USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1880 > Part 7
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1st, because it is civic law ;
2d, because the paths are intended and reserved for pedestrians ;
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3d, because it is cleaner, and far cheaper, to buy manure by the: cord, than to collect it with a post-hole spoon at the tail of every horse that may be driven in, fouling the walks; and
4th, and finally, for the reason that now, as of old, what is. sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander ; and the soundness. or strength of a principle can in nowise be so well vindicated as. by its impartial application.
Nor is Section 7, Chapter 47, of inferior interest, or less direct bearing: No person shall dig up, injure or destroy any orna- mental or shade tree, shrub or vine, growing and being in any of the streets or highways, or on any of the Public Lands of said City without the consent of the Commissioners of Public. Grounds and Shade Trees, first obtained therefor in writing." Ordinances are not self-executing ; and long before the Revision was completed, the COMMISSION were compelled to address the City Council :
To the Honorable City Council :
The Commission of Public Grounds are advised by the City- Solicitor that the following "Order," unanimously adopted by- the City Council and approved by the Mayor, A. D., 1877, lapsed and became void January 1, A. D., 1878 :
CITY OF WORCESTER : In City Council, May 7, 1877.
Ordered :- That the Mayor be, and he hereby is authorized, in behalf of the City- to offer a reward of fifty dollars ($50) to any party or parties who shall furnish the evidence which shall lead to the conviction of any person or persons who shall will- fully mutilate or destroy any shade tree planted by the City or individuals upon any of the public streets or grounds, thereof.
May 9, 1877. Approved.
CHAS. B. PRATT, Mayor.
The evil practices which that order was designed to meet, check, and if possible remedy, were never more rampant than now. Complaints have reached this COMMISSION, and causes of complaint are notorious to some of the Honorable Council. Wherefore it is respectfully suggested, should it commend itself to your better judgment, that the order of A. D. 1877, be re- vived. And, if thought expedient, this COMMISSION would be: gratified were the scope of the order extended, so as to include:
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all those who mutilate, destroy, take up or carry away any orna- mental or flowering shrub, plant or vine, or any part of the same, etc., etc. For, and in behalf of the COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS.
EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN,
Chairman.
WORCESTER, MASS., May 3, A. D., 1880.
That order has not yet emptied the City Treasury, although the lively jack-knife of the mischievous lad vies with the ravening jaws attached to the market or milk wagon. Many well-founded complaints were lodged in the proper quarters ; but, so far, none have got before the District Court. The most recent instance of damage to trees and shrubs within ELM. PARK is purposely left in suspense by order of the COMMISSION. The culprits are known, have been scared half out of their reckless wits, and seem to realize the character and extent of their offence. There was no apparent benefit, whether to the City or individuals, in exacting the infliction of a fine which must be collected, ulti- mately, from innocent parents .*
There is, however, a system of petty thieving from ELM PARK prevalent among a class of persons who should and doubtless do know better, that cannot be longer tolerated. Too many door-yards and gardens are stocked by their owners or lessees with plants that were but just set out by the COMMISSION. This. sort of larceny has grown so inveterate that it excites deep thankfulness when, from any cause, such depredations are less than ordinarily rapacious. A chance geranium or petunia may perhaps suffice in the Spring. But with the first fall of the leaf commences the aggressive inroad which devastates everything, sparing nothing in its ruthless greed. The City has no rights to be respected ; and no choice flower or seed is secure from the covetousness of those who are sure that a frost is just about
* Since the text was written there has been complaint of mutilation upon several streets, and sad traces of it may be seen in Elm Park, at the foot of the terrace by Newton Hill.
E. W. L.
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to kill the public plants, and would fain save them harmless by- appropriating them! Cannot this be prevented ? Judge of the difficulty ! It is no crime to stoop over a flower; innocent admiration often takes that form. The Chairman of the COM. MISSION, or the workmen in the PARK, may observe the attitude sometimes with suspicion. But it is not till they have gone to the spot that they notice the absence of a plant and the freshly disturbed earth. The paper bag forms a handy recep- tacle, and the customary shawl a ready covering. The moon does not always afford her light, nor has the sun usually appeared above the horizon, when the adept at floral larceny salutes the early bird-hail fellow, well met !
