USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1872 > Part 14
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10. Could a system of notation be arranged with more or less than ten units in one column for one of the next higher?
GRAMMAR.
1. Define subject; predicate; object; noun; verb; mood; tense.
2. In the above (No. 1), what is the subject ? the predicate ? the object? the verb ? the mood? the tense ?
3. Parse Grammar, at the head of these questions.
4. Parse Grammar, in No. 3.
5. Parse above, in No. 2; parse what, in No 2.
6. Parse at, in No. 3; parse in, in No. 4.
7. How may a given number of words be made to express more than one meaning ?
8. Analyze No. 7. Parse more; than; meaning.
9. What determines the correct use of the English language ?
10. How would you teach English Grammar to beginners ?- how, to ad- vanced pupils ?
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GEOGRAPHY.
1. What is Geography? Geology? Physical Geography ? Political Geogra- phy ? Mathematical Geography ?
2. What is the equator; and where is it?
3. Where are the tropics; and why are they there ?
4. What are meridians ; and why are they so called ?
5. Describe the change of Seasons in the Torrid Zone; in the Temperate Zone; in the Frigid Zone.
6. What are trade winds ; what causes them ?
7. What is a colony ; a province; an ally ?
8. Where is the Yellowstone ?
9. Name the prominent races of men and their location. What science treats of them?
10. Name the native animals of South America. What science treats of them?
HISTORY.
1. Who was George Washington? What did he do ?
2. What caused the war with Mexico ?
3. What were we fighting about in 1812?
4. How did that war terminate ?
5. Name the principal political parties in this country at present; in the days of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
6. What were the boundaries of this country at its birth? What are its present boundaries ?
7. Describe our Government.
8. Give an account of Napoleon I; II; III; IV.
9. Name some noted ruler of Mexico in ancient times; one of her modern rulers ; her present form of Government.
10. Give an account of the War of the roses.
IN GENERAL.
1. How is reading taught by the "word method ?" by the "sound method ?"
2. Upon what methods do you rely to govern a school ?
3. How much do you know about drawing?
4. What would be your first steps in teaching this study to beginners ?
5. What are the principal keys in music ?
6. Why is music written in these different keys?
7. What books have you recently read ?
8. What means have you adopted for improving yourself as a teacher ?
9. What is your favorite study ? and to what extent have you pursued it?
10. What are the duties of a teacher aside from what is done in the school room ? 1
N. B. For writing the answers to the above three hours will be allowed.
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WORCESTER HIGH SCHOOL.
SPELLING.
Tyranny,
Commodore,
Counterfeit,
Majesty,
Excellent,
Different,
Ascension,
Sovereign,
Slaughter,
Panel,
Receive,
Mystery,
Complexion,
Sensation,
Coliseum,
Concrete,
Endeavor,
Nutrition,
Cincinnati,
Conscience,
Pickled,
Deceased,
Retrieve,
Choice,
Opposite,
Deference,
Sewer,
Sailor,
Currency,
Knavery,
Paralysis,
Picnic,
Colonies,
Pigeon,
Cornice,
Depot.
Rebellion,
Vaccinate,
Incentive,
Peculiar.
CANDIDATES' ARITHMETIC.
1. Express in figures the following numbers :- Six hundred fifty-seven, and twenty-four ten thousandths; four hundred, and nine thousandths; five hun- dred seventeen thousandths. Express in words the following numbers :- 2.073; 4070600.004.
2. A building is 293 feet four inches long : express the length in miles. 1 of a day is what part of an hour?
3. Find the greatest common divisor and the least common multiple of 420 and 9800.
4. A tank 1 ft. 6 in. wide, will hold 482 gallons; how wide must it be made to contain 643 gallons ?
5. Reduce 2告 to its simplest forni, and subtract the result from 23.
of 7
6. What is the cost of a pile of wood 21 ft. 4 in. long, 9 ft. 6 in. high, and 4 ft. wide, at $3.75 per cord ?
7. What is the length of the side of a square farm containing 360 acres ? and how far apart are its opposite corners ?
8. I owe $539 payable to-day; for what amount must I give a note payable in 2 months 27 days, discount 8 per cent., to exactly pay the debt ?
9. When gold coin is at a premium of 103 per cent., how much of it can I buy for $1387.88 in paper currency ?
10. Extract the cube root of 8869.75.
CANDIDATES' GEOGRAPHIY.
