USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1903-1905 > Part 17
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At present there are 181 pupils enrolled at the High School building: of these 53 are members of the Ninth grade, who in all respects, save subjects of study, are a part of the High School. This fills the seating capacity of the assembly room, and every class room is in 11se.
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The present current expenses of the High School build- ing are :
Teachers' salaries,
$5,550 00
Janitor,
450 00
Fuel and light,
600 00
$6,600 00
The present membership of the High School is 128 pupils, and six teachers. The work of the school is carried on in four courses, as follows :
Boys
Girls
Total
Classical Course,
3
I
4
Science Course,
I4
38
52
Literary Course,
6
12
18
Commercial Course,
3I
23
54
54
74
128
Each of the four courses named above ordinarily requires four years for its completion. The student in the Classical course sometimes needs to do an additional year's work to meet college requirements for admission. With a few re- strictions such as seen necessary to prevent waste of time by injudicious or careless selection of subjects, any student for whom a full course is unnecessary or impossible may ordinarily take a special or partial course suited to his pur- pose. In this way, too, pupils who wish to take a full course, but who, for reasons of health are not able to do so, may make the work of each year easier by doing it more leisurely, taking five or more years to complete the regular four years' course. By such an arrangement the ad- vantages of the school are offered to some who would other- wise be barred from them, while the number of classes and the teaching work of the school is not materially increased thereby.
Plymouth 10
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It may be noted that the number of pupils taking the Classical course-the course requiring Greek-is still very small. The suggestion made last year in regard to this mat- ter is still in point. If, on the whole, it seems advisable to allow those who are taking Greek to continue it until they have finished the course, it may be well hereafter not to offer work in that subject until there is a sufficient number desir- ing it to form a class of ten or more.
The Commercial course is more than holding its own.in numbers and popularity. The provision made for this de- partment by placing all the regular typewriters in a conven- ient part of the regular class room, has made the conditions for work much pleasanter for all who are taking that course.
The present enrollment of the High School is 128, and its average membership 123. We ought to find more boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 19 in the High School in a town of this size, and it is not wholly clear why there are. no more in attendance there.
In 1895 the High School enrolled 161. In 1899 the num- ber had fallen to 116. Since that time there has been only a slight increase in the membership of the school, although the population of the town has increased probably twenty per cent. in the same time.
The changed and changing character of the population is doubtless having much to do with this decreased attendance, in the upper grammar grades as well as in the High School. By far the larger part of those who, in late years, have made their homes here has not been of those who appre- ciate High School training for their children, and those of them who do appreciate it, too often find the stress of need of their children's help at home too pressing to permit them to keep their children at school after the law allows them to. go to work.
The commercial instinct which appears in many parents and children and the opportunities for gratifying it, are too.
cet as
ar
t t th
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strong and too many to allow the claims of the schools to have a fair consideration. Such children, if they enter the High School at all, remain there only until some place to work for wages is open to them. The immediate compen- sation offered them, though small, proves a greater attrac- tion to them than the larger, though later, compensation that would at length come to them by reason of the larger earn- ing power secured by their longer school training.
There are some others, especially boys, who, becoming in- different to school work or impatient under school restraint, never enter the High School, or, if they do, soon drop out. And there are others who would make the High School work their apparent business but who spend most of their time, interest and energy elsewhere. The school cannot hope to do much for this class of boys unless it can reclaim their interest and reform their habits and tastes. "The school will never graduate many boys whose attend- ance is irregular, who are out late at night, who spend their time loafing at stores and on street corners, who have never been trained to work or to obey at home, whose bodies are enervated and minds dulled by the use of tobacco and the practice of other vicious habits and whose minds are filled with sporting news, trashy literature and other things that make for unrighteousness."
The school ought not to expect the attendance of those boys and girls above the compulsory age whose duty it evi- dently is to contribute to their own support or that of their homes. Neither can the school hope in all cases to combat the rampant spirit of commercialism, except as it can prove that the training it gives is the best guarantee of success to those who secure that training. Nor can it be urged that we are justified in admitting to the school or retaining in it those who do not come there for a serious purpose, whose interest, centered elsewhere, cannot be secured, and who are enrolled as members of the school only that, through their neglect of
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their proper work, they may find leisure to indulge in prac- tices and to form habits that are not conducive to their phys- ical or moral welfare.
