USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1881 > Part 24
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REPORT OF THE CITY ENGINEER.
Of the streets laid out and made public to date, there str remains to be worked ; Wade, Chandler, Hospital, Ingalls, Fox, Cutler, Summer, Woodland, Ætna, Taylor and Beaver streets, also the widening of the junction of Portland and Southbridge streets with Madison street, the widening of the junction of Vernon and Millbury streets at Quinsigamond Village, the extension of Blackstone street through the estate of Martin Kildea and the finishing of Park and Union Avenues. It was the intention of the Highway Department to have paved Front street from Salem Square to Main street during the past season, but owing to the fact that the large sewer in said street was extended through that portion of the street on which the paving was to be done, it was deemed advisable to allow the trench to settle through the coming winter and spring; the paving of this street was therefore postponed until another season. The blocks that were to have been used on Front street were used in paving Union street from the Worcester and Nashua railroad bridge to Central street, and also a portion of Washington Square. It would be advisable another season to finish paving this square, and if possible to get the Boston and Albany rail- road to cooperate with the city and pave all that portion of their grounds lying between the Union Depot and Washington Square.
During the past season the Highway Department have pur- chased a stone crusher, and a large amount of stone has been crushed, and used as dressing upon the streets. In many cases the dressing has been placed upon the old McAdam bed laid in the streets years ago. As yet no attempt has been made by the Department to McAdamise the streets in the true sense of the word, but undoubtedly during the coming season steps will be taken to thoroughly test this form of making roads. This much can be said however of what has been done, the dressing of crushed stone has proved to be superior to a gravel dressing and is fully as cheap when applied to the streets within the city proper, as gravel can be obtained in small quantities only and then only at a price when the length of the haul is taken into consideration that makes the repair of our streets by this means
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
very expensive. The total length of public streets in the city is 145.52 miles; private streets about 60 miles. There are 19 stone arch, 16 wood and 2 iron bridges.
SEWERS.
The Quinsigamond Avenue sewer was completed and the water turned into it February 11. The total cost of this sewer is $40,244.01. After the work had been accepted the contract- ors, Kiernan and Maloney, of Chelsea, Mass., presented a bill for extra work amounting to $15,000.00, this claim was not allowed and they have commenced a suit against the City. There is a prospect, however, that this claim will be settled on a basis that will be perfectly satisfactory to all parties. Surveys and plans have been made during the year for sewers in the " Island Dis- trict," so called. It is estimated that the cost of draining this portion of the City will be $20,000.00.
Of the sewers laid out, those upon Lamartine, Gold and Sar- gent streets have been constructed. Surveys have also been made for sewers in the Pine Meadow District. The main sewer to this District is intended to start at the Mill Brook sewer in Front street and will follow Shrewsbury, East Worcester and Plum streets ; thence through Shrewsbury street again to the junction of Shrewsbury street and Putnam lane. This sewer will be five feet in diameter, have a grade of one foot in one thou- sand feet, and is estimated to cost $65,000.00. Surveys have also been made for sewers in the South Worcester and Lincoln Brook Districts, but the sizes of these sewers have not been fig- ured as yet. I would recommend that work be commenced upon these districts the coming year. The question of arching Mill Brook has been under consideration for some time. Plans have been prepared and estimates made of the cost of making this im- provement. The plans contemplate the taking out of the old walls, relaying the invert with concrete, and constructing a sub- stantial arch. I recommend that a portion of this work be done the coming season.
The question of disposing of the sewage of the City was brought to the attention of the State Legislature last winter, by the people living in the valley of the Blackstone below the City,
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REPORT OF THE CITY ENGINEER.
they claiming that it was a great nuisance. After giving all parties interested a hearing, the matter was referred to the State Board of Health, Lunacy and Charity, to investigate and report to the next Legislature. This Board came to Worcester and viewed the premises, and they in turn referred the question to a commission of experts, who are to report to the State Board a plan or plans for the disposal of the sewage. A thorough sur- vey of the valley below the City has been made for this com- mission under the direction of this Department. The expense of making the survey to be borne by the State. The commission have made their report to the State Board, but as yet it has not been made public. Until it is known what the action of the State Board will be, the City can do nothing, as it is not proposed by the City authorities to present a plan, but simply to act in the defensive.
