USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1882 > Part 25
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66
8,872 22
Union
66
287 77
Chandler
426 65
Exchange
66
507 76
Lincoln
66
587 10
REPAIRS ON STREETS AND ROADS.
Agricultural
street,
$38 10
Flagg
street,
$35 90
Adams
34 10
Grove
66
511 12
Austin ~
66
119 85
Green lane,
40 52
Assonet
66
20 50
George
street,
64 87
Apricot
66
8 90
Granite
66
195 95
Belmont
729 20
Grafton
66
1,292 89
Beacon
66
145 05
Grand
25 00
Bloomingdale
66 .
236 95
Greenwood
66
581 20
Barclay
66
: 40
Gates lane,
8 90
Border
66
13 45
Hammond
street,
14 00
Brattle
66
74 40
Hamilton
22 (
Blithewood
66
16 65
Holden
66
36 85
Burncoat
69 00
Harrington court,
44 60
Boylston
87 25
Harrison
street,
40 00
Bigelow
31 4
Heard
34 90
Bartlett place,
18 15
Harlem
23 50
Crescent
street,
17 70
Harrington
31 70
Chandler
66
1,398 03
Highland
173 30
Cambridge
66
347 80
Harrington avenue,
11 60
Canterbury
66
15 60
Harvard
street,
108 90
Cliff
16 65
Kendall
211 48
Chester
66
44 78
Kingsbury
66
64 65
Clarkson
14 35
Leicester
66
872 64
Catharine
66
14 40
Lamartine
66
37 02
Channing
27 60
Ledge
66
12 30
Clark
66
36 50
Liberty
66
23 20
Douglass
66
24 45
Laurel
66
61 20
Davis court,
26 85
Larch
9 08
Dix
street,
7 80
Ludlow
66
·
36 50
East Central
57 00
Lovell
20 75
Elizabeth
17 75
Lodi
8 20
Earl
8 60
Millbury
66
756 35
Edward
66
8 60
Mill
66
18 00
Ellsworth
18 25
Mead
65
34 62
Eastern avenue,
31 90
Mower
66
18 25
Edgeworth
street,
18 25
Mooreland
73 00
Franklin
18 00
Mendon
53 15
Foster
66
231 48
Mott
9 40
66
34 90
Coral
108 10
Lafayette
66
66
66
Total for Macadamizing, $26,318 33
66
392
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
Millbury avenue,
$157 85
Southbridge street,
$927 58
Millbrook
street,
52 65
Sundry streets,
131 94
Mountain
66
69 80
South Irving
street,
74 90
Mason
15 85
Stafford
162 25
May
60
15 85
Shrewsbury
3,897 50
Milton
54 75
Shelby
66
86 20
North
66
43 78
Spurr
Newbury
23 90
Snyder
49 10
Newton
66
41 70
Sever
117 15
Norwich
66
21 55
Salisbury
299 80
Newport
8 60
Sudbury
50 53
Normal
66
17 10
State
16 50
Nelson court,
22 17
Union avenue,
23 20
North Ashland
street,
16 5
Upland
street,
17 40
Oak avenue,
141 00
Wyman
66
66 60
Piedmont
530.95
Whipple
17 45
Park avenue,
37 65
Wellington
66
58 50
Plantation
street,
524 80
Waverley
44 10
Paxton
109 50
Webber
23 25
Prescott
25 00
Webster
33 30
Penn avenue,
66 10
Ward
145 00
Pattison
street,
31 83
Winter
25 00
Plymouth
21 40
Westminster
20 50
Pleasant
66
661 99
West
66
16 50
Prospect
66
54 40
William
39 60
Providence
9 60
Woodland
9 80
Quinsigamond avenue,
379 51
West Boylston
119 80
Rice court,
23 25
Reservoir
street,
8 60
Total for repairs on sts., $20,216 97
Ripley
66
38 73
Suffolk
66
76 55
Total for maintenance, $56,580 87
EXPENDITURES.
