USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1871 > Part 18
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convey said earth to the Common. Work was begun on the 13th day of April and continued steadily, without interruption save from the weather until the 7th day of August. Large and almost inexhaustible as that bank of dirt had appeared to the casual observer, it soon became evident that it would prove inad- equate for the wants of the Common. Four Thousand One Hundred and Thirty-Six (4136) yards were obtained from it before it finally succumbed to the pick and shovel. Six Hundred and Nine (609) yards were subsequently procured from a lot of Mr. Chase, upon High Street and One Hundred and Ninety-Four (194) yards from still another lot, of the same gentleman, upon Chatham Street; all being excavated upon similar terms. It has been complained, by the querulous gossips of the streets and by their congeners, the snarling tattlers of corner paint shops, that Mr. Chase derived incidental benefit from the operation. Such is doubtless the fact ; and it is one that is very gratifying to this Commission which can conceive of an honorable transac- tion, between two parties, resulting in mutual advantage and of no possible detriment to either. But even this accumulation was insufficient. Nor was it until after the deposit of Four Hundred and Thirty-Five (435) yards, from the new cellar of White & Conant, upon Main Street, at an expense of fourteen (14) cents per yard ; and of Three Hundred and Fifty (350) yards, fur- nished by Mr. George Sessions, costing Twelve and one-half cents (12}) per, yard, that the task of filling that yawning hol- low gave token of accomplishment. Even then, small lots of good soil were made use of, as they could be obtained, to supply deficiencies in spots which seemed to demand unusual care to remedy their natural barrenness. In addition to all this, a large amount of loam was required for top-dressing ; the hard-pan or clay, of which the bulk of the filling consisted, affording but poor encouragement for grass-seed. Thanks are due to Dr. Henry Clarke, who allowed the Commission to take a great quantity of quite rich dirt from the cellar of an old stable upon Waldo Street, without which the labor of preparing a considerable por- tion of the ground could not have been completed. One Hundred and Twelve (112) cords of fine loam were also obtained from the estate of the late John C. Ripley, at a cost but slightly exceeding Seventy-Five (75) cents per cord. Nor must credit
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be omitted for the generosity of Mr. H. H. Houghton who, besides his constant encouragement during the progress of the work, permitted the gravel with which almost all the walks were built and without which their construction would have been impracti- cable save at greatly enhanced expense and trouble, to be taken from the cellar of his new block of buildings upon Salem Street. Aid of a similar nature, extended by Col. Levi Barker is also gratefully remembered and acknowledged. Indeed, there was scarcely an exception to the general desire and effort to promote, in all possible ways, the accomplishment of a work which, as was the concurrent opinion, had been too long delayed.
At the outset, it was not contemplated to do more than bring up to their proper level those portions of the Common that abut upon the South line of Front Street. But as the work advanced, and as the alteration wrought in the appearance of the grounds by the mere change of grade became clearly manifest, there was scarcely a dissentient from the appeal to the Commission to push on with the task to its completion. Sustained as this appeal was by the members of the City Council, with more or less of whom almost daily conferences were held, it influenced the final adoption of a resolve to finish the work. And the task was accomplished just as the last load of available material, required for its suc- cessful achievement, was exhausted.
