USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1877 > Part 22
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SEC. 13. All supplies for the use of the Department shall be drawn on requisition upon the Chief Engineer; and it is hereby made the duty of the Foreman of each and every company to see that all necessary supplies are kept constantly on hand, to secure the proper working of the apparatus in their charge, and all supplies shall be drawn by the Foreman of the several companies.
SEC. 14. It shall be the duty of the Chief Engineer or the Assistant Engineer in command, to order from the ground all fire associations or fire companies not belong- ing to the Fire Department. And no such fire association or fire company, or any member thereof, shall act in any fire in said city as a fire company or as a fireman. provided, however, that the foregoing provision shall not apply to fire companies belonging to other Fire Departments.
SEC. 15. In the absence of the Chief, the Assistant Engineer next in rank shall act with full powers, and their seniority in rank, and all questions relative thereto, shall be determined by the Mayor and Aldermen.
SEC. 16. The Clerk of the Board of Engineers shall perform such duties as the Mayor and Aldermen or Chief Engineer may from time to time direct; and also suel other duties as the Board of Engineers by their rules and orders may from time to time determine. He shall have the care and custody of all books, records, papers and doc- uments belonging to the Board; and he shall deliver the same to his successor in office.
SEC. 17. As many engine, hose, and hook and ladder companies shall from time to time be formed by the Mayor and Aldermen as they shall deem expedient; and each company shall consist of as many officers and members as shall be thus appointed and duly qualified according to the provisions of this ordinance; and vacancies in the Department may be filled at any time by the Mayor and Aldermen; and each com- pany shall meet for general business on the first Monday of each month.
SEC. 18. Every company using a hand engine, shall have a first, second and third Foreman, and a Clerk; those using a hose carriage or hook and ladder carriage shall
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FIRE DEPARTMENT.
have a first and second Foreman, and a Clerk; those using a steamer shall have a first and second Foreman, Clerk, Engineer and an Assistant Engineer. These officers shall be chosen by ballot by their respective companies, together with such other officers as may be necessary, at meetings specially held for that purpose in the month of December, annually, and the Chief Engineer, or some member of the Board of Engineers, to be designated by the Chief Engineer, shall preside at all meetings for the election of officers.
SEC, 19. Every officer and every member of the Fire Department shall sign the following agreement, to be deposited with the Board of Engineers: "I, A. B., having been appointed as a member of the Worcester Fire Department, do hereby agree to abide by all the ordinances of the City Council, and the rules and regulations of the Mayor and Aldermen and of the Board of Engineers relating thereto." And any officer or member who shall neglect or refuse to sign the same, shall not be qualified as a member of the 'Department.
SEC. 20. Whenever any person shall have been elected to any office, as aforesaid, he shall perform all the duties thereof for the year for which he was chosen and until his successor is elected and qualified, unless discharged therefrom, either by death, resignation or otherwise.
SEC. 21. It shall be the duty of the foremen to see that the several engines and other apparatus intrusted to their care, and the several buildings in which the same may be deposited, and all things in or belonging to the same, are kept neat, clean, and in order for immediate use ; to preserve order and discipline at all times in their re- spective companies and houses, and require and enforce a strict compliance with the city ordinances, the rules and regulations of the Department, and the orders of the Engineers.
SEC. 22. The Clerks of the several companies, before entering upon their duties, shall be sworn to the faithful performance thereof. They shall make quarterly re- turns to the Chief Engineer of all absences of the members of their respective compa- nies from fires, or fire alarms, or from meetings for the choice of officers, and, if it shall appear that any member has failed to perform his duties satisfactorily to the Board of Engineers, no compensation shall be allowed him for such length of time as he may have been delinquent ; and if any Clerk shall make a false report, he shall be expelled from the Department, and any pay that may be due him at the time shall be forfeited to the city. They shall also keep, or cause to be kept, by the Clerk of their respective companies, fair and exact rolls, specifying the time of admission and dis- charge of each member, with their age and residence, and accounts of all the city property intrusted to the care of the several members, in a book provided for that pur- pose by the city, which rolls or record books shall always be subject to the order of the Board of Engineers, the Mayor and Aldermen, or the Committee on the Fire Depart- ment. They shall also make or cause to be made to the Chief Engineer, true and accurate returns of all the members and the apparatus intrusted to their care, whenever called upon so to do. They shall have the care and custody of all books, records, papers and documents belonging to the Company, and shall record all the doings of the Company in a book to be furnished by the city ; and they shall deliver said books, records, papers and documents to their successors in office.
