USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Southbridge > Town annual reports of the officers of Southbridge for the year ending 1917-1921 > Part 12
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We take this opportunity to thank the voters for their cooperation and support and the firemen for their obedience and good work.
Respecfully submitted,
J. E. DUCHESNEAU, Chief WILLARD J. CLAFLIN GEO. W. LAUGHNANE LOUIS LAMOTHE JOHN J. HOGAN, Clerk
Report of Special Committee
To the Voters of the Town of Southbridge :-
Following a vote of the Town at the Special Town Meeting of July 15th, the undersigned committee has caused a survey and inspection of the town highways to be made and herewith present conclusions drawn, to- gether with recommendations for action by the town.
For the purposes of this report we have separated the town highways into two groups, "Streets" which com- prehends the highways within the thickly built portion of the town, and "Roads" which includes the remaining highways. The limits we have arbitrarily placed on lines joining the following points, West Main st at the town line; junction of Plimpton and Roberts sts; junction of Charlton st and Charlton City Road; junction of Morris and Cisco Sts; point where Cohasse Brook crosses the Eastford Road; and the junction of Main and West sts.
Following the plan of division the town has about 19 miles of streets and 45 miles of roads.
STREETS
The 19 miles of streets are divided thus :-
Paved with wood blocks
.4 miles
Paved with brick .9 miles
Paved with concrete .2 miles
Tar bound macadam
2.5 miles
Water bound macadam .6 miles
Dirt 14.4 miles
19.0
Wooden Block Pavement :-
All the wooden block pavement is in good condition.
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Brick Pavement :---
The brick pavement on Hamilton st is in fair condi- tion but will need repairs in the near future, particularly the section west of Pine st, which, though laid one year later than the easterly section, shows unmistakable evi- dences of wear due to poor grouting, and sections of in- ferior foundation. This section has already been repaired in some places on account of these faults. There are also openings in this street made for underground service work which should be repaired at the earliest opportunity
Concrete Pavements :-
The pieces of concrete are in good condition except for the cracks which always appear in this type of pave- ment, which have needed attention for two years past, and should be filled at once with bituminous cement. Some of the cracks in that portion of the Elm st. pave- ment which was laid with local stone have worn so badly on the edges that this method of repair may not be very satisfactory. Had these been attended to at first appear- ance the expense would have been trifling and the cracks would not have worn in the manner they have.
Tar-Bound Macadam :-
There are repairs of greater or less extent on all the streets of this sort. The one in worst condition is Wor- cester st. from the Central st. bridge north about 1500 ft This piece of pavement should be entirely resurfaced.
Dirt Streets :-
Under this head comes more than three-fourths of our streets and practically none of them is in even fair condition. Fully half, notably Elm st., Everett st., Main st., River st., Eastford Road and such side hill streets as Marcy, Pine, Cross, Sayles, High, etc are in a disgraceful state of repair. There is a tendency to believe that be- cause of the scandalous condition these streets have reached through neglect that the proper way out of the
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mess is to be found in so-called permanent pavements. This solution of the problem would be justilable in but a few of the cases at present. Elm St., Main St., from Goddard St. to South, and Central St., on account of the heavy travel and their connection with existing pave- ments might well be paved. We believe this is all the per- manent pavement the town needs for several years.
. To give an idea of the relative economy of permanent pavements and of properly kept streets with their present class of surfacing (that is dirt or gravel) let us consider 1500 ft. of street with a 24 ft. width of roadway and an amount of traffic such as the greater part of our streets have. Everett st from Main to Elm or Charlton st from Mechanic st to the Cemetery would be of about this ex- tent and be typical of traffic conditions.
A concrete pavement over this extent of street would cost at least $13,000. The interest on this sum at 6 per cent represents $780 per year. Thirty years would be a long time for a pavement to last before replacement or general resurfacing. Assuming that this replacement of resurfacing could be done at a cost of $2.00 per square yard we would have a cost of $9600. Neglecting the cost of repairs which any pavement must have from year to year, this stretch of street would have cost the town $1100 per year. Does any one doubt that half that sum intelligently spent yearly on the same street would give a street that could fill all requirements ?
We believe the solution of our street problem lies in intelligent maintenance rather than in large capital ex- pense for more permanent surfacing.
The dirt streets other than those recommended for paving should be thoroughly repaired. Certain of them call for immediate and entire reshaping.