1. In what longitude would a man be who had traveled 200° directly East from Greenwich? How many miles would he travel in going 180º on the Equator ? Would it be a greater distance or less on the Tropics? Why do we say there is no latitude at the Equator and no longitude at the Poles ?
2. Name the great powers of Europe. Name three Italian, three German, and three French cities, and tell the situation of each.
3. What States border on Lake Michigan? What States on Lake Erie? What territory has a sea coast? Give the States in their order, beginning at the Northi, through which the Mississippi flows.
4. On what waters would you sail in going from Eastport to St. John, N. B. ? To Baltimore? To Venice? To Calcutta ?
5. Through what States do you pass, and what large cities in going by railroad from Boston to St. Louis? Through what States in going from Chicago to
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SCHOOLS .- APPENDIX.
Savannah? Through what countries in going from Berlin to Paris ?? From St. Petersburg to Rome ?
6. What Empires are there in Europe ? What Kingdoms belong to the Ger -. man Empire ? What change was made in the map of Europe by the late war between Germany and France ?
7. What States make up the Kingdom of Italy? What States or countries border on the Mediterranean? What rivers flow into the Black Sea ?
8. Through what countries, seas and large islands does the Equator pass ?
9. What are the chief rivers in France? In Italy? In Asia? In Africa? In North America? In South America ? Into what does each flow ?
10. Where is the Caspian Sea? Tigris? Mt. Blanc? Rhine ? Teneriffe ? Siam? Ceylon? Sahara? Metz? Liverpool? Munich? Bombay? Tahiti?
CANDIDATES' GRAMMAR.
Modern Europe has produced several illustrious women who have sustained with glory the weight of Empire and our own age is not destitute of such dis- tinguished characters .- Gibbon.
1. Tell what kind of sentence is written above, what words connect its clauses, which clause is relative, and which has the force of an adjective.
2. Inflect the first verb in the Mood and Tense which occurs liere, tell why has sustained would be incorrect, and point out the last verb.
3. Name the simple objects of the first and second verbs; also their com- plex objects, and tell what word in the sentence is personified.
4. Decline who and our, singular and plural.
5. Change the first clause to the passive form without changing its mean- ing; state why the last clause cannot be so changed and give three good rea- sons for using the passive voice in any case.
6. Compare two adjectives in the sentence, and mention three others that cannot be compared.
7. Find in the sentence a phrase which is equivalent to an adverb, tell what destitute limits, what such limits, and what so substituted for such would limit? 8. Who and our both stand for persons. Why is one called a relative, the other a personal pronoun ?
9. Write a sentence containing a participial adjective ; another containing a perfect participle ; a third containing a perfect infinite ; another containing a predicate nominative.
10. Some visitors come yesterday. I asked whom they was and were told that I see them last tues.
Correct the sentence and give your reason for the corrections.
CANDIDATES' HISTORY.
1. Give the dates of the following events : Settlement of Jamestown; pas- sage of the Stamp Act; Battle of Lexington; Adoption of the U. S. Consti- tution; Treaty of Peace at Ghent.
2. Name the different colonies which settled in what is now New England. Tell by whom New York was settled; by whom Maryland.
3. What was the cause of the French and Indian War? Between whom and when was it fought? Mention some of the Generals engaged, and battles fought.
4. Name the original States of the Union? Where and when was the first assembly of delegates, and what was it called? (What first constituted New England ?)
5. Mention five battles of the Revolution, with the names of the command- ing Generals on both sides. Which was the most important battle, and why ?
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6. Name the Presidents who served two terms each. Give a list of the Presidents after 1820.
7. Give the cause of the last war with England and its length. Under what President did it occur, and what generals or naval officers were engaged? What was the embargo act ?
8. To what territory was the name of Louisiana first applied, and how was it acquired? What three States were added during Buchanan's presidency ?
9. When did the Southern Rebellion begin, and what was its cause? What were the chief battles, and which was the most important? Who were the most noted Generals on each side ?
10. Who was Alexander Hamilton? Benjamin Franklin ? Roger Williams ? LaFayette ? Commodore Perry ?
CANDIDATES' SPELLING.
[ To be determined in part from the Papers on other Studies. ]
CANDIDATES' READING.
Each applicant to have five minutes for studying a separate paragraph, and to receive marks for both elocution and expression of the author's sentiments.
CANDIDATES' PHYSIOLOGY.
