Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1867-1870, Part 75

Author: Worcester (Mass.)
Publication date: 1867
Publisher: The City
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1867-1870 > Part 75

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REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF

drainage of Elm Park. That Petition was referred to the ap- propriate committee, and, although no official reply was ever vouchsafed, it was ascertained by the Chairman of this Com- mission, in conversation with the late Mayor, that immediate action was deemed inexpedient. Had the decision been fa- vorable, it was designed to excavate as much of the lowest de- pression in that tract of land so as to admit of its immersion and conversion into an ORNAMENTAL WATER, which would also furnish a convenient and secure skating-pond for the fast multiplying children of the vicinity. That this plan is eminently practicable was never doubted by those familiar with the pre- mises from boyhood. The unprecedented Drought of last Summer demonstrated its feasibility beyond cavil. For at no time was there a lack of water, although of course its amount varied greatly during the season. But until a connection can be effected with the Public Sewer, it will be impossible to accom- plish the designs of the Commission, since the ground, when wet, is too soft to be worked. Ultimate advantage may result from the delay, should drainage of the Park be finally effected through a Sewer in Cedar street, prolonged from Sever street, as recently located by the City Council, through land of Gen. W. S. Lincoln, thereby intercepting a natural and obvious outlet ; or else through William street, extended as that street must be, at no remote date, across the tract of the Agricultural Society.

The legacy of the late Governor Lincoln, remains unex- pended. As it could not be expended judiciously, for its specific object, it was deemed better to leave it intact in the public treasury. But it is respectfully submitted whether the city, holding the relation of a trustee, should not pay interest upon a fund for which it has found convenient use.

It is matter for profound regret, with the Commissioners, that they can hold out such slight prospects, to the present generation, of any material improvement in the appearance and condition of the Public Grounds. They do not even feel particularly sanguine of preserving them from actual deterior- ation. Certainly not, unless their complaints of reckless or willful mischief receive more attention from those who should

TREES AND PUBLIC GROUNDS.

anticipate or prevent offence, instead of turning an indifferent and listless ear to tales of its commission. Confident that the justice of their fellow-citizens would acquit them of inaction, when cognizant of the fact that there were no means with which to do, the Commissioners have submitted in silence to comments upon their alleged short-comings. As it is, they can but fret themselves with schemes of whose accomplishment they are hopeless. So far as the unstinted devotion of labor and time may achieve anything, it has been cheerfully be- stowed in the past : nor can more be promised for the future.

It is their unanimous opinion that the city does not now, nor will it hereafter, require the possession and use of large tracts of land for Public Commons or Parks. Those now in rude occupation are amply sufficient for the Training Field, the Brazen Band, (our modern panem et circenses,) and the travelling Giraffe and Monkeys. Idle loungers, with no other object than the aimless consumption of time, may demand a Hyde Park or Bois de Boulogne. Nevertheless, beauty is not necessarily alien or a foe to utility. The broad Boulevards that encircle the fair city upon the banks of the Seine, contribute largely to the facilities of intercourse and traffic. A similar AVENUE, encompassing our own Worcester, would contribute more to the developement of the whole city, in the judgment of this Commission, than any other project that has been devised or consummated for years. The farm takes precedence of the shop ; and yet, while no sum can be too great to lavish upon the intricate network of alleys, courts and streets which sep- arate the centre and heart of the Municipality into infinitesimal subdivisions, every dollar is grudged that is required to pro- mote the convenience of those without whose toil man could not live. The farm and its produce are indispensable ; the middleman and his store are not absolute necessities. What- ever, then, has a tendency to open up the surrounding coun- try ; to develop its natural charms; and to encourage set- tlement and cultivation where now the bramble and the woodchuck hold undisputed possession; substituting smooth lawns, neat gardens, and improved stock ; inducing the street loafer to become the independant yeoman, and attracting, by

