USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1917 > Part 13
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hospitals, discourages uncleanliness, talks about hygiene and health, looks up absentees who are reported sick, keeps a watch on contagious diseases and investigates in the homes instruct- ing the parents as to the requirements of the Board of Health in such diseases, and guards against infractions of these rules, such as remaining in school when affected with a contagious disease or after exposure. These are some of the things she does, but not all because it would be impossible to name all the opportunities for service which may be offered the school nurse in the performance of her duty. In the coming year she will be able to do more than in the past as she will have a Dodge runabout at her disposal which will save a great deal of the time that she has had to spend walking about from school to school and from home to home.
During the school year the nurse has made 592 visits to schools where she has given 1,394 treatments and made 5,990 individual inspections finding 138 cases of contagious disease. She has also made 454 visits to the homes of the pupils where she has found 37 cases of contagious disease and she has suc- ceeded in having 9 pupils suffering from adenoids and enlarged tonsils operated upon. Twenty-eight pupils have been taken to physicians by her for treatments.
Open Air School.
Many weak, under-nourished or nervous children, sometimes on the verge of St. Vitus Dance, are found by the school phy- sician at his examinations. The nurse goes into their homes and finds out how they live, what they eat and under what conditions they sleep, when they go to bed and how much work they are doing, .out of school. Helpful suggestions follow and every effort is made to improve the conditions but that is not enough. We should have an open air school for them. The sum necessary to equip such a school would be small compared with the good that it would do. All that is required is a level
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space open to the sky and so situated that the school would be free from interruptions and distractions from outside. The flat roof of a business block would afford a suitable place if not too difficult to get at. There should be an open shed built along one side to afford a little shelter and to break the wind, and it is well to have an ordinary class room to retire to in very severe weather or for certain kinds of work which cannot be done out of doors. Equipment consists of blankets, cots and a specially constructed warm suit which protects the whole body including the feet, legs and head. There should also be some provision made for serving simple forms of nour- ishing food.
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Open Air School in Albany, N. Y.
It was my good fortune to visit a successful school of this kind in Albany which has long passed the experimental stage. No more convincing proof of the efficiency of this school could have been offered than the weight charts which invariably showed a noticeable rise after admission, while the average gain was remarkable. Good, nourishing food and regular hours of work, rest and play in the fresh air and sunshine are
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saving many of the children of Albany to healthy, useful lives every year who would otherwise be lost to the city, at least, as useful citizens. The children of this school hardly lose a ses- sion in the open air throughout the school year. They thrive on zero weather, and snow only makes them happier. I can think of no one thing that would be likely to do a greater amount of good than such a school where these pale, listless children with pinched, expressionless faces could go. With enough good wholesome food and regular hours of work, rest and play out of doors the transformation that would take place would more than repay the town the small cost of providing for these unfortunate children who through no fault of their own are missing the joy of childhood and being handicapped for the future. Some of them are motherless, others live a hand to mouth existence because both parents work all day away from home, and some are the victims of incompetence.
Dr. John B. Hawes, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Hospitals for Consumptives of the State of Massachusetts, says that his own ideas for the future, which he hopes to live long enough to see realized in part, at least, would include :
"Open-air schools for all children, instead of waiting as we now do until the child gets sick before we give him the fresh air he needs. The stupid policy to which we still adhere in this regard I trust in ten years will be looked upon as a relic of barbarism."
We are referring pretubercular children who are not being cared for, to the public dispensary maintained by the Board of Health where they are kept under observation as long as nec- essary. During this time they come to the dispensary once a week where they are carefully examined for signs of actual disease.
"Their temperature is taken and they are weighed regularly and medicine prescribed if needed. Parents are urged to come with the children and they are given instruction about physi- cal exercise, food, sleeping and general hygienic measures. The
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child who obtained admission through the dispensary to the State Sanatorium at Westfield has returned well and strong after an absence of more than a year and is now in school again.
What Can be Done for the Deaf Child.
