USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1875-1879 > Part 5
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The Selectmen concur with the Superintendent in the sum asked for, and recommend an appropriation of $200.
SCHOOLS.
DR.
To overdrawn balance, Dec. 31st, 1875. . $587 29
Amount expended in 1875 17,040 48
CR.
-- $17,627 77
By appropriation $15,500 00
Massachusetts School Fund
371 22
Dog fund 417 81
Rent
50
Cash from sale of books 899 37
$17,188 90
Overdrawn
$438 87
Orders drawn not paid
. $105 74
23
The Committee have decided that the crowded condition of the High School will require an addition to the present school room, and repairs are needed to put the building otherwise in good condition, and ask for an appropriation of $1,500 for that purpose.
The vote of the Town last year instructed the School Com- mittee to include their report with the town report, and refer- ence to that will, it is expected, explain fully the condition and needs of the department.
LIGHTING STREETS AND TOWN HOUSE.
DR.
To amount expended in 1875 $1,148 27
CR
By balance undrawn
$12 83
Appropriation.
900 00
$912 83
Overdrawn
. $235 44
There are twenty-nine street lanterns burning gas, an addition of one during the year. Fifteen new lanterns have been added in different localities, burning either oil or illuminating gas.
Petitions have been presented where the lanterns have been located at private expense, for the Town to assume the lighting and care of the same, and wherever they have been located on streets to accommodate the public, have been granted, it having been the uniform policy of the Town in such cases. A defi- ciency exists, as appears in the foregoing account, which to pro- vide for and meet the current expenses of the year, will require an appropriation of $1,350.
24 TREASURER. CR.
By appropriation
$500 00
DR.
To amount paid in 1875
$500 00
WATCH AND POLICE.
CR.
By balance undrawn
$261-25
Appropriation ..
800 00
Fines, violation Town by-laws 40 00
$1,101 25
DR.
To amount expended in 1875
1,081 08
Undrawn
.
$20 17
BURIAL HILL.
CR.
By undrawn balance
$32 95
Appropriation
250 00
$282 95
DR.
To amount expended in 1875
291 62
Overdrawn $8 67
An appropriation of $250 is recommended.
25
ABATEMENTS.
CR.
By undrawn balance
$800 81
Overlay in 1875.
788 60
$1,589 41
DR.
To abatements in 1875.
932 46
Undrawn
$656 95
SEXTON.
CR.
By appropriation
$125 00
DR.
To amount expended in 1875 $125 00
ASSESSORS.
CR.
By appropriation
$1,300 00
DR.
To overdrawn balance
$231 66
Expenditure in 1875
646 43
878 09
Undrawn
$421 91
Orders drawn not paid
$227 50
4
26
DUXBURY & COHASSET RAILROAD SINKING FUND.
CR.
By appropriation $2,526 54
DR.
To amount paid Trustees $2,526 54
FRESH BROOK.
CR.
Balance January, 1875.
$56 72
Received from sale of Brook
10 00
Undrawn
$66 72
HERRING MONEY.
DR.
To overdrawn balance, Dec. 31, 1874. .. $51 86
Payments in 1875 254 35
CR.
$306 21
By dividends Old Colony Bank.
300 00
Overdrawn
$6 21
GUIDE BOARDS.
The guide boards of the Town are reported in good condition.
27
APPROPRIATIONS.
The following appropriations for the current year are recommended :
Poor $6,500 00
Town debt. 7,500 00
Roads and bridges. 7,000 00
Insane poor. 1,250 00
Schools 15,500 00
Fire department
3,500 00
Contingent. 3,000 00
Watch and police
1,225 00
Lighting streets and town house
1,350 00
Assessors 700 00
Treasurer 500 00
Sexton.
125 00
Collector of taxes. 450 00
Burial hill. 250 00
Duxbury & Cohasset Railroad sinking fund 1,500 00
South Plymouth burial ground 350 00
Water works. 1,000 00
Vine Hills cemetery 200 00
Addition and repairs of High School house. 1,500 00
$53,400 00
The revenue not otherwise appropriated is as follows :
Corporation tax. $4,500 00
National Bank tax 3,000 00
Miscellaneous.