During this whole time, the Foot-Paths, or Walks, had to be reconstructed, and that too with as little hindrance to public pass- age as possible. In nearly every instance, the allotted space was first ploughed and then shoveled out to a depth of about two feet, the bottom of the trench being crowded full with coarse stones that were found in the hard-pan and of which there was always a sufficiency. Over these was placed a layer of pebbles, covered in its turn with rough, and thereafter screened, gravel. Repeated rolling yielded a firm surface, although the excessive drought during the progress of this part of the work was a great hindrance to success. The walks will require careful repair, and renovation where washed, in the Spring, to make them pleasant for pedestrians. But they can never be made permanently dry until after the construction of a sewer across the Common, beneath the present short-lived location of the Railways. Into that sewer should be made to empty all the gutters that course
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along-side the Western and Central Foot-Paths and by it also must be drained the spot that will have to be selected for the permanent position of the Soldiers' Monument. For the gutters themselves, it will be absolutely essential that they should be paved, with a view to economy as well as neatness. That such an edging to the walks, besides protecting them from abrasion by every rain fall, may also be ornamental, a small cargo, consisting of Fifty-Eight (58) tons of small Beach-Stones, has been pro- cured, at a total cost, (including $72.50 for railway tolls,) of Three Hundred and Four and one-half Dollars, ($304.50.) With these it has been computed that several hundred yards of gutters can be paved, narrow but of sufficient width for utility, and long enough to test the question of their cheapness. Too much pains cannot be taken to render the Foot-Paths dry. By this, it is not meant that they should be impervious to water, which would not be desirable, but merely that they shall absorb moisture rapidly, or otherwise be relieved from excess of Summer showers. There was not sufficient time, in the working season of 1871, to com- plete this part of the task as thoroughly as could be desired. It is hoped, however, in the early Spring, to profit by the experi- ence of the Winter which, with its alternations of frost and thaw, is a thorough if somewhat radical leveller. When the walks shall have been elevated to their proposed height in the centre, thereby rendering them crowning instead of, as now, depressed by myriad feet ; and shall, at the same time, be effectually freed from superfluous water; the greatest source of anxiety to the Commission will have been entirely removed.
During the progress of the work upon the Northern Path, it became necessary to settle upon the proper disposition to be made of the ancient Well that has so long and faithfully minis- tered to the popular necessities. The evidence was irresistible that the Well could not be dispensed with, being in use, as con- clusively shown, throughout the twenty-four hours. A thorough cleansing was therefore ordered, a dense mass of fibre being removed which had been attracted from the roots of the adjacent Elms by the proximity of moisture. A huge stone was placed over the top, its edge being dressed to a level with the surround- ing pathway. In the judgment of this Commission, such jobs are done cheapest when done so as to last. It is not doubted that
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the dwellers in the vicinity will be lulled to their virtuous slum- bers, for many a year to come, by the music of that pump-handle.
Upon application from this Commission, three (3) Inlets to the Front Street Sewer, with their accompanying and indispen- sable Catch-Basins, were constructed by the Department of Sewers, at a total cost of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars and Eighty Nine cents ($250.89). The original intention was, to collect the entire surface drainage of the Common and discharge it, through appropriate channels, into these Inlets. But it will doubtless be found expedient to divert a part of that overflow to the main Sewer or Drain, which, as heretofore intimated, will be required for the Westerly side of the Common, including the site for the foundation of the Soldiers' Monument, the stability of which must not be left in question for a moment. The general grade of the whole tract is such, nevertheless, that the surface-water can be directed, until shorter courses are offered, into the Inlets to the Front Street Sewer. Especially is such the fact in regard to the rainfall upon the Knoll before which, " full high advanced," the Bigelow Mon- ument discloses its graceful proportions.
The proper treatment of that Knoll occasioned as much, if not more embarrassment than any other problem which was pre- sented for solution. A thicket of unsightly trees had been suf- fered to grow up, receiving no other care than the occasional pruning of a limb that had first been fractured by nature in rough but effectual fashion. Scarcely one of those trees, by itself, was worth saving. Had the Commission felt free to dis- regard all other considerations, consulting only the requirements of a correct taste, not a tree would have been spared which inte- fered with the plan of reducing the Knoll to the level of the Southern Plateau, continuing the Northerly grade, by an easy descent, until it was merged in the walk at its base. But it was not deemed prudent, strongly as it commended itself to the judg- ment, to make such thorough destruction. Few were marked for preservation, however, that did not give promise of future symme- try under the unwonted influence of air and sunlight to which they would for the first time, be directly exposed. Some that still remain are standing, merely because they were not expected to survive the winter and their removal could be conveniently deferred.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 26.