Deaf children are usually discovered by the teacher in her routine examination of hearing and eyesight, but testing is difficult in the first and second grades, and the defect is sometimes discovered in some other way. A child is some- times referred to the school physician because he does not talk plainly. Examination reveals nothing wrong with the organs of speech. In fact, with a little patient instruction, the strange, unintelligible sounds which he makes may be replaced by fairly plain words. The child does not speak distinctly because he has never heard clearly. How should he reproduce words which have never come to him as anything but vague, uncertain sounds? The parents are notified of the deafness through the nurse who sees that treatment is provided, and the teacher, having been informed about the defect which is the source of the trouble, gives the child a better opportunity for hearing words properly and distinctly spoken, thus doing her part towards helping him overcome his faulty enuncia- tion. Sometimes little can be done in the way of treatment for defective hearing but the teacher can help those who are handicapped in this way if she knows of the defect.
The day will come when we shall have a special school for the hopelessly deaf. By patient, intelligent training, chil- dren who are totally deaf are being taught to do practically everything the hearing children can do, so that instead of be- ing doomed to social ostracism and humiliating dependency, they are filling their places in life as competent, self-support- ing, self-respecting citizens.
There is no longer any excuse for allowing children who have had the misfortune to be deaf to grow up little better
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than imbeciles, and it is criminal to allow them to do so, for it has been demonstrated that they can acquire all the refine- ments and accomplishments of which a trained mind is capa- ble, even music. A New York school for the deaf has a mili- tary band composed of men all but a few of whom are totally deaf and they play in perfect time and in excellent tune.
Defective Eyesight.
Defective eyesight, when found by teachers in the test pre- scribed by the State Board of Education, is reported to the parents only when less than 20-30 or two-thirds normal. A pupil may have as little as two-thirds normal eyesight in one or even both eyes and the parents will not be notified of the defect. In the list of diseases and defects at the end of the report may be found the entire number of children found to have less than normal vision (20/20) in either one or both eye, namely, 257. There are undoubtedly many errors made in testing which is rather unreliable with very young children and certain types of older ones, but this is more than offset by the number of those who have normal vision but who are farsighted, getting their good sight by straining. Of this number, then, who have eye defects which may be future if they are not present sources of annoyance and discomfort, only 136 or 52.9 per cent. wear correcting lenses and many of these lenses have been worn for so long that their usefulness is questionable. Many children with seriously defective eye- sight are going uncorrected because their parents cannot af- ford to provide glasses or are indifferent, and some because they will not wear glasses. It has not infrequently happened that time and money have been wasted in getting glasses for children who persistently refused to wear them, and experi- ence has shown that it is wiser to let the parents, however needy, pay at least a part of the cost of the glasses, thus in- suring their interest in the enterprise. Even with the help of
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the parents it is not worth while to try to make a child who has a dislike for glasses wear them when there are so many who need them and are glad to get them.
The Subnormal Child.
We are always on the watch for the child who is mentally subnormal, for his position among his normal companions is most unhappy. He has no possible chance to keep pace with them in the school work no matter how hard he tries. Fail- ure and perhaps undeserved punishment are his lot, promotion passes him by and still he struggles on in the lower grades grown almost to manhood.
Fortunately we can now place such a child where his work can be adapted to the special requirements of his particular mind. Awakened interest in his work takes the place of hopeless confusion and accomplishments replaces failure.
Eye and Ear Clinic.
As mentioned in the report for last year, the School De- partment expected to open a Saturday morning clinic in the Governor Bradford building for the treatment of eye and ear diseases and defects, but it was found necessary to postpone the opening at least until another year. In the mean time, such children as need service of either kind have been cared for at the office of the school physician. 102 treatments have been given during the year, of which 75 were for diseases of the eye and 27 for ear diseases. Twenty children with errors of refraction were examined and in twelve cases glasses were procured.
Contagious Disease.
There have been rather more contagious diseases than usu- al both in number and variety. Hardly a month has passed
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without at least one case of diphtheria being reported although it has never reached the proportions of an epidemic.