Salary of Commissioner,
$ 1,691 76
Labor as per pay roll,
52,601 58
66
" hired teams,
18,730 08
66
" breaking roads,
195 03
Lumber,
1,252 53
Hay and grain,
4,823 43
Curb stone 17,305 8-12 lineal feet,
6,942 70
3,495 1-12 lineal feet flagstone,
1,553 89
500,000 bricks, including freight,
6,192 70
1.125 tons cobble stones,
1,123 41
20,000 tons crushing stone,
11,032 14
Wall stone and gravel,
773 43
Paving,
6,428 40
5,480 square yards paving blocks
10,138 09
Tools and repairs,
2,250 76
Repairs on engine and crusher,
614 39
Fuel used at crusher,
662 70
Nixon
: 25
Vernon
20 95
Olean
street,
53 95
Water
83 30
66
379 95
66
" sundry persons,
941 04
393
REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS.
Shoeing,
437 15
Round corners,
206 00
Live stock,
1,372 55
Rolling stock,
2,374 20
Engineering,
529 65
Drain pipe, cement, powder and fuse,
26 78
Advertising, writing, printing and stationery,
424 97
Maintaining water troughs,
54 25
Insurance on stables,
40 00
Water at stables;
95 00
Blankets, medicines, &c., at stables,
122 50
Fuel and lights at stables,
68 10
Hack hire,
6 00
Damages allowed for injury to persons and property,
866 00
Transferred to street construction account,
2,400 00
Total expenditures, $136,971 21
RECEIPTS AND EARNINGS.
APPROPRIATIONS.
Highways,
$60,000 00
Block paving,
14,000 00
Curbstone, gutter and crosswalk,
20,000 00
$94,000 00
STREET CONSTRUCTION.
Summer street,
$19,561 89
Park avenue,
1,656 97
Cambridge street,
3,717 18
Ingalls street,
49 95
Wade street,
47 00
Fox street,
172 00
Ætna street,
691 70
Chandler street,
1,615 77
Cutler street,
169 20
Union avenue,
114 00
Beaver street,
1,794 70
Millbury street,
782 44
Portland, Madison and Southbridge streets,
562 37
Wachusett street,
180 80
Hospital street,
959 45
$32,075 42
394
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
-
SIDEWALKS.
There have been laid 95 sidewalks and driveways for private parties, amounting to For labor and material furnished City Hall,
$8,187 30
$ 33 70
66 66 School Department,
156 40
66
66
Water Department,
93 97
66
66
66
66
Sundry persons,
6,903 78
$7,187 85
Total for receipts and earnings,
$141,450 57
REVENUE.
Collections, 1882.
Sidewalk assessments,
$ 4,746 97
Street construction,
32,075 42
Labor and material,
4,876 95
$41,699 34
Uncollected bills, December 1st, 1882.
Sidewalk assessment,
$3,440 33
Sundry bills,
2,310 90
$5,751 23
It is the duty of the Commissioner of Highways to study, as best he may, how to make good streets, at the lowest possi- ble cost, and this can only be done by close observation and practical experience in the management of this department. I wish to show as near as I can the relative cost of the different kinds of street repairs.
PAVING.
The cost of the paving for the past year will not vary much from $2.50 per yard. In one mile of street 24 feet wide there are 14,080 yards of paving, costing in round numbers $35,000. It will take a great many years to pave our streets when we take into consideration that our appropriation is only about enough annually to pave one half-mile of street. In the mean time our streets must be kept in good passable condition, and the question comes up how can this be accomplished in the cheapest and most practical way. In visiting other cities we find that Macadamizing is very largely practiced. Hartford in particular
395
REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS.