LIGHTING STREETS.
The following table shows the increase of street lights since 1874 :
YEAR.
GAS.
OIL.
TOTALS.
Number.
Increase.
Number.
Increase.
1875
643
6
484
64
1127
1876
667
24
557
73
1224
1877
675
8
619
62
1294
1878
681
6
654
35
1335
1879
690
9
756
102
1446
1880
694
4
814
58
1508
1881
705
11
916
102
1621
The property owned by the Street Lighting Department is valued at $523.00, a schedule of which can be seen at this office. The work of lighting the street lamps has been done to the en- tire satisfaction of the Department by P. Ronayne.
Respectfully submitted.
CHARLES A. ALLEN,
City Engineer.
WORCESTER, Dec. 1, 1881. 25
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEMETERY,
FOR THE YEAR 1881.
To his Honor the Mayor, the Aldermen and the Common Council of the City of Worcester :
The City Charter provides that " the board of commissioners shall annually, in the month of January, make and render a report of all their acts, doings and proceedings, and of the con- dition of the Cemetery, and an account of the receipts and expenditures for the same."
Paths and avenues have been kept in good order, and properly graded and cleared after the action of frost and snow in winter, and the heavy rains of other seasons.
When new lots are laid out and subdivisions for burials made, new paths and avenues, as well as extensions, become necessary. There are 21,395 feet (more than four miles) of roadway in the Cemetery, in excellent order. The length of paths is probably more than sixteen miles. All parts of the grounds where lots are laid out were raked over in the spring, and have been kept clear since.
Spruce avenue has been improved by building about ninety rods of bank wall on its north side, and increasing the space for lots enough to more than pay the expense ($114.41). A new avenue running parallel with Spruce, and leaving space for four tiers of lots between them, has been laid out, partially worked, and can be completed early in the next spring; when about sixty lots with paths will also be ready.
370
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
Further north and parallel with these, Oak avenue, running from Spruce to Chestnut, has been finished by grading and covering with good gravel, and on the north side of it thirty- eight lots were laid out, nineteen of them have been sold.
Sycamore avenue has been extended over Prospect hill from Branch avenue, and nearly parallel with it, to Walnut avenue. Branch avenue has been regraded, filled and graveled. The space between the two has been laid into seventy-four lots with the necessary paths.
A large plot of ground east of Prospect hill and south of River avenue, where $12.00 lots are located, was graded, paths and several rods of roadway made. A great amount of labor was required on this place. The ground was uneven, and trees and stumps were removed. Several of the lots prepared were sold during the year, and eighteen are ready for sale.
The part of the " Cemetery set apart for a public burial place for the use of the inhabitants of said city free of charge thereof," has received proper care, but not so much as in some former years.
In our 27th annual report we stated there had been (72) seventy-two free burials in the year 1880, and that the ground prepared for that purpose was nearly all occupied. In the year 1881, there were (90) ninety free burials. We have partially graded and filled up land in the south-east part of the Cemetery, which shall be ready when required.
Remains removed from Pine Meadow and Mechanic street grave yards, occupy from three to four acres of Hope Cemetery, which are under the care of the Commissioners. Deeds of lots were made to such representatives of the families as could be found, or were known. Many of them are uncalled for and yet remain in the care of our City Treasurer. Comparatively few descendants of the Worcester families of more than fifty years ago can be found here now.
It is reasonable to expect, that the city having obliterated the grave yards from the midst of the rapidly growing sections, where they would have been subject to neglect and sources of demoralization, and also having received large pecuniary gains,
371
HOPE CEMETERY.
will through the Commissioners cause the two plots, one called Mechanic street and one Pine Meadow ground, to be kept in as good order, as are surrounding lots owned by individual pro- prietors.
Five hundred dollars expended upon the Mechanic street lot in 1880, put that in good condition, and for some time it will only require the care given to other well graded parts of the Cemetery.
Pine Meadow lot has been partially graded. The roughest and most uneven part of it was filled up and covered with a sufficient depth of loam and manure. Your appropriation for this work was five hundred dollars ($500). The cost of the work was $508.49. The improvement does not cover half the ground, but we estimate it does half the work. What remains should be as well done, and we respectfully ask an appropriation of five hundred dollars to complete it the present year.
