USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Mendon > Town annual reports of the officers of Mendon, Massachusetts 1889-1909 > Part 25
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May 21.
Lewis D. Chipman,
34
11
19
Mendon.
June 3.
Alson S. Little,
54
1
27
Mendon.
June 16.
Minnie Dianna Gaskill,
26
6 13
Mendon.
Aug. 4.
Mary J. Kelly,
20
10 0 Mendon.
Sept. 18.
Silas Dudley,
66
8
28 Mendon.
Nov. 9.
Florence Harrington,
1
28
Mendon.
Nov. 18.
Jemima D. Hicks.
83
7 22
Mendon.
HORACE C. ADAMS,
Town Clerk.
Mendon, Feb. 16, 1900.
8 Mendon.
Feb. 13. Maud Elsie Vose,
1
NINETEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
TRUSTEES OF TAFT PUBLIC LIBRARY.
The Trustees submit the following report : The board reorganized April 15, 1899. They have to report that the library, under the charge of its efficient librarian, has been a source of usefulness and pleasure to its patrons the past year, an institution honorable to the town and to its generous donor.
The present librarian has been engaged for another year. The books were examined February 6, current, and found accounted for and in satisfactory condition. Two books that had been exposed to scarlet fever infection, have been burned. The library was reopened February 10, 1900.
One copy of the Annals of Mendon has been sold during the past year and one copy exchanged for a history of the town of Dudley, Mass.
The thanks of our citizens are tendered to all who have contributed books, magazines or literature of any kind to the library during the past year.
The trustees recommend the appropriation of one hundred and sev- enty-five dollars for the use of the library the ensuing year.
JULIUS A. GEORGE,
HORACE C. ADAMS, ELMER E. SHERMAN,
LIBERTY FREEMAN,
Trustees of Taft Public Library.
Mendon, Feb. 17, 1900.
LIBRARIAN'S REPORT.
TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE TAFT PUBLIC LIBRARY :
The Library was reopened Feb. 11, 1899.
The whole number of books given out during the year, was 3496; the largest number delivered any Saturday, was 104; the smallest number, 46; the average, 69.
The delivery by divisions was as follows: Agriculture, 7; Biogra- phy, 32; Fiction, 2651; History, 84; Poetry, 38; Miscellaneous, 44 ; Periodicals, 499; Religion, 13 ; Science, 37 ; Travel, 71.
The town has purchased 79 volumes ; 12 volumes have been given by the Secretary of the Commonwealth; 7 by the Secretary of the Interior ; 5 by the Rev. C. A. Staples ; 4 by the Smithsonian Institute; 2 by Wmn. S. and Abbie B. Hayward; 1 by the Interstate Commerce Commission ; 2 by the Bureau of Education; 1 by the State Library ; 1 by the Civil Service Commission ; 1 by Hon. J. II. Walker ; 1 by the Unitarian Asso- ciation.
The following unbound magazines have been given : 2 volumes of
18
The Outlook, by P. W. Taft; 2 volumes of Century, by N. R. George; 2 volumes of New England, by H. C. Adams ; 2 volumes each of Harper's and Outing, by J. A. George, All have since been bound.
A number of pamphlets have also been given. Whole number of books, 4016.
Respectfully submitted, SARA F. TOWNE, Librarian.
TREASURER'S REPORT.
Report of the Treasurer of the Trustees of the 'Taft Public Library for the year ending Feb. 8, 1900,
DR.
Balance from 1899 ·
$5 32
Cash received on two town orders
145 00
Cash received for cards, fines, etc.
7 00
$157 32
CR.
Cash paid G. M. Billings, for labels
$2 25
D. L. Brownell, for book
2 50
" A. H. H. Warren & Co., for binding
5 00
C. A. Fletcher, for wood
4 00
66
66 W. B. Clark & Co., for books
80 53
66
66 Julius A. George, for labor on wood
1 50
66
66 Sara F. Towne, salary
50 00
Cash on hand
11 57
$157 32
Respectfully submitted, HORACE C. ADAMS, Treasurer.
Mendon, Feb. 17, 1900.
AUDITOR'S REPORT.
I have this day examined the accounts of all the Town Officers who have received or disbursed funds belonging to the Town for the Muni- cipal year ending March 5, 1900, and find them correctly kept and prop- erly vouched.
CHARLES H. ALLEN, Auditor.
Mendon, February 19, 1900.
REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF MENDON
FOR THE
SCHOOL YEAR 1899='00.
MILFORD, MASS .: COOK & SONS, PRINTERS, JOURNAL OFFICE. 1900.
ORGANIZATION OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1899-1900.
