USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1856-1861 > Part 49
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In the other districts, ..
.. ..
388
In all the schools, .. .. .. 3,465
The increase in the number of pupils the last six
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months of the year was large, and that increase is likely to become permanent.
The appropriations for the schools for the year 1861, were, by the City Council from taxes, $34,000 00 ..
State School fund, ..
..
..
940 68
Other sources,
..
..
..
10 00
$34,950 68
The expenses it is thought will not exceed the appro- priations, and may fall a trifle below.
This will make the cost of educating each scholar for the year average ten dollars ; the actual cost may vary a little from this statement.
In the year 1860 the average cost was
..
$10 00
66
1859
66
..
11 27
66
1858
66
..
10 43
1857
66
..
11 82
66
1856
..
11 90
The average annual cost per scholar for the five years from 1856 to 1860 was $11.38.
I concur with the Superintendent in the opinion that the appropriation should, in all cases, be large enough to cover all necessary expenses ; and he gives it as his judg- ment that the cost per scholar cannot, with the present standard of salaries and with proper care of the school property, be safely reduced below ten dollars.
It will be observed that there are in the Centre district 205 more pupils than there are seats. This single state- ment demonstrates the necessity for additional school room in this district. And the concurrent opinion of all with whom I have conversed upon the subject, is, that this want can be best and most economically supplied by build-
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ing a new house in the neighborhood of Pleasantville, - in the westerly part of the district. A house, with ample accommodations, can probably be erected in the locality named for the sum of about $4,000. And unless some adverse reason exists, unknown to me, I think the want should be supplied and the house built during the present year.
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
An officer connected with this most important and rising institution, and who is entirely familiar with the subject, has kindly furnished, at my request, the following state- ments respecting the Library and the new building in which it now is.
The Public Library building, after some delays, is at length nearly completed, and will soon be ready for inaug- uration. The gas fixtures are arranged, and the desks and seats for the Green library are now being constructed. The Medical library and the Natural History collection are now being arranged, and will add greatly, the latter espe- cially, to the attractions offered to those who visit the new institution.
The operations of the Circulating department of the library have been seriously interrupted by the delay inci- dent to removal, and by the absence of any means of lighting the building for many weeks after the removal. Operations are now, however, fully resumed, and the use made of the library never was so great as at present. And although the Green library has not yet been regularly opened to the public, it is already evident that the use made of it will be large and constant.
A new catalogue of the circulating department was issued after removal to the new building. From this it appears that the whole number of books now placed in
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the building, and accessible to the public, is as follows :
Circulating library, ..
5,700
Green library, .. ..
9,020
Medical library, about
.. 2,780
Total, .. ..
.. 17,500
A fund of $1,648 was reserved by the Board of Direc- tors for 1860, to be invested in books on removal to the new building.
In view of the depressed condition of business, and the unsettled state of public affairs, the Directors for 1861 re- luctantly limited themselves to an expenditure of $500 for this purpose ; drawing on the residue of the fund for the current expenses. The City Government of 1861 was there- fore called on to provide only for the expenses of part of the year, apart from the cost of the building, and the amount so appropriated was barely sufficient to cover the running expenses up to January 1, 1862.
An early appropriation for this purpose will therefore become necessary.
The number of accounts opened with book borrowers be- fore the removal from the old building, was 4,166 Number added since, .. .. 691
Total number from the beginning, .. .. 4,857
Number closed by death, departure from the city, or other causes, .. .. .. 457
Total number of accounts now open,
.. 4,400
From these last statistics it will be seen that the number of persons directly availing themselves of the benefits of the Circulating department of the Free Public Library is larger, by nearly one thousand, than the average daily attendance of scholars in all our public schools. Add to
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these the number of those who read the books, besides the 4400 who take the books out, and the large number who will eagerly avail themselves of the advantages of the Green library, and there can exist no remaining doubt of the demand in this City for such an institution as the Free Public Library, and that it is destined to become one of the principal agencies in educating and in informing the people.
I can have no hesitation in saying that it is an institu- tion which ought to be cherished with pride by the people and with great liberality by the City Government.