The plan of improvement, devised and so far executed, by the Commission, will be incomplete until after the construction of a FOUNTAIN or, more strictly, JET D'EAU. No City, within knowl- edge, enjoys equal facilities for the production of an imposing effect of this nature. A survey has already been made and the stakes are set, denoting the intended location of an Octagonal Basin, twenty feet in diameter, which is precisely one-half of the contemplated size. The finest display will be produced by a hol- low column, thrown in a single, perpendicular jet to any height desirable so long as the falling spray shall be restricted to proper limits. It is believed that water enough could be spared to per- mit the play of the Jet upon Holidays, when it would, of itself, fur- nish an extraordinary attraction for the multitudes who throng our streets in search of amusement. In no other way can the City as cheaply supply so much innocent gratification. Sums, largely exceeding the utmost expense estimated by the Commis- sion, were appropriated without grudging, in former years for evanescent shows of Fireworks. This simple, unadorned JET is within the plan of work which should be completed during the season that is rapidly approaching. A Fountain might be intro- duced, for ordinary occasions, in exact conformity to the origi- nal design, the spent waters of which, when played, should be conducted to the intersection of Salem Square with Front Street, at the North-East corner of the Common, there to supply a much needed convenience wherefrom the tired wayfarer and his animals may quench their thirst. No waste would then be possible of the invaluable element that has cost so much to introduce and diffuse, but which cannot be in too lavish abundance for every legitimate purpose.
The Commissioners have been led, through paragraphs in the public press as well as from informal communications to their Chairman, to expect that the eager co-operation of a portion of their fellow citizens would take the form of the contribution of a sum of money towards the construction of the proposed JET D'EAU. Such intention, if entertained seriously, appears to have been abandoned. But, as one of the earliest and most prominent fea- tures of their original plan of improvement; one indeed which could not be omitted without relinquishing every pretension to true adornment, it has not been as it never will be surrendered
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by this Commission. There would seem to be a propriety in some voluntary contribution by the owners of Real Estate, abutting upon or contiguous to the Common,which has been and must con- tinue to be so largely benefited by the permanent improvement of that Public Ground, towards a method of ornamentation from which they will derive the chief delight. A timely opportunity will be afforded for the manifestation, in a substantial shape, of that liberality which is doubtless eager to be solicited. At the same time it will not be regarded as any evidence of needless extravagance, should the munificence of our fellow citizens, liv- ing remote from the Common, display a tendency in this direction.
No interchange of views has been had, as yet, between the committee to which is entrusted the erection of a Soldier's Mon- ument and this Commission. Whensoever it shall appear to that committee that the time has arrived for the definitive assignment of a site, assuming that one will be sought upon the Common, this Commission will be prepared to entertain the subject with a cordial desire for efficient, mutual co-operation. There can scarcely be two opinions as to the precise spot to be preferred ; among the Commissioners, most assuredly, there is entire har- mony upon that point as upon all others. The City Council has already taken action, upon the Memorial of this Commission, to secure the removal of the Meeting-House of the First Parish, so long occupied for Town-Meetings. That the Petition of the City will be granted, by the Legislature of the Commonwealth, can no more be doubted than the undeniable fact that its Prayer is but an echo of the wishes of five-sixths of our population. The utter removal of that Meeting-House will relieve the Common from an awkward and unsightly incumbrance, of which no amount of hired advocacy can justify the continued retention. The design for the improvement of the Common has always contemplated the possibility of the construction of a Soldiers' Monument: and no change will be required in the general disposition of the grounds, by that possibility becoming a certainty. When the whole shall be completed ; the Monument in position and the grounds immediately surrounding suitably graded and laid out ; our citizens will have additional cause for felicitation at the emphasis with which they rejected the scheme, having nothing
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CITY DOCUMENT. - No. 26.
but its audacity in its favor, of rearing upon the Common a pile of Granite as ugly as it would have been absurd :-
" Monstrum horrendum, informe, ingens."