expends almost the whole appropriation in this way ; they have no paved streets. The street commissioner considers it by far the most practical way to keep their streets in good condition. Their stone crushers, four in number, are located some three miles out from the city, and their stone has to be drawn from one to four miles when drawn upon the streets and put where wanted. New Haven has four stone crushers and uses a large proportion of her appropriation in Macadamizing. Boston, Springfield, Newton and Providence all have one or more stone crushers and they all speak very highly of Macadamized roads. My experience for the last two years leads me to recommend it as the cheapest way for us to have a smooth and serviceable road. The cost of Macadamizing or of paving is about as one to seven, putting on the Macadam eight inches in depth, which as a rule is as much as is generally practiced, except on heavily traveled streets. One mile of Macadam 24 feet in width and put on to the depth of 8 inches contains 3,129 yards, the cost per yard on the street will not vary much from $1.50 per yard. This makes the cost of one mile of Macadamized street about $4,693 ; or more than seven miles of good substantial street can be built at the same cost of one mile of paved street. These streets will not take care of themselves, but a little care and expenditure each year will keep them in good condition, except on some of our most traveled streets. They are much easier to ride over and far better for horses to travel on than paved streets. I think that such streets as Main, Union, Trumbull, a part of Southbridge and many others should be paved as soon as practicable, and that at least one mile of paving should be laid each year; could that be followed up for a few years, many of our most traveled streets would be put in good permanent condition.
A liberal appropriation should be made for common repairs so that the streets of our city may be kept in first-class condition. I think our streets were never in better condition than at the present time, but we want to improve them still more. It is better and cheaper to repair a street a little before it actually needs it, than to wait until repairs are necessitated. A stitch in
396
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
time saves many on repairing streets. As near as we can estimate gravel costs applied to the streets about 75 cents per square yard ; some of this gravel has to be drawn two miles or more and some of it is near at hand, but to average it, 75 cents per yard is not far out of the way. This is about half the price of Macadam, and where the travel is not too heavy answers a good purpose.
STEAM ROAD ROLLER.
All the cities previously named, except Springfield, have steam road rollers, and are of one mind as to their practical value, and that is that they are indispensable for the permanency and finish of Macadamized streets. They compress the material so solid that there is but little chance to form hollows or ruts. A picking arrangement is attached to the roller so that when repairs are made it is but little work to pick up the streets. I think the time will come when a roller of this kind can be used to advantage. The cost of a fifteen-ton roller is about $6,000.
PERSONAL PROPERTY.
Live stock, 27 horses, 8 pigs,
$5,100 00
Rolling stock and tools of all kinds,
3,700 00
Lumber, stone and brick,
700 00
Hay, grain and straw,
500 00
$10,000 00
Respectfully submitted.
JOS. S. PERRY,
Commissioner of Highways.
REPORT
OF THE
BOARD OF HEALTH.
To His Honor the Mayor, and Gentlemen of the City Council :-
The report last year, that malaria had made its appearance, to a limited extent, within our borders, has been confirmed this year. Fourteen cases, after strict and diligent search have come to the knowledge of the Board. They were all mild, and as far as could be learned, had their origin on the borders of the Pine meadow swamp, or near the low grounds on the Island, at the foot of Gold street court and Assonet street. Both these places had previously been reported upon as unhealthy. We are pleased to observe, that now they are in the way of being permanently improved, and when the sewers in process of construction are finished, we feel confident that they will no longer prove foci of malarious diseases.
