USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1848/49-1855 > Part 30
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ble sections of some of the cross streets that are much frequented by heavy teams ; and for which, in my judgment, the cobble pavements will be found amply sufficient. Should you agree with me on this point, I doubt not that an appropriation for highways for the present year, as large as that for the last, will be as much as can be judi- ciously expended ; though such is the number of new streets, in vari- ous parts of the city, that the demand for expenditures, if it were answered, would absorb a much larger amount.
The attention of the last city government was early directed to the safety of the public at several dangerous railroad crossings. In the early part of June, an arrangement was effected with the West- ern railroad company, by which the president of that road agreed for their company and for the Providence and Worcester railroad com- pany, to construct a viaduct under their respective roads at the crossing in Southbridge street. For the city it was agreed that the commissioner should cart away the earth necessary for the construc- tion of the viaduct-the city being in want of the gravel for the repairing of Southbridge street and other streets in the south part of the city. Some forty rods of Southbridge street lies across a swamp. It was built about twenty years ago, by laying trees and brush across the track, and piling the earth upon them. Many times it has been found necessary, in past years, to raise the road by carting gravel upon it ; but as it was found in the early part of the season to need considerable repairs, it was decided to take advantage of the removal of the gravel for the viaduct, to put the road in good condition. Teams were set to work about the 23d of August, and in a few days a considerable portion of the swamp road was raised to such a height that it was supposed it would need no further repairs for years to come. But the foundation of the road had become so overloaded by the accumulations of gravel, year after year, that in a single night some fifteen rods of it sunk, and in the morning it was found covered with water ten to fifteen feet deep. There was no alternative for the city government but to go forward and fill up the chasm with earth; and teams were kept running from that time to nearly or quite the middle of December before the work was completed. It was done mostly by contract, and took not less than 15,000 yards of earth, and cost not less than $2400; but the road is now one of the finest ave-
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nues into the city; and it is not doubted that it will be found to be one of our most permanent highways. The viaduct is thoroughly built, in the most substantial manner ; and when fully completed will be found a great convenience and safety to the public and to the railroad companies.
Another considerable expenditure was the change of the grade in the south part of Main street by the cutting down of "Mower's hill" and the hill near the Oread Institute, and filling up the valleys. The improvement is a marked one, and was effected by the payment of small amounts of damages to the abuttors-most of them having relinquished all claims of that description in consequence of an im- provement so beneficial to their estates.
In Lincoln Square, the surface water which was poured into the square from half a dozen streets, has been taken off by the construc- tion of culverts of brick or brick and stone. A contribution in aid of this work, to the amount of one hundred dollars, was made by the Worcester and Nashua railroad company in consideration of the re- lief it afforded them in draining their road.
A considerable amount of curbstone has been set, and gutters paved, during the year ; and I ask you to consider the expediency of carrying this kind of work to a much greater extent during the com- ing season. The comfort of our citizens will be greatly promoted thereby, as the sidewalks may then be graveled to much better ad- vantage ; and the water will be taken from the streets with less dam- age to the traveled way. Should you accede to the propriety of this opinion, I recommend that the commissioner be authorized, at an early day, to contract for such an amount of curb and paving stones as will probably be required during the year ; as both may be obtained at better advantage upon an early contract than when delayed until a more busy season of the year.
To accommodate the travel and business of the northwestern sec- tion of the city, and of the adjoining towns, with the village of "New Worcester," a piece of road, about fifty rods in length, has been built in the village of Tatnick, at an expense, for the land and road, of about $300 ; and I understand, although not officially advised of the fact, that the county commissioners, against the remonstrance of the city government, have laid out, and ordered to be built, about one
9
hundred and fifty rods of road, in the southerly part of the city, leading off from Southbridge street to the line of Auburn. Provision will have to be made for the building of the same when notice of the action of the commissioners is received.
Several private streets have been made public during the year ; and there are many more that should be made public. Where such streets are lined with buildings, that pay taxes to the city, it is but reasonable that the abuttors should be released from the additional tax of keeping the streets in repair; and where it is not deemed ex- pedient to make such streets public, it will be good policy for the city government to avail itself of the provisions of an Act of the last leg- islature, which gives authority to locate streets and fix their grades, without assuming them as public roads. Had such a law been in existence for the last few years, it would have saved some of the heavy drafts that have been made upon the treasury in payment of damages alleged to have been made by changes in the grade or loca- tion of streets.
The last city council laid out, and made public, Temple street ; and . extended it over the canal to Grafton street. The opening of that street will be a great public convenience to the travel between the depot of the Western railroad and the depot of the Providence and Worcester road, to people coming into the city from the east, and to one of the largest religious societies in the city, whose church has stood for years upon a private street. Provision will therefore have to be made for the completion of Temple street, and for a bridge over the canal.
