USA > Massachusetts > Plymouth County > Plymouth > Town annual report of Plymouth, MA 1934-1936 > Part 6
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1
Out on Attempted Suicide,
1
Out on Drowning Cases,
2
Total, 125
ANIMALS
Dogs Reported Lost,
63
Dogs Returned to Owners,
51
Stray Dogs Picked Up,
61
Dogs Killed by Veterinary,
16
Cats Killed by Veterinary,
8
Respectfully submitted,
RUSSELL P. DEARBORN, Chief of Police.
EXPENDITURES
Appropriation
$30,850.00
Salares and Wages-
Payments:
Salary of Chief
$2,430.00
Patrolmen
21,044.25
Special Officers
1,287.60
Janitor
450.00
$25,211.85
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Transportation-
Auto and Motorcycle Expense
$1,364.20
New Ford Car New Ambulance Extinguisher Installed
599.00
1,610.00
26.50
3,599.70
Equipment and Repairs-
New Equipment
$715.56
Repairs
168.01
883.57
Fuel and Light-
Fuel Oil
$436.73
Gas and Electricity
176.62
613.35
Maintenance of Buildings and Grounds-
Repairs
$294.70
Janitor's Supplies
46.69
Water
45.36
386.75
Other Expenses-
Stationery and Postage, Printing
$152.70
Telephones
200.62
All Other
30.68
384.00
Traffic Signs and Street Marking-
Signs
$186.77
Labor Painting
193.26
Material
90.28
470.31
Total Payments 31,549.53
Balance Overdrawn to be Appropriated by Town $699.53
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ASSESSORS' REPORT
Aggregate Value,
$22,823,725.00
Exempted under Clauses 11-17-18-23,
94,175.00
Available for Revenue,
$22,729,550.00
Valuation Personal,
$2,475,050.00
Valuation Real, 20,254,500.00
To be Raised by Taxation :
State Tax,
37,700.00
Div. of Parks, Dept. of Con- servation,
208.80
County Tax,
44,124.60
Tuberculosis Hospital,
9,912.16
Town Appropriations,
847,626.68
Overlay,
7,474.85
$947,047.09
Estimated Receipts, Free Cash and Dog Tax Voted by the Town to be Used by the Assessors, 256,558.59
$690,488.50
Division of Taxes :-
April 1 Personal,
$74,251.50
Real,
607,635.00
Moth,
453.85
July 1 Polls,
8,602.00
Dec. 31 Additional Polls,
30.00
Dec. 31 Additional Real Estate,
150.00
Rate of Taxation, $30.00 on $1,000.
Warrants to Collector :
Property,
$682,490.35
Polls,
8,632.00
Exempted under Chap. 59, Sec. 5 Gen. Laws as Amended :
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Charitable, Literary, Benevolent, Educa- tional, $921,600.00
Houses of Religious Worship,
351,000.00
Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
177,600.00
United States of America,
113,200.00
Town of Plymouth,
1,686,750.00
County of Plymouth,
599,550.00
Table of Aggregates :
Number of Persons, Corpor-
ations, and Firms Assessed
on Property,
4,324
Polls Assessed,
4,316
Polls Exempted under Clause 18,
46
Polls Exempted under Clause 23, 5
Horses,
70
Cows,
329
Neat Cattle,
14
Sheep,
28
Fowl,
4,035
Dwelling Houses,
4,131
Acres of Land,
48,000
Motor Vehicles Assessed under Motor Excise Law :
Value of Motor Vehicles Registered, $744,020.00
Warrants to Collector (Mo-
tor Excise), 19,064.64
State Rate on Motor Vehicles, $32.14 on $1,000.