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER

the simple aspect of rural loveliness the permanent sojourn of the chance wayfarer ; surely here, and in all this, is an object worth striving for, worth far more, in fact, than even current ex- travagance could possibly make it cost in realization. With such an Avenue constructed, there would be an amount of in- tercommunication of the extremities of the city, as of the out- lying but adjacent towns, that would astonish those whose ocular mote is Main street. That great artery of business would be relieved of much needless yet serious incumbrance : a relief which, attempted in season, can be both cheaply and prudently afforded. As it is now, from Holden to Leicester, from Paxton to Shrewsbury, everything must pass through our one great thoroughfare, wearing out our pavements, im- peding our local traffic, laming beasts used for traction and scaring into disease animals destined for consumption. All these annoyances and evils would be obviated ; all those ben- efits and more would be derived from the construction of the Avenue suggested. So broad as to admit of adequate and grateful shade to ample footpaths ; so thoroughly built as to be proof alike against autumnal frost or vernal flood; a convenience for the loaded team and an attraction for the pleasure carriage ; wooing occupation of hundreds of charm- ing dells and nooks by its ruthless exposure of rustic beauty, thereby benefiting individuals and augmenting the general valuation ; a measure which commends itself in proportion as it is considered : one which this Commission will advocate in season and out of season, living or dying, in the hope and faith of its ultimate consummation.

The plan and completion of such Avenue, plainly outlined to this Commission as it has long been, would of course be a work of time. It would aim to take advantage of existing roads, whenever practicable ; widening them to an inflexible uniform limit ; straightening their course here and introducing sweeping curves there ; following the general trend of the foot- hills whose lines of circumvallation describe an irregular quadri- lateral, whereof the Military Academy and the City Farm, the Quinsigamond Iron Works and the Davis Cottage should

SHADE TREES AND PUBLIC GROUNDS.

constitute the salient and re-entering angles, Coe's Reservoir and the Lake the points d'appui et resistance.

Above all - as indispensable to the completion and sym- metry of the design, LAKE QUINSIGAMOND should be em- braced within its scope. The eye of covetousness already glances at that beautiful sheet of water. It may be that the people of Worcester will consent to hold the fairest ornament of their city at the will, or upon sufferance, of the capital : but it is not believed that such tame acquiescence will be prompt- ed by any one who has the wit to foresee, in a utilitarian sense only, the advantages that would follow upon its undisputed control. The opinion of the Commisssioners is decided that the city of Worcester should obtain, from the Great and General Court, power to occupy and possess Lake Quin- sigamond, for the purposes of a PUBLIC PARK, without pre- judice to the rights of riparian owners, whatever they may be. In this way, if in no other, could the level of its waters be maintained at their average height, thus preserving the smooth and verdant banks which so much enhance its beauty. Nor can any other method be devised, half as effectual, of forestal- ling future attempts to divert the water of the Lake for the supply of metropolitan thriftlessness and waste.

The recent purchase by the Trustees of the State Lunatic Hospital affords ample and gratifying assurance that the dis- foresting and devastation of a large portion of the western shore will be permanently and effectually prevented. If the City could acquire detached tracts of a few acres each, abut- ting upon the proposed Avenue yet contiguous to the Lake, thereby establishing itself a riparian proprietor, it would do more for the welfare of its present increasing, and prospective multitudes, than could be achieved by the costly ownership and maintenance of a score of tangled wildernesses of un- used pathway, greenery and thickets. Once committed to the execution of this project, the only one practicable for the im- mediate as well as ultimate convenience and adornment of the City, and it might not be found necessary to decline the mu- nificent proffer of lands by their generous owners. And then, with the whole scheme fully accomplished ; with the Water-

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF

Park, the consummate masterpiece of nature, and the broad and shaded avenue, the perfected work of man; each the complement of the other ; our fair city, not unmindful of its other manifold beauties, but exultant in these because the result of its later and maturer development, may safely antic- ipate the reward which is surely theirs who, enjoying advan- tages magnify them, and appreciating opportunities improve them.

