USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1877 > Part 31
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et id genus omne,
allowing, as they do, three per cent. on call, if the comparative waste of the municipality can but be garnered up and bestowed upon the COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS.
" And other fell upon good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundred fold."
The ground may not be so good as that of yore, in Palestine, but it is susceptible of improvement, and the return would be usurious, if not to the extreme of Jewry.
It has been a pleasure to the COMMISSION, an expression of which we cannot withhold, to notice evidences everywhere throughout the surburbs of the city, that their instruction has not been in vain. The whole landscape is in the process of improvement. Necessity has compelled the clearing of brush and swamp land; for no real estate is so poor as to be neglected by the assessor. Alders and birches are grubbed up to make room for tillage; and thrift, if slowly, supplants shiftlessness and want. Upon many highways leading to the city, where stone walls have had to be rebuilt, they have been withdrawn to the lines of the County Commissioners, thereby widening the way for travel and beautifying its aspect. In many instances, such walls have been sunk, so as to bring the surface of the land contained within them upon a level with their top; an achievement, where possible, of superior charm and utility.
435
PUBLIC GROUNDS.
Trees have been felled along many roads, under the spur of an avarice that takes no thought for the morrow, valuing the stateliest pine or hickory but for the feet of marketable wood which it could be made to yield. But such cases were excep- tional ; for, oftener far, have young trees been left at suitable intervals, or transplanted, if occasion required. Frequently where the axe has been put in requisition, was great judgment shown in retaining the most promising ; the abuttor thereby providing for future shade and the permanent adornment of the highway. And yet there are those who are insensible to such things, and who cannot appreciate the advantages to a city of being situated in the heart of an Eden instead of a Sahara. To such may be commended the words of John B. Moore, of Concord, a recent Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture in the General Court, and a gentleman whose keen sense of natural beauty by no means dulls his utilitarian percep- tions. Introducing the Country meeting of the State Board of Agriculture, at Waltham, on the 4th of December, ult., he thus proceeded :-
.
" And now allow me to say a few words about the town of Waltham, which; as many of you know, is located in the immediate vicinity of the great market garden interest of the State. A ride of ten miles in almost any direction from where we now are, would take you through a section of country in which you would find farms, market gardens with the usual appliances of hot beds and forcing houses, florists with their green houses, suburban residences, many of them with beautiful and extensive pleasure grounds, adding not only beauty and variety to the landscape, but an actual cash value to the farms and gardens iu their immedient vicinity; for it is well under- stood that the better the surroundings, the more valuable becomes the neighboring property."
Observe, also, the language of Rev. Benton Smith, President of the Waltham Farmers' Club, in his address of welcome to the State Board :-
"Nature was lavish in giving charms to Waltham, for we have mountain and plain, and hill and river combined in one beautiful landscape. Its natural beauty has long made Waltham an attractive place of residence to men of fortune. They pur- chased large tracts of land, brought it into a high state of cultivation, procured the best stock, improved the roads and planted shade trees beside them, and utilized the brooks to adorn their estates, without changing the agricultural character or appear- ance of the town, and added new beauty to the natural attractions of the place.
"Good roads are necessary to the prosperity of any place. And the excellence of our roads and the mode of caring for them have been commended in town, State, and national reports."