The total receipts for 1861, as appears by the report of the treasurer, including the unexpended appropriation of 1860, was .. ..
$2,945 06
Total expenditures for the year 1861, .. 2,901 26
HIGHWAYS, SIDEWALKS AND SHADE TREES.
The appropriation for the highways for the year 1861, was .. .. ..
$10,000 00
Cash received for sales of street scrapings, and property belonging to this department, 865 47
Work done on other appropriations, and for which this department should have credit, 362 53
$11,228 00
Expenses, -
Amount of pay roll to December 1, 1861, $6,028 71
.. Salary of Commissioner, .. 800 00
Bills for hay, grain, repairs of tools, breaking out roads and repairs, curb stones, &c., 4,655 30
$11,484 01 Expenditures exceeding the appropriations
and receipts, .. ..
.. $256 01
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The highways are, as I am informed, generally in good condition.
During the last year, the County Commissioners, upon the petitions of certain persons therefor, ordered some specific repairs on the road leading to Shrewsbury, and a solid causeway to be constructed across Lake Quinsiga- mond. The work, upon the latter, was commenced some- time during the fall, under the immediate superintendence of Mr. Prentiss, the highway commissioner, who informs me that, in his judgment, about one-third part of the work had been done before the close of December, at an ex- pense of about $6,000.
The work is still in progress, and it will undoubtedly be advisable to prosecute it with vigor so long as the sea- son will permit. This causeway, according to the order of the County Commissioners, is to be thirty-six feet wide on the top, with a suitable railing on both sides, and a side walk on the southerly side, which is also to be divided from the carriage way by a suitable railing. No part of the expense for accomplishing this great improvement has yet been paid except by borrowing, and the whole must be provided for during the current year. The order requires that the work shall be completed to the acceptance of the Commissioners by the first of July next. Whether this work could not have been contracted for at a less sum than it will cost the City to do it in the manner in which it is now being done, it would be useless to inquire; for to change the mode of completing the work now, cannot be advisable, and besides, it seems to me that the manner adopted is a judicious one, inasmuch as employment is thereby given to a large number of laborers in the city who otherwise would be out of work, and some of them, at least might during this season of depression in business, be compelled to call upon the City for aid in some other form.
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The County Commissioners have also ordered specific repairs on one hundred and eighty-three rods of the road leading from this City to Paxton, beginning at the Paxton line and extending in this direction. These repairs are to be completed on or before the 25th day of June next, and the subject will therefore require the early attention of the government.
Another order from the County Commissioners requires the building of about forty-one rods of new road this side the village of Quinsigamond, and a substantial stone bridge across the Blackstone at or near that village, all to be fin- ished before the 15th day of October, 1862. Our prede- cessors advertised for proposals for doing the work named in the last order, but it will be for you to make the contract and see that the work is done in compliance with the order.
All these important and expensive improvements were ordered during the term of office of our predecessors, and are to be made and paid for by us ; but of this we ought not to complain, for it will often necessarily happen that works undertaken by one administration will be left incom- plete, and remain to be finished by their successors. And this results from the very nature of things ; the City lives on continually, enjoying a kind of immortality, while ad- ministrations come and go with the years, and works fit to be undertaken by an enterprising and growing city like ours, are frequently of such a character as to render it quite impossible to complete them within the narrow limits of a single year. And if each successive adminis- · tration will do, not what it may narrowly think most expedient for itself, but what on the whole, and in the long run, shall be for the best good of the city, then all will be more likely to be well done ; and when we, and all our brief administrations shall have passed away and been forgotten, there will nowhere be left upon the permanent
4
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monuments and growth of the city evidences of a narrow, partizan, or illiberal policy, but a beautiful, convenient and symmetrical whole, as if fashioned and formed by a single intelligent hand.
Among the papers referred to the present Board of Al- dermen, I find the following order introduced to the notice of your immediate predecessors, and was by them referred to you :
" That the Mayor be instructed to apply to the Legislature for the necessary powers for the appointment of a Board of Commissioners, who shall have charge of the Shade Trees and Public Grounds of the City, and whose mode of election and term of office shall be similar to the Commissioners of Hope Cemetery."