Typhoid fever prevailed to an alarming extent, in the months of the early fall, in the vicinity of the Southbridge street swamp. We are not able to report the number of cases, but the number of deaths was large. Here is a locality, that is in the highest degree foul, and pestilential. An immense body of shallow, dirty water, charged with the waste of cesspools, the washings of foul yards and privies, and the sewage of a large woolen factory, and covered with rank weeds and decaying vege- tation, lies open to the sun, fermenting and rotting, and sends its poisonous exhalations far and wide over the neighborhood. It is a wonder that it has not hitherto made itself more decidedly,
398
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
and sensibly felt, and that scores, rather than tens, of that com- munity, have not been stricken down by it. It generates, year by year, germs of disease, sufficient to poison the atmosphere of the entire city. Sooner or later it must be abated. This ques- tion we must meet squarely in the face, to devise some adequate means, to render it both more salubrious and safe. The Island sewer, we have no doubt, can easily dispose of the water, but what is to be done with the rank, and festering mass of filth and decay which will be left behind, is a more difficult and dangerous problem to solve. By a considerable outlay of money, it can be drained and covered up, but it is still an open question, if dis- ease germs can be annihilated by simply putting their source out of sight. If the dirt, ashes and sweepings of the city could be placed at the disposal of your Board, an immense amount of clean healthy filtering material could here find a safe and profita- ble lodgment. Last year your Board urged in the strongest terms that this should be done. This year again, they feel called upon to urge it still more strongly. It is better in every way, to have it placed where it can be regulated and watched, than to have it scattered by irresponsible persons, here and there, around the whole city.
Early in the spring a single case of small-pox appeared in the city. It was a donation from the enterprising town of Millbury. It broke out in the wards of our new and clean City Hospital, a place most unfavorable and alarming, because it was surrounded on all sides by persons liable to contract the disease, by reason of their impaired vitality, and their necessary close contact with it. By prompt and vigorous action it was immediately removed to a place of safety, and so thoroughly isolated, that its baneful influence was completely stayed. No power, less absolute than that entrusted to a regularly organized Board of Health, could so promptly and so satisfactorily have managed it. And just here we would speak again, in the highest terms, of the useful- ness of our little Hospital for contagious diseases. It is small to be sure, and entirely inadequate to the needs of a large city, but it is well appointed, it is instantly available, and in an important juncture like this, is simply invaluable.
399
REPORT OF BOARD OF HEALTH.
The question of house drainage, water closets, privies and cesspools continues to be a troublesome and perplexing one. The number of cases under this head, have been this year, three hundred and thirty-three, against one hundred and sixty-eight last year. Your Board, fully convinced of the failure of the present plan to meet the constantly increasing complaints which crowd upon them from this source, have concluded to attack it in a new way, and by improved methods. In the month of September, of last year, they made visits of inspection, and inquiry to several cities of the commonwealth, to learn how the work was done there. They saw at a glance, that in this part of sanitary work, our city was far behind the times. That by the invention of comparatively new machinery, the work could be done, in broad daylight, better, more rapidly, cheaper, and in all respects more satisfactorily, than by the old cart and bucket, night plan, which we had in use. That in Boston, Lowell, and Cambridge, a single enterprising and responsible firm easily man- aged the whole business, by the use of the odorless excavating apparatus, to the entire satisfaction of the authorities, and the citizens generally. In October, we advertised for proposals to do such work in our city. Several were offered, and soon after a contract was made with a responsible person, to take the charge of cleaning all the vaults, cesspools and privies in the city, by the above mentioned means. The work we expect will be commenced about the first of April. There is no reason why it should not succeed here, as well as in the neighboring cities, as far as we can see, and we confidently expect good results from the change.