1. Name two kinds of joints found in the human body, and give an example of each.
2. How is the motion of a limb produced ?
3. Give an example of a voluntary muscle; an involuntary muscle.
4. Why are they so called ?
5. What name is given to that portion of the body which is the medium for communicating sensation and volition between the brain and the various parts of the body ?
6. Through what vessels does the blood pass from the heart to all parts of the body? Through what does it return? What vessels, intermediate be- tween these two, at their extremities ?
7. By what glands is the nutrition secreted from the chyle ?
8. Explain how cleanliness promotes health.
9. In which situation is a person most liable to take cold, in a cold room, or in a warm room exposed to a draught of cold air?
10. Explain what derangement of the system has taken place when we "have a cold."
CANDIDATES' DRAWING.
1. Does an irregular solid appear to the eye in its real proportions ?
2. As you look upon an object, which lines, that is lines in what position with respect to the eye, are foreshortened ?
3. In a drawing about two inches square, represent the shadows of a raised panel, the light being at the upper left-hand corner.
4. With the same conditions, represent the shadows upon a depressed panel.
5. Make a hasty sketch of any object in sight in this room.
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CANDIDATES' MUSIC.
1. Where, upon the staff, is do, or 1, written in the natural scale ?
2. What key do we obtain by the first transposition of the scale ? How is the key indicated in music?
3. Name the key corresponding to one, two, three and four sharps.
4. Tell where, upon the staff, do is written in each ?
5. Name the key corresponding to one, two, three and four flats.
6. Tell where, upon the staff, do is written in each?
7. Write the music for the first line of "America."
8. In what key have you written the above line ?
9. In what kind of time ?
10. How is this indicated? How many notes and of what kind fill a measure ?
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
REPORTS
OF THE
DIRECTORS AND LIBRARIAN.
27
DIRECTORS IN 1873.
TERM EXPIRES.
W. T. HARLOW,
CHARLES A. CHASE, Jan. 1, 1874
C. B. METCALF,
HENRY A. MARSH, 1875
NATHANIEL PAINE,
W. R. HUNTINGTON, 66 1876
C. O. THOMPSON,
C. H. MORGAN,
1877
T. L. NELSON,
T. E. ST. JOHN, 1878
C. H. DOE,
J. J. POWER,
1879
ORGANIZATION FOR THE YEAR 1873.
PRESIDENT. T. L. NELSON.
SECRETARY AND TREASURER. NATHANIEL PAINE.
COMMITTEE ON LIBRARY. W. R. HUNTINGTON, C. O. THOMPSON, NATH'L PAINE, T. E. ST. JOHN, W. T. HARLOW.
COMMITTEE ON READING ROOM.
C. A. CHASE, C. H. DOE, J. J. POWER.
COMMITTEE ON THE BUILDING.
C. H. MORGAN, C. B. METCALF, H. A. MARSH
COMMITTEE ON FINANCE.
H. A. MARSH, T. L. NELSON, C. A. CHASE.
LIBRARIAN. SAMUEL S. GREEN.
DIRECTORS' REPORT.
To Hon. Clark Jillson, Mayor, and the City Council of the City of Worcester.
The Directors of the Free Public Library respectfully present their Thirteenth Annual Report. This duty is substantially per- formed by offering as a part of this communication the annexed Reports of the Librarian and of the Standing Committees of the Directors, and it will only be necessary to direct attention to some important topics and to add a few statements. The desira- bleness of avoiding such an enlargement of this document, as may discourage the reading of the Reports, is an occasion and an apology for brevity and undesirable omissions. The Report of Samuel S. Green, Esq., the Librarian, exhibits, in a clear and interesting manner, the active operations of the library, and its valuable and attractive qualities, which have gained the increas- ing favor and resort of our citizens. In the last year, 73,264 volumes have been delivered from the Circulating department to 5,185 takers. The mere fact of this large and increasing use of a collection of books so carefully selected is a sufficient and grati- fying evidence of success. There is no need to inquire how much has been added to the intellectual power of the community by this agency, for the cultivation of the intellect is not the only or the chief object of a public or private library. The majority of the visitors of the consultation and circulating departments come here for mental refreshment, for a substitute for unprofit- able and injurious talk and for more agreeable and wholesome objects of attention than their own thoughts of
" Works of day past or morrow's next design,"
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 27.