I commend this subject to your favorable consideration. There certainly is nothing in the external appearance of our City, during the spring, summer and autumn months, which adds more to its attractiveness than the great variety and beauty of the trees which border our streets and fill and beautify the public and private grounds of the city. These should be preserved and their lines extended, and this should be done upon some well considered plan, dic- tated by sound judgment and good taste, and can undoubt- edly be much better accomplished by a permanent board, selected from the citizens at large, than by committees appointed every year from the City Council, and at no greater expense.
In passing through some of the streets, long lines of curb stones in place, may be seen, with no corresponding side walks. Whether any measures have been, or should be taken in such cases, to induce the owners of adjoining lands to comply with the ordinance requiring side walks to be paved wherever the City has established curb stones and paved the gutters, will be for the appropriate com- mittee to inquire.
I may as well mention in this connection that there is
23
an indictment pending against the City, for maintaining or permitting a nuisance on West street, in front of the estates of Dr. Hawes and Mr. Blake. This nuisance can readily be abated by some additional sewerage in that part of the city. It will in my judgment be more advisable to abate the nuisance by the improvement suggested, rather than to defend against the indictment, for after the trial the City would, in all probability, have to remove the nuis- ance, besides having all the expense of the trial to pay.
WATER.
The Aqueduct Commissioner informs me that the ex- penditures in his department during the past year have been about .. .. .. ..
$1,700 00 And the receipts are nearly or quite equal to the expenditures.
The hydrant boxes are nearly all new. Twenty-seven have been put in the past season. Seven new hydrants of a new pattern have also been put in during the same time. These, the Commissioner says, are less expensive, and yet are in several respects superior to the old pattern hereto- fore used.
The necessary expenditures for repairs the current year will be small; but the department very much needs a building for the storage of the tools and materials belong- ing to it. These tools and materials are now deposited in different parts of the city, and at considerable expense for rent, and at no inconsiderable inconvenience. A building amply sufficient for the purpose, one story high and 12 by 36, can be erected on the City stable lot, at an expense of not more than $150, and I can see no good reason why it should not be done.
The Commissioner says an additional pipe is needed, extending from Pleasant street, south, about 1,000 feet, to
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Austin street, through Oxford street. He thinks the income from the water distributed will be nearly sufficient to pay for this addition and the necessary repairs, and that the water in the locality named would be greatly needed in case of fire in that neighborhood. The expense of this 1,000 feet of pipe, if the wrought iron and cement pipe should be used, and the laying of it, will, it is estimated, be between $700 and $800. I am too imperfectly informed upon this subject to do more than call your attention to it.
HOPE CEMETERY.
Hope Cemetery continues to be well cared for by the Commissioners, and under their excellent management is annually made a more beautiful and fitting resting place for the dead.
The number of lots sold in 1861 was 43, for the sum, in all, of $554.
Appropriation by the City Council in 1861, $400. Re- ceipts from other sources make the
Total receipts for the year, .. .. Expenditures, . . .. .. 127 69
$507 11
Leaving a balance of cash in the hands of the Commissioners of .. .. .. 29 67
Balance not drawn from the City treasury,
349 75
The whole amount of money, $554, received for lots sold in 1861, has been paid into the City treasury.
The Commissioners, in their report at the close of 1860, asked for an appropriation of $400, for the purpose of constructing permanent fences on the northern and southern boundaries. The appropriation was made, but was not certified to the Commissioners until August, "and such was the difficulty of procuring suitable materials, at
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reasonable prices and in any seasonable time, that no advan- tageous contract could be made for the work." In the judgment of the Commissioners these improvements are imperatively demanded, and I recommend that an ade- quate appropriation therefor be made at an early day. The amount required for the contemplated improvements will be $400 or $500.
It will be observed that the amount of appropriation called for by the commissioners is less than the amount paid into the City Treasury by them, from the proceeds of the sales of lots during the last year.
FIRE DEPARTMENT.