At the commencement of the warm season last year, your Board, by a public notice, required the removal of swine from the city, within certain limits, prescribed, and published by them. It was a measure imperatively demanded, for the hog nuisance had become intolerable. By much labor, and a good deal of perseverance, it was finally pretty well accomplished. But some- how or other, the idea seemed to prevail, that the rule was to be only temporary in its operation, and that, after the heat of sum- mer had passed, the hogs would be allowed to come back. In
26
400
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
fact, large numbers did get back, and the work had in a measure to be done over again. Your Board having decided that swine must go out, easily concluded that it was best they should stay out, and now no swine are allowed within the aforesaid limits, either in summer or winter, except under certain circumstances, by special permit. Closely allied to the swine nuisance, is the nuisance of cow stables. It is the practice of certain individ- uals in various parts of the city, to maintain stables where cows are kept, for the purpose of supplying milk to the neighborhood. These stables are usually fitted up in some old barn, or in shan- ties constructed for the purpose. They are generally in the thickly settled quarters of the poorer parts of the city, and the milk is distributed by hand. They are for the most part filthy, damp, and repulsive to the last degree. No provision is made for drainage, and the manure composes an offensive heap, within the yard. The animals are kept closely tied up, day and night, without a place or opportunity for air or exercise. Milk pro- duced under such surroundings is not wholesome, and in many cases not fit to use. It carries the seeds of disease into many families, especially to young children, by whom it is mostly con- sumed. The establishments are a constant source of complaint to your Board, and, as they touch the very business and liveli- hood of the proprietors, they are hard to regulate, and harder to abolish. It is evident to us, that soon the cows must sedately follow the pigs.
Your Board would again call the attention of the Honorable City Council to the question of the ventilation of the public sewers. The baneful effects of sewer gas in houses, occupied by a large portion of our citizens, especially tenement houses, has been amply set forth in a former report. Other cities have taken up this important matter in earnest, and the beneficial results of their action has been apparent. Stand pipes, built at intervals, along the line of sewers, may nearly, or quite remedy this evil. In a large portion of cases, where contagious or infectious dis- eases have been reported, they were found to exist in houses, or neighborhoods, where sanitary defects were to be found. In most instances the defect was, the entire absence of traps
401
REPORT OF BOARD OF HEALTH.
between the cesspool, or common sewer, and the dwellings. In others, the discharges and washings from infectious disease were thrown into the privy vault, or allowed to run over the surface of the ground, or even to find their way into the well which sup- plied the drinking water. The Board, in view of what has been found to be the general condition of infected houses, would impress upon all who are building new houses, the importance of having the sewerage perfect and complete, as far as it can be made. If wrongly constructed, the expense of putting it right is generally greater than of having it right at first. We are ready, in all cases, to inspect and advise upon the matter of drainage, if the plans are submitted to us. The rule No. 10, of the pub- lished Regulations of the Board of Health, requiring that estates abutting upon a street, in which a public sewer has been constructed, shall enter that sewer, and all the sewage of the · estate be discharged into it, and all privy vaults abolished, will be henceforth strictly enforced. The use of drinking water from wells, we have no doubt, is a prolific source of disease. In a city, compactly built as ours is, it may be said in general terms, that the whole surface of the ground is more or less impure. Washings from streets, yards, stables, sinks, privies, cesspools, hen houses, laundries, &c., do find their way into it. Disease germs, and filth, we know are carried by underground currents in all directions, and sometimes to incredible distances, it is not unreasonable to infer, that they must, and do, find their way into the wells. Recent analyses have proved that a large pro- portion of wells in city limits are seriously contaminated. They are usually covered up, and are out of sight. They are almost never inspected, or ventilated. They may contain matters, dis- · gusting and repulsive to the last degree, and those who drink the water from them be entirely ignorant of it. Many such cases are found every year. The water from a single one in this city, a short time ago, caused nine cases of typhoid fever in its imme- diate vicinity, and yet this water was so pure in its appearance, so cool, and so refreshing to the taste, that people came from considerable distances to procure it.
The water in a public reservoir, on the contrary, is open and
402
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
free to all the winds of heaven. It can be inspected daily, if need be, in every part ; it can be tested chemically at any hour. It has the purifying influence of the sun, and the frost, and the air upon it at all times. Its volume is so great, that poisonous gases, or germs, which would be fatal in the little contents of a well, are diluted, or distributed so completely, that they would be either inert or harmless. From sanitary reasons alone, we would advise the disuse of drinking water from city wells.