HENRY W. GASKILL, Chairman, ERWIN A. SNOW, Secretary, LEONARD E. TAFT,
Term expires 1900
66
1901
66 66 1902
SUPERINTENDENT, ELMER E. SHERMAN.
SCHOOL BOOK AGENT, ERWIN A. SNOW.
TRUANT OFFICERS, EDWARD C. KINSLEY, LYMAN COOK, ELMER E. SHERMAN.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT.
TO THE CITIZENS OF THE TOWN OF MENDON :
The following report of the School Committee is respect- fully submitted.
The care of school property was assigned as follows : North, Leonard E. Taft; Albeeville and West, Henry W. Gaskill ; South, East and Center, Erwin A. Snow.
This year, as in former years, this report is made out two weeks before the close of the year; the pay of teachers, janitors and for transportation of scholars for these two weeks we have not given in detail, but have included the amount we have reason to expect it will be, in this report, thus giving the cost of the schools for a full year.
The outbuildings attached to the schoolhouse at the North have been removed, and as the ones at the South were good buildings and nearly new, and as we have no use for them there, they were moved to the North. This is an improvement that was much needed there.
The school buildings with the exception of the one in the East district, so-called, are in very good condition, with the exception of the floors; in the Center and Albeeville rooms the floors are worn out and should be replaced with new ones. It has been the policy of your Committee for several years to devote a certain amount each year to the improvement of some schoolroom or rooms. This year we have bought new single desks and chairs for the Primary room, and it is the intention to take enough from next year's appropriation to buy the same for the Grammar room, and unless some immediate action toward a new building is made, we shall ask the town for a special appro- priation to put in new floors at the same time; also to change the doors of the schoolhouses to swing out instead of in, as they now do, in order to comply with the law. Should the town see fit to build a new school building at any time, these seats will be all right for that and the floors will be needed whether the rooms are used for schoolrooms or something else.
January sixteenth Joseph A. Morse, State Inspector of Public Buildings, inspected the Center and East buildings; the other buildings he did not visit, as it was understood that if a new building was built the children from these schools would in
4
all probability be brought to the Center. His letter to the chair- man of the School Committee will be found in this report.
We would respectfully refer you to the annexed report of the Superintendent of Schools, which the Committee at its last meeting voted to accept, and have printed.
We would recommend an appropriation of twenty-eight hundred dollars for schools for the ensuing year.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
RECEIPTS.
Appropriation
$2800 00
Balance on hand, March 1, 1899
49 82
Income from state school fund
394 38
" dog tax. 160 74
Received from the State on account of Superintendent
416 67
Received for Tuition
35 00
from janitor of Town Hall for
rug
I 20
Received from W. W. Nelson, for old lumber
3 00
$3,860 81
EXPENDITURES.
Teachers' wages :-
Newton D. Clark, High
$525 53
Vina A. Dole, Grammar
300 00
Mrs. H. J. Flagg, Grammar
95 00
Mary E. Dudley, Primary.
340 00
Florence E. Snow, North
306 00
Ruth B. Cornwell, Albeeville
180 00
Bessie Kelley, Albeeville.
117 00
Margaret Thompson, East.
8 00
Cora L. Edmands, East
96 00
Annie B. Richardson, East.
155 50
$2,123. 03
Fuel :---
Williams Bros., coal
$51 00
Henry W. Gaskill, wood and fitting the same, Albeeville
22 75
E. A. Snow, wood and fitting the same Center and East
20 50
L. E. Taft, wood and fitting the same, North
8 75
$103 20
5
Care of rooms :-
Florence E. Snow, North $17 00
Ruth B. Cornwell, Albeeville 8 40
Bessie Kelley, Albeeville I 20
Walter Coffin, Albeeville
3 00
Cora L. Edmands, East,
3 60
Annie B. Richardson, East.
8 90
Margaret Thompson, East
30
Fred A. Snow, Center.
34 00
Mrs. Alger, cleaning Center
6 00
Mrs. Alger, cleaning Albeeville
4 50
Mrs. Head, cleaning North 5 00
Mrs. Cook, cleaning East.
I 00
$92 90
Transportation :-
George M. Taft
$170 00
Alfred I. Barrows
169 00
$339 00
Text books and supplies :-
Amount purchased as per report of school book agent.
