USA > Massachusetts > Norfolk County > Weymouth > Town annual report of Weymouth 1897 > Part 12
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Art. 5. To hear the report of the selectmen on a proposed contract with the Weymouth Light and Power Company for street lighting for the current year, and to act thereon.
231
Art. 6. To see if the town will accept a bequest by the late Elias S. Beals of one thousand dollars, the same to be invested as a trust fund, the income of which shall be expended for the bene- fit of the park and playground, before deeded to the town by him.
And you are directed to serve this warrant, by posting attested copies thereof, in three public places in each ward in said town, seven days at least, before the time of said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant with your doings thereon to the town clerk, at or before the time of said meeting.
Given under our hands at Weymouth, this fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and ninety- seven.
GORDON WILLIS, BRADFORD HAWES, C. E. BICKNELL, GEORGE L. NEWTON, NELSON W. GARDNER, Selectmen of Weymouth.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
NORFOLK, SS.
WEYMOUTH, June 7, 1897.
Pursuant to this warrant, I have notified and warned the voters of this town by posting this warrant in three and more public places in each ward as within directed.
GEORGE F. MAYNARD, Constable of Weymouth.
A true copy-Attest :
JOHN A. RAYMOND,
Town Clerk.
232
SPECIAL TOWN MEETING.
Pursuant to the foregoing warrant a meeting of the legal voters of the town of Weymouth was held in Hobart's Hall, in said town, on Tuesday, June 15, 1897, at 7.45 o'clock P. M., the meet- ing being called to order and the warrant read by the Town Clerk.
Article 1. Louis A. Cook, Esq., was elected Moderator by ballot, the check list being used in the election.
Art. 2. Voted, That the Selectmen of this town are hereby authorized to contract, in behalf of the town, with the Massachu- setts Highway Commission, for the construction of so much of Bridge street, in this town, as shall be made a "state highway" by said Commission within one year, upon any terms and condition of payment for such construction which shall be deemed proper and reasonable by said Selectmen, and that the town treasurer be authorized and empowered to borrow on behalf and in the name of the town, upon its promissory notes, from time to time, with the approval of the Selectmen, such sums of money, not exceed- ing six thousand dollars in all, as may be required to enable the Selectmen to perform any contract which shall have been made by them under the foregoing authority ; and that such loans shall be made payable at periods not exceeding one year from the respect- ive dates of such notes.
The result of the above vote was Yes, 152; No, 8. Previous to the taking of the above vote, the Moderator appointed Messrs. J. Murray Whitcomb and John A. Connell as tellers, and admin- istered the oath to them.
Art. 3. Voted, That the Selectmen be instructed to petition the Massachusetts Highway Commission to acquire as a state highway, all, or any part of Main and Washington streets, in the town of Weymouth.
Art. 4. Voted, That this article be indefinitely postponed.
Art. 5. Under this article the Selectmen made the folowing report :-
-
·
233
WEYMOUTH, June 15, 1897.
The Selectmen hereby report their failure to negotiate a con- tract with the Weymouth Light and Power Company for furnish- ing street lights for the current year at a rate and on terms which, in our opinion, the interests of the town demand.
We met by appointment with Superintendent Carter of the Light and Power Co., on April 16th, for the purpose of arranging terms for the contract, and submitted to him a proposition that the company should furnish lights, and that the town should pay the following prices, viz. : For arc lights, seventy dollars each, and for incandescent lights, sixteen dollars each, and that a rebate should be made of five cents a night for each light not burning, after the first night the light should be discovered to be out.
The company was given until the first day of May to consider the proposition, and until that date the Board agreed to allow the same rates as last year.
The above proposition was rejected by the Superintendent at that time, and under date of April 30 we received written notice that the company could not afford to do the public lighting for less . than they had been receiving.
On May 1st and 2nd the lights were not on, after which the company, of their own accord, caused them to be put on.
We met the directors on May 20 to discuss the situation, but with no satisfactory results, as they contended that they were un- able to furnish lights at any less price than they had been receiv- ing, and were not willing at that price to guarantee any given quality of lights further than to maintain the current at six and eight-tenths amperes.
A communication was forwarded to them after this interview stating that we declined to recede from our position as stated on April 16, to which they replied in the same tenor as in their pre- vious communication and interview, with the added statement that they will accept any rate which the Board of Gas and Electric Light Commissioners may decide to be just.