But aside from all these, there is a considerable number every year who ought to profit by attendance at the High School, but who are not found there. The school offers ex- cellent advantages but it cannot do all it should for the com- munity until it reaches all those who can profit by its help. The High School is a business investment of the commu- nity. Those of us who are in any sense responsible for man- aging the school owe it to the community to make the in- vestment pay as large a dividend as possible in the number of those whom it trains for good and useful citizenship.
It might be of some practical value if the committee should investigate the whole subject of attendance in the upper grades of school and in the High School, and the work done in both-to consider anew the course of study laid down, the character of the teaching, the quality of the work done and the conditions under which it is done-to see whether it is not possible to make the work more attractive and practical, to the end that the school investment, espec- ially in the upper grades, be made still more profitable.
The graduating exercises of the class of 1904 were held at the High School building on Thursday evening, June 22, 1904.
First Honors for Scholarship, EDWARD R. BELCHER. Second Honors for Scholarship, HELEN P. LYNN.
Graduates,
Helen L. Barnes,
Susie M. Barrows,
Bessie R. Holmes. Minot K. Holmes,
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Edward R. Belcher,
Ruth E. Kingan,
Leon H. Beytes,
Helen P. Lynn.
Fred C. Brown,
Harry I. Mabbett,
Asa H. Burgess,
Ruth R. Moore,
Herbert McM. Carleton,
Harold W. Paty, Mabel F. Read,
Thomas L. Cassidy,
Wm. R. P. Chandler,
Etta B. Saunders,
F. Roscoe Fletcher,
Gerald Shoughnessy,
John H. Hathaway,
Alice F. Wood,
Grace L. Whiting.
. Certificates.
Annie O'Brien,
Ethel Weston.
UNGRADED SCHOOLS.
There are at present four ungraded schools with a total membership of forty-six pupils. The largest of these four schools is at Cedarville with a membership of nineteen; and the smallest at Long Pond, with a membership of five. The school at South Pond numbers only six pupils. There are only two pupils at Ellisville, and they are brought to Ship Pond at an expense of $200 a year. This sum represents at present the main expense of the school department for transportation.
The annual cost of supporting these four ungraded schools is at the rate of about forty dollars for each pupil. It does not appear how this comparatively large expense per pupil can be lessened, or the same amount spent to better ad- vantage in doing more efficient work there, until some way of bringing together two or more of those schools can be found. It might be possible to unite the school of five pupils at Long Pond with the school of six children at South Pond, if the school year for those districts should begin in March and extend to November, having the long vacation in the winter instead of the summer.
-
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EVENING SCHOOLS.
The state census to be taken the coming spring will prob- ably show that Plymouth has ten thousand or more inhabi- tants. In that case, the following provision of law applies here, and will make it necessary that the committee organize, and the town support evening schools.
"Any town may. and every city or town of ten thousand or more inhabitants shall, maintain annually evening schools for the instruction of persons over fourteen years of age in orthography, reading, writing, the English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, industrial drawing. both freehand and mechanical, the history of the United States, physiology and hygiene, and good behavior. Such other subjects may be taught in such schools as the school commit- tee consider expedient."-Rev. Laws. Chap. 42, Sec. II.
For some time it has seemed desirable that evening schools should be organized here; but in view of the limited amount of money available for school purposes, it has not seemed expedient to urge their establishment, especially in view of the fact that the law would soon make their estab- lishment mandatory. Considerable expense will be incurred in providing suitable quarters for these schools and for run- ning them after they are established. It may be well to take account of this fact in considering the necessary appropria- tions for the coming year.
TEACHERS.
During the past year eight teachers have resigned their positions. These positions have been filled, and four ad- ditional teachers have been appointed to new schools organ- ized to accommodate the increased number of pupils. At present there are fifty-eight teachers in active service here. Eighteen of this number have been appointed by the commit-
·
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tee, under the Tenure of Office Act, to serve during the pleasure of the committee.