In some cases there is sufficient material now on the streets to do this, but in others it must be brought to the
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streets. In either case the work should be done to as care- fully a laid out cross section as would be used on a per- manent pavement and the new material thoroughly rolled into place. Heretofore where work of this nature has been done the material has been so spread that a proper cross section has not been preserved. Generally the middle of the street has been left too flat and the slope needed for drainage has all been carried by the few feet near the gutter and the centre of the street on account of lack of drainage, has soon rutted and then been churned into mud. On many streets, especially the side hill streets the rutting has been allowed to go so far tha water from side streets instead of following the gutter has flowed down the middle of the street and washed it until the gutters are higher than the travelled way. The streets calling for immediate reshaping beside those already recommended to be paved are :-
Charlton st from Mechanic st to the Cemetery, Me- chanic st from the bridge to the tarred surface laid in 1919, Chapin st, south of Dresser st., Dresser st from Elm to Marcy st., Everett st from Elm to Main, Oliver st. from Hamilton to River, Plimpton st from Walcott to Robert, High st., Sayles st., River st., and Water st. The coming of spring may show other streets in as much need as these but these seem at present to call most loudly for attention.
The other dirt streets should be temporarily re- paired to prevent further damage as far as possible.
There are many streets suffering from a lack of catch basins and storm drains. In order to furnish this. drainage economically each one should be a part of a general system covering the built up portion of the town. As more streets are paved and more sidewalks and houses built we hall be driven to the contruction of storm drains. Unless built to a comprehensive scheme there will be a
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great deal of money wasted in rebuilding, overcrowding present drains, duplicating main lines, etc. We therefore recommend that the town engage engineers to lay out a scheme of storm drains for the town to be followed in future work of this kind. We recommend that money be appropriated in 1920 for this purpose.
We recommend the paving of Elm st., southerly from Main st to Park st., with the best type of bituminous roadway or concrete.
The bituminous pavement would have some advan- tages over concrete on account of the width of the street and the desirability of having as good looking a street as possible in front of our Town Hall and other public build- ings on this street. The cracks which would develop in a concrete street of this width would be unsightly. The cost of wooden block we consider prohibitive ..
We recommend Elm st, south from Park st, be paved with concrete.
We recmmend paving Central st from Main st. to the New Haven Railrod with concrete.
We recommend paving Main Street, from Mamil- ton Street, to South Street with concrete excepting a strip in each side of the roadway on the hill which we recommend be a trap rock water bound macadam for horse travel, each. macadam strip being one half as wide as the concrete.
Roads :-
Of the 45 miles of road in the town about 81/2 miles have been rebuilt in recent years with either waterbound macadam, tar bound macadam or concrete. With the completion of the concrete roadway on the Dudley River Road the town now has what should be, if properly main- tained, good roads in all directions from which traffic enters the town. The Eastford road and the North Wood- stock Road are incomplete, about four miles of roadway
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would be needed to complete them. We believe the town should do no more work of this kind on its roads for the present, but confine itself to preserving what it already has and draining and repairing those which have not been improved. The macadam on Eastford Road is badly in need of repair not having been attended to since it was first laid. The Westville road built in 1918 is also in need of repair. The section first built on the North Woodstock Road on the hill north of Mr. Cheney's residence has been allowed to wash away until at present it is in a dangerous condition and calls for immediate repair. This piece of road lying between two stretches of good tar bound macadam is especially noticable. All the tar bound macadam roads need patching and tarring and will need the same attention every year.
Outside the main roads all of the roads are in very bad condition. Some four miles or so in various quarters might be classed as impassable. The town might close some of these roads without great hardship to anyone. We believe about four miles of roadway might be taken off the town's shoulders in this way. The remaining 35 miles or so of secondary country road should be kept in good condition by constant repairing.
We recommend the following expeditures for 1920 as necessary to make a start toward putting our streets and roads in presentable shape.
Repair & Maintenance of dirt st. surfaces $15,000.00
Maintenance of tar bound streets 1000.00
Maintenance of brick pavement 500.00
Maintenance of concrete pavement 200.00
Resurfacing Worcester Street
2400.00
Total street maintenance 19100.00
Maintenance of tar bound roads 2500.00
Special repairs on Woodstock Road
500.00
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Special repairs on Eastford Road
400.00
Tarring Westville Road macadam
800.00
Repairs & Maintenance of dirt roads
5000.00
Total road maintenance $9200.00
Special appropriation for drainage plans
$2000.00
We estimate the cost of pavements which we recom- mend for the near future.
