guard the interests entrusted to their care. Twenty-three meetings have been held by the committee, at which all the members were present. In order that we might perform our trust more intel- ligently, the schools and schoolhouses in various parts of the town have been visited by the entire committee to ascertain their needs, and to get better acquainted with the teachers and their work. We have tried, and successfully, we think, to maintain uniform instruction throughout the town, so that from the first grade to the end of the high school course there is unity of aim and purpose. We believe, if thic town will adopt uniform- ity of instruction as its settled policy, improving it from year to year, that soon all our schools will bear an enviable reputa- tion. It is a matter of congratulation that no longer are our boys and girls going away from home to be educated, but rather we are attracting pupils from other communities to our schools. The approval of the high school at the Centre by the State Board of Education enables pupils attending our high school from towns whose valuation is less than $500,000 to be reim- bursed of their tuition by the Commonwealth. Four scholars have been in attendance during the past year.
TRANSPORTATION.
Adjustments to new conditions are always difficult. We cannot but praise the patience and forbearance with which many parents and pupils have borne the inevitable disappointments through the introduction of the new system of transportation. We believe, however, that the pupils have been benefited in consequence of more efficient instruction than was otherwise possible. We recommend an increased appropriation for trans- portation during the coming year, believing that it is wise econ- omy for the town.
4
SUPERINTENDENCE.
The committee deem it wise to maintain the present union with the towns of Dunstable and Carlisle in the matter of school superintendence. Last April a new arrangement was made with the foregoing towns, so that now we receive fifteen- twentieths of the Superintendent's time. The new arrangement will, we hope, be of great value to our schools.
SCHOOLHOUSES.
Your committee believe that repairs upon school property should be made when needed. The repairs and improvements made during the past year were an urgent necessity. We recommend the following repairs and improvements, viz .:
I. That the grounds about the Golden Cove School be suitably graded.
2. The renovation of the interior of the West Chelmsford school building: A new floor in the upper room; the tinting of the walls, and the repair of broken ceiling.
3. The repainting of the building at East Chelmsford.
4. Storm porches on the back entrances of the new build- ing at North Chelmsford, and new blackboards in the upper room of the old school building.
5. At the Centre, attention should be paid to the sanitary arrangements in the basement, and to a more effective method of catching and carrying away the water from the roofs.
In conclusion, we wish to thank the Superintendent and teachers for their work and co-operation during the past year, and all who have helped us by their friendly and timely suggestions.
Respectfully submitted, A. J. PARK, STEWART MACKAY, ERNEST C. BARTLETT.
CALENDAR FOR 1901-1902.
HIGH SCHOOLS.
Fall term, September 3 to December 20, sixteen weeks. Winter term, December 30 to March 21, twelve weeks. Spring term, March 31 to June 20, twelve weeks.
COMMON SCHOOLS.
Fall term, September 9 to December 20, fifteen weeks. Winter term, January 6 to March 21, eleven weeks. Spring term, March 31 to June 6, ten weeks.
There will be no school on the day following Thanksgiving.
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
Gentlemen of the School Committee:
I respectfully submit the following as my report concerning the schools of Chelmsford for the year ending February 28, 1901 .
PRESENT TEACHING FORCE.
CENTRE.
High School, Clarence H. Knowlton, Lillian S. Copeland, Lena E. Bliss.
Grades VII. and IX., Helen G. Fulton.
Grade VIII., Susan S. McFarlin.
Grade VI., Ethel E. Kimball.
Grade V., Lena E. Bliss.
Grades III. and IV., Grace C. Litchfield.
Grades I. and II., Grace E. Mansfield.
NORTH.
High School and Grade IX., Percy F. Parsons, Grace W. Heartz.
Grades VI. and VII., Gertrude A. Jones.
Grades III. and V., Sara E. Wheeler.
Grade IV., Josephine Blakely.
Grade II., Bertha M. Allen.
Grade I., Laura G. Hoyt.
WEST.
Grades V .- VII., Bertha H. Long. Grades I .- IV., Agnes Naylor.
SOUTH. Grades, I., II., III., IV., Belle M. Gould.
GOLDEN COVE.
Grades I .- IV., Harriet M. Hall.
EAST.
Grades I .- IV., Bessie M. Coburn.
SOUTH ROW. Grades I .- V., Christina Ashworthı.
6
STATISTICS.
Population of the town, census of 1900, 3,984.
Valuation of the town, May 1, 1900, $2,448,848.
Persons between five and fifteen years of age, September, 1900: Boys, 346; girls, 326; total, 672.
Persons between seven and fourteen years of age, September,
1900: Boys, 271 ; girls, 236; total, 507.
Illiterate minors over fourteen years of age, September, 1900, O.
For the school year ending June, 1900:
Different pupils .. . 772
Pupils under five years of age. IO
Pupils over fifteen years of age. 60
Pupils between seven and fourteen years of age. 527
Average membership of all the schools. 631 4
Average attendance .. 556
Per cent. of attendance . 83.1
Average length of all schools. 8 months, 16 days
Average length of high schools. 9 months, 15 days
Teachers now required. 21
COMPARISONS.