In closing this review and summary of the work upon the Common, during the past year, it is but fair to insist for a moment upon a consideration of the neglect under which that Pub- lic Ground, in the very heart of our City, has been allowed to lan- guish. The theme for reproach at home and the butt of ridicule to the traveller as he was borne swiftly by over street or Railway ; who shall measure the amount of injury which the sight of such municipal shiftlessness and unthrift has occasioned ? As we suf- fered the public property to go to waste, why might not the suspi- cion justly lurk that we were individually incapable of economical or discreet conduct! In essaying a remedy for the mismanagement, or neglect, of former years, the aim of the Commission has been so to execute the trust confided that the work should not require repetition. Apportion all the sums that even extravagance could squander, much more the actual or intended modest expenditure of the Commission, throughout the countless years during which nothing was attempted ; and the cost of reclamation sinks into the very absurdity of insignificance. The People, always apathetic and usually indulgent to those whom they can induce to govern them, sharply aroused by recent developments in more than one State of the Republic, peremptorily insist upon economy in every mun- icipal department. But the distinction between prudent thrift and a griping penuriousness is kept closely defined. And, among the monuments to their Civic Idols which they may erect, it is very certain that no Golden Calf will perpetuate the worship of the Official Skinflint.
Late in the summer a favorable opportunity presented itself and was at once improved, to determine a question which had been the source of much solicitude to this Commission. It was important, with a view to ultimate future operations, to know upon what foun- dation the bed of peat, in Elm Park, rested and at what depth that foundation must be sought. Taking advantage of the existing drought, excavations were commenced and steadily prosecuted until all further progress was arrested by a copious rain. Enough was accomplished, to prove that the mass of peat is underlain at an average depth of four (+) feet, by a layer or bed of sand.
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of a grit so fine as to be impalpable and of tenacity like well moulded putty. This subsoil differed, in no material particular, from that upon which the Sever street sewer is built, and it evi- dently belongs to the same formation. The discovery of that arenaceous deposit, no farther from the surface, assured the Com- mission of the entire practicability of forming the Pond or Orna- mental Water, which has always been pictured to the imagination as the greatest charm of that Park when completed. It will however be impossible to execute any such design, as it would not be advisable even to make the attempt, until the drainage of the entire tract of land can be so controlled that its discharge may be regulated at will. A single shower was sufficiently copious to put a summary stop to operations, last autumn, by flooding the excavation. When the surface water can be drawn off, so that labor may be continued without interruption, there now appears to be no insuperable obstacle to the formation of an Ornamental Water that shall please in Summer and be not wholly without attraction in Winter. For the thanks of many a young lad and lass have been showered profusely upon the Commission in grati- tude for even what little has thus far been effected to promote their enjoyment. The excavation of a suitable basin, not too deep for safety, will afford a much needed chance for cheerful and exhilarating exercise, upon sled and skate, to a multitude of chil- dren who, being born, have claims upon the world that begat them. Clay enough can be obtained, for puddling the bottom of such basin, from the side of the adjacent hill, whose eastern slopes have been rent and gashel by many and lawless, even if municipal, depredations. Those slopes indeed, require to be pared down, dressed to uniformity of outline, and sown thickly with congenial grass seed. It will be the good fortune of the Commission, if here, as elsewhere, the execution of what may well be done shall be instrumental towards the completion of that which is indispensable.
But a connection with the sewers of the city is a pre-requisite, without which little of a satisfactory nature can be achieved. The water in the pool, at Elm Park, on the fourth day of Janu- ary, current, stood upon a level with the crown of Agricultural street. This is an evil which will go on increasing with every spadeful of dirt that goes to uplift the average grade of the Park.
