USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Fairhaven > Town annual report of the offices of Fairhaven, Massachusetts 1934 > Part 3
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Date
Groom
Bride
Sept. 1 William Sylvia
Sept. 3 Ellsworth William Fredette
Sept. 3 David Martel
Lillian Gaucher
Sept. 7 Eliot Robertson Mowat
Helen Ann Greenhalge
Sept. 8 Anthony Alfred Albert
Mary Correia
Sept. 15 Howard Francis King
Karin Axelsson
Sept. 15 Frederick Augusto Silva
Mary Olive Oliveira
Sept. 15 John Medeiros
Emily Areia
Sept. 24 Joseph Albert Blanchette
Marie Aurore Roy
Sept. 26 Rexford Alden York
Edna Emma Passmore
Sept. 29 Harold Edward Ketchie
Emma Alberta
Sept. 29 Manuel Sylvia Jr.
Lucille Avilla Terra
Oct. ɔ̃ Philip Carlton Hathaway
Mary Irene Gould
Oct. 6 Henry Prescott Johnson
Frances Margaret Dunn
Oct. 12 Frank George Palmer
Oct. 12 John Francis Emin
Oct. 13 Leo Armand Isabelle
Oct. 20
Manuel Lima Areia
Oct. 20 Herbert Francis Jones Jr.
Oct. 27 Leon Langis
Oct. 27 Evan Hardman
Oct. 28 Thomas Ivan Blackburn
Nov. 1 Harry Stannard Richard
Nov. 1 Arne Olai Knudsen
Nov. 2 Manuel Lewis
Nov. 3 James Ideson
Nov. 3 John Silva Rezendes
Nov. 7 Albert Joseph Lajeunesse
Nov. 8 Joseph Perry Flores Jr.
Nov. 9 Louis Bertinius Anderson
Nov. 10 Eddie Hector Montplaisir
Nov. 14 Robert Ellsworth Browne
Nov. 24 Henry Folger Howland
Nov. 24 Leon Edward Bernard
Nov. 28 Herbert William Hammond
Nov. 29 Armand Alfred Guilmette
Nov. 29 Alfred Seraphin Silva
Nov. 29 John Gonsalves
Dec. 1 Alfred Francis Rapoza
Dec. 13 Anthony Costa Souza
Dec. 20 Leonard Wilford Chumack
Dec. 26 Charles Frederick Fisher
Edna May Pierce
Joanna Ethel Corrie
-
Mary Agnes Forgue
Florence Gertrude Wilson
Ethen Papaioannou
Jeanne Morin
Alice Lucy Nolin
Mary Louise Alexander
Jennie May Eldridge
Katherine Baptiste Sylvia
Phyllis Warburton
Doris Rothwell
Marjorie Knowles Collins
Irene Menard
Alice Vera Gray
Edith Clough Marion Ann Silvia
Elizabeth Alice Helliwell
Marie Delia Alfeda Quintin
Mary Cornell Lewis
Hilda Rocha
Mary Ernestine Correia
Rose Souza Cordeiro
Louisa Frances Harding
Thelina Edith Gifford
Myrtle Velma Brownell
Marjorie Winterbottom
Irene Elizabeth Lacombe
Mary Sauzo (Medeiros) Camara
Beatrice Eleanor Humphrey
52
DEATHS RECORDED IN FAIRHAVEN IN 1934
Date
Name
Years Months
Days
Jan. 1
Florence Buckley (Bethel)
42
8
9
Jan. 1 Theresa Souza
2
6
28
Jan. 5 Fannie L. Hayward (Wood)
69
11
3
Jan. 5 Mary E. Shurtleff (Reynolds)
61
7
12
Jan. 7 Joseph B. Peck
85
3
12
Jan. 10
Victor Ledoux
72
. .
.
Jan. 13
Robert C. Fredericks
34
. .
. .