Whooping cough has been troublesome on account of the long period of exclusion and there have been some cases of chicken pox and scarlet fever. German measles has been very prevalent. In June there were many children out of school with this disease in the north part of the town. It seems to have continued through the summer vacation and there were a large number of pupils affected at the close of the year. For- tunately the period of exclusion for this disease is short but as the period of incubation is long, those who have been exposed must be excluded two weeks in order to avoid the possibility of their coming down with the disease in school and exposing others. This exclusion of exposed children is difficult and re- quires a great deal of investigation in the homes by the nurse.
The following contagious diseases have been reported to the School Department during the year :
Diphtheria 31
Chicken pox
Scarlet fever 14
Measles 26
German measles 13
Whooping cough
15
Dental Clinic.
The following data has been taken from the records of the Clinic for the past year.
The first Dental Clinic of the new year opened Saturday, January 6th, 1917, for pupils from the Hedge School, contin- uing through June 16th, which was the last clinic of the term ; making a total of 20 clinics on Saturday mornings from 8 to 10 o'clock.
PLYM. NINETEEN
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The work was as follows :
Hedge School.
Number examined,
46
Number with perfect teeth,
2
Number of pupils treated, 44
Number of fillings,
26
Number of cleanings,
38
Number of extractions,
56
Total number of treatments,
120
Lincoln Street School.
Number examined,
49
Number with perfect teeth,
0
Number of pupils treated,
20
Number of fillings,
11
Number of cleanings,
5
Number of extractions,
4
Total number of treatments.
20
The first clinic, after school opened on September 10th, was held on September 29th, and thereafter, through December 22nd, which was the last week of the fall term, 10 were held.
The work was as follows:
Oak Street School.
Number examined,
61
Number with perfect teeth,
1
Number of pupils treated,
15
Number of fillings,
5
Number of cleanings,
1
Number of extractions,
26
Total number of treatments,
35
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Cornish School
Number examined, 325
Number with perfect teeth, 47
Number of pupils treated, 22
Number of fillings, 35
Number of cleanings, 11
Number of extractions,
5
Total number of treatments,
51
In addition pupils were sent in from the Mt. Pleasant School as follows :
Number examined 2-
Number of pupils treated, 2
Number of fillings, 0
Number of cleanings, 4
Number of extractions,
9
Total number of treatments,
13
From the foregoing tables, we make the following totals :
Total number of examinations, 481
Total number of pupils treated, 108
Total number of fillings,
Total number of cleanings,
62
Total number of extractions,
100
Total number of treatments,
239
The following is a summary of the total number of treat- ments since 1913, when the first clinic was opened, to the present date :
1913 59
1914 113
1915
170
1916
164
1917
239
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Examinations were made as follows :
May 16th, Lincoln Street.
September 21st, Oak Street.
November 8th, Cornish and Burton.
November 23rd, Cornish and Burton.
"These figures show a gratifying increase in the number of treatments at the clinic for the past year, but the great num- ber of children having more or less defective teeth (1,163) as shown in the statement of diseases and defects at the end of this report, makes the work accomplished seem small in comparison. Of course, the work actually done in the clinic does not represent all that is being done. It has shown that the examination of the mouths of the children and the notices sent to parents result in many having private treatment but there are still a great many for whom we can do nothing at present.
At a meeting of the dentists who do the work of the clinic, last November, those present wished to urge upon the School Committee the absolute necessity of employing a trained den- tal nurse if anything adequate is to be accomplishel in the way of dealing with the situation here. Such a nurse would be competent to clean mouths. This does not mean ordinary cleansing of the teeth with a tooth brush, but a much more thorough process requiring technical knowledge and skill. She would also be able to give valuable instruction in oral hygiene and its relation to general health. With such a nurse working full time and a paid dentist working part time, the men who are now doing this work feel that the mouths of our school children might be properly cared for and a remarkable in- crease in health and efficiency demonstrated, for only in this way can they receive the full benefit of their school work.