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Even nature will contribute to this overflow, in her silent but sure processes of filling up valleys by the abrasion of uplands and by deposits from decaying vegetation. In the judgment of this Commission, the time for action in the premises, by the City Government, cannot be postponed any longer. The construction of a sewer through Russell street and thence-forward along a portion of Elm or Agricultural streets, would be but the anticipa- tion of a work that cannot, in any event, be neglected. It is believed that nothing but the character of the soil prevents the exhalations from the lowlands contiguous to the Park becoming a pestilential nuisance. Suffer the excreta of a rapidly increasing population to saturate it, and even the deodorizing and disinfect- ing properties of peat will not avail to preserve the health of the vicinage. It would appear to be the part of a far-sighted and discreet administration to fit the land for human habitation, in advance of settlement, rather than to delay indispensable meas- ures until the decimation of the people sounds an alarm that can no longer pass unheeded. As it is, coterminons proprietors com- plain, with too much reason, that there is no artificial outlet provided for the waters which, owing to the extreme flatness of the land, are retained upon the surface after every rain: and that all the natural channels of discharge are permanently closed by the public streets.
Some misconception seems to exist concerning the condition of the Legacy bequeathed by the late Hon. Levi Lincoln for the " thorough drainage and improvement" of Elm Park. In the opinion of this Commission, it would not constitute a compliance with the intention of the bequest, to employ it in the construction of a sewer without the boundaries of the Park, beneficial as such sewer might be, even were it competent for the Commission, as such, to meddle with the Public Streets. It will be altogether better to excavate the proposed small basin or pond, directing thither and emptying therein all the underdrains that may be found necessary for the "thorough drainage and improvement " of the Park, comprehending among them, as will probably be essential, one of size sufficient to collect the discharge from the adjacent hill. That such application of this special fund would best fulfil the design of the Legacy, can be confidently assumed by the chairman of this Commission, who well recollects the
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commendation at the time bestowed upon an article from his pen, in the columns of the Spy, referring to which the Legator remarked that the formation of an open basin or ornamental water would be the greatest improvement that could be developed in the land- scape. There is some consolation in knowing that, if immediate benefit is not derived from that fund, the sum of the fund itself, as a trust in the hands of the city, is swelling by the steady accu- mulation of interest.
The opinion heretofore communicated to the HONORABLE COUN- CIL by this Commission, is reiterated, that the city should become proprietor of Newton Hill by purchase ; or, if that is not possible, by virtue of authority to be obtained from the General Court. Its propinquity lends a charm that, in its naturalness, is foreign to other Public Grounds throughout the country ; while its own- ership, and consolidation with the Park, would forever prevent its destruction for the sake of the material which is so much needed in the valley that it dominates. If the entire, or even a major part of the water supply of the City is to be derived from Leicester, that hill must be invaluable in the immediate future, as the site for a reservoir which shall hold a temporary store against emer- gencies and also aid in equalizing the pressure throughout that broad arc in which the western suburbs are comprised and in the chord subtending which it is the most salient feature. There can be no question but what, in the time to come, that Hill will be wanted for some important public use ; whether of an exclu- sive Municipal nature, or not, is of slight consequence to the argument. Its seasonable possession would ensure the preserva- tion of that symmetry by which the admiration of the casual visitor is so much excited and to which even comparative famil- iarity has not blunted the sensibilities of the oldest inhabitant. The more speedy its acquisition the greater the economy : since even upland pasture will not be likely to depreciate as the march of population closes in upon its base. " Bis dat qui cito dat. " He gives twice who gives quickly, says the ancient proverb. Celerity of action is the secret of all modern achievement. Now, as of yore, the Sibylline Books are forever lost to the irresolute and timid. Any dolt can call a halt ; but, to advance, demands genius of a high order. The measure recommended by the Com- mission-the acquisition of Newton Hill and its annexation to
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Elm Park,-is advised as a step forward. The grasp of the speculator has already closed upon its North Eastern corner. A few years more of indecision,-of doubt as to the present expediency and skepticism as to the ultimate profit, -- will proba- oly settle the matter of such acquisition by rendering it imprac- ticable. It may well happen that Posterity, for which our affec- tion is so inordinate that we are willing it should pay our Public Debt, may retort upon us that it would have preferred the lofty Hill " with verdure clad, " to the polluted Sewer, had it been left the option.
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