Jan. 13 Fannie M. Deane
72
2
2
.Jan. 16 James O'Donnell Jr.
47
.
. .
Jan. 29
Manuel P. Souza
63
.
Jan. 30
Jacintha Emilia Mederios
61
. .
. .
Feb.
2 Alice M. Tarbox
79
3
6
Feb.
3
Maria Carreiro Areia
5.2
8
24
Feb.
4 Mary A. Wing
86
1
8
Feb.
9 Mary Rego
24
5
5
Feb. 11 Anna Helford
36
4
27
Feb. 12
Francisco Furtado
75
. .
. .
18
Feb.
16
John Burnett
61
4
8
Feb. 18
John P. Quirk
67
8
15
Feb. 19
Eleanor G. Channing
72
5
3
Feb. 20
Ruth I. Goldthwiate
66
. .
Feb.
23
Sarah A. Curran (Hanna)
80
5
14
Feb. 23
Emma Dean (Mason)
56
6
6
Feb. 26
Antone F. Marshall
21
10
22
Feb. 28
Antone A. Freitas
75
9
10
Mar.
4
Frank L. Benton
70
.
. .
Mar. 4 Augusta Castro
69
. .
. .
Mar. 8
Charles P. Sawyer
71
7
2
Mar. 12
Edward E. Perry
76
9
21
Mar. 13
William S. Padelford
59
.
. .
Mar. 15
Stillborn
Mar. 17
Robert Waterson
80
5
26
Mar. 20
Eben L. Chapman
57
. .
Mar. 21
Manuel Teixeira
69
..
. .
Mar. 28
Bridget Dugdale
64
.
. .
. .
4
Feb. 15 Ada E. Delano
85
10
13
Feb. 15
Phoebe Redfearn (Neild)
81
Feb. 19
Florence Mederios
20
6
3
Feb. 24
Adelaide Medeiros
61
. .
Jan. 31
Joseph E. Jacques
68
Feb. 5
William H. Quirk
53
DEATHS RECORDED IN FAIRHAVEN IN 1934 - Continued
Date
Name
Years
Months
Days
Mar. 31
Virginia Lopes
. .
. ·
27
Apr. 1
Mina M. Morgan
36
8
25
Apr. 3
Hannah Westcott
83
.
.
. .
10
. .
Apr. 8 Mary A. Cope
61
.
. .
Apr. 13
Hannah Logan
76
3
20
Apr. 13
Stillborn
80
11
12
Apr. 18
Rachel Howland
53
7
. .
Apr. 20
Charles J. Lincoln
47
3
6
Apr. 22
Lizzie Gibbs Howard (Ellis)
67
10
10
Apr. 26
Selina M. Blakey
60
7
23
Apr. 26
Albert P. Blakey
65
10
20
Apr. 28
Lillian Astin
48
17
May
1
Elizabeth Hoar
56
. .
May 2
Thomas H. Roberts
69
. .
. .
May 13
Mary Ann Barry (Hackett)
74
. .
. .
May 26
Arthur St. Aubin
58
2
9
May 31
Hannah L. Perkins
61
8
30
June 5
Stillborn
70
. .
.
June 8
Antonio Fortes
51
. .
. .
June 8
Eileen Eugenia Picanso
. .
. .
6
June 9 Stillborn
June 14
Marie Nelida Martens (Obrien)
35
. .
. .
June 17
Fred Alcock
40
10
13
June 20
Elizabeth J, Howland
81
4
25
June 26
Peace Case Tripp
95
1
11
July
11
Andrew P. Chace
5.9
5
6
July
11
Mary Howard (Horton)
72
3
15
July
15
Elizabeth A. Karl (Bryant)
51
1
14
July 16
Sarah Jane Hanlin (Maule)
48
7
16
July 18
Helen Bourne Taylor
72
9
.7
July 20
--- Duarte
30 min
July 20
Jennie T. Revall (O'Connor)
60
10
8
July 21
Nicholas James Mahoney
. .