or of the perplexities, anxieties and sorrows or ordinary business, or of domestic life, or it may be of envy, discontent and the other evil spirits that will enter and dwell in the unoccupied mind. It is worth all it costs to provide a relief for these common infirm- ities, and to introduce cheerfulness into so many families and so many solitary hearts. Another important office of a well selected library is that it enables an intelligent community to keep pace with the progress and change of opinion and taste. Without a knowledge of the character of their age, individuals will be as destitute of influence and out of place as are most of the publica- tions of the last century in confident science and grave philoso- phy not less than in the efforts of the imagination, such as Tom Jones, Clarissa Harlow and the Children of the Abbey, for which a permanence as brilliant as their first reception, was confidently expected. It is wonderful to observe how many of the most admired and respected books become vapid, unmeaning and life- less, while a few, like the undying classics of the languages called dead, and the English classics, such as Bacon, Butler and especially the Bible and others that need not be named, are as conspicuous and fresh as ever. The cause of this difference is obvious. The books, that are permanent, are supported and kept alive by truth and conformity to the experience and sympathy of man. As Rev. Dr. William Ellery Channing acknowledged his obligations to But- ler, so many of the most acceptable writers of the present time have an equal debt to those fountains of thought and of English strong and undefiled. The knowledge and instruction, that may be directly and incidentally offered by a public library, are of great value. And in addition to their intrinsic worth, they give a higher and more satisfactory relish to those features which are considered more light and entertaining.
Mr. Green reports as the result of a new and more careful count of the Books, that the number of volumes in the Green Library is 16,015
In the Circulating Department, 10,422
In the Intermediate Department, 814
And in the library of the Worcester County Medical Society, one of the best libraries of medicine and kindred sciences in the country, deposited in one of the halls of the library, there are
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FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
free for consultation, 3,547 volumes. Thus the aggregate of the volumes accessible here is 30,798, and of these 1,287 volumes are in other languages than the English. The Directors have made additions of French and German books for the benefit and gratification of a considerable number of citizens, who retain an interest in their native languages.
The mention of valuable additions by the Librarian is not a mere display. It gives a particular as well as a general attraction to the Library, and may suggest to citizens other kindred works, for which the Directors have always desired to receive requests and they offer cards for that purpose. In the last year the Green Library has furnished books for consultation to 12,408 persons. This privilege has been attended with valuable and zealous aid which the Librarian has offered, with greater effect than could be obtained by unassisted studies. The books lost in the last year are not less than 175. The Librarian mentions that the Boston Public Library has a system of circulating accounts that reduces the loss to a minimum. . He says he is not prepared to recom- mend an adoption of this system, which will require an expense of $225 to establish it. This important subject will receive the continued attention of the Directors, that a remedy may be pro- vided as soon as possible, for such losses do not present a mere question of so much money, but of the permission of debasing and increasing dishonesty. As a check and partial remedy for this evil the Librarian recommends semi-annual examinations of the Circulating Library, and a new issue of cards for takers. These new cards are necessary because old cards with names of persons dead or removed from the city are liable to be used and no one is responsible.
As a result of the receipts and payments, incident to his office, the Librarian charges himself with
Cash balance of last year's account, $212 98
With Fines, Catalogues sold, Duplicates sold and pay
for lost books, 558 38
771 36
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And he credits himself,
With payment of extra service in Library from time to time, 308 74
Post Office bills, Express, Trucking, Stationery, &c., 178 57
Cash in his hands, 284 05
771 36
This account, which passes under the auditing of the Com- mittee of Finance, is obviously convenient for occasional pay- ments which ought not to be delayed.
The standing Committee on the Library, whose duty it was to attend to the condition of the books and their management and to recommend desirable additions and to report them to the Directors, consisted of Rev. Mr. Huntington, Prof. C. O. Thompson, Nath'l Paine, Esq., Rev. T. E. St. John and W. T. Harlow, Esq. The gentleman last named was appointed in place of George Jaques, Esq., who was removed by death from a service for which he was well fitted and acceptable, after attendance at one meeting. The report of this Committee by their Chair- man, Rev. Mr. Huntington, indicates the faithful performance of various and responsible duties. A good work was done by this Committee in clearing away arrearages of books recom- mended and not purchassd, and "the statement of the current month shows in the reference department only two ordered books still unpurchased, and in the circulating department only thir- teen."