The bridge near the mills of William B. Fox & Son, needs to be rebuilt; and to relieve the travel in that direction from the liability to accidents, and the city to the payment of damages in consequence of such accidents, the last city council relocated that portion of Green street that lies between the "Red Mills" and its junction with Mill- bury and Vernon streets; thus rendering necessary the removal of the bank wall farther east, and the erection of a new bridge in a lo- cation somewhat different from the present one. It is an improve- ment much needed.
Your attention is also invited to the subject of the floating bridge across Long Pond. It was planked anew with heavy plank in the
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summer of 1852, at an expense of $1100; but such is the amount of travel upon it, and such its position upon the water, that it wears out very rapidly ; and I am informed that it may require to be plank- ed again in the course of the present year. With a view to the pres- ervation of the bridge, the last board of aldermen passed an ordi- nance in conformity with a law of the commonwealth, providing that no horse should be driven on the bridge at a greater speed than a walk; but it was amended by the council in such manner as to be without any value for the preservation of the bridge. When the length of the bridge-over five hundred feet-the increasing value of lumber in this market, and the consequent expense of keeping the bridge in repair, are considered, the city council can not be blamed for manifesting a reasonable solicitude for its preservation.
I ask your attention also to a small portion of Millbury street, lying between Cambridge street and Quinsigamond village. When the Providence and Worcester railroad was constructed, the company had permission to occupy a portion of the road for their track upon the condition that they would swing the highway to the east far enough to make it safe for the public travel. This they did; but in a manner so imperfect that there is now a constant liability to acci- dents of a most serious character, from the proximity of the railroad to the traveled way.
A new bridge has become necessary across Mill brook in Grove street; and so great is the amount of travel in that direction, espec- ially with heavy teams, that I doubt not it will be good economy to construct the bridge with stone. Should you accede to the propriety of this recommendation, the adoption of an order for its erection, at an early day, will enable the commissioner to make such arrange- ments for it as will tend to facilitate the work with which he is charged.
The bank wall in front of the court houses, which was commenced in 1852, has been completed. The steps in front of the old court house being found illy adapted to the new wall, an agreement was made with the county commissioners to substitute a handsome flight in front of the new court house, where the county offices now are- they furnishing the steps and buttresses, and the city laying them. The work has been completed, with the exception of a small portion
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of the grading, and setting some trees in place of others which it was found necessary to remove.
But two claims have been made upon the city, during the past year, for damages in consequence of defects in the highways. One of them was by an individual in Holden. He was coming into the city with a load of wood; and while driving, inattentively, across the bridge in Grove street, one wheel of his wagon broke through, near one end of the bridge. The wheel was broken, the axle twisted, and he himself was thrown from the top of his load, over the bridge into the water below. Under authority given by the city council, the matter was promptly adjusted with him upon the payment of the sum of twenty-five dollars from the city treasury. The other was dam- age to a horse belonging in Sutton, which got one leg into a hole in a culvert, caused by the displacing of a stone, in Water street. It was settled upon the payment of the sum of ten dollars.
At the term of the criminal court in January, an indictment was procured against the city for a defect in a cross road leading from Grafton street, under the Boston and Worcester railroad, in the direc- tion of Shrewsbury. It was tried at the September term, and the indictment was not sustained. At the court in May, another indict- ment was found for defects in the construction of the floating bridge, and in the road leading therefrom to Washington Square. The case was submitted to the same jury, but before a different judge; and while they found no cause for complaint against the bridge, they sus- tained the indictment so far as related to the road. Both cases were managed for the city by the city solicitor. No other actions exist against the city, that I am aware of, except two now pending, com- menced by two abuttors upon Manchester street, for damages alleged to have been sustained by them from the action of the city council in fencing up that street, as a dangerous private way, under authority given the council so to do by a statute of the commonwealth.
The Fire Department, to which the city is so largely indebted for the protection of private and public property, is under effective organ- ization and discipline, and has rendered good service whenever it has been called out. It is composed of young men of energy, who know their duty and are ever ready to do it. I commend the department to your ever-attentive consideration.
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The Aqueduct has been found to be one of the most valuable of the city properties. Yet the opinion gains strength every year, that it is inadequate to the present and prospective wants of the city. When constructed, it was not contemplated that it would do much more than supply water for the extinguishment of fires ; and in that service it has paid for itself many times over in the property it has saved. But the conviction has become strong among the people, that a more abundant supply of water ought to be obtained, if it possibly can be, for the use of the fire department at fires ; for the mechanical shops that are now or may hereafter be erected; and especially for the thousands of uses of the inhabitants generally, where it is so essential to the health, the comfort, the morals, and the growing prosperity of a community. So important has the matter of an ample supply of pure water been regarded by the people, in all times and in all places, that aqueducts and fountains are among the most massive of the ru- ins of ancient towns and cities ; and at the present day there is scarcely a city or town, of any magnitude, in Europe, but has its bountiful supply of water, for which it is indebted to the construction of some spacious aqueduct. And even in our own country, we have ample evidence of the prolific power of effective aqueducts upon the growth of cities, as well as upon their general health and prosperity.