Painting, Sculpture and the Groves of the Academy at- tracted the man of letters and the cunning artisan to ancient Athens. . But the mass of her population were plunged in ig- norance and fettered by a slavery which admitted of no miti gation : while, to bedeck herself with beauty, the classic city converted to her own use the common treasure contributed, by her Grecian sisters, for defence from the barbarian. Let not the lessons of History, teaching that Liberty was ever the parent of a purer and nobler Art, be lost upon us. For, as much as Athens surpassed Sparta and Thebes in intellectual culture, or material developement, so much and more did Florence and the Free Mediaeval cities, eclipse their Grecian prototypes aesthetically, and in those mechanical arts which tend so strongly toward the promotion of the general wel- fare. A wider interval separates us. We have no resources to expend, for purposes of civic endowment, save only those derived from self-imposed Taxation. Despotism may reno- vate the capitals of Europe ; but it is the personal privilege of this generation of Americans, finding their cities of wood, to leave them of marble. Nature has omitted nothing from the perfect design of Worcester. Land and Water-scapes ; smil- ing valleys, here terminating suddenly in symmetrical hills and again receding to where a gently-sloping eminence unites and crowns the lines of distant perspective ; babbling brooks, and shrubby copses but too rapidly disappearing ; shall we incur the forfeiture of her charms by our neglect to unveil them ?

These considerations have been presented at unreasonable length, doubtless ; but a faithful discharge of duty permitted no alternative. They are the fruit of personal inspection o

SHADE TREES AND PUBLIC GROUNDS.

localities, frequently and thoroughly examined, in that best of all methods-on foot; and, as such, are submitted for popular approval or rejection. The construction of the Avenue and the acquisition of the Water-Park, may not be accomplished. But the entire plan is so feasible ; its realization would so en- nure to the public utility and general comfort, if gradually and therefore economically perfected ; that the acknowledged good taste of the community must appreciate its countless prospective advantages and beauties, even though it deny itself their en- joyment.

All which is Respectfully Submitted,

for and in behalf of the Commission, by EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN, Chairman.

ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF

HOPE CEMETERY

OF THE

CITY OF WORCESTER,

1870.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS

HOPE CEMETERY.

1870.

To His Honor the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of the City of Worcester.

The Commissioners of Hope Cemetery in presenting the seventeenth annual Report will assure the City Council · that they have been mindful of the important trust committed to their care. The Board was organized at the beginning of the year immediately after your election of a member who had long experience and performed the most onerous part of its duties. Most careful consideration was given to the wants of the Cemetery grounds, but extensive improvements could not be planned as the amount of money in the treasury was small.

The grounds are so extensive and the paths and roadways required to make the different parts of them accessible, being several miles in length, there must always be considerable ex- penditure for clearing and repairing them after the action of the frosts of winter and the heavy spring rains.

After making proper appropriations for this work we could not enter on improvements that would produce any very marked change in the appearance of the grounds, excepting in one or two localities.

The elevation over which Chapel Avenue passes-North of the receiving tomb, has been reduced and the earth removed into low land on the South side of Pine Avenue, greatly im- proving both places and answering the petition of persons owning lots on Chapel Avenue satisfactorily. The ground bordering on Pine Avenue is made more available for lots,

REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS

The increasing demand for small lots from persons who do not feel willing to avail themselves of the provision made for free burials, and have no such family relatives and con- nections that they expect to need lots of the usual size, con- vinced the Commissioners that they ought to lay out and offer for sale lots to meet the demand.

A plot of ground on the East side of River Avenue was cleared, grubbed, and laid out into lots, several of which have been sold and the purchasers are improving and ornamenting them.

In a former Report the neglected condition of the ground set apart for free burials was noticed, and the promise was made that it should be one of the first places for improvement. Here most of the work of the year has been performed and the largest expenditure made. The ground has been leveled after extracting the old stumps, and old or worthless trees have been taken out so that graves may be made with ease.

A wide foot path has been made between the line of graves and the river, making a retired and romantic walk. The area of clear ground has been considerably extended.

We do not know that the Committee of the City Council having charge of the Cemetery before this Commission was established, when they selected this spot for the resting place of the poor and unfortunate and named it the Potter's field, intended to select the most beautiful and eligible portions of the ground, but we are sure their best sentiments would have prompted it-(excepting the name and that has been dis- carded), and you, with us will be glad they did so.

On the 26th of May, 1865, the Commissioners met at the Cemetery, Dr. C. N. Chamberlain, Superintending Physician of Dale Hospital, which had been established in Worcester, with the expectation that the return of disabled and sick sol- diers would render the institution necessary for a considerable time.