Elm Street
21,600.00
Central Street
8,100.00
Main St., Hamilton to South St. 22,200.00
Respectfully submitted J. G. CLARKE E. B. ARMSTRONG R. A. RICE
Special Committee.
Report of Sealer of Weights and Measures
To the Citizens of Southbridge :-
I respectfully submit my report from November 30, 1918 to November 30, 1919.
Adjusted Platform Scales Over 5000 pounds 4
Sealed Platform Scales over 5000 pounds 10
Condemned Platform Scales over 5000 pounds 2
Adjusted Platform Scales under 5000 pounds 3
Sealed Platform Scales under 5000 pounds
170
Non-sealed
7
Condemned Platform Scales under 5000 pounds
3
Sealed Slot Weighing Scales
8
All other Scales adjusted
9
All other Scales Sealed
282
All other Scaless Condemned
18
Number of Weights Adjusted
0
Number of Weights Sealed
1337
Number of Weights Condemned
19
Number of Liquid Measures Adjusted
0
Number of Liquid Measures Sealed
109
Number of Liquid Measures Condemned
10
Number of Milk Jars Sealed
228
Number of Milk Jars Condemned
0
Number of Linear Measures Sealed
44
Number of Lienar Measures Condemned
1
Oil and Molasses Pumps Sealed
41
Oil and Molasses Pumps Condemned
9
Total Adjusted
21
Total Sealed
2317
Total Condemned
50
Certificates Issued in the Office and Outside 268
92
Inspection of Stores 67
Inspection of Hawkers and Peddlers 60
Inspection of Peddlers' Licenses 39
Inspection of Milk Wagons 16
Inspection of Coal Certificates 27
Inspection of Junk Dealers 9
Inspection of Ice Wagons 37
Marking of Food Packages 248
During the year many inspections were made at dif- ferent times of which no record was kept. The scales of hawkers, peddlers, coal dealers, ice dealers and those in markets, grocey stores etc., were inspected to insure against carelessness and fraud.
Within the last few years many outside hawkers and peddlers have been eliminated from this town, to the ben- efit of our merchants, who pay rent and taxes and give employment; it is no more than right that they should be protected.
The department has received few complaints of short weight this year, although many violations of the law were noted and quickly adjusted. All of the violations except one, where a fine was paid, were slight, and it was not deemed advisable to bring them to the attention of the court.
More incorrect scales have been seized and condemned during the past year, and are held at the Sealer's office.
The duties of the Sealer of Weights and Measures are becoming more important and harder each year, as the Government and State inspectors require more work and time put in the position to stop fraud and deceit and give a greater protection to the purchasing public.
The inventory of the Sealer's Department, taken December 31, has given the amount of $349.60.
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Th; fees collected during the year and paid to the Town Treasurer amount to $170.20.
Respectfully submitted FELIX GATINEAU, Sealer
Report of Highway Surveyor
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and Citizens of the Town of Southbridge :-
I most respectfully submit for your consideration the annual report of the Highway Department, reviewing the principal work performed during the year 1919. This de- partment has charge of the maintenance of the streets, general repairs of roads, sidewalks, bridges and drains. I am moved to express to my fellow citizens, my hearty appreciation of the confidence they have conferred upon me. In spite of the responsibilities assumed by the posi- tion, due to hardships encountered at all times in minis- tering to the needs of a community, when you have to consider the needs individually to meet with the needs of the whole body, I may well say that I have striven by diligent efforts to merit confidence. But very few repairs were done during the past year, as we were lacking the two principal factors: funds and help. If you go on a va- cation, you cannot expect to enjoy luxuries without pay- ing the price asked for, and the same principles apply to the maintenance of roads and streets. We must then ask the Committee on Finance to be as liberal as possible in making the appropriations so that we may meet with sufficient income to administer to the needs of the depart- ment, having thus due regard towards the welfare of our taxpayers.
Here follows the subdivisions of labor entrusted to my care :-
Classification
App.
Exp.
Bal.
Highways
$10000.00
9999.79
.21
Sidewalk Repairs
2000.00
1999.83
.17
Main and Hamilton sts.