Impressed with the importance of this subject, the last city coun- cil directed a committee to examine the sources from which a supply, adequate to the wants of the city, could be obtained. That commit- the explored the region around for several miles, and reached the conclusion that a supply of water could be obtained, and be brought to the city in quantity and with force enough to answer the public demands, if certain necessary powers could be first obtained from the legislature, and if the city, after more minute and careful examina- tions and calculations, should deem it expedient to venture upon an expenditure of so much magnitude as such a work must necessarily involve. After instructing the mayor to petition the legislature for the passage of an Act conferring the requisite powers upon the city, the last council referred the subject to you for your consideration. Should you deem the matter deserving further attention, I should recommend, that after it shall have assumed a definite shape, you submit the question to the decision of a popular vote, as I under- stand by the charter you will have the right to do.
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Instructions were also given to the mayor, by the last council, to apply to the legislature for such modification of the city charter as will allow of the establishment of a board of trustees for the better management of Hope Cemetery, the property of the city. Experi- ence has demonstrated that a systematic plan for the improvement and disposal of the grounds, so extensive as those are, cannot be carried out as it should be by a committee chosen annually. Such a committee can scarcely become acquainted with the grounds before their term of service expires. It was therefore decided by a com- mittee, and their report was adopted, that the charter ought to be so amended as that the general management of the cemetery should be confided to a board of trustees, to be elected or appointed for a term of years, and so holding their office as that one shall go out and a new one be appointed every year. If this power shall be obtained, and be adopted, I doubt not you will find pleasure in carrying it into practical effect.
Of the lots in Hope Cemetery, 68 deeds have been delivered by the city treasurer ; for which $569 has been paid into the treasury, and is held as a reserved fund. About 50 other lots have been se- lected, for which deeds have not yet been given.
I would also suggest for your consideration the propriety of an- other amendment of the charter, so that the voters may vote, in the elections, in the wards in which they have their residence at the time of the assessment of taxes, notwithstanding they may have subse- quently changed their residence from one ward to another. Such a provision would greatly reduce the labor of the city officers in pre- paring the voting lists, and would relieve many of the voters from the inconvenience of ascertaining whether their names are correctly en- rolled before elections. If these amendments should be made to the charter, with such others as your wisdom may suggest, you would probably decide it to be expedient to revise and reprint the city ordi- nances, together with the charter, for the convenience of the govern- ment, and for the information of the people, as soon as such amend- ments should be adopted.
In the early part of last year, a committee was authorized by the city council to cause an accurate survey to be made of the ancient burying ground upon the common, and a plan to be drawn, upon
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which should be designated every grave that could be recognized ; and then each of the monuments, remaining, to be buried above the grave a short distance below the surface, so that by reference to cer- tain points and monuments on the plan any grave could be found in a short time without difficulty. The survey and plan have been completed by Gill Valentine, Esq., in a very satisfactory manner.® A portion of the trees have been removed ; and when the views of the committee shall have been fully carried out by grading some small portions of the ground, it will present an appearance far more creditable to the city than of late years it has been. It would be but a deserved tribute to the memory of the first settlers of the city, and their immediate descendants, if a suitable monument should be erected there, to mark for all coming time the place where their ashes repose.
During the past year some improvements have been made in the city hall building, by perfecting the draining below the basement, and by the introduction of portable furnaces, with connecting flues, for the purpose of securing a better ventilation of the hall. If it is probable that the building will continue to be occupied by the city, as it now is, for some time to come, I would suggest that some exam- ination be made with a view to ascertain whether better accommoda- tions can not be obtained for some of the city officers than they now have. If it could be done, and done at a reasonable expense, the southern side of the room now occupied by the police court-which is larger than is needed for that purpose-might be converted into a fire proof office for the treasurer ; and the room now occupied by that officer, be given to the assessors, who are now obliged to obtain accommodations away from the building. It would also afford a safe place of deposite for the numerous papers-many of which are of great value-that are now in the private custody of the city clerk ; and also for the records and papers of the police court. If this should be done, it would afford an opportunity to rearrange and en- large the accommodations of the lock-up beneath ; which at times are found insufficient for those who are obliged to occupy them. The expediency of such a measure will depend much upon the amount of the expenditure it will require. Of that you could judge after ob- taining an estimate.
