USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1882 > Part 7
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end desirable in itself ; the COMMISSION have always advised that the neat and substantial Kerb, defining the southern boundary of the COMMON, should be protracted along its other faces, as convenience served and a wise economy allowed. So that when it had been decided no longer to procrastinate the paving of Front Street, it appeared to be merely a careful prevision to submit the following :-
COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS,
Worcester, Massachusetts,
June 26, A. D. 1882.
To the Honorable
CITY COUNCIL .-
The COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS would respectfully represent to the Honorable Council that the occasion, and opportunity, for a decided improve- ment to the appearance of the COMMON; in the view of our citizens, and as it may be presented to the " stranger within our gates;" so often anticipated in the Annual Reports of the COMMISSION; are at hand and inevitable.
The Kerb, on the Northerly line of the COMMON, is unsightly and insuffi- cient. A new pavement is to be laid down in Front Street ; and a new grade should be established. It is believed that the City Engineer concurs with this COMMISSION in the conviction that a change in the Kerb might be effected,-an amendment of grades achieved,-the public taste conciliated,- and the common interest promoted.
For the COMMON is, and must continue, conspicuous : and its deficiencies will ever be more obvious than its merits; insomuch as the penurious, who are also the censorious, never fail to multiply their kind, however so much otherwise they may begrudge, or neglect to spend !
In any substitution, the old Kerb would be of essential value elsewhere.
The COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS submit the whole matter to the Honorable Council, in the belief that if anything is ever to be done in the premises, now is the time to make seasonable provision. And in the full assurance that it would be poor economy, with an improvement of conceded necessity and utility; along a thoroughfare, and PUBLIC GROUND, indis- pensable for the myriad uses of display and parade in this Central City ; to omit, or postpone action, because that municipal demand may have exceeded its resources; or this civic want exacts an undue proportion of the general levy.
In behalf of the COMMISSION, EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN, Chairman.
That communication was referred to the Joint Standing Com- mittee on Highways and Sidewalks which, taking ample time for
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consideration and pushing the paving of the roadway meanwhile, finally reported on the 24th of November ult.,-
" That, in the judgment of the Committee, it is inexpedient to act."
The · inexpediency was palpable and visible when that Report was signed and submitted. But, upon June 26th, the date of the note from this COMMISSION, the actual resources of the High- way Department were somewhat as follows :-
Appropriations (general), $94,000 00
(Construction), 25,000 00
Summer Street, 75,000 00
$194,000 00
The poverty of that Committee was subsequently alleviated to the tune of " Revenue," in this wise :
$43,574 63 7,417 50
50,992 13
Total, $244,992 13
An aggregate which admitted of the putting down a Kerb along both sides of Summer Street, from end to end. It is not too much to claim that, where one person passes beneath the chilly retaining wall of the Asylum for Chronic Insane, at least fifty enjoy the bright sunlight upon the North walk of the COMMON. It may not matter, for the ultimate growth and improvement of Worcester, whether it exposes its weekly wash or puts its best foot foremost. But, as to that, the COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS and the Joint Standing Committee on High- ways and Sidewalks, are widely at variance.
The COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS are obliged to decide upon a variety of questions, each successive year, as they arise, or are referred to them, that exact no little time and reflection. Hitherto,-their final judgment has commanded the approval of their fellow-citizens ;- the sole reward that is desired or that
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could be acceptable. A notable example is furnished, in the matter of a Petition to the City Council for a Fence around the Soldiers-Monument upon the COMMON :- a matter that would seem to be directly embraced within the jurisdiction of the COMMISSION, and which was therefore referred to it by the Honorable COUNCIL. The determination of the COMMISSION, as set forth at length in an official note, is inserted here for its more permanent record: a hasty publication, in the contem- porary press, being sometimes evasive, and its logic more often elusive :
COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS.
Worcester, Mass., September 4, A. D. 1882.
To the Honorable
CITY COUNCIL .--
A Communication to the Honorable COUNCIL, signed
THEO. M. REMINGTON, Commander, DANIEL E. DENNY, Vice-Commander, W. W. SCOTT, Junior Vice- Commander,
setting forth that as "a Committee appointed by Post 10, G. A. R.," they " desired a hearing " by your Honorable Body; and further representing that the subject matter, at such "hearing " would be the alleged fact that " The Soldiers' Monument, standing upon the Common, is being defaced, soiled, and otherwise abused by malicious persons ;" and therefore asking " for Post 10, which we " (they) " represent, that the said Monument may be enclosed by an Iron Fence, and guarded from further injury;" was referred, in concurrence and due course, to this COMMISSION.
At a conference between the Committee of Post 10, and the Chairman of this COMMISSION, the whole matter was considered at length; the case of the Petitioners stated in all its bearings; and assurance given that no conclusion should be reached until after the fullest and most thorough examination.