ABATEMENT ACCOUNT
Levy of 1931 :
Dec. 31, 1933, Balance Overdrawn, $49.28
Mar. 24, 1934, Town Appropriation, 49.28
Levy of 1932:
Dec. 31, 1933, Balance, $2,431.87
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Dec. 31, 1934, Abatements,
Personal, $475.40
Real, 190.32
665.72
Balance to Reserve Overlay, $1,766.15
Levy of 1933 :
Dec. 31, 1933, Balance,
$4,150.22
Dec. 31, 1934, Abatements,
Poll,
$334.00
Personal,
4.83
Real,
703.18
1,042.01
$3,108.21
Levy of 1934:
Sept. 8, 1934, Overlay,
$7,474.85
Poll,
$124.00
Personal,
240.75
Real,
3,052.50
3,417.25
$4,057.60
Reserve Overlay : Dec. 31, 1933, Balance, From Overlay of 1932,
$7,645.03
1,766.15
$9,411.18
To Reserve Account,
4,774.16
$4,637.02
THOMAS L. CASSIDY, CHARLES H. SHERMAN, FRED A. SAMPSON.
Assessors.
Dec. 31, 1934, Abatements,
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REPORT OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE
At the end of another year of our Welfare work we again turn back the pages of our records that we might compare the figures of this past year with those of the preceding year. By this method of comparison, both as to the number aided as well as by costs, we seem better able to judge the amount of distress that exists among us and that we are trying our best to relieve.
The appropriation set apart for the relief of Tem- porary Aid and Mothers Aid; that is, for the general welfare work and the running of our Infirmary, was $90,- 000 and it is pleasing to report that the expenditures from this appropriation amount to less than $85,000, the unused balance of over $5000 to be turned into the excess account. Last year the expenditure for this class of aid amounted to nearly $133,000, or $48,000 more than was spent during this year for the same relief.
The number of cases that were handled by the Depart- ment during the year just past are as follows :
Temporary Aid Cases 565
Old Age Assistance Cases 157
Mothers Aid Cases 4
Plymouth Cases Residing in Other Towns 57
783
The number of persons aided during the year by the combined assistance was 2250. The peak, or period of greatest assistance, came during the month of Decem- ber when the total case load was 500, representing nearly 1500 people.
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INFIRMARY
Mr. and Mrs. Russell L. Dickson, Superintendent and Matron, have now completed their twenty-eighth year of able management of this department. Although the num- ber of inmates are only ten, their physical condition neces- sitates much extra care, as for example, one having had both legs removed some time ago.
The gardens this year, as in the past, have been worked by Mr. Dickson with occasional help by welfare labor and they have shown very good results, furnishing the in- mates with fresh vegetables for the table during the season. With the assistance of Mrs. Dickson the table has been further supplied with canned vegetables, fruits, grape juice and jellies. There have been 297 qts. of pre- serves prepared during the past season, not including the grape juice and jellies.
The income from the Julia P. Robinson fund has been used in the same thoughtful manner for the benefit of the inmates.
During the past year the Infirmary buildings have been painted, previous to which it was necessary to make quite extensive repairs. The labor for repair work was furnished by Welfare recipients, the material cost amounting to $87.30. Five of the rooms have been reno- vated by replastering, painting and varnishing.
Number of inmates, Jan. 1, 1934 9
Admitted during year 7
- 16
Committed to State Hospital, Taunton 1
Discharged to private families 4
Committed to State Institution 1
- 6
Number remaining Dec. 31, 1934
10
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MOTHERS WITH DEPENDENTS
This Department is now assisting 4 mothers with de- pendents, representing 10 persons.
As usually stated, this Department, as well as Old Age Assistance, is under the supervision of the State Public Welfare in conjunction with the local Board; one third of the expense is reimbursed to the Town by the State.
OLD AGE ASSISTANCE
"Again we call your attention to the fact that the law distinctly states 'this is not a pension; but public assist- ance given to deserving citizens in need of relief and sup- port, seventy years of age and older. It does not relieve the children from supporting their parents if they are able to do so.' This assistance is a great help to the aged. It relieves them of the mental worries and material cares which cause so much havoc among the old. By allowing them to spend their declining days among their friends in peace and comfort, we lengthen the span of their life among us."