One audacious plunderer must have worked both early and late. The Chairman had often noticed, as he came upon the ground, mornings, that the young grass in ELM PARK had been newly cut. None of the workmen had been directed to do it ; and, at first, it was not supposed that any one would dare to trespass in a place that is so public. A close watch by Mr. Pike, to whom the grass had been bartered, tended to alter that opinion, and to confirm the old adage that "while the cat's away, the mice will play." He was not caught mowing, nor was he seen to load up. But,-it was four o'clock in the morn- ing,-grass was gone that was there at sundown-and his loaded wagon was but vanishing in the distance. It will be unwhole- some to repeat such operations in the coming year. Better far that the PARK should be depastured ; since some manure would be left; than to suffer its aftermath to be skinned so closely. The COMMISSION never allow their lawn-mowers to be used much after the last week of August. The later, close herbage is the best protection that the roots can have throughout the Winter, and they seem to absorb it as Spring approaches. If a man has beasts which he cannot feed without robbing the Public Grounds, he would do well to get rid of them at once. Let this kindly warning suffice !
Neither is it the green things of the earth only that are cov- eted. The very bolts and nuts have been stolen from the pump on the Common, rendering it useless; and thereby affording a
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pretext for carping at the COMMISSION who had innocently assumed, from the proximity of Police Headquarters, that they might at least enjoy immunity from junk thieves. The motives of their censors are veiled in obscurity. They could not have been troubled because they found no water-to drink! And, although it is true that the element enters into the manufacture of lager beer, there has been no hint that any one connected with the newspaper press, whether local editor or metropolitan. correspondent, ever went thirsty of that pleasant beverage be- cause the old town pump got crippled.
Scarcely had the Report of the COMMISSION for A. D., 1879, been transmitted to the Honorable Council than complaint was made that the shade trees along the causeway which spans and spoils Lake Quinsigamond, were wantonly mutilated. Having no force available to avert or arrest damage, the subjoined appeal was addressed to His Honor, the Mayor :
COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS,
WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS,
Feb. 6, A. D., 1880.
To His Honor Mayor F. H. Kelley :
Dear Sir-I am informed upon the best of authority* that. the agents of a Telephone Company, in the act of connecting Worcester with Boston, have been (perhaps now are) cutting down shade trees where their convenience is interfered with. This was especially the case along the causeway. This COM- MISSION cannot protect the public property. Possibly the Exec- utive Authority of the City may suffice to teach that corporation that, whatsoever privileges it may extract from the General Court, it cannot obtain immunity for lawless mischief.
I remain very respectfully and truly,
EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN,
Chairman.
*Mr. George S. Coe of Grafton.
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In the issue of the Daily Spy for August 28, A. D., 1880, it is stated that the " Canadian Courts have decided that Telegraph Companies have no power to destroy or injure Shade Trees. The employes of the Dominion Telegraph Company have been fined for such offences." Of course no other decision could be rendered by an honest tribunal. But the hired servants of a rich or overgrown corporation, are apt to share the faults of those by whom they are paid. If the monopoly imagines that it owns the Legislature it is not so strange that the men in its employ- ment should delude themselves with the idea that they are above the law. Now, as the Honorable Council have just given per- mission for additional wires to be strung along the streets, it ap- pears to the COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS but simple justice to caution the Telegraph or Telephone Companies, in advance of actual mischief .*
The Shade Trees of the City have been largely increased in numbers during the past year. Latterly the COMMISSION have adopted, as a fixed policy, the practice of taking a single impor- tant Street, with its more salient branches or feeders, and setting it with trees throughout its entire course. In this way it be- comes possible to pursue a consistent system, and so to plant that what is done is not only obvious to the eye, but palpable to the sense of comfort. The old system of granting individual requests to have trees set here and there, one in one place, and a half dozen a quarter of a mile away, neither satisfied the applicants nor benefited the public. Under the more recent practice it is apparent to the most careless observer that only time will be wanting to render the whole street shaded ; and that he will not have to endure a fervid sun, when he steps from under the branches of trees that he alone had the forethought to pro- vide. The vision of the COMMISSION is keen enough; only
*This particular caution will not restore the limbs to the Shade Trees down by the Poor Farm, that Mr. Parkhurst says were cut off by the agents of such a corpora- tion, nor heal their wounds. But, if improved upon by a vigilant Police, it may lead to the application of some of that wholesome instruction so shrewdly taught by Judge Williams in his normal school for beginners. E. W. L.