$164 99
Apparatus :-
American Book Co $7 39
D. C. Heath & Co
I 59
Ginn & Co
8 79
Edward E. Bath & Co
4 20
Houghton, Mifflin & Co
I 05
E. E. Sherman
32
$23 34
Superintendent : -
Elmer E. Sherman
$550 00
Incidentals : -
C. J. Bailey & Co., Rubber tips for chairs
$3 00
Clark Ellis & Sons, school room sup- plies used in making repairs. 14 50
Geo. S. Perry & Co., Dusters, Ther- mometers and rug. 6 78
Geo. S. Perry & Co., desks and chairs for Primary room
102 80
C. B. Williams, Carting and Freight paid on desks and chairs.
3 10
C. H. Allen, labor
1 00
H. W. Brown, repairing clocks.
I 00
Thomas Groom & Co., order book
14 00
Albert Albee, labor and material fur- nished 4 00
6
Masten & Wells, flags $ 12 57
Otis Whitney & Son, labor and mate- rial furnished. 24 37
Z. C. Field, lumber. 3 66
Lewis Bates, labor on school yard, East 10 00
Mr. Whitney, repairing clock
50
Mrs. Cook, sundries.
38
Austin Fletcher, freight paid and cart- ing supplies I 95
Mendon Grange, use of piano on Me- morial Day 1 00
W. W. Nelson, labor
3 50
E. L. Smith, use of well
7 00
J. W. Estey, “
3 00
Miss Bicknell, “
2 00
E. E. Sherman cash paid stationery.
3 53
66 66 traveling ex-
penses
2 30
E. E. Sherman, express 66 printing. I 80
70
66
repairing clock
50
H. W. Gaskill, locks and keys
90
services as school com- mittee
I 25
H. W. Gaskill, glass and setting.
2 50
66 labor
I 00
66 taking school census
2 00
L. E. Taft, labor, material and cash paid 24 25
L. E. Taft, taking school census. 1 00 66 Sundries. I 08
E. A. Snow, cash paid, traveling ex- penses
5 42
E. A. Snow, cash paid, postage ..
3 60
66
66 cash paid, express .. 2 80
" cleaning up yard and other labor
I 40
E. A. Snow, services as School Com- mittee
8 76
E. A. Snow, repairing flag
25
66 labor
2 25
66 taking school census
4 00
66 66 mowing school yard.
3 00
66 sundries
32
66
60 services as secretary of
School Committee 10 00
7
E. A. Snow, services as school book agent $ 8 00
$312 71
$3,708 97
Cash on hand to pay what will be due teachers, janitors and for transporta- tion of scholars at the end of the year, March 3, 1900 149 00
Cost of schools for the year $3,857 97
Cash on hand unexpended. 2 84
$3,860 81
From the cost of schools for the year .......... Take the amount of text books and sup-
$3,857 97
plies on hand more than they were last year
17 87
Amount received for old lumber and rug
4 20 22 07
Net cost of schools for the year
$3,835 90
RECAPITULATION.
Resources $3,860 81
Expenditures :-
Teachers' wages, including amount un- paid $2,247 03
Fuel
103 00
Care of rooms, including amount un- paid
97 90
Text books and supplies
164 99
Apparatus
23 34
Superintendent
550 00
Transportation of scholars, including amount unpaid. 359 00
Incidentals 312 71
Cash on hand
2 84
$3,860 81
8
SUPPRESSION OF TRUANCY.
Appropriation $52 00
Paid Worcester County Truant School
for confinement of Herbert Alger.
36 12
Balance on hand $15 88
HENRY W. GASKILL, ERWIN A. SNOW, LEONARD E. TAFT,
School Committee.
Mendon, Feb. 17, 1900.
SCHOOL BOOK AGENT'S REPORT.
DR.
To books and supplies purchased :-
Ginn & Co.
$12 0I
Adams, Cushing & Foster
6 55
J. L. Hammett Co 9 88
Geo. F. King & Co
26 08
Geo. S. Perry & Co
40 17
Silver, Burdette & Co
29 40
Morse & Co
5 25
G. M. Billings
7 75
Books and supplies on hand, Mar. I, 1899 79 24
$244 23
CR.
By books and supplies furnished schools 66 66 66 66 on hand March 1, 1900 97 II
$147 12
$244 23
ERWIN A. SNOW, School Book Agent.
Mendon, Feb. 11, 1900.
$164 99
9
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF THE DISTRICT POLICE,
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, Mass., January 19, 1900. MR. HENRY W. GASKILL,
Chairman of School Committee, Mendon, Mass. Dear Sir :
I have made an inspection of the East school building and the Town Hall school building in the town of Mendon. The first is a one-story, one-room building without any suitable means of ventilation, and in its present condition not suitable for school purposes. The Town Hall school building contains three school rooms, in two of which no means of ventilation worth considering are provided. In the upper room, which is also used for a Town Hall, an attempt has been made to ven- tilate by means of small ventilators in the ceiling which are not suitable to meet the requirements of good ventilation. The air in the two lower rooms was found to be foul and not fit for the scholars to breathe.