It still continues to be difficult to find the right teachers to fill the vacancies that occur, at the salaries we are able to offer. Low salaries for teachers are found in many other communities of the State, but in few towns having the resources which Plymouth possesses, do they prevail to the extent that they do here. In a recent report, Jan. 1905, of the Secretary of the State Board of Education, the Sec- retary says : "The wages of women teachers are ridicu- lously low. so low as to repel from the service many able and enterprising young women. In Massachusetts the average monthly wages of women teachers is $55.37. It should be noticed that this includes all the women principals of grammar schools and all college graduates teaching in High schools."
The average monthly salary of women teachers in the State during the past year was $55.37. Within a radius of forty miles of Boston the average was doubtless much larger. Our average monthly salary for women teachers is $44.30. For women teachers in schools below the High school our average here falls to $40.98, making the aver- age annual earning $410.00.
This matter of wages is all important. Whenever a com- munity pays its teachers comparatively low salaries, that fact operates as an almost insuperable barrier to the securing or maintaining a high degree of efficiency in its schools. Therefore, of all the important school problems needing our attention here, the problem of securing every year an appro- priation sufficient to pay the teachers such salaries as will enable us to compete successfully with other communities having good schools, is the most important one needing so- lution. If this problem were solved and solved aright. it would in time remove many of the difficulties and annoy- ances which seem at present inherent in school administra- tion.
.
.
1
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"Higher wages would tend to secure all the elements of efficiency. Abler persons would be drawn from other em-
· ployments; teachers could afford to spend longer time in preparation, and so gain in scholarship and training; they could be held longer in service and so gain experience; and they could afford to avail themselves of forms of self- culture now beyond their means, and thus grow in efficiency. Fortunately, the country at large is awakening, though slowly, to the fact that the teachers make the schools, and that in the last analysis, the success of the public school sys- tem is a matter of wages."
IN GENERAL.
The work of the year has been done quietly, and with a fair measure of success. A larger corps of teachers, more adequate school accommodations, a few more commodious, healthful and attractive schoolrooms with their modern equipment, have made possible a more rational and more efficient organization of the schools, and have given increas- ed opportunities for better work, which are being used to . good purpose.
The spirit of the schools is good. Very few serious cases of discipline have been referred to the superintendent, and such cases become fewer each year. The spirit which animates the teaching force is most commendable. We are saved from that spirit of rivalry and jealousy which is too often found to prevent co-operation, and to dissipate the teacher's energy. The school machinery works smooth- ly. Little friction appears, within or without the schools, to hinder or impair good work. Continued harmony of purpose and effort on the part of the committee, the teachers and pupils, have enabled all of us to concentrate our full measure of thought and energy upon the serious work of the schools. These favorable conditions have made our
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service a pleasure, and have added materially to the suc- cess of our work.
With the assurance of my appreciation of the continued good will and confidence of the committee, and of the ready co-operation and loyalty of the teachers, this report is re- spectfully submitted.
FRANCIS J. HEAVENS.
Superintendent of Schools.
Plymouth, Mass., Feb. 9, 1905.
LIST OF TEACHERS
IN THE SCHOOLS OF PLYMOUTH, MASS.
1904-1905.
High School.
George F. Kenney, Principal. English and Latin.
Arthur W. Belcher, mathematics and Latin.
M. Edith Winslow, Commercial Studies.
Sarah E. Ridlon, History and English.
Mary W. Cross, Science.
Myrtle C. Dickson, French and German.
Augusta M. Morton, Ninth Grade.
Spooner Street School.
GRADE.
I. Betty Alden.
Hedge School.
I. Leella F. Barnes.
2. Julia M. Allen.
Allerton Street School.
I. Bertha M. Briggs.
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Frederick N. Knapp School.
7-8. Sydney T. Northcott, principal.