The COMMISSION matured a judgment, sometime since, adverse to the prayer of the Petition, but delayed announcing it, preferring to await the reception of designs from a Member of the Post to whom they had applied : a gentleman not only an artisan, but, what is more uncommon, an artist, in metals. Their original decision has been confirmed : and they must withhold approval from a scheme that would exact, as its first cost, a considerable sum from the public treasury ; and impose immediately and directly, upon our whole community who have more or less frequent occasion to cross the COMMON, an inconvenience and obstacle to passage, which must be insu- perable to fulfil its purpose ; and yet not of that imperative necessity whereby alone it could be warranted.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
The first cost of a Fence is not all. There must be posts upon which to set it: there must be more or less fracture and destruction of the very expensive concrete that now forms the slope from the base : and especially must be kept in mind the entire reconstruction of that concrete slope, to the southward, that will be indispensable should a Fence be erected. Since the living must have a passage kept open for their daily needs; and that passage should be as direct as possible, unless the safety of the Monument is imperilled. Perhaps so much was implied in the Petition to the Honorable COUNCIL, which alleges " soiling, defacement, and other abuse, by malicious persons."
The COMMISSION hope, and can but feel persuaded, that, in their earnest enthusiasm for that emblem of gallant devotion and sacrifice, the Committee of Post 10, have unduly magnified the infrequent mischief attributable to chance or time. It is a grave accusation to bring against any portion of our fellow-citizens, that they would wantonly attempt to mar a monument erected to honor the patriotic dead. Far sadder would it be, in the opinion of this COMMISSION, were such accusation proved true : for then, not alone would safeguards be ineffective to secure such monuments; but even the Republic could not be held unharmed, though myriads died to save !
Much labor has been expended upon the Soldiers' Monument, since its formal acceptance, in almost all of its parts : very much, at the suggestion of the Chairman of this COMMISSION, who therefore asserts the right to express a decided conviction that no " malicious " injury has been perpetrated, save, perhaps in a single instance, some years since. And, in that solitary case, the application for a chance to do a job of cleaning followed so swift upon the "soiling," that suspicion was natural and inevitable.
Were a Fence, inclosing the Monument, otherwise desirable; and could all objections to its location be waived, or winked out of sight; it would never- theless, in the judgment of this COMMISSION, be an artistic fault to construct one. At present,-the perspective is complete, with the one, single exception of the perversion of the Statue that serves as a finial. Turned,-to confront the North Star! which was designed; and as it should be rectified; the vision might be pleasant, as now it is not. A rampart would obtrude another glaring offence to the eye, additional to its provocation to acute language because of its needless inconvenience. Obstruction to the human current across the COMMON should be avoided as much as possible. Worcester has no higher interest than to keep open every channel; whether of human intercourse and communication; or of natural waterway and purifi- cation. The Fence requested would not alone impede passage, whether of civilians in their daily walk, or of the organized Militia in their legitimate "training :" but it could not fail to remind every one, who was obliged to go around it, that the City of Worcester through its constituted authorities, is so far derelict in its teachings at church, or school, that it must prevent access to a Monument of Granite and Bronze, erected in honor of the Patriot Dead, from a vague fear lest some one,-youth or adult,-man or woman, may ?- " deface, soil, or otherwise abuse"! And yet it was thought and proclaimed by its Orator,* that young and old, matron or maid, might love
* The late Governor Bullock.
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to draw near; and, gazing with moistened eyes upon the imperishable tablet, assuage an undying grief with the solace, poor at best,-" I, too, have some share in this !" But, no! they must be fenced off! that the insensate granite and bronze may not, perchance, be dinted. Their brothers, and sons, and husbands, might be shot, and shelled, to pieces,-without defence or shield. But the Monument to their patriotic sacrifice must be put in a glass case !
During his interview with the Committee of Post 10, G. A. R., the Chairman of this COMMISSION suggested that, were any protection to the Soldiers' Monument absolutely indispensable, the need would best be supplied by the construction of a suitable barrier upon the granite base. A very pretty design has been furnished for such a barrier; to be built wholly of bronze, and therefore, in consonance with the general style of the Monu- ment. Its cost, completed, is put at the sum of Thirteen Hundred and Thirty-Three dollars ($1,333.00). The COMMISSION, did any safeguard appear absolutely essential, would not hesitate to advise the adoption of that design. But,-being unable to concede its necessity, they cannot ask the Honorable COUNCIL to vote an adequate appropriation. Much more,-since not even the COMMON, itself, has been adjudged worthy a decent and suitable Kerb along its Northern and conspicuous front.
Finally,-the COMMISSION cannot shut their eyes to the fact that the Police- Force of the City has its head-quarters within gunshot of the Monument. Theoretically, that Force maintains order, and guards property, throughout the municipal limits. It occurs to the COMMISSION that, if the present members of the Police are unable, or unwilling, to secure immunity for the Soldiers' Monument, to the entire satisfaction of Post 10, G. A. R .; nor less of the community, to whose contributions and taxes its erection is owing; that the deficiency can be supplied by voluntary enlistment. Men being available who will engage, without the inducement of an egregious bounty, to discharge that most simple, but honorable, duty.