. .
23
July 21
Elizabeth M. Tripp
77
8
28
July 24
Sidney B. Gifford
66
8
26
July
26
Eugene Isabelle
52
1
23
July 26 Gifford Gamage
62
2
May 30
Felix Calassa Jr.
1 2-3 hrs.
June
3
Emma Haskins Humphrey
85
11
11
June 8
Manuel J. Ramos
Apr. 19 John Palmer
Apr. 4 Kenneth L. Jansen
54
DEATHS RECORDED IN FAIRHAVEN IN 1934 - Continued
Date
Name
Years
Months
Days
July 30
Jane Hawkins
. .
. .
18
Ang. 1 Andrus Spriit
65
5
16
Aug. 1 Hannah Chadwick
76
4
10
Aug. 5 Helen M. Preston
12
7
27
Ang. 10
Frances J. Delano
77
1
9
Ang. 10
Warren T. Jennings
13
2
27
Aug. 15
Barbara Sanecki (Bozek)
54
8
. .
Aug. 16
Margaret Lyons (Creelman)
74
5
11
Aug. 19 Stillborn
Aug. 22
Onslow Cortis Johnson, Jr.
18
1
24
Aug. 28
William Augusta Slocum
77
. .
. .
Aug. 29
Hattie E. Hawkins
75
9
7
Aug. 29
Franklin B. Parker
60
8
23
Sept. 2
Elizabeth H. Nunes
58
4
Sept. 2
Nellie Jenney
54
1
12
Sept.
1
John J. Baker
89
. .
. .
Sept. 5 Silas T. Ricketson
62
5
4
Sept. 6 Flora J. Austin
79
10
10
Sept. 6 Joseph C. Sylvia
66
. .
. .
Sept. 23
Mary M. E: Mahon (Leonard)
69
6
Sept. 28
John Lawrence
21
5
. .
Sept. 29
Pauline Morris
59
·
. .
Oct.
6
George W. Lloyd
62
4
20
Oct. 11
Robert T. C. Spooner
72
6
12
Oct. 13 Marya Mendrala
77
Oct. 23
Dodd
. .
Nov.
7
Charles Schestak
60
Nov. 7 Frederick R. Fish
63
9
9
Nov. 8 William H. Delano
63
0
25
Nov. 12
- Tucker
7 hrs.
Nov. 16
Susan Adelaide Pierce
86
4
27
Nov. 19
Mathilda P. Benson (Perry)
34
5
21
Nov. 19
Charles F. Ivers
78
5
18
Nov. 21
Bessie G. Horton
54
3
12
Nov. 23
Virginie Boucher
72
8
25
Nov. 24
Jane Ruth York
12 hrs.
Nov. 26
Richard Bailey
79
.
Nov. 27
Henry Arthur Harrington
41
..
19
Nov. 28
Luiz M. Fernandes
50
. .
2
Oct. 29
Edric E. Marsh
33
5
2
. .
3
Aug. Delores Anna Pauline
. .
55
DEATHS RECORDED IN FAIRHAVEN IN 1934 - Continued
Date
Name
Years
Months
Days -
Nov. 30
Henry or Hypolito Reis
54
.
.
Dec. 4 Richard Days
. .
. .
2
Dec. 4 Ellen M. Barney
39
10
8
Dec. 6 Mary LeBlanc
63
. .
. .
Dec. 10 Eleanor B. Butman
83
10
2
Dec.
12
Alfred Fonteneau
45
4
21
Dec.
16
Henry P. Habicht
51
3
29
Dec. 16 Charles H. W. Booth
46
6
15
Dec.
17
Arthur Rowell
31
9
27
Dec.
17 John A. W. Burgess
78
11
12
Dec. 20
Elsie B. Cleveland
53
11
25
Dec. 23
Rachel Pinkerton Childs
73
2
11
Dec. 24
Eva Lees
27
11
. .