500 00
8,000 00
$45,400 00
28
Leaving the sum of forty-five thousand four hundred dollars, which it is recommended be raised by taxation for the expenses of the current year, and is less by the sum of $2,034.50 than was assessed last year, taking into account the reduction which is made in Corporation and Bank tax.
The depreciation in the value of most classes of property will probably show a diminished valuation for assessment, and even with the reduction in appropriations, will make the rate nearly or quite equal to last year.
WILLIAM H. NELSON, LEMUEL BRADFORD, DAVID CLARK, HENRY WHITING,
C. B. STODDARD,
Selectmen of Plymouth.
Plymouth, February 12, 1876.
29
REPORTS.
WATER COMMISSIONERS.
In consequence of the unusual severity of the last Winter, the Water Works in Plymouth, as in other towns and cities, suffered severely. The results are shown in an increased cost for repairs upon pipe affected by the frost, and in the diminu- tion of receipts for water rents, by reason of loss of water for several months. In some cases, the main pipes were frozen, in some that portion of the service pipe laid by the Town, and in others, that portion of the pipe laid at the expense of takers, either under the sidewalks or upon their premises. As in many cases it was impossible to ascertain which part of the pipe was frozen ; as the pipe in most cases had been laid into cellars under the supervision of the Water Superintendent, and parties were at all events deprived of the use of water at great inconvenience, the Commissioners deemed it reasonable to make abatements of water rents, which abatements, up to December 31, 1875, amounted to $501.83. The Commissioners would recommend the insertion of a packed box around the pipe where it enters a cellar wall.
30
In several streets it was found that the pipes were not laid deep enough, and in others, since the construction of the Works, the Selectmen or Surveyors had made such necessary changes in the grade of streets as had left the pipes too near the surface. Some of these defects have been removed by deepening the pipes during the year, and in one case the pipe has been deepened over the brow of a hill in order to effect a surer flow of water.
Another item of expenditure during the last year has been caused by the necessity of removing small galvanized iron pipe, of poor quality, which had been imprudently laid with a view to economy by a former Superintendent, but which had corroded, and been entirely closed. The Commissioners do not understand that they have authority, without a vote of the Town, to put down as mains any other than cement pipe.
A fourth extraordinary expenditure has arisen from the policy alluded to in the last report of gradually introducing gates at the corners of streets. During the year eleven gates have been inserted as follows :
One 4 inch on Summer street, junction with Spring street.
One 4 inch at Loring's Factory for waste grate.
One 4 inch at junction of High and Russell streets.
One 4 inch at junction of Town Square and Market street.
One 2 inch at junction of Court and Vernon streets.
One 2 inch at junction of Sandwich and South Green streets.
One 2 inch at junction of Summer and Spring streets.
One 2 inch at junction of Sandwich and South streets.
One 2 inch at junction of North street and Cole's Hill. One 2 inch at junction of Leyden street and Cole's Hill. One 10 inch on Russell street, opposite School House.
And at a cost of $204.22, without including labor, &c.
pl W ed cr b u
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W
d ne SI
ST
P a a
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31
The main between South Pond and Lout Pond was in some places found insufficiently deep, and at two places had been very much shoaled by the action of teams. Repairs thereon were made at a cost of $131.25 for labor.