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their purse is not like that of Fortunatus. At the very time when these critics were denouncing the COMMISSION for neg- lect of Belmont Street for instance, Mr. James Draper had been waiting, for weeks, for the disappearance of the frost, in order to plant along that Street, in accordance with his contract. It would have been a sufficient answer, in deprecation or denial, that Ward Two (2) had already more than a proportionate share of Shade Trees. Yet such answer could not emanate from the COMMISSION, who knew, from painful experience, what the sun can do on Belmont Street when Sirius is in the ascendant.
A serious trouble, wherewith the COMMISSION has to contend, is found in the indifference or wantonness of the ruder labor employed by the Highway Department. Oft-times the men engaged in excavating for a kerbstone hack mercilessly at what- ·ever impedes their way; reckless if it be the roots upon which a Shade Tree depends for stability and support. One case was so flagrant that the Chairman, under whose direct observation it fell, was constrained to address a note upon the subject, whereof a copy is subjoined in fuller explanation :
COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS. WORCESTER, May 17, 1880.
To Alderman George P. Kendrick,
Chairman of Highway Committee :
Dear Sir-I came up Elm Street, after leaving you this A. M., and, as I passed the estate of Mr. Jonas H. Clark, found men in the employ of the Highway Department busied hacking off the roots of some of the finest Shade Trees on that street. Their excuse will be that they wished to run a kerbstone without interruption. Waiving the question whether even the Highway Department is authorized to mutilate the branches or roots of the Shade Trees; (and the City Council have just attempted to stop this evil by offering a large reward), I contend that the damage is wanton. Stop your kerbstone one foot each side of a tree, allowing also a foot for the growth of the tree, and the
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City saves one yard of kerb for each tree. The roots of the: tree will hold the walk better than any kerb that can be put down.
At any rate I wish to deny the right of any man or men, im, the service of the City, without the consent of this COMMISSION, to prune, mutilate, cut down, destroy, or remove any Shade or 1 Ornamental Tree planted along the Public Streets of this City ..
Very respectfully and truly,
EDWARD W. LINCOLN,.
Chairman ..
It is not intended to convey an impression that the Highway- Committee authorize-much more, direct, such wholesale ex- cision. But if the laborers, who are ignorant that the branches: of a tree are in exact ratio to its roots, were simply not suffered. to extirpate, more trees would survive to attest their forbear- ance. Were the kerbstone to be omitted where and when trees. occur, enough saving would inure to the City to justify this; COMMISSION in encircling each tree with an adequate safeguard. As stated in the note to Alderman Kendrick, from two to three- feet of kerb might be dispensed with, easily. Its cost would be- saved, the roots would retain their place, and no one would suf- · fer unless there were, mayhap, some corner or crookedness in the kerbstone market.
The demand for Shade Trees grows continually more importu- nate. Each applicant, feeling his own need, inclines to magnify- the importance of the Street that excites his present interest ; and to blame the COMMISSION when his request is not met with. what he regards as sufficient promptness. But there are some- things which the individual citizen is too apt to overlook. And the most essential of these, overruling indeed in its influence, is; the imperative necessity of following, rather than preceding the; Highway Department. There is nothing gained, as heretofore- explained at length, by planting Shade Trees along streets where the gutter and side-walk have yet to be laid down. This.
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should not be; for Time subtracts from our lives and reduces our energy. But facts are tolerably stubborn. Wherever it was practicable, and just as rapidly as their means permitted, the COMMISSION have striven to meet, if possible anticipate, the demand for Shade Trees. Our City possesses such an exten- sive territory, that few can realize the amount of work of this nature that has been achieved. When the trees that have been planted within the last few years shall have attained size, so as to afford shade, the COMMISSION will be justified by the result. It is to be regretted that the cost of suitable guards for the Shade Trees that are set out, puts a supply of them wholly out of the question. Indeed, the COMMISSION are aware of no guard that could be furnished at a reasonable expense, which is at all fit for the purpose. Individuals must do something; and, as they supply the bricks after the City has put down a kerb, so may they properly shield, from casual or malicious harm, the Shade Trees wherewith they are supplied at the public cost.