In compliance with the petition of the officers of the Hos- pital, a vote of the Board of Aldermen, and their own sense of duty, they then voted, "To grade, for the use of Dale Hospital, a lot on Spruce Avenue, and reserve around it land

OF HOPE CEMETERY.

enough to give as large a lot as may be required for the burial of men who may die at the Hospital."

Only two or three men died at the Hospital whose remains were buried in the lot and there seemed to be no occasion for reserving more than their graves occupied with room to erect such monuments to their memory as the friends of brave men might wish to place there.

On the 14th of May last year, we received a petition from " Post 10, of the Grand Army of the Republic," asking that a desirable lot should be assigned to them in which to bury departing members of their organization, or any soldiers who might need their last kind office. On consultation with their Committee and after viewing the ground with them, they were satisfied with the lot formerly assigned to Dale Hospital, and the Commissioners voted, "That a portion of the lot should be granted 'Post No. 10, of the Grand Army of the Republic,' and that the lot and land surrounding it should be graded."

The vote has been executed, and we have, bordering on the avenue and adjoining the soldiers' lot, lots ready for sale when needed.

Repairing the walks and roadways, reducing and grading Chapel Avenue, grading the free burial ground and making the path on the bank of the river, and grading land on Spruce avenue in connection with the lot assigned Post No. 10, has been the work performed in the year 1870, and on which the expenditures of the year have been made, amounting to the sum of Five Hundred and Sixty-five Dollars and Fifty- five Cents. Fifteen Dollars and Eighty-One Cents, was received for wood sold and Five Hundred and Forty-Nine Dollars and Seventy-Four Cents drawn from the balance in the City Treasury, credited to the Cemetery account at the commence- ment of the year, which was, $879 46 Expenditure for the year, 549 74

Leaving in the Treasury, January Ist, 1871, $329 72

This amount could have been expended, but the Board thought it best to keep what they could in reserve, believing that the income of the year added to it would enable them to

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS

make this year desirable improvements that could not have been profitably begun with so small a sum.

The Cemetery lands have been paid for, and all receipts from the sale of lots are to be expended in improving and orna- menting them. This may not be done as fast as we and the owners of lots desire, but there will be sure and steady pro- gress, and in due time the grounds will be brought into en- tire harmony with the holy and sacred use to which they have been dedicated.

Fifty-three lots were sold in 1870, for $1,025.00 and there is now in the Treasury, $1,354.72.

A full statement of receipts and expenditures accompanies and is a part of this Report.

The average price of lots sold in 1869 was $24.41. Last year the average price was $19.32. The difference comes from the sale of small lots in greater proportion than usual.

Eleven hundred and fifty-nine (1,159) lots have been sold since the Cemetery was opened.

For the Commissioners of Hope Cemetery,

ALBERT TOLMAN, Chairman. January, 1871.

RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES.

Report of receipts and expenditures for Hope Cemetery, in the year 1870 :

RECEIPTS.

1870, Jan. Cash balance,

$879 46

66 from fifty-three Lots sold, 1,025 00

from sale of wood, 15 81

Total Receipts,

$1,920 27

EXPENDITURES.

1870, Jan. A. G. Mann, Stone Posts,

$34 00

Gill Valentine, Surveying, 27 50

" Tyler & Seagrave, Printing, 12 90

OF HOPE CEMETERY.

May, Labor on Grounds,

107 56

June,

68 06

Aug. 66

49 26

Sept.

88 00

Oct.

90 81

Nov.

87 46

1871, Jan. Balance unexpended,

1,354 72

$1,920 27

STEPHEN SALISBURY, JR.,

Secretary of the Committee.

ANNUAL REPORT

OF THE

COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS

OF THE

CITY OF WORCESTER,

1870.

REPORT OF THE Commissioner of Highways.

WORCESTER, January 9th, 1871. To His Honor the Mayor, and City Council.