Three hundred and twenty-six lots owned by individuals have been under our especial care. Seven hundred and eighty-eight dollars, an average of about $2.42 per lot, has been charged for the work.
One hundred and thirty lots were fitted up and graded, for persons who purchased them, at a cost of two thousand two hundred and eighty dollars.
The cost or expense upon each lot was various, as follows :
The cost on 33 lots was less than
$10.00 each.
יי 49
from
$10.00 to $20.00 $20.00 to $30.00
27 66 66 66
21
66
$30.00 to $44.00 66
This care of a large part of the Cemetery (456 lots) which has become the property of individuals, increases the responsibility, of the commissioners. The effect has been very marked in the improvement of the Cemetery. Early in the Spring we sent circulars to lot owners, informing them that all work should be performed under the supervision of the foreman, at cost.
In addition to " the acts, doings and proceedings " thus far re- ported, clearing and grading in several localities has been done, and many days work performed, which cannot be presented in detail at present, but will show good results in the future.
372
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
The enlargement of Hope Cemetery will become necessary soon, and adjoining lands should be purchased. We recommend that the City buy, as soon as can be done, a piece of land con- taining about four acres bounded on its south-east line, to make a straight line and better access to the Webster street lot and other parts of the Cemetery.
In the year 1879, 54 lots were sold for $1,727 00
" 1880, 66
2,706 00
and in 1881,97 3,286 00
A larger number than in any previous year.
RECEIPTS.
The Commissioners had in their hands at
the beginning of the year, $313 50
Cash from City Treasurer, 3,543 55
" For grading, labor and care of lots and material, 3,262 53
" Rent of land,
25 00
" Wood and lumber sold, 176 17
- $7,320 75
EXPENDITURES.
Monthly payments to workmen, total, $3,543 55
C. Bancroft, use of cart,
1 75
L. B. Stone, team and labor, 52 13
T. S. Sloan, for horse,
250 00
A. Chapleau, new cart ($68.00) and smithing,
130 90
Stockwell & Barrows, hay and grain,
161 65
Willmarth, for shoeing,
23 91
New harness ($35.50) and repairs,
54 15
New tools,
65 19
290 stone posts,
396 60
Doweling caps on front fence posts,
31 05
Turf for lots, 212 06
Rice, Barton & Fales, iron numbers,
4 65
City Engineer, surveying,
36 35
Lumber and carpenter work,
56 48
Printing cards and reports,
29 39
City water,
30 00
L. B. Stone, 98.6 perch of wall,
114 41
Sundry small bills.
59 57
Cash paid City Treasurer,
1,650 00
Cash in hands of the Commissioners,
$5,253 79
416 96
$7,320 75
373
HOPE CEMETERY.
THE ASSETS IN THE HANDS OF THE CITY TREASURER ARE AS FOLLOWS :
In Savings Banks for permanent fund,
$6,500 00
Deposits by six lot owners,
550 00
Cash on deposit,
1,939 84
Total,
$8,989 84
Cash in hands of Commissioners,
$416 96
Uncollected bills in hands of Commissioners,
347 09
764 05
Horses, carts and tools,
$823 75
Buildings,
950 00
1,773 75
Total assets, $11,527 64
A statement of the City Treasurer's account is hereto append- ed and makes a part of this report.
The foreman at the Cemetery has been faithful, and his em- ployés are efficient workmen.
The City Treasurer and his assistants have always been ready to aid us in the duties incident to their office.
With this report we offer a petition which we are sure will re- ceive due attention from your honorable board.
Respectfully submitted.
ALBERT TOLMAN,
ALBERT CURTIS, WM. BUSH, THOMAS M. ROGERS, STEPHEN SALISBURY, JR.,
Commissioners of Hope Cemetery.
January 23d, 1882.
CITY TREASURER'S REPORT.
To the Commissioners of Hope Cemetery:
GENTLEMEN-The undersigned herewith presents a brief state- ment of his receipts and payments, on account of the Cemetery Funds, for the financial year ending Nov. 30, 1881.