During the coming season, it is hoped to commence and complete the planting of Grafton Street and Park Avenue ; either being of pressing consequence that cannot longer be overlooked.
There are many parcels of land,-not always gores according to the dictionary ; since their shape partakes largely of the hap- hazard that compelled, rather than invited, their formation ; at the intersection of important streets, now unimproved and waste ; but which, at a moderate expense, might be made pleas- ant to the casual glance and a source of comfort to the whole vicinage. Under whose jurisdiction they would be found, after legal inquiry, it is impossible to say. The Highway Depart- ment, having neglected them so far, must be of the opinion that the case lies within some other purview. The COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS, mindful of the advice of the City Solicitor that the old Burial Ground, along Mechanic Street, could not be considered a Public Ground, have been cautious, ever since, lest they might intrude upon some province of their fellow-citi- zens,-inanimate or otherwise. Yet their deliberate judge- ment has been expressed, often enough,-that progressive in-
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provement should be the rule of the city ;- neither an excep- tion nor a spasm. It will require money, which is sometimes granted reluctantly ; it will exact time, which is yielded with more or less willingness, according to the disposition of those who have it to spare; but, more than aught else, must it have, what it cannot in fact do without, taste to discriminate, tact to apply, and zeal to magnify the occasion.
Many of these parcels of land are too small to admit of much development. Where they chance to be of adequate size,-should the Honorable Council feel unusually lavish,-it would be practicable and might, once and seldom, be expedient to lay them down to grass, with here and there an occasional tree for shade. The obvious difficulty .will be,-that the grass must be constantly cared for to be kept green, since, if not green. it will look homely enough ; and how to keep it green will be an ever present problem. If the dust upon the streets is kept down there need be no trouble. But, as a rule, the outer-lying streets are not, nor are they likely to be, watered; and, as a conse- quence, dust will fly and be deposited, until it might require the keen vision of an Arab to determine which was desert,-which oasis ! The tribes of the Sahara are not easily accessible; and our own Arabs are not experts in anything green.
Yet, it occurs to the COMMISSION, that the best and most sensible mode of improvement would be,-to erect fountains ; improved upon the style of those in the yard of the High-School, for which the City is indebted to private liberality. The flow and sheen of water is ever grateful to the eye; its draught never unwelcome to the tired wayfarer, or weary beast, from whom the natural water-courses have been abstracted, or per- verted into sources of offence. ' Grass plots can be added, if deemed advisable, ; but for the maintenance of their freshness, water would always be indispensable. And,-the Fet d' Eau is, in itself, a thing of beauty; none the less charming that, quenching thirst and allaying fatigue, it blends utile cum dulci, after the fashion of those grand old Romans .* In winter, when
*Of their work ! Whithersoever Water could be led, to fall, thither was it conduc- ted. Where, and at what time, Roads were needed, there and upon the instant
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grass would be withered and dead, the fountain, if not in con- tinuous flow, might be transmuted into any fanciful or weird shape that ingenuity could devise; or a liquid element, under extremity of frost, be constrained to assume.
Without attempting to enumerate the many points where, by the intersection of streets, more or less vacant space is left, that should be cared for and improved ; this COMMISSION would call the attention of the Honorable City Council to a few which are too conspicuous to be left neglected.
COES Square :- At the junction of PARK Avenue with Beaver and Lovell Streets. The widening of PARK Avenue, just or- dered, must materially reduce the area of the Square: but the land will remain in the Avenue, where it will be of the most use.
WEBSTER Square :- so well provided for, at present, and with such prospects in a not remote future, that it can well afford to be a patient waiter.
WHITNEY Space : - Where Cambridge and Millbury Streets lock horns with the new Quinsigamond Avenue.
VERNON Space :- at the intersection of Green, Millbury, Ver- non, and Water Streets, whereof the importance can be better appreciated, by him who sees the continuous development southward, and throughout the " Island District;" inevitable upon that grand improvement initiated by Stephen Salisbury, et als, when they petitioned for the widening of Summer Street.