The collection of swill, or house offal, in those districts of the city which the teams visit, is neatly, promptly, and thoroughly done. But as the city grows, large districts are found which imperatively need this service, but are now out of its range. In these localities, swill is collected by individuals, and carried through the publie streets, in violation of the City Ordinances, and fed to fowls, or domestic animals, clandestinely kept. Your Board would therefore recommend, that an increase of men and teams be added to this department, that its work may be broad- ened in several directions. The city authorities did not institute this most necessary, and salutary work, with any view of making it profitable, or for the purpose of raising pork at the Farm. It was wholly, and primarily, a sanitary measure. The material collected, was of such a nature, that its frequent and proper removal was necessary to the health and comfort of the citizens, and if by good management, it has been made profitable, so much the more ought we all to be satisfied with it, and be thank- ful.
The work of the Board for the year is briefly summed up as follows : General filthiness, fourteen cases. Drainage on the surface of the yard, ninety-three. Foul privies, two hundred and twenty-three. Foul cellars, thirteen. Filthy yards, twenty- one. Foul barns, sixteen. Water in cellars, two. Swine removed, one hundred and thirty-two pens. Bad ventilation, one. Defective sewerage, twelve. Filthy alleys, three. Slaugh- ter houses, two. Sewer gas in houses, two. Stagnant water, one. Gas in dwellings, one. Foul catch basins, tive. Wells contami- nated, two. Dead animals, two. Sewers entered by order of the Board, fifty-eight. Visits of inspection upon complaints
403
REPORT OF BOARD OF HEALTH.
received at the office, one thousand eight hundred. Nuisances abated, six hundred and three.
The whole number of deaths recorded for the year, has been twelve hundred and ninety-seven. This includes all the cases of persons found dead, and all the stillborn. Eighty-six more than for the previous year, but, as the population of the city has increased very largely, since that report was made, it easily accounts for the increase. Our death rate still remains low, about two per cent., and in this particular we compare favorably with other New England cities.
Certificates of death have been made out in every instance, and signed by the Board.
The expenses of the Board for the year, have been as follows :
Appropriation,
$1,500 00
RECEIVED.
For Licenses,
9 00
$1,509 00
EXPENDED.
For Salary paid A. A. Lovell, Inspector,
$700 00
Salary paid Henry Griffin, Clerk,
150 00
Hack and horse hire,
14 80
Extra services of Inspectors,
332 85
Engineers on sanitary, etc.,
5 16
Stationery and stamps,
21 53
Advertising,
157 45
Printing,
41 61
Maps and sign boards,
6 50
Posting notices,
2 00
Traveling expenses of the Board,
16 65
$1,498 55
Balance unexpended, transferred to Sinking Fund,
$10 45
The thanks of the Board are tendered to His Honor the Mayor, for his valuable advice and assistance ; also to Mr. Gale,
404
CITY DOCUMENT. - No. 37.
Clerk of the Board of Overseers of the Poor, and to the Police Department, for their cheerful and ready response to every call we have made upon them.
Respectfully submitted.
Signed : RUFUS WOODWARD, Chairman. HENRY GRIFFIN. ALBERT A. LOVELL.
REPORT
OF THE
I
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
CITY OF WORCESTER, Jan. 20th, 1883.
To the Honorable City Council :
. GENTLEMEN-In compliance with the City Ordinances, Chap. XLVIII., Sec. 3, I have the honor to submit the following report.
NEW CITY HOSPITAL.
At the date of my last annual report, the several buildings were completed with the exception of the Barn and Laundry, and the new buildings were first occupied by patients Dec. 8, 1881.
Soon after the opening of the Hospital it was found that the ventilation of the wards was defective, the draft being as often downward as upward. To remedy this defect, steam pipes were put in cach ventilating flue for the purpose of heating the air, and the result has proved very satisfactory.
The need of additional room for the isolation of foul cases from the main wards, has been provided for by the extension of the corridor sixty-five feet west of the west or female ward, built in such a manner that an additional ward can be attached at some future time. There has also been built a horse shed for use of the visiting surgeons and others.
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