BALANCES, DEC. 1, 1880, VIZ :
Savings Bank deposits, general account, $5,000 00
66 66 special account, 150 00
Cash on deposit, 1,320 01
$6,470 01
RECEIPTS DURING THE YEAR, VIZ :
From proceeds of 97 lots sold, $3,286 00
66 City of Worcester, grading, etc., 500 00
66 Commissioners, on general account, 1,650 00
Savings Banks, special deposits, 400 00
66 Savings Banks, dividends, 196 51
Safe Deposit and Trust Co., interest, 30 87
6,063 38
Total, · $12,533 39 PAYMENTS DURING THE YEAR, VIZ :
For labor, as per pay-rolls, $3,543 55
BALANCES, Nov. 30, 1881, VIZ :
Savings Bank deposits, general account, $6,500 00
special account, 550 00 66
Cash on deposit, 1,939 84
8,989 84
Total,
$12,533 39
Respectfully submitted.
WM. S. BARTON,
City Treasurer.
WORCESTER, MASS., Jan. 23, 1882.
-
WORCESTER FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
DIRECTORS' REPORT.
To the Hon. Frank H. Kelley, Mayor, and the City Council of the City of Worcester :
The Directors of the Free Public Library respectfully submit their twenty-second annual report.
The reports of the several standing committees of the board and of the librarian are herewith transmitted, and to them your Honor and the Council are respectfully referred for facts and suggestions in regard to the administration of the Library.
The directors are pleased to report an increased use of the library in both the departments. The number of books issued from the circulating department has been greater by about fifteen hundred than for the previous year. This increase, though small as compared with the rapid decline in the use of this part of the library for several years past, is gratifying evidence that the tide has turned and that the public is beginning to make a larger and better use of the opportunities which the wise and liberal policy of the city ¿government has provided. The reasons why the number of volumes annually taken from the library has declined within a few years from nearly one hundred and forty thousand to one hundred and thirteen thousand, are that people have less leisure for reading when business of all kinds makes more ex- acting demands upon their time than during the commercial de- pression of a few years ago ; that the smaller sums appropriated for the library for several years have not enabled the Directors to provide so many new books, which are chiefly sought by read- ers ; and that it has been the policy of the Directors and the
376
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
librarian to adopt a somewhat stricter rule of selection in buying new books, excluding for the most part those works of merely sensational and emotional fiction, which fascinate many readers, are quickly dispatched, and therefore make a larger figure in the number of volumes issued than books of a more substantial and wholesome character occupying the same readers for an equal length of time.
Two of these causes have continued to operate and perhaps with increased force during the past year. Employment of all kinds has been abundant, and the effort to raise the standard of literature in this department has been steadily maintained.
The causes of the increase of circulation seem to have been the growth of the city in population, the somewhat larger num- ber of new books added to the circulating department during the year, and especially the more effective co-operation of the library and the schools in drawing the attention of scholars to books which instruct as well as interest. This work, conceived . and carried into execution by the librarian with remarkable tact and patience and gratifying success, is not the least of the valuable services he has rendered to the public. It is the testimony, we believe, of most if not all the teachers who have observed its in- fluence, that it distinctly adds to the value of public school in- struction, without increasing perceptibly the mental strain upon the pupils. By supplying illustrations from general literature it gives reality, life and color to the subjects of study, stimulates curiosity and makes the gaining of knowledge a pleasant labor. Besides this, the habit of resorting to a library for special in- formation on any matter of present interest, and some skill in making its treasures available, is of no small advantage. The difference is enormous between two persons, having about equal amounts of general knowledge, one of whom carries all his re- sources in his head and the other habitnally draws from a library the special knowledge which is constantly useful in dealing with the practical problems of life, public or private. On a desert island these two persons would stand upon the same level, but in any civilized modern community the latter has greatly the ad- vantage. The work of the library in connection with the schools
377
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
should be encouraged, and any reasonable expenditure needed to enlarge its scope or make it more effective should not be spared.