Suitable means of ventilation should be provided to meet the requirements of the state law.
As the matter of a new school building is under considera- tion by your town, I shall delay issuing an order relating to these buildings until a reasonable opportunity is afforded the town to take action in relation to a new building.
The means of exit from the Town Hall building are not what they should be.
In case it becomes necessary to issue orders on these build- ings it will be required that the order be fully complied with and the case will not be allowed to rest with a partial compliance, as was done in a former order.
Very Respectfully Yours, JOSEPH A. MOORE,
State Inspector of Public Buildings.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF MENDON,
Gentlemen :- The sixth annual report of the present Super- intendent of schools is hereby presented.
STATISTICS 1898-99.
The statistics cover the period from September 1898 to June 1899. Formerly they have been reckoned from January to January, but the State Board of Education has changed the plan and it is now required that the statistics of attendance, etc., shall include the natural school year, beginning with the fall term and ending with the spring term. The statistics furnished in this report include those of the fall term of 1898 which were also included in the preceding report. In round numbers the figures for 1898-'99 are :
Total enrollment. I68
Average membership 14I
Average attendance I3I
Per cent. of attendance 93
The severe winter and the prevalence of measles and other children's diseases reduced the per cent. of attendance from that of the preceding year. The per cent. for Massachusetts was 92. Mendon schools were, therefore, one per cent. above the state average. The number of tardy marks is 116 less than that of last year, while the number of dismissals, excuses from some portion of the day, is greatly reduced. All this is very encour- aging, indicating more interest on the part of children and parents. A continuance of this record will lead to the formation of punctual and regular habits by the pupils and will increase the efficiency of the schools.
A YEAR OF WORK.
There have been no changes of teachers during the year. Substitutes were placed for a time in the Albeeville and East Schools during the illness of teachers. We were fortunate in re- taining the services of Mr. N. D. Clark in the High School. The success or failure of school work depends in large measure upon the teacher, and a change even of one good teacher for an-
II
other equally efficient retards the progress of the pupils. Those schools which have enjoyed the uninterrupted services of good teachers during the past year are to be congratulated.
The High School will have for the year 1899-1900 forty weeks of school. This is the statute year required for a standard high school in Massachusetts. By engaging the services of a competent teacher standard work can be done in our high school in English, Latin, and Mathematics. In the natural sciences we can do very little. Chemistry and physics require a room fitted with apparatus which can remain permanently in place. This is impossible in the Town Hall. Again one teacher cannot teach all subjects equally well, and specialists are now employed in high schools to teach their particular subjects. This is espe- cially true of the sciences. The requirements for admission to colleges, normal and technical schools have been advanced greatly within the last ten years. With our present equipment it is impossible to fully prepare students for these institutions. I would suggest that those of our graduates who desire to prepare for higher work take an additional year in the Hopedale or Milford High school, and that the town be requested to pay the tuition.
A syllabus in "Elementary English" including reading, spelling, composition and grammar has been prepared by the superintendent.
It is hoped that the pupil who completes the grammar school will know how to read to himself quickly and to others distinctly and intelligently ; will be able to compose a friendly or business letter with well arranged and clearly expressed thought, legible in penmanship and correct in grammar and spelling ; will know the ordinary business forms; and will have the ability and desire to use correct English in his conversation. This last is especially difficult because of the habit of using poor English formed before the child reaches school age, from the street and often from the home. If parents realized the trouble they would save their children by using careful English in the home they would more often make the effort to speak correctly in the presence of the little ones. The "Mother English" clings through life.
In addition to these forms which we would make mechan- ical, the effort is made to form a taste for good literature, that the pupil will enjoy and seek for good reading. To further this undertaking a school library of some one hundred volumes suit- able for young people has been provided for the use of the school children. It is gratifying to note how thoroughly this has been appreciated by the children as evinced by the amount and enthu- siasm of their patronage.
12
EDUCATIONAL IDEALS.
Everyone has ideals. One's ideals in any given line is more or less clear as he has devoted thought and investigation to the subject. It is true that his ideal will change, rising as his comprehension of the subject extends. Similar ideals held by a number of individuals constitute a public opinion. Upon the intelligence of the leaders depends the character of the opinion, whether it be enlightened and progressive, or otherwise.
The public hold ideals in the education of children. Some express the attitude of a former generation; others heeding the signs of the times in the progress of the world, seek to realize in education that which looks toward the equipment of the child for the life in the twentieth century.