436
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
And which of all those rural charms is lacking to Worcester? We need but raise our eyes, and, lo! " so near, and yet so far," as you turn to Asnebumskit or Wachusett, the mountain ! A brief ride or a brisk walk brings us to a Lake that challenges rivalry. If our rivers, indeed, are small, we are less in peril of freshets ; and small as they are, they never fail in the sheen and sparkle of perennial freshness. And finally, as to the last detail in the comparison, what municipality throughout the Commonwealth can more truthfully exclaim: "Mine are the cattle upon a thousand hills!" Yet these are the work of Nature, in her profuse beneficence. In contrast, how shall man boast himself of that which he hath wrought, with infinite pains-taking, and grudging every cent! The bounty of Nature is upon a scale so magnificent that it seems to paralyze imita- tion. Or else our parsimony, which refuses to avail itself of obvious methods of developing and improving the natural beauties that encompass us, falls back for justification of its meanness, in sheer despair, upon its innate incapability of appreciation. This COMMISSION will not repeat their epistle to the unconverted. "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Chris- tian!" may continue the motto for a weak brain and timid heart. They reiterate their convictions of old, that men must be the architects of their own fortunes ; and that the foundation should be laid deep and broad if they would not have the super- structure topple. Ill fares the city whose streets are suffered to get out of repair; whose school-yards are left a waste; whose Commons are unimproved; and all for the sake of a fancied economy. Depreciation alone more than equals the apparent saving. And for one that is retained among us by such a policy, that takes no thought for the morrow,-what multitudes are repelled ! What impressions of Worcester must be gathered by the visitors to the State Lunatic Hospital, (not chronic), as they are borne, in official consequence and complacency, over the blackness and bleakness of Shrewsbury Street? How can they sufficiently admire that solid dump,-yclept causeway,- that ruins as lovely a sheet of water as was ever set in a land- scape-its chiefest charm! As for ourselves,-why we had to maintain a crossing in some form; and were glad to build a
437
PUBLIC GROUNDS.
permanent one, with wages at but fifty cents. Perhaps it would augment or restore the attraction of the Lake, were it spanned by a continuous series of arches. But you cannot expend the dollar of the fathers and retain the feeling of it,- in a close fist. No! let us not await the methodical action of the Assessors ; there is a quicker way to reduce our valuation. The COMMISSION are not aware how it is rendered in the vul- gate ; but some creditable versions characterize it as wrapping your talent in a napkin and thereafter burying it.
All which is Respectfully Submitted by
EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN,
Worcester, January 28th, A. D., 1878.
Chairmam.
BY-LAWS
OF THE
Commission of Public Grounds,
OF THE CITY OF WORCESTER.
1. No person shall be suffered to affix, in any manner what- soever, advertisements, handbills, placards, posters, or written or printed notices, to any of the Shade Trees of the City.
2. All persons are hereby forbidden -
To place any erection or obstruction on the Commons or Parks of the City.
To catch, trap or shoot Birds or take Birds' nests.
To injure, damage, destroy or dig up any turf, shrubs, trees or plants, or break up or destroy the surface of the Commons, or light any fire upon them.
To invade the lawns, or to trample down and destroy the grass of such lawns, either of the Common or Elm Park.
To deposit any rubbish, manure, cinders, road sweepings, bricks, timber, building materials, or other substances, upon the Commons or Parks of the City, or in any pond or basin of a fountain in said Commons or Parks, or in any manner to fill up, defile, or pollute the same. To place any carriage, cart, or other vehicle upon the Commons or Parks of the City, or upon the foot-paths over the same.
439
PUBLIC GROUNDS.
To fire any gun or other fire-arm (except of the Militia of the Commonwealth), or throw any stick, stone, or other missile.
Or generally, to act in a disorderly manner, or to commit any nuisance, or do any act tending to dis- figure or injure the Commons or Parks, or annoy or hurt any person frequenting them for the purpose of exer- cise, recreation, or transit.
Under penalty of Five Dollars ($5.00) for each offence, to be paid to the person whose testimony shall secure a conviction.
CITY CHARTER -Section 21.
And said Board may make all necessary by- laws and regulations in the execution of their trust, not inconsistent with this Act and the Laws of the Com- monwealth, as they shall deem expedient.
March 4, 1874.
-
·
THE TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Commissioners of Hope Cemetery,
FOR THE YEAR 1877.
To His Honor the Mayor, the Aldermen, and the Common Council of the City of Worcester :
The Commissioners of Hope Cemetery submit to you their Annual Report.
The avenues and paths require constant care, and the labor necessary to keep them in order will increase, as from year to year they shall be extended. During the past year they have been kept in as good condition as any of our public ways, and in some places culverts and courses for surplus water have been made.