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The police department of à government is one about which the people are ever sensitive. Its duties are often delicate as well as difficult ; and the effective performance of those duties may depend somewhat upon the manner in which the officers are sustained by the people themselves, as well as upon their ability and disposition to do their duty. Among a people who are their own law-makers, all laws are but expressions of the will of the people ; and it well may be an object of inquiry how effectively laws can be executed when the law-makers themselves are reluctant to enforce their own will ; or when they weaken the hands of those to whom the execu- tion of their will has been confided by complaints whose reasonable- ness they have never investigated. They who would see the laws faithfully executed, should stand ready on all occasions, not merely to make complaints of their infractions, but to sustain their com- plaints by their own testimony, by their willing support of the pros- ecuting officers, and by all needed aid in procuring the punishment of offenders. Some changes have been proposed in this department ; but I submit to your consideration, as legislators for the city, wheth-' er its police arrangements do not require an entire reorganization. Our territory, as a city, is large ; our population increases at a rate of more than a thousand a year ; railroads center here from every direction, affording facilities for the commission of crime, and for the escape of the criminals ; and yet all the police officers the city had on duty, during the last year, were the marshal with a salary of four hundred dollars a year, and five watchmen, after nine o'clock in the evening, at one dollar and a quarter a night each. It is true that there are constables, who hold themselves in readiness to serve war- rants when called upon to do so, and who receive no compensation except the fees for their services. In larger cities than Worcester, though with smaller extent of territory, a large number of police officers is constantly employed, who are continual conservators of the public order, and receive a stated compensation from the public treasury. The city can not, of course, expect to have service of this description performed without compensation. It is made the duty of the marshal to see that the laws and ordinances are observed ; and for that purpose to be at his office every day to receive complaints. When they are received, and the warrants issued, the constables
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serve them, and take the fees which the law allows them. Every one will admit that it is important for the good order of the city, that it should have an efficient police ; and every one will also admit that if the city demands that such a police should be employed, it must expect to make remuneration for the services rendered.
In some quarters there is a strong disposition to censure police officers because offenders are not always brought to a speedy punish- ment. Such condemnation I believe to be unreasonable. It should be remembered that when the police officer has made the arrest, the offender passes from his custody into the hands of the judiciary; and there he must abide the " law's delay." It is said that the public welfare demands instant retribution ; and in fact there are cases where justice seems to require it. But there is a great conservative element in our civil institutions that intervenes to stay this demand. Every man is entitled to be tried by his peers ; and the right to appeal from the decision of a magistrate, is too full of importance in its relation to society, to be set aside for any temporary expedient. Some judicial atrocities might be enacted if a petty magistrate were clothed with the power of final decision. This great right of appeal can not be given up to any seeming necessity ; and men should remember it when bestowing their censures.
The police reports show that 494 persons have been confined in the lock-up during the last year ; of which there were
For drunkenness and disturbing the peace,
..
..
393
" Larceny, ..
..
..
..
..
..
..
42
" Assault and battery, ..
..
..
..
..
6
" Disorderly houses, ..
..
..
..
..
4
Passing counterfeit money, ..
..
..
..
2
" Murder, ..
..
..
..
..
..
1
All other crimes, ..
..
..
..
..
46
During the year, lodgings have been furnished at the lock-up for 327 poor persons, who had been found in the streets by the watch- men, or been sent there by the clerk of the overseers of the poor. Their expense to the city has been trifling. Formerly, all such per- sons were lodged at the jail, at an expense to the town of twenty-five cents a night each.
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From the records of the police court, it appears that there were 711 complaints made in that court during the year.
Convicted. Discharged. Bound over. Not disp'd of.
For Drunkenness,
180
167
2
0
11
" Assault and battery,
186
102
38
1 45
" Disturbing the peace,
76
60
3
0
13
" Larceny,
84
27
21
20
16
" Selling intox'ng liquors, 22
9
8
0
5
" Counterfeiting,
8
0
3
4
1
" Disorderly houses,
3
0
0
3
0
" Vagabonds,
11
8
0
0
3
" Other offences,
141
102
15
8
16
Total
711
475
90
36
110
The public schools have done well during the year ; and I doubt not they will receive from you the consideration their importance de- mands. The laws place all the public schools under the care and di- rection of the school committee. But it is incumbent upon you, as the representatives of the people, to provide the means necessary for their support, and to furnish school houses for their accommodation, upon the representation of their necessity by the committee.
The committee know the amount of room in the several school houses, and the number of scholars to occupy it. I incline to the opinion that it will be found necessary to erect another house the coming season; perhaps for the establishment of a school of the same grade as the Thomas school. If the school committee should recom- mend it, it will be for you to erect the building, and provide for the required instructors. The city owns two school house lots ; one on Sycamore street, and the other on Salem street; and perhaps one of them might be found a suitable location, or be exchanged for some other lot.
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