Receiving assistance January 1, 1934 84
Added during year 40
124
Died during year
15
Discharged to care of self
7
Discharged to care of relatives
1
23
Receiving assistance December 31, 1934 101
GENERAL WELFARE OR OUTSIDE AID
This class of assistance called Temporary Aid is rend- ered to those unemployed as well as those unable to work and not eligible for assistance through other classes of aid.
The expense of this Department has been kept down by the employment given by the Emergency Relief Ad- ministration although in many cases it has been neces-
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sary to supplement such wages by welfare orders. Dur- ing the month of December supplementary orders were given to 125 E.R.A. workers and in many instances, persons never before on the Welfare rolls have applied for public aid after receiving the E.R.A. employment. It has been the aim of this Department to find employment for all able-bodied welfare recipients that they may return to the Town their labor in exchange for the food and other necessities they receive. This Department wishes to express its appreciation for the wonderful assistance and co-operation it has received from the other Departments of the Town in the carrying out of this working method. We feel that in most cases this priv- ilege has geen greatly appreciated by the recipients and that to a great extent the total cost of temporary aid can- not be rightfully called an expense.
Through the Welfare Department there have been 30 boys enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps. Many of these boys were taken from welfare families and the $25.00 of their monthly wage, pledged to their family, has been a great help in relieving this Department, at the same time giving them the opportunity of being self- supporting.
This Department is now acting as a distributing base of Federal Surplus Commodities for six other nearby towns, previously being the distributing center of twenty Cape towns.
The handling and distribution of these commodities have required a lot of time and work as will be evidenced when the reader considers that a combination order and receipt are required in our distribution of each article; for example, an order is required for every peck of pota- toes, pound of butter or lard, can of beef or bag of flour. Following is a partial list of the commodities distributed :
32 cartons Beans 1 ton
4 shipments Butter 14,037 lbs.
Flour 482 bags
40 bags Cereal 1,920 lbs.
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Oranges
378 doz.
294 crates Smoked Pork
15 ton
Lard
2 ton
Roast Beef
18,192 cans
200 bags Potatoes
300 bushel
19 bbls. Veal
11% ton
160 bbls. Cabbages
12 ton
Blankets 168
During December of 1933 and January, February and March of this year, 497 tons of government coal were distributed.
These distributions were made not only to welfare cases but to E.R.A. workers and those recommended by other charitable organizations. These commodities have been given in addition to the regular assistance; that is, in every case, the regular orders have been issued to- gether with the Federal supplies.
This Department has distributed by the same method, all the articles of clothing made by the local E.R.A. Sew- ing Project. The production from this unit has been a great help and at the same time given employment to about 19 women. This Project has been a great aid to welfare work.
In the handling of the commodities that required re- frigeration, the Department has been greatly assisted by Mr. Shipley of the Purice Co. as he has generously given us refrigeration for our butter, lard and pork, without which we would have been unable to have obtained these commodities in such large quantities.
In addition to the Federal commodities we have dis- tributed 2100 qts. of milk that the A. R. Parker Co. so generously donated for relief purposes.
Although during this past year we have shown a sub- stantial saving in welfare expenses, our schedules point toward a much larger case load this coming year. For example, our Temporary Aid case load for November and December of 1933 was around 150, representing approxi- mately 560 persons, while the case load for the same two
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months of this year was over 300, representing consider- ably more than 1000 persons. Last year our burden was lessened to some extent by a number of our cases being given employment on E.R.A. projects. This year, even with the continuance of the E.R.A., everything points toward an expense larger than the preceding years.
The Board recommends the following appropriations : For Infirmary, Outside Aid and Mothers with Dependents,
For Old Age Assistance,
$110,000.00 30,000.00
WILLIAM T. ELDRIDGE, Chairman,
JAMES RAE, DR. THOMAS W. LOFT.