Not only are these avenues used by those who pass over them with the sad and lonely feeling that the remains of one of their number are to be left by the way and return with them no more, but they have become attractive walks and drives for those whose reverence for the consecrated grounds leads them to meditation, while the quiet and secluded shades are recog- nized by the instinct of their horses in a gentler motion and slower pace.
GRADING, ETC.
The land between Spruce and Chestnut avenues was rough and uneven, and not available for lots without a large expendi- ture for grading. Through the year work has been going on
441
HOPE CEMETERY.
nearly all the time, resulting in the clearing of about four acres, through which a new and level avenue is to be made. Twenty lots, numbered from No. 130 to No. 150, on the South side of Chestnut avenue, were lowered, some of them several feet, and re-graded; the avenue in front of them was raised, and the lots on the opposite side very much improved. Amicable arrange- ments were made with the owners of lots; they have been greatly benefitted, and the Cemetery Corporation will receive its compensation for the investment made, sometime in the future.
Between Maple avenue and the Northwest line of the Ceme- tery, the ground has been cleared, and a new avenue, named Birch, has been made, running parallel with the line and leaving space for tiers of lots. Eighty (80) have been laid out on a part of the plot thus prepared.
The Commissioners having for a long time been of the opinion that the curbing of lots was not necessary, and in many locali- ties objectionable, decided that these and as many more to be laid out adjoining them, offered a favorable opportunity for trying a new system without in any way interfering with the tastes or wishes of those who may not agree with them.
We have added to the deeds to be given, a new provision, as follows: "Stone posts may be set at the corners of each lot, not more than six inches above grade of paths; but there shall be no stone curbing around lots on the north side of Maple or Birch avenues." Several of the lots have been taken by persons who express themselves satisfied with the plan. After the arrangement was made, our convictions were confirmed by the Report of the Directors of Swan Point Cemetery, of Providence. They had issued a circular in which, "among other things, proprietors were especially urged to discontinue the use of curbing about their lots. The experience of the year has confirmed the board in the correctness of the suggestions then made, and many of the lot owners have adopted these sugges- tions, and have graded and turfed their lots without curbing them, and some whose lots are now surrounded with curbing, are considering the expediency of removing the same.
The idea that curbing was necessary for the protection of the
41
442
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
banks of the lots was quite generally entertained at one time, but is now quite as generally abandoned. In addition, the first cost of substantial curbing, if securely invested, would furnish an annual income ample for the perpetual care of the lot with- out any further expenditure by the owner.
In many of the Cemeteries recently established, the use of curbing is absolutely prohibited, and in Spring Grove Cemetery, in Cincinnatti, conceded to be one of the most beautiful Ceme- teries in the country, no curbing whatever is to be found."
PINE MEADOW.
Messrs. Sessions, who had charge of the removals of remains from Pine Meadow burial ground, estimated that twenty-five lots would be required; but as the work progressed it was found that the free use of the ground for a long time for im- proper purposes, beside destroying and putting out of sight nearly all memorial stones, had also obliterated all marks on the surface by which graves could be found. The number greatly exceeded their calculations.
Thirty-nine lots were taken adjoining those to which removals were made in the years 1866 and 1872, using all the land between, or surrounded by Sycamore, Larch and Rue avenues. Twenty-one lots were taken at the Northeast corner of the Cemetery, on the East end of Cherry avenue, and three more on the South side of Worcester Lunatic Hospital lot; making the whole number (63) sixty-three. The number of remains removed to Hope Cemetery was 658; to other grounds (32) thirty-two. The clearing and some grading of this large num- ber of lots required considerable work.
As early in the coming Spring as it can be done, we propose to work over the several acres, devoted to all that could be brought from Pine Meadow, so that in future they may be easily kept in good order and not be repulsive to those who visit the graves of a former generation, or to the proprietors of surrounding lots.
We are thankful one demoralizing spot has been cleared by the completion of this work, and that the city will receive so much benefit from it.
443
HOPE CEMETERY.
WATER.
Water pipes have been extended from the fountain in Cres- cent avenue, through Sycamore, Larch and Maple avenues to the barn, at a cost of $439.79, beside the cost of digging that was done by our laborers.