Report of the Collector of Taxes
JOHN H. STETSON, TAX COLLECTOR, IN ACCOUNT WITH THE TOWN OF FAIRHAVEN January 1, 1935 DR.
Tax List
$362,852.80
Additional Taxes
11,20
Poll Tax List
6,550.00
Additional Polls
132.00
Excise Tax List
10,947.07
Sewer Tax List app.
601.38
Sewer Committed Interest
166.40
Interest Collected Taxes 1931
26.94
Interest Collected Taxes 1932
356.05
Interest Collected Taxes 1933
1,949.53
Interest Collected Taxes 1934
45.45
Interest Collected Polls 1930
.12
Interest Collected Polls 1931
1.21
Interest Collected Polls 1932
1.20
Interest Collected Polls 1933
2.88
Interest Collected Polls 1934
7.10
Interest Collected Excise 1930
1.05
Interest Collected Excise 1931
6.73
Interest Collected Excies 1932
5.09
Interest Collected Excise 1933
9.84
Interest Collected Excise 1934
21.17
Com. Int. Collected 1932
12.13
Com. Int. Collected 1933
39.46
Com. Int. Collected 1934
32.37
Unpaid Taxes 1931
1,207.62
Unpaid Taxes 1932
18,746.38 101,955.85
Cost Collected 1932
5.60
Cost Collected 1933
52.16
Unpaid Polls 1932
312.00
Unpaid Polls 1933
645.00
Unpaid Polls 1934
1,050.00
Unpaid Excise 1932
359.48
Unpaid Excise 1933
432.71
Unpaid Excise 1934
1,770.10
Ships and Vessels, Excise 1934
136.67
510,452.74
Unpaid Taxes 1933
57
CR
Paid Town Treasurer
$320.688.35
Remitted and Abated Taxes 1934
6,633.89
Remitted and Abated Taxes 1933
591.18
Remitted and Abated Taxes 1932
526.19
Remitted and Abated Taxes 1931
1,326.39
Remitted and Abated Polls 1931
212.00
Remitted and Abated Polls 1932
22.00
Remitted and Abated Polls 1933
40.00
Remitted and Abated Polls 1934
328.00
Remitted and Abated Excise 1931
79.53
Remitted and Abated Excise 1932
7.89
Remitted and Abated Excise 1933
100.33
Remitted and Abated Excise 1934
274.70
Unpaid Taxes 1931
338.85
Unpaid Taxes 1932
10.987.66
Unpaid Taxes 1933
5.069 76
Unpaid Taxes 1934
126,903 61
Unpaid Polls 1931
80.00
Unpaid Polls 1932
553 00
Unpaid Polls 1933
786.00
Unpaid Polls 1934
1.270 00
Unpaid Sewers
1.839.67
Sewers added
120.01
Remitted and Abated 1930
26.10
Remitted and Abated 1928
15.08
Unpaid Excise 1931
618.55
Unpaid Excise 1932
291.61
Unpaid Excise 1933
229.48
Sold for Taxes 1933
6.092.83
Added to Tax Title 1933
22,343.74
Sold for Taxes 1932
1,476.92
Added to Tax Title 1932
579.42
$510,452.74
JOHN H. STETSON. I ax Collector
Report of the Police Department
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and the people of Fairhaven:
Below and on following pages you will find the Annual report of the Police Department for the year ending December 31, 1934.
In this, my second report, I have tried to include all that is interesting or important.
Anyone interested in any details not explained in the report or having questions to ask, is welcome at police headquarters, and every effort will be made to answer his queries.
A comparison of the facts and figures in the report with those previously given out by the department will show a huge increase in 1934 over prior years. Town meeting members are especially invited to make this comparison :
Appropriation Imposed Fines paid to Town Offenses
1932
$18,000
$1,335
$159.26
245
1933
15,000
1,481
48.50
263
1934
15,000
2,786
1272.80
463
Radio
During the night of May 31, 1934, the New Bedford police broadcast Fairhaven's first radio call. Since then they have broad- cast 947 calls to our cars.