The bill of the company for the May lighting, including the nights of May 1 and 2, when no lights were on, has been re- ceived, made out at the rate of last year.
234
This bill we have declined to pay, but have written them that we will pay a bill for that month made out in accordance with the terms of our proposal, and declining to be responsible for any further payment for lights until a new contract shall have been made.
GORDON WILLIS, BRADFORD HAWES, GEORGE L. NEWTON, C. E. BICKNELL, NELSON W. GARDNER, Selectmen of Weymouth.
Voted, That the whole matter be referred to the Selectmen, to act in their judgment what is for the best interests of the town.
The result of the above vote was, Yes, 180; No, 29.
Art. 6. Voted, That this town gratefully accepts the bequest of one thousand dollars made to it by Elias S. Beals, Esquire, in trust, to be kept safely invested and the income only to be used for the benefit of the park and playground heretofore conveyed by him to the town; and that its Treasurer is hereby authorized to receive and receipt for said sum in its name and behalf and to safely invest the same at interest.
Voted, to adjourn.
Attest :
JOHN A. RAYMOND, Town Clerk.
WEYMOUTH, MASS., October 2, 1897.
JOHN A. RAYMOND, Town Clerk :
Dear Sir-At a joint meeting of the Selectmen and School Committee of this town, held at the Bicknell School house on the above date, after due publication, for the purpose of filling a vacancy on the Board of School Committee, occasioned by the
235
resignation of Henry A. Thomas, Gordon Willis was chosen chairman and Bradford Hawes, clerk of the convention.
The meeting then proceeded to ballot, with the result that George C. Torrey was elected to fill the vacancy.
Adjourned.
BRADFORD HAWES, Clerk.
A true copy-Attest :
JOHN A. RAYMOND, Town Clerk.
WEYMOUTH, Oct. 11, 1897.
JOHN A. RAYMOND, Town Clerk.
DEAR SIR :- At a meeting of the Selectmen of this town, held as above for that purpose, the following were appointed as Pre- cinct Officers in elections for the ensuing year :-
PRECINCT 1.
Warden, James B. French ; Deputy Warden, Frank A. Rich- ards ; Clerk, Walter L. Jenkins ; Deputy Clerk, Nathan L. Cush- ing ; Inspectors, Ancil Burrell, Josiah H. Pratt ; Deputy Inspec- tors, David Dunbar, John F. Binney ; Tellers, George Ruggles, John A. Holbrook ; Ballot Box Constables, Benjamin F. Rich- ards, Isaac H. Walker.
PRECINCT 2.
Warden, Charles J. McMorrow; Deputy Warden, William Shannahan ; Clerk, William H. Pratt; Deputy Clerk, William E. Dizer; Inspectors, Edmund Q. S. Litchfield, George A. Mc- Gowan ; Deputy Inspectors, James Q. B. Goodspeed, John H. Driscoll ; Tellers, Thomas B. Loud, Andrew L. Flint; Ballot Box Constables, Asa B. Pratt, Arthur H. Pratt.
236
PRECINCT 3.
Warden, William S. Wallace; Deputy Warden, James T. Pease ; Clerk, Jacob Dexheimer; Deputy Clerk, James A. Pray ; Inspectors, Atherton W. Tilden, John W. Carey ; Deputy Inspec- tors, Burton F. Johnson, Charles E. Whitten ; Tellers, William H. Wall, J. Rupert Walsh ; Ballot Box Constables, Oliver Hough- ton, Thomas Fitzgerald.
PRECINCT 4.
Warden, Marshall P. Sprague; Deputy Warden, Fred L. Bailey ; Clerk, J. Ellis Gardner; Deputy Clerk, H. Wilbur Dyer ; Inspectors, James Moore, N. Herbert Goodspeed; Deputy In- spectors, Edward Howley, Frank W. Tisdale; Tellers, William T. Spilsted, Adolphus P. Poole ; Ballot Box Constables, George B. Bailey, George F. Maynard.
PRECINCT 5.
* Warden, Herbert W. Sears; Deputy Warden, Lawrence A. Blanchard ; Clerk, John F. Welch; Deputy Clerk, Leonard V. Tirrell ; Inspectors, Ellis J. Pitcher, George C. Torrey ; Deputy Inspectors, Henry Rockwood, Clarence H. Sumner; Tellers, Matthew O'Dowd, J. Clifford Ford; Ballot Box Constables, Michael Allen, George W. Conant.