Though the Directors have aimed to exclude the lighter and less wholesome class of novels, the library contains many works of fiction, and a considerable number, estimated at ten per cent. of all the books purchased, has been added during the year. The wisdom and propriety of these purchases have not been doubted by the board. Besides the ordinary arguments, that as a public body, entrusted with discretion in supplying the wants of the public, we must be influenced more or less by the public desires ; that the reading of light literature is the first step in cultivating a literary taste which will not always be satisfied with such food ; and that the reading even of frivolous books is preferable to mere idleness or gross dissipation, which to some extent it certainly supplants, the Directors believe that the value of good novels as a supplement to history, biography, books of travel, etc., has been much underrated by many censors of literature. The real worth of these books of history and so forth lies not so much in what they tell of the acts and sayings of the individuals mentioned in them, as in the light they throw upon the general condition of society in the times and places of which they treat. Modern historians recognize this truth, and do not, as their predecessors used, confine themselves almost exclusively to an account of dynasties, wars and treaties. They still, however, deal chiefly with monarchs, soldiers and statesmen. It is perhaps somewhat more important, but not much, to know the personal relations of Charles and Louis, or what George said to Pitt in his cabinet, than to be told who attended Brown's dinner party, whether Jones' love affairs were fortunate, or of the failure of Robinson's plans of life. But when we come to compare the Charleses and Georges as a class with the Browns, Joneses and Robinsons, it must be admitted that the doings and sayings of the latter are a subject of more rational interest to us, because there are more of them, and they constitute a much larger part of society, in its widest sense, in regard to whose condition and character we are properly inquisitive. The novelist does not profess that his nar- rative is precisely true of a few persons identical in name and
378
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 36.
character with those who figure in his story, but that his char- acters are selected representatives of classes of persons which existed in the times and country of which he writes, and that his incidents are such as would naturally occur to such persons under such conditions, and such as did in fact occur every day. If the author is a competent observer and a faithful reporter, his story becomes " an abstract and brief chronicle of the time," and has value for every student of men and manners.
Other books which give similar information, often in a form less attractive, such as biographies, travels, diaries and collec- tions of letters, are esteemed, and no one is reproved for reading them. They are justly regarded as instructive and useful books, but their real value does not depend upon the interest we take in the affairs of the persons mentioned in them, but on the amount of light they throw upon the state of society and the aspects of life in the times and places of which they treat. The Partons Letters and Pepys' Diary are regarded as invaluable illustrations of certain periods of English history, and so they are. Pepys and the Partons were insignificant persons enough in themselves, but they were samples of thousands of other Englishmen of their respective times, and the chief interest of their literary remains lies in the knowledge they give of the general manner of life in those days, how men got their money and spent it, their relations with their neighbors, how they managed their domestic affairs, their courtships and lawsuits, how they intrigued and fought, died and were buried. Knowledge of the same kind we get from a good novel by an author who gives the result of his own observations or of careful study of authentic material. More than one novel might be mentioned from which the reader gets a more distinct and vivid notion of the machin- ery of English politics and the working of govermental institu- tions than from any formal treatise. From the novels of Trol- lope and Mrs. Oliphant alone, not to mention others of perhaps equal merit, one obtains an intimate knowledge of the conditions and manner of life in England, chiefly in what our English cousins, with their aptitude for nice social distinctions, call the " upper middle class." Novelists of our own country give
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379
FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
valuable insight into the peculiarities of southern character, as moulded by the conditions of life which have existed in that part of our country, or draw correct pictures of life in New England for the enlightenment of readers elsewhere. From the historical romances of Professor Ebers, can be gained a clearer idea of what ancient Egypt was in the time of its greatest pros- perity, than from many volumes of formal history or learned discourses on Egyptian antiquities. Palgrave's oriental novels enable us to realize more fully what life in the east is at the pre- sent day than does his account of his travels in those countries. It is not too much to say that if we had a series of contemporary novels written in England at intervals of fifty years from the time of the Norman conquest, by writers of Thackeray's genius, any attentive reader of them would know more of what is really valuable in English history than the most diligent student of existing materials now does.
Other uses of novels of the first rank, such as the light they throw upon difficult problems of character and manners, their service as a relaxation from severer study or physical labor, and as a temporary occupation in times of illness or convalesence, can be barely mentioned here. Of course many novels are empty and profitless, others morbid, others unwholesomely stimulating, others corrupt and poisonous. It has been the aim of the Directors to offer none of these to the users of the library. The task of selection is not always easy, and doubtless some mistakes have been made. No doubt also the tendency in many cases to read novels exclusively or in undue proportion to other reading should be judiciously discouraged, but the Direc- tors believe that the purchase of a fair proportion of well chosen novels for a public library is legitimate, and that the reading of them is not merely an amusement, to be tolerated, more or less grudgingly, but, within proper limits, a useful as well as pleasant occupation.
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