GRAFTON Space :- Where Grafton and Providence, conjointly with Water and Winter Streets, invite and facilitate access and intercourse to and from the eastern and western sides of Wor- cester.
Separate and distinct mention should be made of the plot, or tract, of land, now designated " Elm Square," that is under- stood to be given to the city by Benjamin Thayer and Darius Rice, two of our oldest and worthy citizens. But this COM- MISSION have no official knowledge of a conveyance, to whom
were they made. Their substance may be found to this day. 'The legionaries were the Highway Department. Might we not learn a profitable lesson, graven indelibly upon the very face of the earth, by the graduates of that oldest of all Normal Schools .- Senatus Populus-que Romanus ?
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made and by whom accepted; with its qualifying conditions if any ; nor of a formal dedication to public uses. In utter ig- norance if this particular plot is comprised within the PUBLIC GROUNDS; they can only advise the cordial acceptance of all gifts of land, unincumbered with onerous conditions, which, naturally capable of improvement, may be developed as the state of the treasury and the convenience of the COMMISSION shall allow.
Then there are Washington, Salem and Lincoln Squares. As regards Salem Square, the opinion of this COMMISSION has been expressed too often, to require statement anew. In their Report for A. D., 1879, it was plainly intimated that " Salem _Square should not longer be tolerated as a public eye-sore. A decent regard should be had for simple appearance, and some consideration manifested for the very respectable religious societies which have there planted their houses of worship. Has not the time come to stop the wood and hay,-matters of indispensable necessity but yet susceptible of regulation,-upon the outskirts of the city; at Lincoln and Webster Squares, for instance, where facilities for measuring and weighing already exist. Then, a sufficient Street being left open, the remainder of the Square could be restored to the COMMON, from which it was needlessly wrested," &c., &c.
Section 1, Chapter 45, of the Revised Ordinances provides that the "Mayor and Aldermen shall appoint a suitable place or places in the Streets and Squares in the City of Worcester as a stand or stands for the measurement, weight, and sale, of Hay, Straw, Wood, Bark, and Charcoal."
There may be sound reasons why provision shall be made for such merchandize rather than for sugar, or strawberries, apples; or geese. Yet the inquiry arises, and will not down at the first casual bidding :- Is SALEM Square now, if it ever was, that "suitable place ?" By dedication ; through imprescriptible use : and in law, beyond question ; it is, as it was ever, a portion of the OLD COMMON and TRAINING FIELD. Why not hearken to the remonstrances of the Religious Societies, which object that the senses shall be offended no longer; and protest that
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this tract af land, if neglected as Common, should not be cher- ished as unclean? The recent petition of George C. Whitney. Francis A. Gaskill, et als., brings this subject before you, in all its relations. Hay is largely baled, in these latter days. Why then tolerate loose loads of it, in the heart of the City? Wood, and Coal are dealt in by the same persons. Yet no coal-dealer has sought to become a civic dead-head. But, why not! The plain truth is, that Worcester has outgrown swaddling-clothes ; and is only chafed by each new attempt to put it in diapers. Hay, Straw, Wood, &c., have no proper locus standi; so long as there is even a pretence of establishing Fire Limits. A Street,-fifty or sixty feet wide, in front of the Meeting-Houses, would afford ample room for traffic or travel. The remainder of that waste, restored to the COMMON, would still remain con- venient for public gatherings, artillery salutes, and possibly even for a dress parade of our excellent Light Battery. And it is the deliberate opinon of the Chairman of the COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS, that there can be found nowhere a better, or more admirable site for a new Gun-House.
Let us leave WASHINGTON and LINCOLN Squares, where they can be trusted safely enough, in the hands that have done so much for them in the past. For the former, there is the growth assured from its present momentum, and bright antici - pations from the prospective Summer Street. Of the latter,- if the Messrs. Salisbury cannot say of it as did Augustus with regard to Rome-that they found it of brick and left it of mar- ble-they may at least point to the massive structures which go so far to encompass it; and whereon the legend will be em- blazoned, to their honor,-ÆEdificaverunt. Either of those Squares is worthy of a noble fountain.
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