We need the radio not only in the dreaded gas and drowning cases, but in handling our daily work as well. Since receiving sets were installed, officers have felt free to spend time in radio cars in the parts of town where they were needed the most, know- ing that the radio would bring them word of trouble elsewhere within a few minutes after it was reported.
There has been no need for officers to continually go into stores and homes to telephone the station as was necessary before May 31. Neither has it been necessary for night desk men to throw the street lights off and on, giving a signal which everyone over twelve years of age understood. The radio has almost eli- minated a situation which formerly faced day desk men every so often: that of having an emergency call and neither officers in the station nor means of communicating with those on duty.
59
Analysis of police transactions that constitute the bulk of our work shows that each consists of four parts: 1) Taking the report ; 2) Communicating the information to the investigating officer or officers; 3) Traveling to the scene of the trouble; and 4) Handl- ing the case. You can easily appreciate how the radio has helped in parts two, three, and four. Desk men can communicate more readily with the men outside. In many cases the investigating officers can go directly to the scene. Because of arriving there promptly they are able to render in many instances more effec- tive service than otherwise would be possible. In short, the radio has woven itself so closely into the fabric of the department that it now constitutes a most vital part. All members of the depart- ment and many people outside have come to realize that Fairha- ven must never again be without radio.
The Liquor Problem
At the February election Fairhaven voters decreed that liquor licenses would be issued, and in that way forced onto the police a tremendous amount of new work. Before legal liquor was sold in town we had a few family troubles caused by liquor to adjust, a few drunks to take care of, .and illegal liquor establishments to investigate.
Under these conditions liquor was the cause of enough trou- ble. With the return of legal liquor our troubles multiplied. A comparison of drunkenness cases in 1934 with those in 1933 shows an 88% increase. But increased drunkenness has been only a small part of our new burden.
Because more liquor is being used, it is the cause of more and more family trouble. Noisy parties by the score have been reported. Nighttime singing has brought us dozens of telephone calls from those folks who were so rudely awakened. Broken liquor bottles thrown about, sales to minors, drunken brawls, property damaged by drunks, noise from taverns, time spent with state and federal inspectors, and juveniles' use of liquor are some of the factors in the liquor problem that confronts your police department. As in the past, we have been on the lookout for illegal liquor dealers and acted accordingly. Although this extra work was thrust onto the department the town meeting members did not increase our budget allotment, thus making the situation doubly difficult. The relation between liquor and safety is shown in the next caption and the section which it heads.
60
Safety Work-On Highways and Elsewhere.
The department takes a great deal of pride in the safety work it has been able to accomplish. Although the figures and other information below speak for themselves, the true value of our achievements attained by preventative measures only can be guessed.
The statistical report shows only 54 traffic accidents in 1934, and only 85 persons injured in those accidents. During 1933, 94 persons were injured in 59 accidents. Even the figures for 1933 show progress in the campaign for safety: in 1932 well over a hundred persons were injured in 80 accidents!
Traffic check-ups - examining operators' licenses, registra- tions, and mechanical equipment-have totalled 900 in 1934. To these must be added 150 all-night parking check-ups. Court cases in automobile work have totalled 86. This compares with but 60 in 1933, and only 39 in 1932. Twelve of the 1934 court cases are for drunken driving. Eight similar charges were made in 1933 and three were prosecuted in 1932.
How have these results been accomplished ? Every man in the department has done his utmost to prevent accidents and to punish those who by bad driving have been responsible for acci- dents and injuries and deaths. Preventative work has been carried on day after day. Before school, after school, and whenever school is not in session, children are told to move out of danger in the streets to safety on the sidewalks. Drivers who ignored signs or traffic signals have been proceeded against either in court or at the registry office. Defects in highways have been brought promptly to the attention of the Highways Department. Traffic check-ups are made as a part of police routine. Thus the officers keep a continuous vigilance over all the causes of accidents on the highways.