One night in the month of June, a lunatic or crazy person broke into the barn, and by blows with an axe inflicted wounds on the head, and with a manure fork stabbed the side of our horse so that he died in a few days. We offered a liberal reward, but were unable to detect the perpetrator of the brutal act. We do not know of the existence of any revengeful feel- ing that could have prompted it. The horse was a valuable one, exactly fitted for our use, and worth full $200. We paid for advertising the reward offered, and for medicine, $13.75, and $115 for another horse, who proves to be fully worth his cost.
EXPENDITURES.
The full sum of money expended by the Commis- sioners during the year was $2,659.57
There was returned to them by owners of lots, for grading, etc., 516.75
Actual expenses for the year, $2,142.82
A full and detailed statement of receipts and expenditures, and of the financial condition, will be appended to, and make a part of this report.
Sixty-one lots were sold for $1,990, being an average of $32.62 each. Sixty-three were taken for removals, and space sufficient for twenty-four for free burials. Number taken in' the year, 158.
The Cemetery was opened in the year 1852. We cannot ascertain the prices paid for separate lots in the first three years; the number was 166, and the gross receipts for them was $1,261.50. Sales have been made as follows :
444
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
In 1852,
16 lots sold for
In 1866,
67 lots sold for
$1,289 00
1853,
61
66
*1866,
93
66
66
972 00
1854, 89 66
$1,261 50
1867,
36
692 00
1855, 44
464 00
1868,
49
66
1,186 50
1856, 74 66
637 00
1869,
59
66
1,440 00
1857,
61 66
654 00
1870,
53
66
1,025 00
1858,
58
66
66
66
1,238 50
1859, 57
695 00
11872, 129
4,088 00
1860,
57
66
66
816 00
1873, 152
66
66
3,590 00
1861,
41
66
554 00
1874,
94
66
3,726 00
1862,
44
66
66
1,359 50
1876, 56
66
2,454 00
1864,
69
1,033 00
1877,
61
66
1,990 00
1865, 49
66
66
831 00
#1877,
63
66
66
Total receipts for lots,
$35,841 00
Whole number sold,
1,837
More than three-fourths of the available land in the Cemetery has been appropriated. If it is unwise to leave the Mechanic Street ground for a place where yet more young persons will learn recklessness and irreverence from careless play over the graves of the fathers, by writing obscene language on their memorial stones, or by breaking them down and destroying them, space should be found for the removal of those remains.
The Commission has now a fund of about five thousand dollars, which should be used for the benefit of the proprietors. They cannot increase it very largely by the sale of land that remains. Preparing lots, and necessary care, will require the expenditure of most of the receipts.
We have never questioned the wise forethought of those who selected the place for this Cemetery. It is separated from the busy haunts of men. There is land adjoining it, yet more retired and free from intrusion, and equally well adapted to burial purposes.
From sales of land enough to meet the demands of another quarter of a century, and accumulations of the present fund, there would be, when all is sold, a fund sufficient to keep a
*In 1866, 93 were used for removals from Pine Meadow.
+In 1872, 45
ĮIn 1877, 63
66
60
-
Total, 201
66
597 00
1875,
57
2,525 00
1863,
82
60
723 00
1871, 66
66
445
HOPE CEMETERY.
large Cemetery in order for an indefinite time, securing a con- secrated resting place for the departed, a fitting place for the living to meditate and pray.
In view of the interests bearing upon this subject, we recom- mend that fifty acres, or more, of the adjoining land be pur- chased, so that it may be made a part of Hope Cemetery.
ALBERT TOLMAN, ALBERT CURTIS, HENRY CHAPIN, WILLIAM BUSH, STEPHEN SALISBURY, JR,
Commissioners of Hope Cemetery.
1
446
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
VALUATION OF PROPERTY, DEC. 1, 1877.
Barn and Tool-house,
$800 00
Horse,
150 00
Harness,
30 00
Cart,
50 00
Barrows and assorted lot of Tools,
40 00
$1,070 00
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS.