Two things this latter class maintain our educational system should seek to aid in accomplishing-First: The development of power in the individual,-power to think, power to do. Each child is endowed by nature with a certain amount of brains. Education should develop what he has, and teach him to use them. One person is a good scholar but can make but little use of his knowlege; another, with but little learning, can never-the- less apply what he does know to good effect. Neither is well educated ; for to be educated one must have both knowledge and the power to use it. Another attribute of a good education is perseverance in application, the will and ability to stick to a thing until it is mastered.
All subjects pursued in school will, if properly taught and studied, develop the power of thought. Some, notably drawing and Sloyd or wood-working, will give practice in doing. Indus- trial drawing not only requires thought on the part of the student to master the conditions of the given problem, but demands that he execute with his hand and eye what he understands with his head. Sloyd, goes still further, and obliges him to express in the solid wood by the labor of his hands, the requirements of the plan he has previously drawn. The study of mathematics and of the structure of language strengthens the power of application and develops reason. It is not so much the subject studied as the manner and habit of study that develop the mind. The first view may be skillfully presented by the teacher, but the pupil must work if he would gain the knowledge and power. A large part of the teacher's duty lies in inducing the pupil to put forth his effort upon the task before him.
Second : The culture of taste and sentiment, what is termed the development of the æsthetic side of the child's nature ; and it is in this that the newer education differs most sharply from the older ideals. Our fathers were forced to devote their energies to the conquering of a new country. The struggle for existence
13
took their time and attention. This habit of thought they left to their children and it was continued long after the sharp necessity that gave it birth had passed away. The Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia was an eye-opener to the Americans. It taught us that the peoples across the sea were far ahead of us in all those manufactures and arts whose products are demanded by a culti- vated taste. The leaders realized that if we were to compete with the world something must be done to educate the rising generation in directions hitherto largely neglected. Massachu- setts imported an Englishman to organize a system for teaching drawing in the public schools. Natural science, music, history and literature began to receive attention, and were rapidly incor- porated into the work of the common schools. All this will have a direct commercial value to the republic and it will have an ennobling, elevating influence upon the life of the people.
We would not omit anything from the first ideal, the power to think, to do, to persevere; but we must not neglect the second, taste and sentiment, if we value the life of the nation, if we would have good citizenship-noble sentiments that will desire beauty and righteousness, and a discriminating taste to aid in choosing the true from the false.
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL OF TO-DAY.
Greater attention than ever before is being given to public education. We hear criticisms and suggestions from all sides. The schools are a frequent topic of discussion and furnish many subjects for the lecture platform, and the newspapers and period- icals voice the popular interest. This is well. Great differences of opinion are expressed. There are those who think the schools overwork the children and who advocate shorter hours and easier tasks; others claim that the pupils do not work, that everything is made too easy for the child. Some wish a less variety of subjects taught and would restrict the work to the three R's of the old-time school. On the other hand there is a constant pressure brought to bear upon school authorities to add more subjects to the curriculum, some even seeking legislative action to enforce their claims. Each and every critic of the schools can find in some place and at some time ground upon which to base his criticism. In the evolution of our civilization and the attempts of public education to adapt itself to the changing conditions, the pendulum of reform has often swung too far in one direction. But the schools are what the public make them and are sure eventually to reach the happy medium evolved from the common sense of the majority.
The assertion that the old district school fitted men for life
14
more successfully than do the schools of to-day is often heard, and the names of men who have achieved greatness with a dis- trict school equipment are cited in support of the truth of the state- ment. The biographies of these men show that they spent little time in school and that the schools had in consequence small influence in shaping their careers. They were self-educated. They had to compete with men whose advantages had been no better. To-day a man's rivals are trained and educated, and whoever competes must needs have a similar equipment if he would be successful.
Many of the duties which in old times were performed in the home are now thrust upon the schools. Even the favored daugh- ter of the well-to-do formerly had her daily "stent" of labor to perform. Children were taught at home what perseverance and righteousness meant. This home training is now too often neglected, and the school is expected to make good the loss.
The pupils of ordinary ability who form the great majority in any school, received very little from the district school. To- day it is the exception to find in a public school a child of ordinary ability, twelve years of age, who cannot read and write intelligently, and in whose heart some seeds of good citizenship have not lodged.
The successful young people in business, professional and public life to-day are almost without exception the products of a continuous training in our modern public schools, -schools which, with all their faults, are doing excellent work, and aiding more powerfully than any other one force in welding the varied interests of this republic into a great nation.
THE NEEDS OF OUR SCHOOLS.
The greatest need of the Mendon schools is suitable school buildings. Many of the things demanded of the schools by the times cannot be done in our schools to-day because of the poor accommodations provided.
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