"In compiling the lists of books presented to the Directors from month to month, the Committee have been largely indebted to the Librarian. They have not, however, thought it right to waive the exercise of their own judgment, but have endeavored always to use a proper scrutiny, and especially in cases involving a large outlay of money." And the report adds that "in no point have the Librarian and the Committee more cordially agreed than with respect to the principles which ought to govern the increase of a library like ours." And it is strongly and wisely said that "aiming as far as possible, in this question of demand and supply, to "level up" rather than "to level down," the Committee have sought to be guided by two main principles :
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FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
First, never to refuse to buy any really needed book on account of its costliness; and second, "to buy the very best books that could be reasonably expected to find readers." The conclusion of this excellent report is cordially adopted by the Directors. " It only remains to say, that in the judgment of the Committee, there never was a time when the resources of the library were greater, or its affairs in a more prosperous condition than now, and that to the Librarian and his assistants the credit is due, of having served the public with alacrity, faithfulness and courtesy."
It may be well to say a word of the important addition of an Intermediate Department of the circulating library, in which are placed books of large cost, whose highest usefulness can only be had in the opportunity of taking them out for more convenient examination and study. And this opportunity is readily granted on proper application and with necessary precautions, There is no rivalry between the Green library of consultation and the circulating department, and it is the constant aim of the Di- rectors to make that, which is to circulate in the homes and places of business of the citizens, worth the liberal appropriation that they annually make for its support.
The report of the Committee on the Reading-Room, Charles A. Chase, Esq., Dr. George E. Francis and Henry A. Marsh, Esq., shows the value and attractive features of the object of their care. Constant attention has been given to conform the selec- tions to the wishes of visitors as far as the funds would permit. The report takes notice of the fact that in return for the sum of $100 00 granted from the City Fund for the purchase of periodicals, the Library receives the value of several times that sum, in newspapers and periodicals for binding. Attention is invited to the statement of the localities, that are rep- resented by the periodicals. Contributions are obtained from fourteen of the United States, and fifty-two publications are received from Europe and four from Canada.
The Committee mention the recent enlargement of their charge by arrangements adopted by the Directors for opening the reading- room in connection with the Green library, for public use on Sun- days. The Directors deem it proper, in their own behalf, to make a
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 27.
statement of the important change, which is alluded to by the Committee on the Reading-Room. The request of the City Council, expressed by votes passed on the 10th of June last, that the Green library and the Reading-room should be opened to public use on Sundays, received the prompt and mature con- sideration of the Directors. The proposition was discussed by able reports and by a free interchange of opinions. The de- clared object of the Commandment was recognized in its full value, and the rights and benefits of public religious services were acknowledged and respected. But the majority of the Directors thought that they who had not so good an occupa- tion for their Sunday hours, would gladly avail themselves of the opportunity of visiting the library for entertainment and profit. It was therefore voted that the Green library and the Reading-room shall be opened for public use on Sundays from 2 P. M. to 9 P. M., under the care of an assistant, and that the Librarian shall be at the Library for two stated hours in the afternoon. This experiment, as it is deemed by the Directors, has been in use since the second Sunday of December last, and the attendance has been large and of a desirable char- acter, and there is much appearance of quiet and intelligent enjoyment. Time will show whether these visits are prompted by novelty or by a real desire for the accommodation, and whether they are free from the objections which were appre- hended. The present estimate of cost which is more than five hundred dollars, will probably be insufficient in the future, and a larger city appropriation will be necessary for this object. And the interest of the city in the unsparing labor of the Librarian may require some arrangement for his necessary rest.
The report of Nath'l Paine, Esq., the Treasurer of the Read- ing-Room Fund, exhibits the method and judicious care which he has gratuitously devoted to the management of a fund gathered from voluntary contributions of citizens, and used to support a reading-room well adapted to the interests and taste of this city.
The report of the Committee on the Building, Charles H. Morgan, Esq., C. B. Metcalf, Esq., T. L. Nelson, Esq., presented by their Chairman, describes the judicious repairs and provisions
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FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
for convenience and comfort which, under their recommendation and supervision and with the sanction of the Directors, have been made in the building in the last year. The heating apparatus has been enlarged so that it is sufficient for comfort in all the apartments, and "only such repairs have been made on the building as seemed absolutely necessary." The Directors would add that though an improvement in ventilation is desirable, it can only be obtained in this out-grown building by im- perfect expedients. Yet it is a reason for patience that this institution, established and supported by liberal grants of our citizens, is yet capable of much good, and there is no other library building that is a strong temptation to breaking the tenth com- mandment.
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