SEC. 23. For every absence or tardiness at any roll call there shall be deducted from the pay of the absent or tardy officer or member the sum of twenty-five cents, and at an alarm of fire, one dollar, which amount so deducted shall be paid to meet the incidental expenses of the company. And if any officer or member shall have been absent or tardy at more than one-third of the fires, or alarms of fire occurring during the year, if more than five, except in case of sickness, such absence or tardi- ness shall be considered good cause for his discharge from the Department.
SEC. 24. Any officer or member of the Fire Department who shall willfully neglect
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or refuse to perform his duty, or shall be guilty of disorderly conduct, or disobedience to his superiors in office, shall for such offence, besides being subjected to the penalty hereinafter provided, be dismissed from the Department ; and any officer or member of the Fire Department may, at any time be removed or dismissed from the Depart- ment, or deposed from any office that he may hold therein, by the Mayor.
SEC. 25. In all cases of removal from office, or from the Department by the Mayor, the name of the person removed, with a statement of the reasons therefor, shall be transmitted to the Board of Aldermen at their next regular meeting, and no officer who may have been dismissed or removed from the Fire Department, shall be rein- stated therein, unless by a two-thirds vote of the Aldermen.
SEC. 26. It shall be the duty of the officers and members of the several engine, hose, and hook and ladder companies, whenever a fire shall break out in the city, to repair forthwith to their respective engines, hose, hook and ladder carriages, and other apparatus, and to convey them, in as orderly a manner as may be, to or near the place where the fire may be, and, in conformity with the direction of the Chief or other Engineers, to exert themselves in the most orderly manner possible, in working and managing the said engines, hose, and hooks and ladders, and other apparatus ; and in performing any duty that they may be called on to do by any Engineer ; and, upon permission of the Chief or other Engineers, shall, in an orderly and quiet man- ner, return the said apparatus to their respective places of deposit. Provided, in the absence of all the Engineers, such direction and permission may be given by their respective Foremen.
SEC. 27. No company shall draw water from the reservoirs, except in case of fire, unless by special permission of the Chief Engineer, nor shall any engine, hose, or hook and ladder be taken to a fire out of the city, without permission of an Engineer ; nor shall any apparatus of the Fire Department be taken from the city, other than to a fire, without permission from the Mayor and Aldermen.
SEC. 28. No person under the age of eighteen years shall be employed or act as a member of the Fire Department ; nor shall any person be so employed or so act unless he is a citizen of the United States.
SEC. 29. There shall be paid to each member of the Department, such sum, in semi-annual payments, as the City Council may from time to time determine ; and any member of the Fire Department who shall perform the duties for a less term than one year, shall be paid pro rata, for the number of months he may have been in service ; but no compensation shall be allowed for a less term of service than three months.
SEC. 30. The members of the several companies shall not assemble in the houses intrusted to their care on the Sabbath, except for the purpose of taking the engine or apparatus, on an alarm of fire, and of returning the same to the house, and taking the necessary care of said apparatus after its return, and any member violating this regu- lation herein made, shall be liable to be discharged from the Department by the Mayor and Aldermen. This regulation shall not apply to the officers and stewards of the several companies.
SEC. 31. No person shall bring into, or suffer to remain in, any building occupied by any Company in the Fire Department, any cards, dice or other articles used for gaming, nor shall any intoxicating liquor be kept or used therein, and no person not a member of the Fire Department shall frequent the house of any fire company ; nor shall any person under the age of eighteen years run with any such company.
SEC. 32. No person shall insult, menace, hinder, obstruct, oppose or give an order to an Engineer or fireman while on duty, nor shall any person presume to act as a member of any company belonging to the Fire Department of the City of Worcester, until he has been duly appointed and qualified.
SEC. 33. No fire engine, hook and ladder truck, or hose carriage shall, in going to
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FIRE DEPARTMENT.
or returning from any fire, or at any other time, be run, driven, wheeled, drawn or placed on any sidewalk, except by the special order of the Chief Engineer, or of an Assistant Engineer.
SEC. 34. In case of an alarm of fire the several bells of the city shall be rung or tolled and the whistles sounded under such rules and regulations as the Board of En- gineers shall from time to time prescribe, and no person shall knowingly give a false alarm of fire, or knowingly proclaim that any fire isextinguished or out, when it is not.