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PLYMOUTH PUBLIC LIBRARY
To the Citizens of the Town of Plymouth :
In general the work done at the Library and the service rendered by it during the past year has been about the same as in recent years. The report of the Librarian gives the specific details as to the use, circu- lation of books and expenses. Certain repairs and im- provements were deemed necessary and advisable. The large lights in the reading room were old fashioned, out of repair and were using an undue amount of electric current. They were replaced by three other lights which give more light at less cost and add much to the comfort of the readers and to the attractiveness of the library.
The floor under the stacks has been refinished and bat- tleship linoleum laid between the stacks and along the outside. A heavy plate glass top was put on the main desk in the reading room adding much to its appearance and cleanliness. Small minor repairs have been made to keep the building in proper condition.
A gift of five hundred dollars under the will of Miss Lucretia Watson is gratefully acknowledged.
Looking toward the not distant future it is thought advisable to call to the attention of the citizens of the Town the necessity of enlarging the present library building to meet the growing demands upon it. Unless something along this line is done, a very large number of books must be discarded in order to make room for newer ones. Fortunately there is sufficient land in the rear to make an addition possible.
The Directors express their appreciation of the devoted service given by the Librarian and her several assistants, realizing that the value of any library to the community is due in great part to the courtesy, knowledge and help- fulness of those in its immediate charge.
For the Directors,
SUMNER A. CHAPMAN,
President.
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REPORT OF THE LIBRARIAN
To the Directors of the Plymouth Public Library :
The annual report of the Library is herewith pre- sented :
This year a change in the time covered by the financial report takes place, and the report as submitted covers the nine months ending December 31, 1934, and causes all future reports, both those of the Treasurer and the Librarian to cover the calendar year.
A change in circulation statistics has also been made. To conform with reports of other libraries, the count of prints circulated has not been included in the total num- ber of volumes circulated, as in past reports, and this should be considered when making comparisons of total circulation. In this and future reports the count of cir- culation will be divided into fiction and non-fiction. Prints will be recorded, but will be omitted from the total count.
The increased use of library facilities has come to be accepted as normal, and in line with all libraries we reported an unprecedented increase in 1932, and sur- prisingly exceeded this increase in 1933. With very few exceptions libraries have reported a loss in circulation for 1934, and this library had a decrease of 1874. A slowing down of use is to be expected as industrial activ- ity increases, but it is doubtful if the members of this community availing themselves of greatly-increased use in the past three years, will ever alienate themselves from an institution devoted to their service, and which by their own admission has meant so much to them. This decrease distributed into the number of working days of the year shows a loss of six books daily, and is divided proportionately between the adult and juvenile depart- ments. This loss, of course, makes no appreciable dif- ference in the routine of daily work.
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The registration of 615 new borrowers shows a gain over the preceding year, and increases our percentage of registered borrowers of population served, to 39.7 per cent; a proportion we may well be proud of.
The number of books purchased in 1934 exceeded the total of the previous year by 168. Since fewer replace- ments were made, this means that a greater number of new publications were added.
Extra consideration has been given to the work in the Children's Department this year, and every endeavor has been made to reach an average daily circulation of 150 books. We have not yet reached this goal, but effort is being made to emphasize to the children, the privileges and pleasures which the Library has to offer. Visits to all of the grade schools have been made, and the response to Book Week activities was most satisfactory. The at- tendance in the Children's Room during Book Week was 1380. Story Hours have been held every two weeks with very good attendance, and 365 children came to the Book Week Story Hour when Miss Margaret Kyle told stories. Mr. Paul W. Kunze, Manager of the Plymouth Theatres, cancelled the Saturday morning performance that there might be no opposition to the success of our Book Week Story Hour, and also made a screen announcement of Book Week, which contributed to its success.
Eighty children joined our Summer Vacation Reading Club. The readers were encouraged to read books of many subjects, and their achievements were recorded on a unique poster called the "Road to Bookland," designed by Daniel Brown, Jr. The enthusiasm sustained through- out the entire vacation period was most gratifying.