PRECINCT 6.
Warden, Thomas B. Nicholls ; Deputy Warden, William M. Reamey ; Clerk, Dennis T. Slattery : Deputy Clerk, Matthew W. Lynch ; Inspectors, Edward W. Shackford, Edward F. Cullen ; Deputy Inspectors, Arthur M. Hawes, Edward F. Powers ; Tell- ers, A. Chapin Tisdale, John F. Fennell ; Ballot Box Constables, N. B. Peare, Patrick Butler.
Yours respectfully, BRADFORD HAWES, Clerk of Selectmen.
A true copy-Attest :
JOHN A. RAYMOND,
Town Clerk.
237
WARRANT FOR THE STATE ELECTION.
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
NORKOLK, SS. To either of the Constables of the Town of Wey- mouth, in said County. GREETING :
In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts you are hereby required to notify and warn the inhabitants of Weymouth aforesaid, qualified to vote in elections, to meet at the polling places in their respective precincts, to wit :- In precinct numbered One, in the hall of the Fire Engine house on Athens street in that precinct ; in precinct numbered Two, in the hall of the Odd Fel- lows' building; in precincts numbered Three, Five and Six, in the halls of the fire engine houses located respectively in those precincts ; in precinct numbered Four, in the Hose house on Main street, near Nash's Corner, on Tuesday, the Second day of November next, at six o'clock in the forenoon, then and there to bring in to the wardens of their respective precincts their votes on one ballot for the following named public officers to wit :-
For Governor of the Commonwealth.
For Lieutenant Governor.
For Secretary of the Commonwealth.
For Treasurer of the Commonwealth.
For Auditor of the Commonwealth.
For Attorney-General.
For Councillor of the Second District.
For Senator for the First Norfolk District.
For two Representatives to the General Court for the Sixth Norfolk District.
For one County Commissioner in and for the County of Nor- folk.
For County Treasurer.
For Register of Deeds.
The polls will be opened at six o'clock in the forenoon and may be closed at one o'clock in the afternoon.
238
And you are required to serve this warrant by posting up at- tested copies thereof, in three public places in cach precinct in said town, seven days at least before the time of holding said meeting.
Hereof fail not and make due return of this warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk of said town, three days at least before the time of the meeting aforesaid.
Given under our hands at Weymouth, this twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven.
GORDON WILLIS, BRADFORD HAWES, C. E. BICKNELL, GEORGE L. NEWTON, NELSON W. GARDNER, Selectmen of Weymouth.
WEYMOUTH, October 23, 1897.
NORFOLK, SS. :
Pursuant to the within warrant, I this day posted true and at- tested copies thereof in three and more public places in each pre- cinct in said town of Weymouth as within directed.
ASA B. PRATT, Constable of Weymouth.
A true copy-Attest :
JOHN A. RAYMOND, Town Clerk. .
TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE, WEYMOUTH, NOV. 3, 1897.
A meeting of the Selectmen and Town Clerk was held this day at the above office for the purpose of examining the copies of records of votes cast in the several precincts of the town, at the election held on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 1897, in accordance with the foregoing warrant, and to make an aggregate of the same, the result being as follows :-
239
GOVERNOR.
PRECINCT8.
TOTAL.
1
2
4
5
6
John Bascom of Williamstown
6
12
3
1
0
5 27
Thomas C. Brophy, of Boston
2
1
10
1
2
7
23
William Everett of Quincy .
12
13
28
8
20
17 98
George Fred Williams of Dedham
32
62 158
54 47 120 473
Roger Wolcott of Boston Blanks
5
9
24
3
11 22
74
Totals
. 201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.
Edward A. Buckland of South Hadley
1
2
12
1
4
7
27
Christopher T. Callahan of Holyoke
. 34 59 154
42 48 119
456
James E. Cotter of Hyde Park .
13 13
19
9
21 20
95
W. Murray Crane of Dalton
. 134 149 213 103 157 140
896
Willard O. Wylie of Beverly
8 13
6
2
2
5 36
Blanks
11
17
58
13
13 30
142
Total
. 201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
SECRETARY.
Addison W. Barr of Worcester .
1
4 11 0
5
6 27
Charles D. Nash of Whitman
30
61 132
41 44 113
421
William M. Olin of Boston .