In looking over the reports of past years, I found that the total membership of the schools did not change very much dur- ing the decade which ended with the year 1890. But since that time there has been a decided increase in the school population, and, as would be expected, it has been about the same, relatively, as the increase in the entire population. In 1890, there were 2695 people enumerated in Chelmsford; and in 1900, 3984. an increase of nearly fifty per cent. The increase in the school attendance is indicated by the figures given below :
Average attendance for 1879-'80. 353
Average attendance for 1889-'Co. 341
Average attendance for 1894-'95. 413
Average attendance for 1899-'00. 556
These figures show that the largest increase has taken place in the last five vears. This rapil growth in numbers has made the school problem a perplexing one, calling as it does for enlarged school accommodations and an increased teaching force. In 1890, fifteen teachers were employed; in 1900, twenty- one. Although this increase is not as great in per cents. as is that of scholars, yet, as nearly as I can make out, at least two years more of instruction are provided for the children than ten years ago.
7
The cost of this is what will interest every taxpayer. And that it may be looked at comparatively, I have taken a few items from the reports for the years named.
1890
1895
1900
Teaching .
$5,431 20
$5,635 30
$7,761 38
Care of houses.
296 53
352 85
527 45
Fuel
368 26
360 10
793 34
Text books and supplies
576 70
666 87
710 83
Apparatus, maps and globes . Superintendent
253 13
89 01
174 99
200 00
200 00
*900 00
Incidentals
219 96
233 09
917 20
Fitting room.
133 63
Transportation
1,077 80
Total
$7,479 41
$7,537 22
$12,862 99
*Because of the employment of a district superintendent, the state granted the town $750. Of this sum, $450 was applied to the superintendent's salary, and $300 to the increased salaries of teachers.
The average attendance increased slightly over sixty-two per cent. for the decade ending in the year 1900. The total expenditures for the schools vary slightly from that, but the items are distributed a little differently. Had the amount paid for teaching increased in the same ratio, the bill for 1900 would have been more than a thousand dollars larger than it was. Looking at it in one way, the relative diminution in this item has been practically offset by the new item of transportation.
The bills for fuel and janitor service have increased in greater proportion than the average attendance. However, I will venture to say that the returns received in rooms heated. ventilated, and cared for better will more than compensate for the increased outlay.
The amount expended for text-books, apparatus, supplies, etc., in 1890 was just about the same as in 1900. An addition of sixty-two per cent. for these items would have made them amount to a sum exceeding by over four hundred dollars the amount that was actually spent. To economize at this point is like riding in a parlor car for a portion of a journey, and then. for lack of funds, walking the remainder of the way.
Passing by the next item, to which I have referred in a foot- note, we come to the incidental expenses. In 1900, this included four items which did not appear in that classification in 1890; viz .: Rent, school census, payments to the School Committee for
8
services, and furniture. The amount of these items was $436.30, which, subtracted from the total amount, leaves a sum which is not so far out of proportion.
Taken as a whole, the direct expense to the town for each pupil has diminished rather than increased. For, by subtract- ing the amounts received from the State from the total expendi- tures, and dividing the results by the total membership, we find that each pupil cost by direct taxation $15.79 in 1890, and $14.67 in 1900.
We can but conclude, therefore, that the school finances have been managed conservatively. This seems especially true, if we accept the statements in a recent magazine article, that the expenses of the Federal government have increased twenty per cent. in the last fourteen years, and that town and municipal expenses have shown a similar increase. Also, by comparing with other towns, we learn that the educational outlays in Chelmsford are far from excessive. In order to substantiate this statement, I have taken the figures in the table below from the report of the State Board of Education for 1898-'99:
towns
in the state that have appropriated more per pupil.
TOWNS.
Sum appropriated
by towns for each
child between 5 and 15 years of age.
Percentage of valua-
tion appropriated
equivalent to mills
Number of towns
raise a
larger percentage.
. .
Weston
$50.731%
$.003-20
282
19
Tyngsboro
26.351%
.005-97
28
24
Concord
24.9510
.004-70
124
44
Acton
22.1315%
.003-86
222
72
Westford
20.11,3%
.005-60
42
90
Lowell
19.33150
.003-54
262
100
Groton
18.9416
.002-43
326
137
Dunstable
17.4016
.103-58
25
157
Billerica
16.711%
.004-24
173
163
Dracut
16.511%
.004-17
178
180
Chelmsford
16.02110
.003-81
231
238
Tewksbury
14.02116
.C03-89
216
352
Gay Head
3 00
.003-82
228
mills.
which
Number
to public schools-
and hundredths of
NOTE .- There are 353 towns and cities in Massachusetts.
3
TRANSPORTATION.
The transportation service has been much better than it was on the whole, the most satisfactory. And yet, the wagons that are now in use are well covered, so that the children are protected from the weather.
Those receiving the benefits of transportation facilities, February 20, were distributed as follows:
From the Byam district. . 27
From the Perham district.
20
From East Chelmsford by wagon
9
From East Chelmsford by electrics
I7
From Tyngsboro line. 18
From Lowell line.
17
From West Chelmsford by steam cars. 2
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