1600.00
1599.88
.12
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General Cleaning
2200.00
2200.00
Sanitary Cleaning
1350.00
1349.65
.35
Bridges
200.00
199.34
.66
Railings
200.00
199.42
.58
Permanent Roads
2500.00
2498.79
1.21
Oiling Streets
2500.00
2324.42
175.58
Pleasant Street Grading
145.70
145.70
Salary
1500.00
1500.00
Clerk Hire
300.00
300.00
Totals
$24495.70 24316.82
178.88
Now the Highways, comprising general street and road repairs were divided as follows :-
Scraping Country Roads
$1200.00
Snow and Ice
197.00
Washouts
2338.39
Gravel Walks
87.00
Catchbasins, North Street
23.50
Mechanic St. filling (tar rolled)
3117.10
Eastford Rds., ashes and stone
720.97
North Woodstock Road
202.00
Pleasant Street
159.97
Mill Street Filling
419.46
Rose and Green Streets
164.12
Proulx Street
35.00
Westville, ashes
59.00
Sandersdale Road
33.00
Geer's Road
34.50
Cliff Street
101.00
Cohasse and Beach Streets
24.30
Elm Street
12.00
Foster Street
12.25
Lebanon Road
24.75
Hartwell Street
20.75
Morse Road
30.00
Dresser Street
58.45
97
Charlton Street
201.56
Crossings
42.19
Cleaning Brook, Worcester Street
122.75
Repairs to Steam Roller
316.75
Supplies, incidentals
254.03
Total Highways
$9999.79
Mechanic Street was in such poor condition that it had to be given special and immediate attention, and with some repairs done on Eastford Road, was practically the only road suitably repaired. On other sections the money was sparingly used so as to avoid accidents and keep roads in condition for general traffic.
65 Permits to open streets were issued.
Sidewalk repairs were done on Canal St., Pleasant, River, Charlton and crossings. The amount of labor done sums up as follows, on an appropriation of $2000.00 :- 212 feet setting curb; 31 feet cement curb; 100 feet set- ting gutter; 698 square yards concrete.
All appropriations were used and but very small bal- ances appear, showing that pretty close figures had been given by the committee last year. Now a Committee of Finance has been appointed to investigate and provide for the maintenance and improvements for the present year. There are already many demands before them that really are necessities :- such as higher wages for men and teams, new sidewalks, sidewalks to be repaired, new bridges to be built, stretches of permanent roads, etc. It is to the people to present their demands to the committee After their consideration and estimation, amounts will be submitted to your vote. The voice of the people becomes a law, so the town will improve its roads and streets accord- ing to the wishes of its voters.
In conclusion, I desire to thank the Selectmen, the
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Officers of the other boards, the property owners, the voters, for their cooperation in this work.
Respectfully yours, AIMEE LANGEVIN, Highway Surveyor
FOREST FIRES
Appropriation $500.00 Expended $435.80 Balance 64.20
There were 23 Forest Fires during 1919 and all small fires. Eleven permits to burn brush were given. Constant care and attention is solicited from all as to preserving the town from destructive forest fires. Pay strict atten- tion of the rules of the permits.
To the Fire Wardens who have assisted me in my work during the past year I extend my sincere thanks.
Deputies For 1919 :-
Dennie Langevin, Louis Pontbriand, Geo. H. Clem- ence,, W. H. Wadleigh, John Keenan, Ad. Bouchard, Jos. Payant, Eurobe Laliberte, Jules Livernois, Wilfrid Char- ron,
AIMEE LANGEVIN, Chief Fire Warden
BROWN TAIL MOTHS
Appropriation $100.00 Expended $98.77 Balance $1.23
Moth thinning work was carried on. But very few nests were found and it was decided to discontinue such work for the coming year.
AIMEE LANGEVIN,
Local Moth Superintendent
Report of Playground Committee
Mr. F. A. Wald, Secretary of the Playground Committee:
The following is the eighth annual report of super- vised play.
Opening and Attendance :-
The playgrounds at Central, School, Union, River, Elm Streets and Sandersdale opend for the summer sea- son of six weeks, Monday, July 7, with an attendance of 1050 children.
Division of Time: -
As in previous years the afternoon session of four hours was divided into industrial and play periods.
Industrial Periods :-
During the industrial periods of one hour each ses- sion for senior children, and one-half hour for junior children, the following arts and crafts were taught in the girls' department: Embroidery, crocheting, tatting, knitting, sewing, basketry, weaving, painting and chair caning. The boys were instructed in wood workng, bas- ketry, chair caning, and weaving. The result was 825 fin ished articles ..