. 132 148 218 103 156 141
898
Edwin Sawtell of Brockton
7
15
4
1
0 5 32
Bernard M. Wolf of Boston
11
9
1ɔ̄
10
11
7 63
Blanks
20
16
82
15
29
49
211
Total
. 201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
TREASURER.
George A. Brown of Lynn .
2
4
9
1
5
7 28
Robert C. Habberley of Hyde Park .
7
13
3
2
1
5 31
Edward P. Shaw of Newburyport
. 128 144 196 101 150 137
856
Horace P. Tobey of Wareham .
9
9 15
13
13 11 70
Thomas A. Watson of Braintree
39
63 167
40 46 115 470
Blanks
16
20
72
13
30 46
197
Total
. 201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
AUDITOR.
Joseph Ballam of Boston .
1
5
12
4
8 31
Harry Douglas of Great Barrington .
. 10
14
17
14 12
78
John W. Kimball of Fitchburg .
. 131 144 207 100 149 138
869
Joseph Henry Sheldon of Haverhill Herbert M. Small of Templeton Blanks
33
49 122
4
2
1
6 35
18 27 100
14
36
53
248
Total
201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
1 11
42 41 104 391
8
14
. 144 156 239 103 165 150
957
240
ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
PRECINCTS.
TOTAL8
1
8
4
5
6
Wolcott Hamlin of Amherst
7
14
4
2
3
5 35
William Harrison of Lawrence .
3
3
8
2
6
S
30
Hosea M. Knowlton of New Bedford
. 132 145 210 102 156 139
William W. McClench of Chicopee
9
14
17
10
14 13
77
John A. O'Keefe of Lynn .
32
51 141
41
38 111
414
Blanks
18
26
82
13
28 45
212
. 201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
COUNCILLOR-Second District.
Dana Estes of Brookline
11
9 11
9
13
8 61
Benjamin S. Lovell of Weymouth
. 137 186 248 107-176 217 1071
George O. Wentworth of Stoughton
34 34 124
38
31
58
319
Blanks
19
24 79
16
25
38
201
Total
. 201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
SENATOR-First Norfolk District.
Harrison O. Apthorp of Milton
15
12 15 8 12' 12 74
James H. Flint of Weymouth
. 136 159 225 104 158 148
930
Tristam R. Newell of Braintree Blanks
·
19 35 79
11
24 52
220
Total
201 253 462 170 245 321 1652 .
REPRESENTATIVES IN GENERAL COURT-Sixth Norfolk District.
Martin E. Hawes of Weymouth
. 121 157 146 73 127 120 . 118.130 176 102 181 119
826
Herbert F. Pierce of Braintree .
· 18 14 34 14 18 13 111
John B. Whelan of Weymouth
58 92 297 66 75 184 772
1
1
· 87 133 271
85
89 205
870
Total
. 402 506 924 340 490 642 3304
COUNTY COMMISSIONER-Norfolk.
James Hewins of Medfield
145 177 289 131 179 204 1125 1
1
Blanks
56 76 172
39
66 117 526
Total
. 201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
REGISTER OF DEEDS.
John H. Burdakin of Dedham . 147 172 277 127 169 195 1087
Blanks
54 81 185 43 76 126 565
.
Total
. 201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
.
·
·
31 47 143 47
51 109
428
·
Bradford Hawes of Weymouth Blanks
724
Edward B. Nevin of Weymouth
·
884
Total
·
Charles E. Bicknell of Weymouth
241
COUNTY TREASURER.
PRECINCTS.
TOTAL.
1
4 5
Charles H. Smith of Dedham
. 149 184 283 128 177 202 1123
Blanks
·
52 69 179 42 68 119
529
Total . 201 253 462 170 245 321 1652
A true copy-Attest :
JOHN A. RAYMOND,
Town Clerk.
CLERK'S DISTRICT MEETING.
The undersigned, Town Clerk of Weymouth, met the Town Clerk of Braintree, at Braintree, at twelve o'clock at noon, Fri- day, Nov. 12, 1897, the time and place appointed for the Clerks of the Sixth Norfolk District to meet to examine the returns of votes cast in said district for Representatives to General Court, and found that Martin E. Hawes and Edward B. Nevin, both of Weymouth, having received the largest number of votes, were duly elected, and so certified according to law.
JOHN A. RAYMOND.