When the new state highway connecting Huttleston Avenue to Washington Street was opened to traffic, a flurry of mishaps occurred at the intersection with Adams Street. Regular officers, besides extra men assigned especially to the task, gave motorists countless warnings of the hazard existing there. After the traffic lights were installed the location was kept in mind with firm deter- mination that the lights MUST be obeyed. Accordingly court cases and license suspensions have had their effects upon drivers who showed their carelessness by failing to stop. Who can tell how many accidents and injuries have been prevented by this one undertaking alone? It is deeply regretted that by the irony of fate this same strip of roadway was the scene on the night of
61
December 17 of the year's most heinous crime-the striking of a death blow by a hit-and-run killer to a pedestrian, robbing a wife of her husband, four children of their father, and the community of a respected citizen.
There are a number of other menaces that threaten safety on our streets that do not necessarily constitute a part of the traffic problem. Gas leaks, defective poles, fallen trees, washouts, live wires, and water difficulties are examples of the many out- door dangers that your police must deal with constantly.
Drunks, insane persons, and ill-tempered husbands furnish a host of dangers peculiar to themselves to which the police must give attention. On one occasion this past year a lone officer wrested a loaded revolver from an insane drunk who had been brandishing it, terrifying a score of persons, and brought both gun and man to the station. Very frequently one of us is called upon to take a knife, a revolver, a shotgun, a rifle, or some other weapon from someone who, temporarily at least, has lost control of his mental and/or physical faculties. As mute proof of these statements we have at headquarters an ever increasing collection of guns, revolvers, knives, etc., which are brought away from homes where safety was needed rather than enjoyed.
Simple Things Make Work for Us
There are many simple happenings and mere conditions, any one of which seems relatively insignificant when considered alone, that combine to produce a tremendous amount of work for the police department. Let us consider a few of these items.
Did you know that Fairhaven has about 17 2/3 miles of shore frontage? It has. To anyone except a policeman this means 17 2/3 miles of bathing beach, wharves, boat building and repair establishments, and year-around residential districts-one of the town's most valuable types of property. Police officers, though, inust consider the water frontage a menace. Boats capsize. Bathers experience cramps or heart attacks. Persons fall into the water. Property is lost overboard. Dead bodies are washed ashore. Boats are pried open and the contents pilfered. People are drowned. Unknown thieves come at night by water to steal boats from alongside wharves or from moorings, and to filch what- ever other property which isn't nailed down, and disappear into the darkness with as much stealth as they came. Undesirable strangers who come from other ports locate on the waterfront and try to keep secret their presence and identity.
62
Soon after July 1, Sgt. Besse and I learned that we were dog officers again. Worse than this, we learned that 366 dogs were around town and unlicensed. A person who forgot, neglected, or intentionally failed to license his dog wasn't apt to regard his in- action as important; but 366 such people meant 366 homes all over town which the police had to visit. After 366 dog owners and keepers had been warned, some responded with the necessary fees. Others responded with excuses, some good and some bad- mostly bad. Then about 200 second visits were made. Thus at inore or less expense and with much bother, the process was con- tinued until the job was completed.
Any person who has built a cottage on Sconticut Neck, hired one, or rented one has done so without giving the police a thought. Building, hiring, or renting has seemed simple-merely a means to greater enjoyment or more income. But the vast number of summer cottages on the Neck gives the police much work and worry. In the summer they increase the population of the town temporarily; attract automobiles from far and near; and develop a potential source of complaints about loud parties, suspicious persons, improper bathing, Sunday conduct, and so forth. The spring, fall, and winter months bring us trouble of another sort. Unscrupulous persons use the cottages in.entertaining their friends without seeking permission from property owners. Thieves break into them. Boys ransack them. Crooks take back steps, parts of piazza, shingles, or storm doors to use for firewood. A moment's thought shows the amount of preventative work required of the department in protecting summer property. Another moment's thought shows the difficulty encountered by officers trying to learn the identity of those responsible for some of these depredations.