Play Periods :-
The play periods were divided into periods for active games, singing games, folk dances, athletics, team games track events and apparatus work, which gave every child an opportunity to develop physically. A lively interest was manifested in all games and sports. Junior and Sen- ior baseball nines were formed and hotly contested games were played between the home grounds. The games played with the Webster playground team resulted in a tie. Basket ball and Volley ball were popular. On extreme-
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ly warm afternoons books, stories and quiet games were the attraction.
Swimming :-
Swimming classes were conducted off the shores of Big Pond on Monday and Tuesday mornings and the chil- dren attending these classes made creditable progress. Every precaution was taken to safeguard the children.
New Features :-
Under the patronage of the Southbridge Woman's Club, classes were formed in the Girls' Health League. The course consisted of a series of lectures in home helps and conservation of health. The lectures in the course were given by Mrs. Chas. Simpson, R. N., and her pupils evinced much interest in the class work. It is hoped classes of a similar nature may be conducted during the season of 1920.
Community singing on all the grounds was another interesting feature. The children seemed to find self-ex- pression in song, while busy working, playing, swinging, they sang, and the favorite songs were the war songs. The singing spirit was fostered by the play leaders. As a result on Welcome Home day 500 of these enthusiastic singers formed the chorus on the grandstand, Main st., and led by the Brightside Band of Holyoke, directed by Miss Elizabeth Earls, assisted by the playground in- structors, the playground children welcomed "Our He- roes" with songs and cheers. At the close of these exer- cises the children were given a candy treat by the Knights of Columbus.
The gift of money by a friend of the children made it possible to hire a phonograph for the Central Street playground this season, otherwise there would have been no music.
The Future :-
Recreational departments are facing broader recre-
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ational needs and possibilities. Plans must be made ac- cordingly, if we would retain the position and reputation already gained.
A public tennis court, centrally located is an imper- ative necessity for young people just above playground age. A plan for use of playgrounds after work hours would result in gain to the community. There is need of new apparatus, the old should be carefully tested and repaired.
Indications are that it will be impossible to retain the best prepared instructors at the present salaries.
The success of the work depends on the type of in- structors. It is impossible to engage instructors to replace those who have resigned, at the salary offered now.
The play leaders who have grown up with the work and who have made it a success must be induced to remain in the service if we are to meet the new ideals successfully.
Respectfully submitted MARGARET G. BUTLER
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Report of Town Clerk
Vital Statistics for the year ending Dec. 31, 1919
Number of Marriages
181
Number of Deaths
157
Number of Births
387
Number of Dogs Licensed in 1918:
Males 321
Females
43
Breeders
1
Respectfully submitted
W. W. BUCKLEY,
Town Clerk
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Report of Librarian
TRUSTEES OF JACOB EDWARDS LIBRARY
George Grant
Fred E. Corbin
Louis O. Rieutord
Henry Tetrault
For the Town
John M. Cochran Francis L. Chapin John E. Paige
For the Fund
LIBRARIAN Ella E. Miersch ASSISTANTS
Mabel W. Plimpton Katherine Wheeler
JANITOR Romnaldo di Bonaventura LIBRARY HOURS Week days, except January 1, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas :- 10 to 12 a. m., 2 to 5.30 ; 6.30 to 9 p. m.
LIBRARIAN'S REPORT
A book publisher, recently returned from England, reports that in England everyone is reading. Here too everyone is reading and along all lines. A year ago people only read novels or books on the war. Now people are once . more reading books of literature, travel and biography. During the past year 54,759 volumes were circulated from the Library, an increase of over 9,000 volumes (or twenty per cent) over the books circulated from the Li- brary during 1918. Fifty per cent of these books were fiction, twenty-five per cent non-fiction, twenty-two per cent children's books and three percent current periodicals.
As a result of the Americanization classes conducted by Southbridge factories, we have had many demands for
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easy books for learning English and about America. We have bought new books along these lines and duplicated books which we owned. We printed lists of "Books about America" and distributed these to the "Americanization classes". Our foreign books-Polish, Greek and Italian- have been in good demand and we have had numerous re- quests for books in Portuguese and Albanian.
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Five hundred and forty volumes have been added to the Library which now contains 23,682 volumes. "Ma- chinery's Encyclopedia," in seven volumes, is one of our most valuable additions. We have bought goodly numbers of books of applied science to help men with their daily work on mechanics, plumbing, textiles, optics, automobile, accounting, telegraphy, sheet metal work; thru the Y. M. C. A. and the factories we have distributed bookmarks and leaflets advertising books on trades and professions. A bulletin containing a list of the books purchased can be obtained free at the Library.
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