Eighteen classes have been held at the Library for the eighth grade pupils of Junior High School. These morn- ing classes of instruction in the use of the Library, held in the Children's Room, have proved their worth, and Miss Mary M. Dolan, Principal of Junior High School, gratefully acknowledges that the pupils are better pre- pared for the intelligent use of reference tools in their supplementary work and home assignments.
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We are very grateful to members of our community who have given books, magazines, and flowers during the year; to the Libraries which have loaned books to us; to the Massachusetts Library Commission for deposits of foreign books; to Mrs. W. E. Randall, of Long Pond for the effective work in her district; and to Mr. Paul Bit- tinger, of the Old Colony Memorial, for library publicity.
A leave of absence was granted Miss Agnes D. Bab- cock, for a year's study at Simmons College. Miss Eliz- abeth Sampson was appointed Children's Librarian for the period of Miss Babcock's leave, and has most accept- ably filled this position. Miss Ruth Sears has efficiently served as substitute assistant until Miss Katherine Davis could be available for this work. Otherwise the personnel of our staff has remained the same.
The Librarian wishes to express her deep appreciation of the effective service of the staff throughout the year, and to thank the Directors for their continued cooper- ation and helpful support.
Respectfully submitted,
CHARLOTTE HASKINS, Librarian.
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STATISTICS Arranged according to the form recommended by the American Library Association
ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1934
Name of Library: Plymouth Public Library.
Town and State: Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Name of Librarian: Charlotte Haskins.
Population served: 13,042.
Terms of use: Free to permanent and temporary resi- dents. By fee to out-of-town residents.
Total number of agencies:
Central Library.
Long Pond Deposit, 33 School Deposits, three Summer Camp Deposits, Club Reading Groups.
Number of days open during the year: 302
Hours open each week for lending and reading: 66 (10 mos.) 60 (2 mos.)
Hours of service each week required of staff:
40 (10 mos.) 37 (2 mos.)
BOOK STOCK
Number of volumes beginning of year, 25,933
Number of volumes added by purchase, 1,562
Number of volumes added by gift, 86
Number of volumes added by binding,
7
Total, 27,588
Number of volumes lost and withdrawn,
883
Total number of volumes end of 1934, 26,705
Total number of pictures, photographs and prints (est.),
16,400
Number of periodicals subscribed to, 60
Number of newspapers subscribed to, 5
58 8
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USE
Adult
Juvenile
Total
Number of volumes of non-fic- tion lent,
23,455
9,990
33,445
Number of volumes of fiction lent,
89,974
15,906
105,880
Number of prints lent,
2,839
Number of volumes lent thru School Deposits,
16,000
Number of volumes lent Long Pond Deposit,
645
Total number of volumes lent,
155,970
Per cent fiction lent of total volumes lent,
75.9%
Circulation per capita, 11.9
REGISTRATION
Adult
Juvenile
Total
Number of borrowers registered dur-
ing 1934,
382
233
615
Total number of borrowers regis- tered,
3,976 1,202 5,178
Per cent of registered borrowers of
population served,
39.7%
ADULT MAIN LIBRARY CIRCULATION BY CLASSES
Fiction
87,400
General Works
116
Philosophy
628
Religion
404
Sociology
1,790
Languages
99
Science
901
Useful Arts
1,534
Fine Arts
1,864
Literature
3,273
History
1,745
Travel
3,146
Biography
3,548
Periodicals
4,006
Foreign Books
401
1
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Duplicate Pay Fiction 2,574
Total Adult Circulation 113,429
Prints
2,839
FINANCIAL REPORT
Appropriation, including 1933 Dog
Tax,
$8,850.00
Income from Gates Fund,
70.60
Total receipts, $8,920.60
Payments
Salaries-
Librarian,
$1,813.50
Assistants,
3,712.50
Janitor,
600.00
$6,126.00
Books and Periodicals-
Books,
$1,667.76
Periodicals,
111.00
Book repair,
277.37
$2,056.13
Other Expenses-
Fuel and light,
$627.45
Janitor's supplies,
8.75
Library supplies,
97.27
All Other,
5.00 .