What I have written about folks who build, hire, or rent summer property applies with equal force to those who build or use business property. Owners and tenants seldom think of the construction and occupancy of their buildings in relation to the police. In this way many little things all over town are over- looked. While, to the business man, these things are seemingly unimportant, they greatly hinder the work of night officers and threaten the effectiveness of their efforts. Night lights improp- erly located in relation to doors and merchandise displays; piles of rubbish in back of buildings; unlocked and vacant property adjacent to occupied property ; squeaky and otherwise faulty build- ing construction; location of outside ladders with respect to upper story windows; faulty hardware on doors and windows; location of safes with respect to windows and doors; and unnecessary outbuildings are a few of these mute trouble makers. It is needless
63
to add that our work could be considerably speeded if every night light, every strong box, every door, every window and every building were correctly located and given suitable care.
The Increase In Delinquency
In case you read the statistical report before reading this section you may have been startled by the increase in delinquency. For that reason a few words of explanation and comment from me may not be inappropriate.
These cases involve boys from eleven to sixteen years of age and grow out of complaints concerning thefts, breaks, and prop- erty damage. Except in most flagrant instances one of these cases does not constitute our first transaction with the boy implicated.
In handling our first few dealings with a boy we try to instill into him the golden rule. The success of this policy is very grati- fying; but too often a boy is given another chance, and takes it !. Thus he finds his way back to the police station, and, usually, faces the juvenile session of the district court. Here we find success. We have the satisfaction of seeing the court segregate those boys who are a menace to the community from those who come home from the courthouse leaving behind them that which is bad, determined to become respectable citizens.
Appreciation.
The police department is continually beset with increasing trouble. Although the department must bear the brunt of the work, the help given the department by the other town depart- ments has lightened our burden and on many occasions has enabled us to carry on when progress otherwise would have been difficult or impossible. In a common determination the fire and police departments work hand in hand for the protection of persons and property. Good citizenship among the children is encouraged by the school and police departments alike. The health department co-operates with the police in the abatement of nuisances, and in a score of other ways. The street department and the safety council are always ready to help me rid the town of traffic haz- zards. We rely on all the departments' records for names, address- es, dates, ages, and other information which is essential to our work. It is, therefore, fitting that I record here my appreciation.
As you are aware, the use of a part of the Town Hall base- ment as a pistol range was authorized in the early summer. The co-operation of the selectmen in this project has enabled the Fair-
64
haven Police Relief Association to equip the range for the use of police officers, firemen, and other interested persons. It has made possible the department's membership in the New England Police Revolver League. Activity on the range and in the League tends to make the officers more capable of handling their weapons when duty requires their use.
Several times during the year the New Bedford police have responded to our calls for the ambulance. Our brother officers from across the river have given this humanitarian service with- out compensation from us, and to the New Bedford Police Depart- inent I give thanks.
In the preceding paragraphs I have enumerated some of the lielp given the human beings in town. Of some importance is the help given our dumb animals and birds. Throughout the year cats, dogs, pigeons, and other animals and birds are abandoned, injured, or become lost. Day and night service promptly executed and courteously rendered by the Animal Rescue League solves the animal and bird problem for us and endears us to those who com- prise the League, and to the League's employees. I welcome this opportunity to record my thanks.
Some People's Wants
How many schools are there in Fairhaven? Answer that question without reflection and your estimate will be "four or five." Actually, there are no fewer than ten. Between 2500 and 3000 children go to and from these schools twice daily, when the schools are in session. Between home and school danger threat- ens, and parents who urge us to protect their children from traffic and other hazzards vest in us a grave responsibility. Surveillance of so many children at noon and at night for ten months a year makes the department considerable work and not a little worry.
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