A well organized and effective Fire Department is in- dispensable in every community like ours, and is one in which every property holder at least is directly interested and should willingly see treated with the utmost needed liberality. Men who hold themselves in readiness at all hours of the day and night to hasten to the scene of danger at every alarm of fire, should be furnished with all the nec- essary means, so far as they can reasonably be supplied, to make their efforts effectual. Men cannot be expected to be able to extinguish a raging fire without water, nor even then without the necessary machines and apparatus for conveying and applying it. All experience teaches us that in a city like ours, whose buildings are composed so generally of combustible materials, it is much less ex- pensive to provide the necessary means for extinguishing fires, than to suffer the loss of property which will result from the want of those means. Upon inquiries of the proper parties I have received the gratifying information that the department is now in a most excellent condition of harmony and efficiency, although it has required greater exertions to keep up the organization in consequence of
26
the large number of firemen who have enlisted for the war.
The whole number of men now connected with the several Fire Companies, is .. .. . . 257
The apparatus of the department consists of One Steam Fire Engine, Four Hand Engines,
Three Hose Carriages,
Two Hook and Ladder Carriages,
and about 5,000 feet of leading hose ; but much of this I am informed by the Chief Engineer is poor, and that 1,000 feet of new hose is greatly needed and should be supplied at an early day. Reservoirs in different parts of the city are much needed. One near the Orphans' Home, and one on or near Arch street are needed and can be con- structed with very little expense, and supplied with water from the brooks in those localities. Another it is said should be placed some where in the vicinity of the Pleasant Street school house. It is to be hoped that this subject will be early investigated, and if the suggested fa- cilities can be provided without inordinate expense, that the work will be done.
The number of alarms of fire from the first of January to the first Monday in May, 1861, was, .. 22
The amount of property destroyed as estimated, was, .. .. ..
$45,650 00
From the first Monday of May to the first of January in- stant the number of alarms was, .. 14
.. Three of these were out of the city.
The amount of property destroyed, as estimated, $5,000 00 The whole number of alarms during the year was, therefore, .. .. .. 36
And the whole amount of property destroyed, $50,650 00
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The amount destroyed by fire during the year
1860, was, ..
..
$8,300 00
In 1859, .. .. ..
.. 33,115 00
In 1858, .. .. .. .. 15,600 00
The appropriation for the Department
the last year
was, .. ..
.. $10,000 00
The expenditures, ..
.. .. 10,722 19
THE POOR.
The number of persons who received aid from the Over- seers during the year 1861 is, .. .. .. 956
259 of this number had a legal settlement in this city, 66 belonged to other cities and towns in the state,
107 were from other States in the Union, 15 from Scot- land, 7 from France, 15 from Germany, 50 from Canada, 30 from England, 407 from Ireland.
The appropriation for this Department last year (1861) was, .. .. .. .. $9,000 00
Amount paid out for support of paupers as ap-
pears by the City Treasurer's Report was, $9,276 71 Cash received from other towns for support of paupers and receipts from other sources on account of paupers according to the same re- port was, .. .. .. ..
$2,582 02
Showing the net expense for the support of the
poor for the year 1861 to have been, $6,694 69
It has become the settled policy and recognized duty of every Christain and civilized community to provide for the poor who cannot provide for themselves ; without stop- ping to inquire how or why they have become reduced to such a state of poverty and helplessness. It will be our duty and pleasure to provide for the poor in our midst.
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And may I not add in this connection, that it will be equally our duty to remove the causes so far as we can by the vigilant exercise of the power vested in us, of a large share of the poverty and crime with which society is bur- dened.
THE POLICE.
The Police force of a City should be organized and supported for the purpose of maintaining good order, pre- serving the public peace and protecting the lives, safety and property of the citizens against the violence and dep- redations of the vicious and criminal. To these ends it should be active and vigilant in the prevention of crime and in the detection of offenders. To the efficiency of such a force harmony, system, and a due subordination are absolutely essential. A police without system and subordi- nation is like a military force without discipline, and with- out a responsible leader ; and unless harmony and cordial co-operation prevail among its members, they will be quite as likely to contribute to the success of the guilty as to the safety and welfare of the innocent. It should be com- posed of men of integrity and intelligence, and they should be proof against all bribes, and men who would instantly, and at all times, reject all patronizing favors from the known violators of the law.