$738.47
Total payments, $8,920.60
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REPORT OF THE PARK COMMISSIONERS
The Park Commissioners herewith submit their report for 1934.
BEACH PARK
Through the cooperation the E.R.A. additional parking space for cars was made, 300 feet by 10 feet, just north of the bathhouse. This new space which was formerly covered with sand and beach grass, will accommodate seventy-five cars.
A breakwater nearly 300 feet long was erected of field stones to protect the land. This construction should keep the heavy seas from filling Eel River with sand during heavy storms.
The receipts at the bathhouse were $806.77 as com- pared with $640.00 in 1933.
INDIAN LANDS
This modern camp is becoming more popular each year. The entire area owned by the Town has been trimmed, cleaned and the dense underbrush removed. The road leading from the camp to the state road has been widened for two cars to pass.
A large raft was added to the equpiment and a flag pole erected.
The receipts from auto fees were $439.15 as compared with $257.15 in 1933.
TRAINING GREEN
After the severe winter of 1933, the grounds were very irregular, requiring the use of a heavy gasoline roller to put the green back in shape.
BATES PARK
A cement walk was built along the Allerton Street side of the Park. It is the desire of the commission to extend this walk diagonally to Vernon Street, thereby supplant- ing gravel for cement walks throughout.
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BURTON PARK
The necessary trimming of trees was carried out and the usual care was given the grounds.
MORTON PARK
A large amount of work was accomplished and im- provements made, all with the idea of keeping Morton Park rustic and in its natural state. Large catch basins and three long cement retaining walls were sunken into the ground in Little Pond Grove to keep the water from gouging into the Grove and washing away the banks in front of the bathhouse. The work of fighting the gypsy moth was continued. Picnic grounds on Hospital Point have been finished.
The cooperation of the E.R.A. made it possible to fill in an old swamp hollow, thereby creating a parking area on Hospital Point. Tables and benches were placed and an ideal picnic ground was made. This site is now one of the finest places in the park for an outing and is being used by organizations throughout the state for annual outings.
Many dangerous corners were removed from the roads by widening these roads so that two autos can pass in safety. The E.R.A. furnished this labor.
All large boulders which had appeared in the roads were dug under and sunk and there are no more ob- structions at present.
Bathhouse receipts were $68.79.
DEPOT PARK
Winter-Killed shrubs were replaced and the usual good care was given the grounds.
SOUTH STREET PLAYGROUNDS
Two double tennis courts were erected from labor funds received of the E.R.A. After completing the courts it was necessary to grade the other grounds surrounding them. The courts are proving very popular and are con- stantly in use during the tennis season.
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NELSON STREET PLAYGROUNDS
A stone retaining wall was built along the northern section of the playground and all the remaining section of the swamp land was filled in and improved.
MUNICIPAL CAMP
The Nelson Street bathhouse was completely renovated inside and changed into recreation rooms for the use of the campers. The inside was attractively decorated and furnished for the convenience, enjoyment and comfort of the tourist.
The camp grounds are now marked in avenues and camps allotted in definite sections. The receipts were larger than ever before, $923.48 as compared with $495.00 in 1933.
BREWSTER GARDEN
Blind drains were dug in the banks where springs have been seeping through. All bushes and trees were trimmed and the park appears to be in excellent condi- tion.
STEPHENS FIELD
Along the shore side of the field, a stone retaining wall was erected, running a distance of 300 feet. This section of the field was filled and graded. Shower baths were installed in the locker rooms for the benefit of visiting athletes. Two double tennis courts were made available through labor furnished by the E.R.A. Bathhouse re- ceipts were $38.81.
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