6. Lydia E. Holmes.
5. Zelma B. Lucas.
4. Kate G. Zahn.
4. Maude H. Lermond.
3. Georgiana Taylor.
3. Mary W. Burgess.
2. Annie W. Burgess.
I. Elizabeth H. Sampson.
Cold Spring School.
GRADE.
2. Gertrude C. Bennett.
3. Mary W. Casey.
Oak Street School.
GRADE.
I. Mary T. Ford.
2-3. Leila E. Miller.
Burton School.
GRADE.
8. Charles F. Cole, principal.
7. Katharine A. O'Brien.
4. Theresa A. Rogan.
4. Alice D. White.
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Cornish School.
GRADE.
7. Addit L. Bartlett, principal.
6. Bessie R. Leonard.
6. Lillian G. Small.
5. Georgiana Smith.
5. Elsie V. Trask.
3. Alice L. Gifford.
2. Ethel Egerton.
Mount Pleasant School.
GRADE.
7-8. Arthur R. Gledhill. 5-6. Nancy S. Allen. 4. Esther C. Manter. 3. Annie M. Frost.
Mount Pleasant District.
GRADE. '
-
I.
Ethel Reed.
2.
Frances E. Weston.
I-2.
Lizzie E. Mitchell.
I-6.
Mabel Douglass.
Chiltonville.
GRADE.
6-9. Anna J. Billings. 1-5. Martha W. Whitmore. 1-5. Kate W. Sampson. 1-5. Mary A. Morton.
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Manomet.
GRADE. 6-9. Grace L. Knight. 1-5. Lida Sherman.
Vallerville.
UNGRADED. Grace Farrington.
Cedarville.
UNGRADED. Clara W. Mayhew.
Long Pond.
UNGRADED.
Eunice Paulding.
South Pond.
UNGRADED. Grace Ellis.
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MUSIC.
Lottie M. Baker.
DRAWING. Marion F. Holmes.
SLOYD.
Annie B. Whidden.
SCHOOL RECORD : REPORT FOR SCHOOL YEAR 1903-1904.
SCHOOLS.
Total Enroll- ment for Year.
Average Number
Average Daily At-
Per Cent. of At-
Total Days' Ab-
Number Cases of
Number Cases of
No. cases of Truancy
reported by teachers
Days Teacher was
Times Teacher was
No. visits to schools
made by Supt.
No. visits by mem-
bers School Com.
Visits by parents and others.
High School
72
65
126
122
96.8
871
190
124
0
0
0
42
0
Ninth Grade
26
29
48
46
95.8
407
94
32
0
0
0
10
1
Knapp School
112
107
205
189
92.2
3122
471
61
9
10
8
123
115
North Primary School
80
52
128
117
91.3
2336
603
17
1
2
14
47
4
47
Cold Spring Primary School
61
53
- 125
114
91.2
2189
436
101
0
10
11
45
4
124
Burton School
85
93
172
162
94.2
1370
542
278
4
3
4
264
7
203
Cornish School
117
103
200
191
95.5
2190
581
181
9
1
13
240
10
92
Cornish Dist. Primary Schools
90
93
169
153
90.5
3329
558
715
6
6
38
95
0
147
Mt. Pleasant School
109
106
179
164
91.6
2932
168
167
11
3
14
93
0
106
Mt. Pleasant Dist. Primary Schools.
69
59
116
108
93 1
1990
200
52
ـت
15
1
61
2
87
Chiltonville Schools
55
49
91
80
87.9
1837
447
140
0
12
21
5
29
Manomet Schools
27
36
50
41
82.0
1562
119
51
1
5
نت
00
6
32
Vallerville School
9
14
13
92.9
214
69
00
0
0
2
00
0
5
Cedarville School
16
19
17
89.5
384
46
34
0
1
1
0000
IA
54
South Pond School
10
10
80.0
114
56
4
0
13
10
1
0
Long Pond School
3
7
85.7
422
223
2
1
1
1
00
Co
Totals
930
886
1663
1535
92.3
25269
5103
1967
45
78
143
1084
65
1049
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
8816
3
4
100000
tendance.
sence.
'Tardiness.
Dismissal.
Absent.
Tardy.
Boys.