They should be intelligent men ; for a police officer who cannot as a witness give an intelligible account of what he has seen and heard, is but half fitted for the duties of his station. He should be a man of deeds rather than of words, and a man who can keep his own counsels and those of his fellows. Nor has the officer whose delicate and responsible duty it is to bring the law to bear directly upon the citizen, any right to play the petty tyrant, and by the offensiveness of his manner of enforcing law make
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all law obnoxious. And all will agree that vulgarity in manners, harshness and profanity in speech, and a free companionship with the vicious and abandoned, constitute no necessary or desirable qualifications for a good police officer ; and those who attempt to execute the laws should be careful to make use of lawful means only for the ac- complishment of that object.
In selecting the members of the Police for the present year, I shall be governed by the principles here indicated, and should it afterwards be discovered that unfit appoint- ments have been made, I trust I shall have the concurrence of my associates in the government in forthwith dismissing such unworthy incumbents from the public service.
The appropriation for this department the past year,
was ..
..
$6,000 00
The expenses were
..
$6,467 85
Earnings, .. ..
198 00
Balance of expenses, ..
$6,269 85
In 1860 the appropriation was
$7,000 00 ..
Expenses, ..
..
$8,475 88
Earnings, . . ..
875 94
Balance of expenses,
..
$7,599 94
In 1860 there were two assistant marshals, whose com- bined salaries were $1,250. In 1861 there were no assist- ant marshals appointed, and, of course, no salaries paid to such officers. But the service that would have been per- formed by them was performed by constables, who received their compensation in the form of fees ; and, as I am in- formed, the two constables who did the principal part of the business of serving warrants, &c., last year, received in fees some over $650 each, making over $1,300 for both.
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Now how does any one suppose this $1,300 was paid to the constables ? I will answer that question before I leave this subject. But first I desire to state that I have been thus particular in this comparative view of the operations of this department, because I noticed a different policy in the appointments of the police had prevailed the two last years, and I find a statement in the published valedictory address of my distinguished predecessor that $1,300 was saved in the management of this department during the last year. And I thought it my duty to investigate the subject, and that, if one policy would secure an equally efficient and more economical police than the other, it would be our duty to adopt the former. But upon exam- ination this apparent difference in the expenses of the two years, will, I think, disappear. The question under con- sideration is not who paid these expenses, but what were the actual expenses of the Police department for the years 1860 and 1861 ? in other words, how much did it cost the public to maintain the police of this City during those two years ?
By the provisions of law as they existed from the first of July, 1860, to April, 1861, the fees earned by salaried officers, such as assistant marshals, were required to be paid into the County treasury, so that the fees earned by the two assistant marshals for the last half of the year 1860 were paid to the county, and did not appear as a credit to the Police department of that year. Thus it will be seen that the City paid the assistant marshals for their services and the County received their fees, which was wrong in principle, although according to the then exist- ing law. In 1861 the case was exactly reversed, for the constables received their $1,300 from the County treasury and the City secured the benefit of their services, which was also wrong in principle. Now add the $1,300 to the
·
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above balance of $6,261.85, and we have, for the actual expenses of the department for 1861, $7,561.85, which is only a trifle less than $7,599.94, the net expense of 1860. So that, in point of fact, the net expense for the two years was about equal, and the public paid in both cases, but from different treasuries.
The law referred to was modified by the last legislature (in April, 1861), so that now the fees earned by assistant marshals are to be paid into the treasury of the city from which they receive their salaries ; and I cannot doubt that it will be wiser to appoint two good and responsible assist- ant marshals, and give them the fixed salaries provided for them, rather than to appoint constables in their stead, who would be strongly tempted unnecessarily to multiply com- plaints in order to enhance the amount of their fees ; and besides, the Revised Ordinances adopted by the last City Government, require that the Mayor and Aldermen shall annually, in the month of January, appoint a Marshal and two Assistant Marshals.
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