The sudden fall of the Reservoir last Winter was undoubt- edly caused by a partial freezing of the pipes at Small Gains' crossing, and the Reservoir had no chance to regain its position before the large drafts of the early Summer upon it. Our most intelligent citizens, and some who were well informed upon the subject of the Water Works, gut the impression that there must be recent leaks in the Water Works, which by the most thorough tests and examinations which we were able to make could not be discovered ; and the Water Commissioners were charged in the public prints with ignorance of their duties, whilst fully impressed with the opinion that there was no leak. Owing to the slow rise of the Reservoir, it became necessary to take steps to check the use of water; and on one side the inhabitants of the central village demanded water for sprinkling streets, whilst those dwelling nearer the higher points were equally earnest that their grievances should be attended to. At this juncture the Commissioners thought it a good opportunity to call for scientific aid, in obtaining data which were lost at the time the Works were constructed. The result of these investigations may be found in the card of the Commissioners with the Report of the Engineer, which was published at the time, and which is annexed. The cost of this Report with its surveys was $545.37.
The number of service pipes inserted during the year is seventeen ; length 173} feet,-cost of pipe, $36.87; truck- ing, $22.85,
Fifty-nine boxes have been replaced during the year at a cost of $29.50.
P
32
MAIN PIPE LAID :
263 feet 2 inch on South Russell street, in place of 7-8 iron ; cost of labor, $52.80.
172 feet 2 inch on Union street, south of Doten's Wharf; cost of labor, $32.50 ; pipe from Vernon street.
341 feet 4 inch on Vernon street, between Miles S. Weston's and Prospect street ;
64 feet 4 inch on Prospect street, from Vernon street, and 102 feet of 2 inch on Highland place ; the three last at a cost of $208.00, exclusive of pipe.
187 feet 2 inch on Davis street ; relaid, cost $56.23.
201 feet 4 inch on Mayflower street, between Franklin and Washington streets ; cost $53.00.
214 feet 2 inch relaid on Prospect street, from Russell street ; cost $54.43.
215 feet 4 inch from Summer street to Loring's Factory, for Fire Department, and
18 feet for waste.
1675
The whole amount expended for labor during the year 1875. $1,448 90
Of this, for permanent improvements and con- struction : -
South Russell street.
$52 80
Union street. 32 50.
Vernon and Highland streets. 208 00
Davis street 56 23
Mayflower street 53 00
Prospect street . 54 43
50 00
Loring's Factory
Trenching service pipes for house holders. 324 97
Shutting off for repairs on service pipes reimbursed. 68 00
$899 93
1
Cost of labor for ordinary running expenses, new service pipe, &c. $548 97
L
Sa Co
Er
An
Ap
De De
T
exce in 1
as T whils adde entee laun abate than.
Inter
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33
The whole amount expended on the Water Works in 1875 was as follows :
Labor $1,448 90
Materials of permanent construction . 661 75
Engineering, and chart of pipes. 547 87
Rent, teaming, plumbing, lumber for boxes, can- vas, stop cocks, and all other miscellaneous expenditures. . 966 53
Salary of Superintendent
500 00
Cost of collecting.
150 00
Entire cost for 1875. $4,275 05
Interest on water debt 5,883 00
$10,158 05
Amount collected for rent, materials, and
labor .
$8,537 75
Amount due and considered good 430 00
$8,967 75
Deficiency for 1875 . $1,190 30
Deficiency Dec. 31st, 1874. . . .
557 65
$1,747 95
The Commissioners are of opinion that an appropriation not exceeding the deficiency of 1874, and the cost of engineering in 1875, say $1,000, will be sufficient to make up the deficiency, as very little additional pipe will be laid the present year, whilst last year about a third of a mile was laid. There were added to the water takers last year-thirty-two families, sev- enteen water closets, ten bathing tubs, three stables, and one laundry. By crediting the five hundred dollars of water rents abated last year, the receipts for 1876 will probably be no less than. $9,400 00
PROBABLE OUTLAY.
Interest.
$5,883 00
Running expenses, not exceeding
2,200 00
$8,083 00
5
3
-
34
The cost of repairs on leaks on main and distributing pipes was $249.45 last year : namely, eight in joints, forty-one from defective pipes, three from dirt, and thirty from frost, a total of eighty-two.
MAIN AND DISTRIBUTION PIPES LAID TO DEC. 31, 1875.
20 inch 51 feet.