Girls.
Belonging.
tendance.
Gurnet School
--
-
00
-6SI-
LIST OF JURORS
Atwood, Edward W., jeweller. Avery, Elmer E., milk dealer. Bagen, William J., overseer. Bailey, Frederick P., plumber. Barnes, Alfred L., clerk.
Barnes, Joseph, carpenter.
Barlow, George F., carpenter.
Bartlett, Ephraim D., carpenter.
Bartlett, Frank D., book-keeper. Bartlett, Fred W., tacker.
Beaman, Ralph E., undertaker.
Beaumont, Thomas C., clerk. Bemis, Fred, clerk. Bennett, Orrin W., stonecutter. Bennett, Sylvanus S., carpenter. Benson, Harry C., plumber. Blanchard, George H., milk dealer.
Bourne, Herbert N., carpenter.
Bradford, Edward W., Jr., book-keeper. Brewster, Isaac S., at home. Brown, Percy I .. , clerk. Brown, Walter H .. foreman. Buck, Bradford P., shoemaker. Burgess, Ezra T., carpenter. Burns, Alfred S., clerk. Calloway, Fred R., clothing dealer. Chandler, Arthur J .. farmer. Chandler, William C., stable keeper.
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Chase, Walter H., grocer. Clark, James H., foreman. Clark, Nathaniel T., carpenter. Clough, Edward, grocer. Cole, Guy R., clerk. Cole, Henry H., clothier.
Collingwood, James A., furniture dealer.
Cooper, Frank L., machinist.
Damon, John H., machinist.
Danforth, William H., insurance.
Davis, Albert E., baker.
Diman, Thomas S., carpenter.
Dorr, Eugene H., secretary.
Eaton, Charles W., at home.
Ellis, Clark, marble cutter.
Ellis, Frank W., rivet maker.
Ellis, Ziba R., farmer.
Finney, Frank S., bookkeeper.
Finney, Alfred C., teamster.
Finney, John R., conductor. Fratus, Joseph, lunch room proprietor.
Frost, Charles T., superintendent.
Goddard, Fred A., draughtsman.
Hadaway, Augustus S., Jr., fisherman.
Haire, George F., clerk. Harlow, Albert T., carpenter. Harlow, Ellis W., at home.
Harmon, Clarence S., clerk.
Harney, Thomas F., plumber.
Hatch, Charles P., retired.
Heath, Willis K., bookkeeper. Hobart, George B., bookkeeper.
Holmes, Edward C., clerk.
Holmes, Isaac B., bookkeeper.
Hlomes, Lyman A., shipper.
Holmes, Stephen, farmer. Horsman, William S., wheelwright.
Howland, Arthur L., conductor.
Howland, Edgar W., fish dealer. Howland, George B., conductor.
Howland, Carroll D., carpenter. Hoyt, Moses, retired.
Plymouth 11
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Irwin, Walter S., overseer. Jackson, Thomas, insurance. Jewell, Roscoe A., farmer. Jones, Walter A. H., engineer. Jordan, Frank, pharmacist. King, John F., grocer. Kierstead, Alexander, mason.
Lacey, Arthur J., weaver.
Lahey, Jeremiah J., grocer. Lamb, George, weaver.
Lanman, Charles W., ice dealer.
Lanman, Frank H., florist.
Lewis, Charles D., janitor.
Loring, Otto, carpenter.
Loring, Walter S., druggist.
Luther, Nathaniel C. L., machinist.
Macomber, William J., burr maker.
Manion, Thomas, grocer.
Manter, Joseph L., teamster. Mawbey, Joseph, janitor.
Maxwell, Herbert S., pharmacist.
Maybury, Joseph A. Jr., barber.
McArdle, John F., shoe dealer.
McLean, Laughlin D., watchman.
Millington, William H., machinist. Morissey, Herbert, insurance. Morton, Charles S., inspector.
Morton, John L., carpenter. Morton, William H., clerk.
Nazro, William E. C., superintendent.
Nickerson, George A., tackmaker.
Nightingale, George W., clerk.
Paulding, George B., rivet maker.