The people of the Commonwealth are beginning to appre- ciate what an enormous amount of human energy is being lost to the State through the neglect of the mouths of the children. House Bill No. 559, if it becomes a law, will make the ap-
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pointment of one or more school dentists for each of its public schools by the School Committee of every city and town, man- datory. Plymouth has not waited to be ordered before taking action in this matter but we shall soon be overtaken if we are too easily satisfied with what we are doing. Let us keep in the lead.
The following diseases and defects have been found during the year as shown by the records :
1. Communicable diseases.
Measles
1
Congenital syphilis 2
German measles
Tonsilitis
4
Pulmonary tuberculosis 1
Impetigo contagiosa 30
Pediculosis capitis
Pediculosis capitis-nits 49
Scabies
10
Chicken pox
6
2. Diseases of the Oral and Respiratory Tract :
Enlarged tonsils :
(a) Moderately enlarged 326
(b) Large 355
(c) Greatly enlarged 120
Decayed teeth :
(a) Few cavities 542
(b) Many cavities 545
(c) Very bad condition
Adenoids
46
Nasal Catarrh 25
Nasal obstruction 28
Other diseases of the respiratory tract
4
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3. Diseases of the Eye :
Muscular imbalance 61
Conjunctivitis
53
Blepharitis
54
Strabismus
21
Defective eyesight
257
Other diseases of the cye 10
4. Diseases of the Ear :
Acute middle car disease 1
Chronic purulent ear disease
4
Defective hearing
16
5. Diseases of the Skin:
Acne
2
Eczema
10
Furuncle
5
Herpes
1
Rhus poisoning
4
Ringworm
5
Other diseases of the skin 14
6. Diseases of the Nervous System :
1
Epilepsy
Mentally deficient
6
Nervousness
14
Paralysis
3
Includes results of teachers tests.
7. Miscellaneous :
Abcesses
4
Spinal defects
15
Enlarged cervical glands
15
Malnutrition
Organic heart discase 4
Functional heart disease 4
Uncleanliness
6
Wounds, burns, etc.
15
Deformities
4
Tumors
2
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Summary from monthly reports of School Physician
Number of visits 166
Number of personal examinations 3,121
Number of notices sent to parents
1,167
Number of permits signed by school physician 407
Number of permits signed by other physicians
64
Number of pupils referred to school nurse
112
Number of pupils sent home 167
Number of pupils examined for employment 157
Respectfully submitted,
J. HOLBROOK SHAW, M. D.
School Physician.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
FIRE COMMISSIONER
OF
PLYMOUTH, MASSACHUSETTS
For the Year Ending Dec. 31
1917
·
PLYM. TWENTY
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REPORT OF FIRE COMMISSIONER
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen :
The report for the year 1917 covers the first full calendar year of the department since its re-organization and control under the commissioner appointed in accordance with the act establishing the new form of government.
During the year the new motor apparatus purchased by vote of the town in 1916 was received and placed in commis- sion. The unsettled manufacturing conditions throughout the country made it not only impossible for the builders of the ap- paratus to ship the three pieces at one and the same time, but their delivery was greatly delayed.
The Combination Chemical and Hose Truck was the first to arrive and after the usual test given new machines was placed in commission January 31. This machine has a four cylinder motor and is equipped with the tanks from the horse drawn chemical formerly in the service, and the balance of the equipment, ladders, axes, crowbars, and extinguishers, etc. was furnished by the manufacturers. A set of gears, clutch, etc., to which can be fitted a centrifugal pump of 350 gallon capacity is also a part of the chassis, and such å pump should be purchased and attached at an early date so as to provide the town with the additional pumping engine capacity.
The Ladder Truck was the second machine to arrive and was put in commission on January 31. The truck is known as a City Service type equipped with a six cylinder motor, and the ladder equipment consists of one 55-feet and one 40-feet extension ladder; one 30-feet, one 28-feet, two 25-feet, and one 12-feet straight ladders; one 16-feet and one 18-feet roof lad-
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ders; and one 16-feet inside extension ladder. In addition to the ladder equipment the truck carries the usual equipment of hand extinguishers, axes, plaster hooks, door openers, etc.