Cone
5 feet.
10 inch .
18,226 feet.
8 inch
4,051 feet.
6 inch
3,984 feet.
4 inch
29,992 feet.
3 inch
1,183 feet.
2 inch.
26,441 feet.
2 inch
1,380 feet.
7-8 inch iron
1,037 feet.
6-8 inch lead
185 feet.
Total 86,565 feet.
Or, about sixteen and one-half miles of pipe.
STOCK ON HAND.
21 feet of 10 inch pipe.
21 feet of 8 inch pipe.
36 feet of 6 inch pipe.
28 feet of 4 inch pipe.
21 feet of 3 inch pipe.
14 feet of 2 inch pipe.
1 branch 3×4 inches.
18 5 inch rough T handle stops.
15 5 inch corporation stops.
16 5 inch corporation stops, from C. P.
4 2 inch gates.
CHAS. G. DAVIS,
CHAS. O. CHURCHILL, SAM'L. H. DOTEN,
Water Commissioners.
nee
ing
P
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35
PLYMOUTH WATER WORKS.
STATEMENT OF WATER COMMISSIONERS.
The Water Commissioners have the honor to submit to the citizens of Plymouth, the Report of Clemens Herschel, Hy- draulic Engineer, upon the condition of the Works, with his re- commendations and suggestions for future improvements. In presenting this report, a word of explanation is due, both to the Commissioners and to the citizens. The Commissioners have been aware, ever since the present Board was elected, that the capacity of the pipe, with its present head, was not equal to the expectations of the people, and were not so much sur- prised as the citizens generally seemed to be at the loss of water upon the higher levels as the Spring advanced. During the Spring every effort was made which was within the means of the Commissioners, who claim for themselves no scientific proficiency in hydraulics, and who are not elected as such, and receive no compensation for their services, to ascertain whether there were any leaks in the main pipe. No leaks, except such as are very small, and are of ordinary occurrence, were found, and the Commissioners were charged with incompe- tency, or neglect of duties. They were desirous of avoiding, if possible, the expense of a scientific examination. Mr. Bates, the Engineer who superintended the construction of the Works, hav- ing deceased, and the plans and profiles which he as acting Engi- neer, in his printed report made to the Town in 1855, sub- mitted, were never deposited with the authorities, and could not be found. No data of bench marks, elevations, or engineering figures have been preserved, and the private memoranda of Mr. Bates were destroyed, as the Commissioners are informed,
36
by the Boston fire of 1872. In addition to these difficulties, there were other serious wants, which the Commissioners, at the inauguration of the Works in 1854-5, prompted by a laud- able but perhaps mistaken economy, had failed to supply. A very few stop gates, or plugs, and a very few waste gates to draw off and cleanse the pipes, were supplied ; and no plan of the Works giving size and location of pipes, hydrants, gates, branches and takers, had ever been made. As the Works increased, such a plan became more and more necessary. For these reasons the Commissioners felt themselves justified, not only by the public demand, but by their own sense of expedi- ency, to employ the accomplished Engineer, who has submitted the subjoined Report, and also a profile of the Works, together with a plan of their location.
From this Report we trust the people may be made aware and fully sensible of the necessity of economy in the use of water, and attend immediately to the prevention of any waste from defective faucets or other known cause.
The waste of water to prevent freezing of service pipes, so common during a part of last Winter, cannot again be permit- ted. From this cause a large number of families, supplied from the high service, were wholly deprived of water for a period of two months, and at a season of the year when the greatest supply is expected. Parties who are not sure that the service pipe on their premises is laid below the action of frost, should without delay deepen the same.
For whatever action the Commissioners may take in directing an inspection of the premises of water takers, and ascertaining the purposes for which water is used, or in prohibiting its use where the least inconvenience will be caused, they will claim
dist we ces.
SiT ma or the to f hap wer
to
res
it, be an
37
full justification, in the necessity that exists for such proceed- ings, and in the facts presented and suggestions made in this Report.