Perkins, Isaac H., mason.
Perkins, Thomas M., painter.
Pratt, William S., hack driver. Quartz, Frank, Jr., grocer. Raymond, Caleb R., painter.
Raymond, Benjamin F., superintendent. Read, George F., foreman. Ripley, Edward T., manufacturer. Robbins, John S., grocer.
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Rogan, John, contractor.
Rogers, Charles, moulder. Sampson, Elisha B., mason.
Sampson, Ernest L., contractor. Sampson, George J., clerk.
Sampson, Pelham, teamster. Schubert, John C., harness maker. Shaw, Elwood A., grocer.
Sherman, Harry O., weaver.
Simmons, Charles C., clerk.
Simmons, James H., expressman.
Smith, Charles A., news dealer.
Smith, Charles H., carpenter.
Smith, Lewis F., driver. Stacey, Frank S., rope maker. .
Stranger, Elwin N., clothier.
P
Strong, Charles A., dry goods.
Stuart, Harry D., cigar maker. Sullivan, John E., plumber.
Swan, George, Jr .. cordage.
Taylor, William B., janitor.
Turner, Edgar S., cordage.
Vahey, John P., manager.
Walton, Henry, overseer.
Wasson, Fred E., harness maker.
Welch, Michael D., plumber.
Weston, Edmund, cranberry culture.
Wells. Freeman E., retired.
Whiting, Pelham, pilot.
Whiting, Walter, hackman.
Whitten, Edward W., laborer.
Wilde. William E., music dealer.
Wilson, John B., upholsterer.
Woodward, George C., shipper.
Wood, George W., provisions. Zahn, Charles, shoe dealer.
TOWN MEETING
To either of the Constables in the Town of Plymouth, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts :
GREETING :
In the name of the Commonwealth you are hereby directed to notify and warn the inhabitants of Plymouth, qualified to vote in elections and town affairs, to meet in the Casino, in said Plymouth, on Saturday, the fourth day of Marchi, 1905, at 6 o'clock in the forenoon, and in said Casino in said Plymouth, on Saturday, the 25th day of March, 1905, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, to act on the following articles, to wit :
Article 1. To choose a Moderator to preside at said meeting.
Article 2. To choose all necessary town officers. The following officers to be voted for all on one ballot, viz : Five Selectmen, Town Clerk. Town Treasurer, Collector of Taxes. Auditor, one member of a Board of Health for three years, one Assessor for three years, seven Constables, one Overseer of the Poor for three years, two Water Com- missioners for three years, two members of the School Com- mittee for three years, one Park Commissioner for three years, and three members of a Committee on Agawam and Halfway Pond Fishery; and to vote by ballot. "Yes" or "No," in answer to the question, "Shall licenses be grant- ed for the sale of intoxicating liquors in this Town?",
The polls for the election of officers and the vote on the license question will be open at the Casino at 6 o'clock in the forenoon, on said Saturday, the 4th day of March, 1905, any may be closed at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Both of said days will constitute the Annual Meeting, and this call
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is issued in accordance with the vote of the Town, passed June 5th, 1897, as amended March 2nd. 1903, and April 2nd, 1904.
Article 3. To hear the reports of the several boards of officers and committees of the Town, and act thereon.
Article 4. To revise and accept a list of jurors prepared by the Selectmen.
Article 5. To see if the Town will authorize the Treas- urer, under the direction of the Selectmen, to borrow money in anticipation of taxes, and for disbursement under the provisions of the law relating to State Aid and Military Aid and to defray the expenses of the Town after January I, 1906.
Article 6. To make the necessary appropriations to de- fray the expenses of the Town, and for other purposes, and to raise such sums of money as the Town shall deem ex- pedient.
Article 7. To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of $150.00 to pay the expenses of Memorial Day.
Article 8. To take such action as the Town may see fit in aid of the Public Library.
. Aritcle 9. To see if the Town will authorize the Select- men to renew any note or notes heretofore authorized, which are now due or may become due the present year, for such time, and on such terms as they may deem expedient for the interests of the Town.
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