Report of Receipts and Payments for Hope Cemetery, in the year ending November 30, 1877.
1876.
RECEIPTS.
Dec.
1. Cash on deposit,
$1,107 54
66
1. Savings Bank deposits,
3,612 71
66
1. Cash in hands of Superintendent,
182 90
$4,903 15
1877.
Nov. 30. Cash proceeds of 61 lots sold,
$1,990 00
30. 66 Interests on deposits,
28 82
30. 66 Dividends from Savings Banks,
179 47
30. Dividend on account, lot 15,
8 65
30.
66 Sale of Wood and Timber,
183 89
30. Grading and Labor,
766 75
3,157 58
1876.
PAYMENTS.
Dec.
2. Paid labor on grounds,
$185 75
1877.
3. Paid labor on grounds,
147 50
Feb.
1. Labor on grounds,
165 50
Mar.
2.
66 Labor on grounds,
131 86
Apr.
4. Labor on grounds,
136 50
17.
66 For turf,
50 00
23. For printing Report,
19 06
May
1. Labor on grounds,
132 07
June 2. Labor on grounds,
126 32
21. For City Water to June 1, '78,
30 00
25. For trees,
17 30
July 2.
Labor on grounds,
137 94
12.
66 For printing and binding Deeds,
24 16
Aug. 2. Labor on grounds,
128 57
Sept. 4.
Labor on grounds,
141 45
Oct.
3. 66 Labor on grounds,
133 95
15. Services of City Engineer,
30 50
Nov. 2. Labor on grounds,
201 18
3. For printing,
9 15
$8,060 73
Jan.
447
HOPE CEMETERY.
13. Medicine for Horse,
1 75
13. Advertising,
12 00
66
23. For service pipe and labor,
439 79
30. For hay and grain,
65 04
66
30. For tools and repairs,
28 50
30.
For Horse shoeing,
7 50
30.
For draft Horse,
115 00
30.
Cash into City Treasury,
250 00
30.
66 For harness,
15 75
66
33.
For Incidentals,
25 42
$2,909 51
Nov.
30. Cash deposits in Savings Banks,
$3,792 18
30.
Deposits Wor. Safe Deposit and Trust Co.,
1,167 48
30.
In hands of Superintendent,
191 56
5,151 22
$8,060 73
--
STEPHEN SALISBURY, JR.,
Secretary of Commissioners of Hope Cemetery.
REPORT
OF THE
CITY ENGINEER.
To His Honor the Mayor and the City Council :
GENTLEMEN :- The City Engineer respectfully presents the following report relative to the Department of Civil Engineer- ing for the year ending Nov. 30th, 1877.
The variety of important matters you have had under consid- eration, has required much work and many plans from this Department, that, while they were essential to a proper under- standing of the several subjects, were mainly preliminary, and hence a smaller per cent. than the average of the work has been on improvements actually made.
The most prominent of these questions were the Foster Street Extension, the Additional Water Supply, and the Island Sewer.
HIGHWAYS.
Foster Street Extension, for which a number of plans were made before the City and petitioners united in a request for the amendment to the Union Depot act, under which the loca- tion was finally made, is the only street that has been accepted and made public during the year. Surveys made preliminary to the acceptance of other streets, for changes of grade and
449
REPORT OF CITY ENGINEER.
defining street lines, on location and construction of sidewalks, and on streets constructed, are shown by the following tables :
STREETS CONSTRUCTED.
NAME OF
FROM
TO
Date of Order
Width in Feet.
Length in Feet.
REMARKS.
STREET.
E. Millbury,
. Vernon,
Millbury,
March 27.
60
5,520
County Road.
SURVEYS MADE.
STREET.
FROM
TO
LENGTH.
REMARKS.