The Combination Hose and Pumping Engine which arrived March 9th was given a very rigid inspection and test by offi- cials of the New England Insurance Exchange on March 17. After a continuous run of six hours the records showed the pump to have exceeded the guarantee of the manufacturers.
On March 21st a public test and exhibition of the Pumping Engine was held at Town Brook to give an opportunity to the citizens of the town to see the Pump in action. Chiefs and heads of departments from neighboring cities and towns were also present upon invitation.
After the usual technical test was completed and the ability of the pump to withstand continuous service at excessive press- ures demonstrated, an opportunity was given to show the ma- chine's flexibility and ease of operation in the more spectacu- lar performance of delivering single and siamesed streams for 'height and distance.
With the acceptance of the Pumping Engine the horses sta- bled in the Central House were disposed of and the horse- drawn apparatus, with the exception of the Amoskeag Steam- er, was transferred to the North Station. Steamer No. 3 and the Reserve Steamer from the North Station were delivered to the Seagrave Company as a part of the agreement made at the time the motor apparatus was purchased.
ORGANIZATION.
On May 1st a general reorganization of the department was made with changes in the assignment of members and addi- tional men assigned to the Permanent Force. A running card was issued which called for the motor apparatus quartered in the Central Station answering all first alarms, the men as- signed to the Central Station answering the alarms covered by
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this station and the men at the North Station answering the alarms in that territory, but using the apparatus from the Cen- tral Station. On second and third alarms the apparatus from the North Station responds, together with the Amoskeag Steamer from the Central Station, arrangements having been made whereby the North Station apparatus would be drawn by horses and the Amoskeag by the Combination Chemical acting as tractor.
ROSTER OF THE DEPARTMENT.
Fire Commissioner, Chief of Department, Deputy Chief of Department,
Robert C. Harlow Albert E. Hiller Clifton Hatton.
CENTRAL STATION. Combination B-Hose & Pumping Engine.
Captain-Fred H. Paty (Permanent) Lieutenant-John M. Holmes (Call)
PERMANENT MEN. F. H. Britton ; E. E. Chandler; P. W. Gardner; A. A. Ray- mond; H. F. Robbins, A. W. Harlow; C. T. Shaw.
CALL MEN.
Battles, L. F .; Baker, W. W .; Donlavey, F. H .; Dunton, E .; Hurd, W. E .; Morse, E. K .; Manter F .; Nickerson, A. E .; Nutter, E. F .; Peterson, V. J .; Sampson, J .; Shaw, A. F .; Sullivan D.
Ladder Company No. 1. Captain-Lothrop Hedge (Permanent)
Lieutenant-Charles Paty (Call)
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CALL MEN.
Anderson, G. J .; Beauregard, J. E .; Bunker, G. C .; Fogarty, R .; Hatton, C. H .; Morse, A .; Reinhardt, H .; Roy, P.
Combination A (Chemical and Hose) and Combination D (Chemical and Hose) quartered at the Central Fire Station responds to still alarms with members from the Permanent Force.
Steamer No. 1 quartered at the Central Station responds for Second Alarm Fires.
NORTH STATION.
Combination Engine and Ladder Company, No. 2.
CALL MEN.
Captain-Henry Cash Lieutenant-John Stephan
Bentley, R R .; Delano, W. F .; Gray, N. W .; Hardy E. C .; Pierce, W. S .; Thom, R .; Webber, H. P .; Wolf, B.
With the motor apparatus in commission and the additional men assigned to the Permanent Force, together with the ap- paratus from the Central Station answering all first alarms, the men assigned for duty with the North Station Companies was reduced in number and the men dropped given an honor- able discharge from the service.
Deputy Chief Brewster resigned on September 27 to accept a responsible position with the Plymouth Cordage Company, and his position was filled by the promotion of Captain Hatton.