SEC. 35. No person shall keep or suffer to be kept in any building or tenement oc- cupied by him within the limits of said city any friction match, or matches, unless the same be kept enclosed and well secured, in a box or vessel of iron, or some other incombustible material.
SEC. 36. No person shall keep ashes in any vessel made of wood; nor shall any person set on fire any straw, shavings, or other combustible materials, in any street, lane, alley, or other place in said city, except between sunrise and sunset.
SEC. 37. No person shall carry fire in or through any street, highway, lane, alley, or public place in said city, except in some covered, secure vessel; nor shall any per- son have in his possession in any rope-walk, barn or stable in said city, said fire, lighted pipe or cigar, nor lighted candle or lamp, except such candle or lamp is kept in a secure lantern.
SEC. 38. No person shall carry into, or use in any barn, stable, hay-loft, or other place in said city in which hay or straw is kept or used, any lighted candle, or lamp, not inclosed in a lantern, nor any lighted pipe or cigar.
SEC. 39. No person shall leave any shavings, straw or other combustible matter, in any highway, street, lane, or other public place, or in any other situation in said city, exposed to fire.
SEC. 40. The tenant of each and every workshop in said city, shall, at least once in six days, cause all shavings in such shop to be removed therefrom to some suitable or safe place.
SEC. 41. The municipal year of the Fire Department shall begin on the first Mon- day in January, annually, at 6 o'clock, P. M.
SEC. 42. Whoever violates any provision of this ordinance shall forfeit and pay to the use of the city of Worcester, a sum not exceeding twenty dollars.
SEC. 43. The nineteenth chapter of the Laws and Ordinances of the City of Wor- cester is hereby repealed; but such repeal shall not affect any act done, or the tenure of office of any person holding office at the time it takes effect.
SEC. 44. This ordinance shall take effect from and after its passage.
30
REPORT
OF THE
WORCESTER SCHOOLS.
EXTRACT FROM THE MAYOR'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
SCHOOLS.
The large appropriation made for the support of the public schools of the City, in each year, sufficiently attests their im- portance, and the strong hold which they have upon the affections and regard of the people ; and it is a sentiment which should be cultivated and strengthened by all proper and legitimate means. At the same time, the very amount of this annual appropriation invites the closest scrutiny into the manner of its expenditure, and the most guarded and jealous watchfulness of the returns which it brings to us. I think it cannot be denied that, notwithstanding the lavish generosity with which money has been devoted to our schools, there has been a growing feeling with a large portion of our citizens who are more immediately interested in them, that they have not always been productive of all the good results which we have a right to expect,-a feeling that our children do not leave them with that preparation for the business, the duties, and the conflicts of life, which our schools are intended and are supposed to afford. It would perhaps be difficult to single out any one cause to which this defect is to be attributed. Very likely it arises from a combination of causes, each contributing its own share, in its own way, to the common failure. But that the
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CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
result is unsatisfactory, will not, I think, be strenuously denied. Indeed, an examination into the history of our schools for the past few years, cannot fail to give the impression to any impartial mind, that they have been, to a considerable extent in their con- duct and management, experimental ; and while the practice of experiments may, or may not assist in the development of better educational theories and systems, the practice, carried too far, is nevertheless highly prejudicial to the profit and welfare of the pupils who are made the subjects of them. The present generation of pupils cannot well afford to sacrifice the advantages which our schools are supposed to give them, to the trial of every new theory which comes from the brain of the experimental educator, nor should our citizens be called upon so constantly to contribute to the profits and gains of the book maker or publisher, which every such new experiment so surely demands.
There is, moreover, a growing conviction that our public schools fail to furnish what they are designed, and what they ought to furnish, in that, in many cases, the teachers lose sight of the real object of their vocation, and the purpose for which they are employed, namely, TEACHING. A careful examination into the work of many of our schools, would, it is feared, disclose the un- welcome fact that there is comparatively little teaching, as such, in them ; that some of the commonest, and at the same time the most desirable accomplishments and acquirements, particularly for those whose education and preparation for the business of life end with the grammar school, such as reading, writing, orthogra- phy, and the like, are almost wholly neglected for those of a more pretentious, but less important and less practical character, and the instruction in which, is sought to be imparted in the most general manner. The result, too often, is a comparative ignorance on the part of the teacher, of the capacity and needs of the indi- vidual pupil, and a complete destruction of sympathy for, and interest in, the work in which the pupil is engaged. An ambi- tious pupil, and one who is eager in his acquisition of knowledge, will succeed under almost any circumstances; while one who is indifferent, inattentive, objectless, as almost all pupils will be at certain ages, needs personal attention and personal encourage- ment; and the teacher should have interest enough, both in his
325
EXTRACT FROM THE MAYOR'S ADDRESS.