Channing,
Kendall,
Catherine,
613.7 Profile for grade decree.
Everett,
Cedar,
William,
290.0 Line run out, &c.
Garden,
Lincoln,
Prescott,
983.0 Line run out.
Goulding,
Dix
Highland,
545.1 Survey and level for decree.
Green Lane,
Lincoln,
Easterly,
600.0 Line given.
Hollywood,
Kingsbury,
May,
620.0 For plan.
Kendall,
Oak Avenue,
Channing,
450.0 Profile for grade decree.
Kingsbury,
Woodland,
Hollywood,
289.0 For plan.
Leicester,
Tatnuck Br'k, At Hunts Mill, Main,
Union,
453.4 Lines run out.
E. Millbury,
1,100.0 Change of grade.
New,
Plantation,
Shrewsbury,
396.0 Survey for decree.
Tremont,
Front,
Mechanic,
270.0 Survey and level for decree.
Shrewsbury,
Conlin Ct.
Belmont,
6,900.0 Lines run out & monuments set.
Total length.
14,314.2
Westerly,
630.0 Profile for sidewalk.
174.0 Survey for bank wall.
Market,
42
450
CITY DOCUMENT .- NO. 32.
SIDEWALKS DECREED.
STREET.
FROM
TO
LENGTH.
REMARKS.
Crown,
Chatham,
Austin,
797.0 Both sides.
Harvard Pl.
Harvard,
Easterly,
340 0
Ledge,
Water,
Providence,
1,900.0
Lexington,
Prescott,
Grove,
586.2
66 66
Oak Avenue,
Belmont,
Catherine,
1,380.5 East
66
Union,
Lincoln Sq.,
Market,
1,287.7 Both
Total length,
6,291.4
SIDEWALKS CONSTRUCTED.
STREET.
FROM
TO
Side of Street
LENGTH.
REMARKS.
Cedar,
Fruit,
Sever,
North.
312.9
Crown,
Chatham,
Southerly,
East.
278.3
Fruit,
Elm,
Northerly,
West.
210.1
Harvard Pl. Harvard,
Easterly,
Both.
340.0
Irving,
Austin,
Chatham,
East.
470.0
Ledge,
Water,
Southerly,
West.
478.5
Lexington,
Prescott,
Grove,
North.
273.0
Lincoln Sq., Union,
-
W.& N.R.R South.
132.3 Grade raised.
Maple,
South.
78.6
Merrick,
Austin,
Pleasant,
West.
840.0
Oak Ave.,
Belmont,
Kendall,
East.
567.3
Oxford,
Austin,
Northerly,
West.
65.0
Curb set previously.
Sever,
Elm,
Northerly,
West.
96.0
Union,
Lincoln Sq., Market,
East.
159.6
Total length,
4,301.6;
The Committees on Highways and Sidewalks have received eighty-seven petitions during the year, twenty of which were for the location and construction of streets. On eight of these
451
REPORT OF CITY ENGINEER.
petitions they recommended " Hearings "; on three, "Leave to withdraw "; and on nine, " Reference to the next City Govern- ment."
Twenty-seven per cent. of the streets in the city are private ways, which the abuttors thereon, in addition to paying their proportion of the cost of maintainance of the public streets, are required by the ordinances to keep in repair. The cost of maintainance would not be perceptibly increased, and would be more equitably distributed, if private streets that are as thickly bordered by buildings, and travelled as much as Queen, Castle, Hudson, Beacon, North Russell, Dewey, Claremont, Lancaster, Wachusett, Lodi, Waverly, and Mendon were accepted by the City.
PAVING.
Nothing was done during the year in paving, the Council not having acceded to the requests of the Committee for an appro- priation. The expense of maintaining the streets, (always a large item,) might after a few years be materially reduced by a small annual appropriation for laying Macadam or Telford pavement. Salisbury Street, between Grove Street and Lincoln Square, has furnished a good example of the economy and value of the former. The latter, which is an improvement on the Macadam, is so popular in New Haven, that of the 12} miles of paved streets in the city Jan. 1st, 1876, 8₺ miles were paved with Telford, and the City Engineer in his report for the year 1875, page 21, says, " That no other kind of street pavement has been constructed or ordered by the Court of Common Council, is an evidence of the favor in which the Telford pavement is held by our citizens, and that its popularity, as the best and most econ- omical one remains undisturbed."
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