C. G. DAVIS S. H. DOTEN, Water
C. O. CHURCHILL,
Commissioners.
REPORT OF HYDRAULIC ENGINEER.
BOSTON, Sept. 1st, 1875.
To the Water Commissioners of the Town of Plymouth :
GENTLEMEN :- Having examined, agreeably to your request, your system of water supply, to see whether there be leaks in it, or whether the lack of water, in some parts of your Town, be owing to a want of capacity of the main pipe, or owing to any other hidden cause, I have the honor to present to you the results of such examination, together with some suggestions as to a remedy, in the following Report :
An answer to your questions, and a " short, sharp and deci- sive " suggestion as to a remedy, would, of course, be a simple matter, and take up only a few words; but to arrive at this yes or no answer, or answers, required some time and labor; and, therefore to enable not only you, but your constituents as well, to form an intelligent opinion on the subject matter, it is per- haps well to describe the road by which some of my conclusions were reached.
Your Water Works were tested first, as to the reservoir and distribution pipes ; secondly, as to the main pipe. For the first, we had but to shut off the supply from the main, and let suc- cessively the whole town, the centre and north end, and the
38
centre and south end, be connected with the reservoir during the hours from 11 P. M. to 3 A. M., when the least actual use is made of the water supply. It was not possible then, but would be now, owing to some new gates that have been added, to test each portion of the town separately. The three drinking foun- tains, running about four gallons per minute, and the gas wash- ers in the gas works, using about three gallons per minute, are allowed for in the figures that follow. Not so, however, with the water used by bakers, by a trout pond, by the gas works for cooling coke and filling their gasometer, by the railroad com. pany, and other legitimate users that could be named, who con- sume water at night, but whose quantity could hardly be measured.
The result of tests made during the nights of July 21st, 22d and 24th, between 11 P. M. and 3 A. M. of the next day, was that-
Consumed during those hours.
Per hour.
Centre distribution, . 3,350 gallons
South end distribution,
1,483
North end distribution,
740
The whole Town, 5,573
The query arises at once whether this is owing to leaks in the street pipes or to legitimate and illegitimate consumption by water takers. Some examples of legitimate consumption of water during the night hours have been given above, but it would be merely a matter of conjecture to estimate the quan- tity that these cases require.
Illegitmate consumption is going on in all towns and cities and at all times, such as through faucets left open, leaky ser- vice pipes and faucets, surreptitious watering of garden plats, a hose left running night and day on a manure heap, to keep it from heating, (one of the discoveries made while I was in Ply- mouth); and in these ways a grand total of much water is wasted, much more than one would naturally suppose.
wat S
on
Sup fau sible fan of i per insi
uses
dur
0
a
T
39
Cases could be cited where from mere notices to be saving in the use of water, or from a local agitation of the waste of water question, the consumption has suddenly fallen off twenty-five per cent. Now it is not to be supposed that any one actually stints himself at such times in his wants of water, but the saving re- sults almost wholly from a reduction in the amount wasted.
Faucets carelessly or purposely left running consume a great deal of water. The curbstone on Court street, opposite the head of North street, was about forty-four feet below the level of the water in the reservoir as it stood July 28th, at 9 A. M. Under such a head, the discharge of various fixtures would be about as follows :
Gallons in 24 hours.
Through 20 ft. of hose and 3-16th in. nozzle, 4,800
66 5-16th
10,500
66
an ordinary sprinkler, 5,500
31,000
a 3-4 66 66
60,000
1 66 66 112,600
Your report of Jan. 1st, 1875, enumerates a total of 1,253 water taking parties or fixtures.
66
a 1-2 inch pipe or faucet, 66
Suppose, which is not extravagant, that each of these means on the average two faucets or other openings out of your pipes. Suppose, again, that the average size of these small pipes or faucets is half inch in diameter, and, making one more permis- sible supposition, assume that only one in a thousand of these faucets is left running at any one time. The result is a waste of 72,500 gallons in twenty-four hours, or over 3,000 gallons per hour. Add to this an allowance for leaks in service pipes inside the houses, for leaky fixtures and for legitimate night uses, and a draft of 5,573 gallons per hour out of the reservoir during the night hours will not look surprising.