work and in the pupil, to give it. Many pupils of this latter class, left to themselves, with nothing to stimulate them, may not be able to learn ; but there are few, who, with a little interest shown in them by the teacher, and a proper effort to arouse their ambi- tion in their work, cannot be taught. In a word, in too many of our schools, the matter of teaching is becoming a secondary con- sideration, and is fast being lost sight of in the semi-military discipline which prevails, and which, while it does not materially contribute to the permanent good deportment of the pupil, develop his finer instincts, or promote the growth of his manlier qualities, but rather the reverse, retards, in the most decided and unmistakable manner, his mental culture and training.
The policy of the establishment and support of High Schools at the public expense, seems to have become a settled one. With the wisdom of that policy, which has been frequently called in question, we have nothing to do. It only remains for us to adopt such measures as will best serve to answer the purposes and accomplish the objects of our own High School, and ensure its success. And when we recognize the fact that, of the hundreds who enter the school every year, only a very small proportion ever graduate at all, and a still smaller proportion are prepared to enter our colleges and universities, the inquiry becomes a very pertinent one, whether there is not too much attempted, to secure complete success in any one department ;- whether in view of the large number which leave the school at the end of the first or second year, some relief might not be afforded the school, and thus enhance its usefulness, by establishing an additional and a higher grade in the Grammar Schools ;- and whether the effi- ciency of the school might not be still further promoted, by fol- lowing the plan adopted in some of the larger cities, namely, creating two distinct schools, an English High School and a Latin School. By such a mode, those preparing for a collegiate course can receive the training needed for such a purpose, and from those qualified to give it; and those desiring a higher English course than is taught in the Grammer Schools, can pursue it, and each independently of the other,-neither being in any way embarrassed by the other. It is only reasonable to suppose that the work can be in this way much more successfully accomplished,
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CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
and with better results to both courses, than it can be done in the present mixed condition of the school. At any rate, it should be our aim to make our High School what its name implies; and that instead of lowering the standard of it, we should inquire whether the greater good could not be accomplished to the greater number, by advancing that of the Grammar Schools.
I have dwelt at some length upon the subject of our public schools, because, in the first place, it is one which interests all classes of our citizens, and I desire to call the attention of those having the management and care of our schools to the importance and delicacy of their trust; and in the second place, because the appropriation for their support is so large that I have felt it my duty to admonish those having the application of it, of the responsibility of the service they are called upon to perform.
I am aware that it is far easier to point out evils than to suggest practical remedies. But it must be a source of extreme regret to those who have the interests of general and popular educa- tion at heart, that the members of the School Board are selected from year to year, on political or party grounds, or by indirect means employed by those who have some selfish or unworthy end to be accomplished. The most efficient and practical Board is unquestionably made up in part of good business men, and in part by those whose education and habits of life have been such as to fit them for the wise direction of educational agencies. A Board constituted of either class, to the exclusion of the other, would be sadly out of place. But in any event, when we see men of signal attainments, and men who have been proved to be accomplished and practical educators, supplanted by inexperi- enced men, and men who have no particular interest in the legitimate work of the Board, we may be very sure that it bodes no good to the welfare and prosperity of our schools.
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
CITY OF WORCESTER,
SEPTEMBER, 1877.
,
CHARLES B. PRATT, President.
ALBERT P. MARBLE, Supt. and Sec'y.
464 MAIN STREET.
Members whose term expires January, 1880. January, 1879. Members whose term expires January, 1878. THOMAS J. HASTINGS. CHAS. R. JOHNSON.
SARAH B. EARLE.
WM. T. HARLOW. ANNE B. ROGERS.
JAMES P. KELLEY.
EUGENE M.MORIARTY.JASON CHAPIN.
THOMAS J. CONATY. RICHARD O'FLYNN.
FRANCIS PLUNKETT. JEREMIAH MURPHY.
JOHN TIMON. JAS. J. MCCAFFERTY.