The following is the vote of the Town of Braintree for Repre- sentatives to General Court as certified to by the town officers :
VOTES.
Martin E. Hawes, of Weymouth.
278
Edward B. Nevin, of Weymouth
317
Herbert F. Pierce, of Braintree
. .
80
John B. Whelan, of Weymouth A true copy.
182
.
.
Attest.
JOHN A. RAYMOND,
Town Clerk of Weymouth.
ASSESSORS' REPORT.
The undersigned Assessors of the town of Weymouth herewith present a statement of their work for the year ending December 31, 1897.
We have assessed upon the polls and estates of all persons and corporations liable to taxation in this town the sum of $144,- 472.79, and have committed the same to Willard J. Dunbar, Esq., the duly elected Collector of Taxes, with a Warrant in due form of law for collection, and payment in accordance with the vote of the town, viz :-
Town grant. . $128,975 00
State tax
4,777 50
County tax .
6,696 38
Non-resident bank tax .
3,040 30
Overlayings
963 61
Supplementary commitment .
20 00
$144,472 79
244
VALUATION AND POLLS.
of
Ward.
Number of
polls as- sessed.
Valuation of
personal es-
tate assessed.
Valuation of
real estate
assessed.
Total value
of property
assessed.
Value of
property ex-
taxation.
Total
Amount
abatements
and remit-
tances.
2
1131
433,161
1,510,025
1 943,186
41,975
1,985,161
550.48
3
703
237.587
1,178,169
1,415,756
22,350
1,438,106
193.52
4
453
109,304
504,577
613,881
21,455
635,336
155.33
5
581
169,189
1,094,775
1,263,964
18,390
1,282,354
191.94
Total
3356 $ 1,082, 687 $ 5,363,005 $ 6,445,692 $119,960 $ 6,565,652 $1,184.13
Resident Bank Shares Assessed.
$188,352
Total Valuation of the Town
$ 6,754,004
Number of houses
2,511
Number of acres of land
9,567
Number of horses
1,016
Number of cows .
501
Number of neat cattle other than cows
28
Number of swine .
56
Number of fowl .
·
1,523
Number of sheep .
1
Respectfully submitted,
WILMOT CLEVERLY,
JOHN W. BATES,
FRANCIS H. COWING,
GILMAN B. LOUD, GORDON WILLIS,
Assessors.
·
.
· 488
$133,446 $ 1,075, 459 $ 1,208,905
$15,790
: 1,224,695
$92.86
from
empt
valuation.
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE TUFTS LIBRARY.
The nineteenth annual report of the Board of Trustees is re- spectfully submitted to the town of Weymouth, as follows ;-
Again we have the pleasure of reporting a marked increase in the last year's circulation of the library above that of any pre- vious one.
The library was open for the delivery of books 304 days during the year 1897. The number of volumes loaned for home use was 69,873, an increase of 1,246 volumes, with an average delivery of 229 volumes daily. The largest number of loans on any day was 508 on January 2d, and the smallest number of loans in a day was 18 on the 28th of January, and the month of March, with a delivery of 6991 volumes, maintained its rank as first in the pro- cession of months.
More than half of this circulation has been effected through the several agencies, as follows :
Precinct 1. Bartlett's store 4,998 volumes .
66 1. Holden & Sladen's store
2,289
66 2 and 6. Bates & Humphrey's store
2,949
2 and 6. Salisbury's store . 9,972 66
4. Lovell's Corner . 2,325
.6
. 4.
Nash's store . ·
. 3,951 66
5. Tinkham's store .
9,531
36,015 volumes
The teachers have borrowed 3,881 books on their special cards, a slight decrease from last year.
1
246
The classification of the whole circulation is as follows :
Arts, .031; biography, .025; fiction, .700; history, .038; literature, .027; natural science, .028; poetry, .015; social science, .011; theology, .003; travels, .042 ; periodicals, .080. The foregoing does not include the use of books of reference or of those loaned on hall slips.
The number of accessions to the library to date is 18,838,-962 volumes having been added during the year. One hundred and eighty one volumes were gifts, 714 volumes were purchased,-30 of which were to replace worn out books,-and 67 periodicals were bound and added to the circulation."
Three hundred and forty-seven volumes have been re-bound, a large number repaired at the library, and 89 books laid aside as too much worn for circulation.
The annual inspection of the books was made in the usual man- ner, and four volumes are unaccounted for. One volume reported missing last year has since been returned, and another has been replaced by the borrower.