1
40
Indeed, if no examination has been made by officers of the Town of all the water fixtures that have been set during the last twenty years, it is almost certain that many of them are leaky and some left running. Such examinations elsewhere are usually very effective in diminishing the quantity of water wasted. It is likely enough to be an unpopular measure, and may subject a Water Board that shall order it to political decapitation for the year following. But your Board must be prepared for such little possible ebullitions of republican ingrati- tude, and if no Water Board will patriotically leap into this gulf, it will not only stay open, but will widen and increase its consumption of water. This part of the subject is with these words submitted to you and your constituents, and a trial of the recommendation it contains will speedily give results which can be measured, and hence appreciated.
Several tests of the main pipe, experimenting on its whole length, from the pond to the corner of Prospect and Russell streets, were conclusive that there was no leak anywhere in it. These tests consisted simply in shutting off at night the main pipe from everything except the pond ; then, having previously found the difference of level between the two ends of the pipe, in observing with a pressure gauge at the lower end whether there was pressure enough there to make the water rise as high as its source. There was found to be sufficient pressure in both experiments, whence no further examination is needed of the main. Had there been any leak out of the pipe, it would have reduced the pressure at the corner of Russell and Prospect streets, and kept it down.
I conclude, then, that your main pipe, reservoir, and distribu- tion are all tight, or reasonably so. Is the want of water on the higher parts of the Town owing to a want of capacity of the main pipe ? To answer this question decidedly, I have
mat ven wel to
Un Th
I:
t
a
m
0
to ha ey Wi
41
measured the quantity of water supplied by your main under various heads, and have also measured the quantities used at various times by the Town of Plymouth. An average of three measurements, all reduced to a six foot head, gives about 10,- 600 gallons per hour as the delivery of the pipe. Under the same head of six feet, it was calculated twenty years ago that the delivery would be 11,335 gallons per hour, or only about seven per cent. different from the actual delivery.
But the pipe has never run under as much as a six foot head, though this was clearly contemplated when the Works were built, as will appear from the report of the Consulting Engineer.
The level of the pond, August 13, 1875, was 105 87-100th feet above an estimated low water of the sea. The top of the paving of the reservoir is about 107 94-100ths feet above the same mark. To have six feet head on the pipe, the water level in the reservoir would have had to be over eight feet below the top of the paving, measured vertically, and over fourteen and a half feet measured on the slope, as it usually is measured by the eye of those who have occasion to see the reservoir. Now, with a less head, the delivery is less, somewhat as given below :
Gallons per hour. 10,505
Under a 6 foot head, the discharge is about .
Then
5
4 66 3 66 66 2 66 1 66 66 6 inch 66 66
66
66
66
66
66
8,626
66
66
66
66 7,470
66
66
66
66
66
66
6,099
66
66
66
4,313
66
66
66
66
3,838
66
66
will be about.
9,644
It is well for all concerned to thoroughly understand this matter of loss of head in a pipe, by its delivering water, to pre- vent future dissatisfaction. We often meet with the query -- " Well, won't water rise to its own level?" Certainly it will, if we let it ; but it will not run when on a level. Now we want it to run and keep moving.
6
42
For a ten inch pipe to deliver ten thousand five hundred gal- lons per hour, the water must move at about the rate of 7-10ths of a foot in a second, or about a mile in two hours, and it can- not be made or expected to do this without letting it run down hill just a little, to say the least. If any one will only think of it, what is six feet of slope, or down hill, in three miles, or about 1-225th part of an inch to the foot ? No eye could de- tect so little variation from an exact level, and yet this minute quantity is what has been begrudged the main pipe of Plymouth Water Works, by any one whose cry was : " Won't water rise to its own level ?"
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