FRANKLIN B. WHITE. ALZIRUS BROWN. FRANCIS P. GOULDING.
THOMAS E. ST. JOHN. JOSEPH M. BASSETT. EDWIN T. MARBLE.
E. B. STODDARD.
CHARLES B. KNIGHT.
RUFUS WOODWARD.
STANDING COMMITTEES.
ON SCHOOL HOUSES .- Messrs. Brown, Murphy, Chapin, Moriarty and Bassett.
ON BOOKS AND APPARATUS .- Messrs. Stoddard, McCafferty, Mrs. Earle, Messrs. St. John and Johnson.
ON TEACHERS .- Superintendent, ex officio, and Messrs. Metcalf, Conaty, Harlow, Goulding and Wood ward.
ON FINANCE .- The Mayor, Superintendent, Messrs. Marble, Knight, White, Plun- kett and Hastings.
ON APPOINTMENTS .- Superintendent, ex officio, Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Earle, and Messrs. Timon, Kelley and O'Flynn.
Members whose term expires
CALEB B. METCALF.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
The Committees on Visitation shall exercise a general supervision over the schools to which they are severally assigned, and sha'l visit them according to the provisions of the statutes, not less than once in four weeks, and generally during the week preceding the monthly meeting of the Board, at which they shall report their condition .- [Rules, Chap. 3, Sec. 6.
Though each school is assigned to a special committee, yet every member of the Board shall consider it his duty to watch over all the public schools of the city, to attend their examinations, and visit them at other times as his convenience will permit .- [Sec. 7.
VISITING COMMITTEES.
HIGH SCHOOL.
Committee.
Stoddard, Conaty, Harlow, Woodward, Mrs. Earle, Goulding, Marble.
Teachers.
Joseph W. Fairbanks, Prin. Edward H. Rice,
Alfred S. Roe,
Charles A. Buffum,
A. Carey Field,
Anne C. Stewart,
Florence V. Beane,
Mary A. Parkhurst, Kate M. Sanderson,
Sarah Lewisson,
Josephine L. Sanborn, William D. Mackintosh.
The ROMAN NUMERALS designate the ROOMS to which members of committees are specially assigned, and the GRADES, according to the Course of Study.
BELMONT STREET.
Special Committee.
Teachers.
Grade.
McCafferty,
Preston D. Jones, Prin.,
IX.
Emma C. McClellan, Asst.,
Mary H. Warren,
VIII.
Sarah L. Phillips,
VII.
Kelley,
Tirzah S. Nichols,
VI.
Abbie J. Reed,
V.
Esther G. Chenery,
IV.
Johnson,
Mary T. Gale,
III.
Carrie P. Townsend,
II.
Mary E. Deane,
I.
DIX STREET.
Special Committee.
Teachers.
Grade.
Mrs. Earle,
Wm. H. Bartlett, Prin.,
IX.
Clara Manley, Asst.,
VIII.
White,
Eldora M. Aldrich,
VII.
Plunkett,
Abbie N. Hoxie,
V.
66
Susie W. Forbes,
IV.
Mrs. Earle,
Esther B. Smith,
III.
Alice W. Giddings.
II.
Alice E. Johnson,
I.
Josephine M. Wilson,
Minnie Meade,
VI.
329
SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
WALNUT STREET.
Teachers.
Grade.
Etta A. Rounds, Prin.,
VIII.
Nellie C. Thomas,
VII.
Kate A. Meade,
VI.
Timon,
Caroline H. Metcalf,
VI.
Ella M. McFarland,
V.
Eunie M. Gates,
IV.
Special Committee. Bassett,
Teachers.
Grade.
Edward I. Comins, Prin.,
IX.
Annie C. Wyman, Asst.
VIII.
Mary M. Lawton,
VII.
Moriarty,
Janet Martin,
VI.
"
Carrie R. Clements,
V.
66
Nellie M. Muzzy.
V.
Kelley,
Martha T. Wyman,
IV.
Maggie I. Melanefy,
III.
66
Sarah J. Melanefy,
II.
Amanda H. Davie,
I.
Frances M. Athy,
I.
Special Committee. Timon,
Teachers.
Grade.
Charles T. Haynes, Prin., J. Chauncey Lyford,
VII.
Mary A. Harrington,
VI.
66
Josie M. Ware,
V.
Brown,
Louise A. Dawson,
V-IV.
Mary E. Kavanagh.
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