Five hundred and thirty-nine borrowers' cards have been issued during the year, making a total of 2,687 since the new registra- tion. The number of special non-fiction cards now in use is 711. Some borrowers are not aware that this special card is given to any one asking for it, and that music, current magazines, and any book, not fiction, will be loaned on this card. Most of the period- icals named in Appendix "B" of this report may be borrowed when taken from the tables.
The annual bulletin was printed at the close of the year, as usual, and may be obtained at the library, or at any of the agen- cies, for ten cents a copy.
Some of the more valuable books added to the library during the year are : Allen's American Book Plates, Berreson's Floren- tine Painters of the Renaissance, Evans' Animal Symbolism in Ecclesiastical Architecture, Inexpensive Country Homes, How to Build, Furnish and Decorate, Santayana's Sense of Beauty, Grimm's Life of Michael Angelo, and his Life of Raphael, Eders- heim's Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Stapfer's Jesus Christ, Mahan's Life of Nelson, Tennyson's Memoirs, Appleton's Annual Cyclopædia, Gould's Illustrated Dictionary of Medi-
247
cine, Biology and Allied Sciences, Peck's Harper's Dictionery of Classical Literature and Antiquities, Stateman's Year-book, Fisher's Men, Women and Manners in Colonial Times, Fiske's Old Virginia and Her Neighbors, Hutchinson's Prehistoric Man and Beast, Johnson's Europe in the Sixteenth Century, Lubbock's Prehistoric Times, Massachusetts in the Army and Navy during the War of 1861-'65, volume 1, Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, volume 3, Winsor's Westward Movement, The Colonies and the Republic, Yriarte's Florence, Mrs. Browning's Letters, Putnam's Books and their Makers dur- ing the Middle Ages, Tyler's Literary History of the American Revolution, Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, 20 volumes, Britton & Brown's Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Comstock's Insect Life, Furneaux's Life in Ponds and Streams, Russell's Glaciers of North America, Bates' American Marine, Lowell's Governments and Parties in Continen- tal Europe, Barth's Travels and Discoveries in North and Cen- tral Africa, Nansen's Farthest North, and Wilkins Ou the Nile with a Camera.
The steady growth of the demand for books, at a rate much greater than that of the increase of the population of our town, is gratifying to the Trustees and creditable to the Librarian and her assistant, whose cheerful service in aiding borrowers to make selections of books adapted to please their widely-differing tastes has materially contributed to this result, but this increase of in- terest in and demand for books frequently leads to some embar- rassment on the part of those charged with the duty of expending the sums available for the supply of new books. By way of illustration-the formation of classes for the study of art renders it very desirable to foster this endeavor for the formation of cor- rect taste by learning the canons and becoming acquainted with the models which most fitly represent the highest ideals of this ennobling science. Many costly books placed within reach of such students would stimulate these efforts and well repay the out- lay ; but without injustice to the vastly greater number who desire an ample supply of current fiction, as well as to the students of history, of philosophy, of poetry and all other departments of knowledge, no more than a small fraction of the eight hundred
248
dollars applicable to the purchase of new books can be devoted to the special encouragement of the study of art. So also is the study of local history, or of the genealogy of one family from the date of its earliest records, a worthy pursuit, and to be encouraged by those entrusted with the care of the library, whenever it shall appear that any work contributing to that end would attract a sufficient number of readers to render its purchase not unjust to other classes of borrowers.
In the ease of either of the classes above named (not excluding any other) the Trustees will thankfully accept any book which the generosity of any friend of the library may donate for its uses ; and they earnestly hope that the liberal gifts of the last year may incite many others to emulate these worthy examples. Among the most valuable gifts of the year are the books pre- sented by Capt. Isaac Jackson, by Miss Sarah T. Jackson, Gould's Dictionary of Medicine, Biology, etc., by Mr. W. M. Leonard, and the set of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, by Col. B. S. Lovell. Mr. John H. Gutterson has continued to furnish the reading room with the Musician, and Miss Richards with the Woman's Journal. Hon. Charles F. Adams has presented a highly valued autograph letter of Mrs. Abigail Adams, and Mr. Granville A. Bowditch an enlarged photograph of the Union Church, an. historic landmark, recently destroyed by fire. To each of the donors the Trustees in behalf of this town tender cordial thanks.
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