GENTLEMEN :

In presenting my fourth annual report of the operations and condition of the Highway Department, for the year ending the twenty-sixth of December, 1870, it will be my aim to make it so condensed that time can be afforded to read it, and yet elaborate enough to give a clear and correct idea of the amount of labor performed, its location and cost. The season for work has been the longest and best for the past four years. The amount of labor performed greater, and the expense of course proportionately larger, and yet the demands of the pub- lic have not been fully met. Nor can it be reasonably expected with the increasing growth of the city in population and travel. The enterprise of the inhabitants in building and opening new streets and calling upon the city to make them public in ad- dition to those already built but not as yet made public, together with the principal thoroughfares built by the city. The unparar- elled number of calls for curbstone, gutter-crosswalks, and street paving, all remind us that our city is expanding, and so long as such is the case the demands upon this department will continue to increase. With the use of the stock now on hand this department might be conducted for a single year with apparently less expense by using the amount of stock on hand at the commencement of the year, and purchasing noth- ing excepting what is wanted for immediate use. But experi- ence has shown that in order to do a piece of work promptly when called for, the stock must be available.

REPORT OF THE

Much delay has heretofore been occasioned in the execution of work by being obliged to wait for stock. By having a limited amount on hand for use in the Spring, much of the work of the season can be performed before new stock can be obtained, and a better quality of stock can be secured if our dependence is not entirely upon those furnishing material, we being able with our surplus stock to reject that which we would otherwise be compelled to accept and use.

The continual disturbance of the streets by the erection of buildings on abutting estates, and the trenching for pipes of various kinds have been a great annoyance to travel, and it has become almost a household word that one cannot travel a single street without coming in contact with one or more of these disturbances. Yet there is a satisfaction in the thought that these permanent improvements will, at the rate at which they have been effected the past few years, soon become a blessing instead of a nuisance. Much care and time has been devoted to these places, that they might be kept in as safe a condition as possible. There is a necessity for some action by the Mayor and Aldermen in regard to the granting of building privileges to compel parties receiving them to comply with their restrictions. Heretofore many buildings have been erected without any license, and in many other cases parties have applied for license but have failed to sign the required bonds in the City Clerk's office. In addition to the present requirements each builder should be required to fence in a limited space on the sidewalk, wherever a building is being erected on the line of a street, and to keep it properly lighted to protect the public from accident.

PRIVATE STREETS.

The lack of some definite system controling the laying out of private streets alluded to in former reports still continues to be a source of annoyance. It should be provided by law that no new streets hereafter be laid out, except after consultation with the City Engineer, and his approval of its location, width and grade. With such a law enforced the city would be re- lieved of the expense now incident to accepting streets in the

COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS.

matter of damages to abutting estates by land taken or change of grade, while private citizens would be equally relieved from the annoyance of having the lines of their estates altered in changing the lines of the streets, and of having their dwel- lings left above or below grade.

STABLES.

For the benefit of new members and others who may wish the information, I will repeat what I have given in a former report. That we have a convenient stable, 100 x 44 feet, with cellar under the whole. The stables are lighted with gas and furnished with city water inside, and outside with a hydrant and line of hose for protection against fire.

At one end of the stables, and at right angles with them is a building 52 x 22 feet, the upper part being used for a grainery and the lower part for a shed. On the back side of the yard, and connecting with the grainery, we have 175 feet of sheds for the shelter of the rolling stock. The old horse stable, a building 35 x 25 feet has been converted into a store- house for the smaller tools. A shop, and a room for the men in stormy weather, and two rooms for the steward who lives and sleeps there for the more complete care of the premises. They were built and arranged in 1868, and thought to be ample for many years to come, yet they are none too large for our present requirements. The buildings form three sides of the yard, while the remainder is enclosed by a substantial fence. The roofs of the stables and grainery are covered with slate, and the whole kept well painted and insured against loss by fire.

TEAMS AND EQUIPMENTS.

As will be seen by the appended schedule we have in this department 14 good horses, with their necessary harnesses and equipments. We have also 12 oxen, all of which are healthy and in good condition. For most kinds of work I consider horses preferable to oxen ; their movements are much quicker and cost of keeping less. Yet we must necessarily keep the usual number of oxen for special purposes which they are better adapted for than horses, such as plowing, etc., in sum- mer, and breaking of roads in winter.

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Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1867-1870, Part 75

Author: Worcester (Mass.) Publication date: 1867 Publisher: The City Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Worcester (Mass.)
Publication date: 1867
Publisher: The City
Number of Pages: 1452