During the year there were five other resignations, one dis- charge, and seven appointments in the Permanent Force. Three members of the Call Force were granted leave of absence to serve with the colors and are now under orders in the U. S. Army.
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HOSE.
The hose of the department needing; repairs has been thor- oughly overhauled and tested, the work being more easily done with the aid of the combination hose testing machine installed last year.
Five hundred feet of new hose has been purchased during the year and the department has on hand 4,000 feet of hose in good condition. More hose should be purchased the coming year as several hundred feet now in service is rapidly deterior- ating.
HYDRANTS.
The usual inspection of the hydrants and preparation for freezing weather conditions was made by the permanent mem- bers of the department.
During the year several hydrants have been damaged by au- tomobile accidents and the department has collected cash to cover the expense of repairing, the same.
One new hydrant on Savery's Lane Extension has been added to the system and six new hydrants set to replace those damaged by accidents or changes in street widenings.
FIRE ALARM SYSTEM.
The number of signal boxes and locations remain as last year, and the usual attention and care has been given to main- tain the system at its maximum value.
BUILDINGS.
The changes in the Central Station required to properly house the additional members assigned to the Permanent Force have been completed and a new sleeping room and an office for the Commissioner added on the second floor.
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An enclosure on the main floor with a desk equipped with the Fire Alarm punch register and re-winder, telephone, and Universal Transmitter Box has been provided for the Patrol.
The room in the rear of the stalls is now used as a social and lounging room for all members of the Department.
New connections with the steam heating system provides hot water for the men during the cold weather at a minimum cost, and a new gas heater supplies the fuel for heating the water during the summer months.
INSPECTION OF BUILDINGS, ETC.
The hotels and lodging houses have been inspected as re- quired by the State Police and the reports filed at the State House. In nearly every case the requirements were found to have been anticipated by the owners and those needing altera- tions to meet the State requirements have been properly attend- ed to.
Inspections of garages have continued and the regulations found to have been more carefully respected.
Permits to sell fireworks, fire crackers, etc. were not granted during 1917 on advice from the State authorities and the usual celebrations on the Fourth of July lacked in a measure these accompaniments.
FIRE RECORD.
During the year, there have been 118 bell, still or telephone alarms. Of this number 4 were for the pulmotor.
The causes of fire alarms were as follows :
Out of Town, 6
Gas pipe leaks, 1
1
Frozen water pipes,
Sparks from stove, 3
Automobiles, 4
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Brush and rubbish,
18
Candles,
2
Chimney soot,
20
Overheated furnace,
3
Overheated stoves,
4
Incendiary and supposed,
8
Clothing near fire,
4
Spontaneous,
3
Electric wires,
2
Lightning,
1
Sparks from locomotive,
5
Oil Stove,
1
Gasolene,
2
Grease on stove,
1
Set on fire by owner,
1
Hot Ashes,
1
Pulmotor out of town,
3
Pulmotor in town,
1
False and unknown,
10
Needless,
4
109
Liberty Bond signal,
4
No school signal,
5
Total,
118
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HOW EXTINGUISHED
Months
Pony Chemical
Chemical Engine
Hydrant Streams
Pump Steamer
No Action
Pulmotor
January
4
4
1
S-1
2
February
2
2
March
5
2
2
April
3
1
1
P-1
1
May
4
10
1
P-2
5
1
July
5
3
1
2
7
August
3
P-1
1
3
September
2
1
October
2
2
1
November
2
2
4
December
7
1
1
Totals
37
28
4
7
29
4
June
1
2
1
No school signal, 5; Liberty bond, 4.
ALARMS-FIRE LOSSES-INSURANCE.
| ALARMS
VALUES INVOLVED
TOTALS
INSURANCE
MONTHS
Pulmotor
| Stills
| Bells
Total
Values on Buildings
Loss on Buildings
Valne on Contents
Loss on Contents
Value Involved
Loss Involved
Buildings
Contents
JANUARY
1 1
1
12 $ 13,250.00
$ 7,650.00 None
B 5,450.00
$
775.00
$ 18,700.00
$
8.425.00
5,750.00
FEBRUARY
4
5
4
12
26,375.00
45.00
12.800.00
20.00
39,175.00
65.00
17.100.00
6,700.00
APRIL
5
7
5,600.00
464.00
2,720.00
64.75
8,320 00
528.75
2.600 CO
750.00 17.300.00
JUNE
1
3
4
8
25.00
None
150.00
75 00
175.00
None
None
None
JULY
10
8
18
12,510.00
575.00 5.00
12,250.00
240.00 5.00
24,760.00 8,800.00
815.00 10.00
6.200 00 500.00
6,500.00 1,000.00
AUGUST
3
3
2
8
5,300.00
None
None
None
385.00
9,900.00
4.000.00
NOVEMBER
5
3
8
7.500.00
20.00
7.200.00
None
14 700.00
20.00
5,000.00
3.500 00
DECEMBER
6
3
9
24,550.00
95.00
9,250.00
20.00
33,800.00
115.00
19,450.00
5,000.00
TOTALS
4 79 35
118
175,160.00
19,199.00
85,070.00
16,267.75
260,230.00
35,391.75
84,100.00
44.750.00
MAY
18
4
22
62,000.00
10,010.00
21,450.00
15,018.00
83,450 00
25.028.00
17.600.00
SEPTEMBER
3
OCTOBER
3
6
18,050.00
335 00
10,300.00
50.00
28 350.00
None
MARCH
8
2
Where there was no loss on both buildings and contents the values have been omitted in the table above.
$3,650.00 on buildings and $550.00 on contents reported in January covers loss at White Horse Beach where it was impossible to obtain a water supply.
$10,000.00 on buildings and $15,000.00 on contents reported in May covers loss at the C. A. Stone estate where it was impossible to obtain a water supply.
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3,500.00
None
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EXPENDITURES FOR 1917.
The expenditures for the maintenance of the department for the year 1917 were as follows :
Appropriation for the year, Salaries and wages-
$16,985 00
Permanent Force,
$9,731 94
Call Force,
3,726 94
Other Employees, 127 26
Total salaries and wages,
$13,583 14
Horse and auto hire,
375 50
Equipment and repairs,
1,280 32
Hydrant service,
237.88
Fuel and light,
909 05
Maintenance of buildings and grounds, 182 23
Other expenses,
235 85
Total Expenditures,
$16,806 97
Balance unexpended,
$178 03
APPROPRIATIONS FOR 1918.
The department will require an appropriation of $16,500.00 for maintenance during the year 1918, apportioned as follows :
Salaries and Wages-
Permanent Force, $11,360 00
Call Force,
1,755 00
Other employees, 150 00
Total salaries and wages,
$13,265 00
Horse and auto hire,
100 00
Equipment and repairs,
1,200 00
Hydrant Service, 500 00
Fuel and light,
1,000 00
Maintenance, buildings and grounds, 200 00
Other expenses,
235 00
Total,
-
- $16,500 00
-309-
RECOMMENDATIONS.
The Commissioner appreciates the present period of high costs and does not, therefore, ask for any appropriation to cover what might be termed improvements or additions to the present. equipment.
The establishing of a set of building regulations, or at least making a beginning is again recommended, however, so that the town may have regulations which will prevent the erection and alteration of buildings without regard for the safety of the oc- cupants and the neighboring buildings.
CONCLUSION.
The centralizing of the apparatus at the Central Station, the answering of all first alarms by the Companies quartered there, the additional men appointed to the Permanent Force, the placing in service of the New Motor Apparatus, and the strict discipline maintained throughout the Department have resulted in a more efficient and capable organization than Plymouth has heretofore enjoyed.
The Commissioner appreciates the co-operation extended his department by the other departments of the town as well as that of the men in the service, and acknowledges the same.
Respectfully submitted, ROBERT C. HARLOW,
Fire Commissioner.
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