All which is respectfully submitted,
(by)
EDWARD WINSLOW LINCOLN,
Chairman.
That decision of the COMMISSION, having been fully accepted by the CITY COUNCIL; and thereafter by the community, as it became known; will doubtless find ultimate favor even with those who were, at first, inclined to desire, and therefore to solicit different, yet as positive action.
Petitions are sometimes addressed to the CITY COUNCIL, asking for a license that exceeds the authority of that Honorable Body ; not infrequently by the ignorant, but more often by those who affect smartness. These, at times, relate to matters touching
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
one or other of the Public Grounds. Of course they are . referred to this COMMISSION, whose jurisdiction is exclusive in the premises, in the scarcely concealed expectation that justice will be meted out to all parties,-possibly the last thing desired or sought. Thus, on March 25th, A. D. 1882, a Petition, the body of which was in an entirely different handwriting from the signature, was so referred by the Mayor and Aldermen. Its burden was, as follows:
WORCESTER, MASS., March 20, 1882.
TO THE MAYOR AND ALDERMEN OF THE
CITY OF WORCESTER :-
I Petition your Honorable body for leave to build a Blacksmith Shop on the Common near or between the two cookey shops or stands already there.
I think it will be useful as the passers by can see the sparks fly and perhaps get their scissors sharpened.
Yours, HENRY C. FISH.
There was evidently no need for haste. There was no imme- diate call for forgers, in the City Hall; and each day might well be left to supply its own demands. And besides,-the COMMIS- SION cherished a shrewd suspicion that the work of the Petitioner, if his request was entertained, might not be such as to merit encouragement. Years since,-A. D. 1873, specimens of his skill and taste as an artist and workman in iron, were erected upon the COMMON, to meet an obvious public want. Three years afterward they were removed; "a step," to quote the reason assigned by the COMMISSION at the time, "constrained by a necessity greater than that which they were designed to relieve." They never gratified the sense of sight: they always offended that of smell ! Past experience, therefore, was not favorable to the Petitioner.
Moreover, the COMMISSION fear that his nature is too volatile ; and that his attention would be diverted from his forge to the learned debates of the Conscript Fathers, over his head. They apprehend that he might, now and then, intermit his toil, to
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listen with greedy ears to the discordant theses upon Suppressio Veri, that occasionally enliven the otherwise dreary sessions of the Overseers of the Poor.
Nor would the noise that must result from granting his request, be tolerable in itself. Of that,-the supply is already more than ample, from the Howling Dervishes who " sound the tonjon " upon the steps of the Old South, whenever the spirit moves and the pocket craves. It is theif vocation,-not his,-to per vert Scripture, which anticipates the denial of Petitions,- saying
" Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward."
What view the COMMISSION might take of a simple request to locate a bellows, to be operated by himself, between the City Hall and the Meeting-House of the First Parish, is uncertain. At present, the wind thereabouts bloweth where it listeth. What beneficial direction he might give it would depend very much upon his inclination, and much more upon the power to his elbow !
Having considered the matter at leisure, the COMMISSION must decline to accede to the prayer of the Petition. Estimating its pith and point ; or, weighing its marrow and meat; they are impelled to ask, with him of old :-
" Doth the wild ass bray when he hath grass, or loweth the ox over his fodder?"
" Can that which is unsavory be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg ?"
The Shade-Trees of the City are in their customary condi- tion. Some of the perils to which they are exposed ; from the parsimony of corporations or the reckless indifference of their servants ; have been commented upon elsewhere. Of mutila- tion,-by the horses of the butcher, the baker, and the candle- stick maker,-it is likely that there was neither more nor less than usual during the year just past. Were the Police instructed to detect, and surely complain, in every instance of wanton mischief, it is believed that the injury to Shade Trees, in all its forms, might be effectually checked even if it were not com- pletely stopped.
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
More trees were planted by the COMMISSION, A. D. 1882, than in any previous twelve-month. A large proportion ' of them were assigned to the South-Eastern section of the City, where the need of them is greatest; although the soil in which they must be set is not as promising for wholesome life as could be desired. Good fortune seems to have attended them, how- ever ; nearly all appearing to be alive at the end of Autumn, notwithstanding the extreme drought through which they had passed :- the severest possible test of their vitality.
The COMMISSION propose to themselves to keep even pace with the operations of the Highway Department, in the Island Dis- trict. They can accomplish no permanent improvement by trying to anticipate, or forestall, the work of grading and putting down sidewalks.
The experience of later years having shown an absolute need of supplementing the planting of trees, by the erection of suitable guards for their protection, while young, some five hundred were constructed and placed in position. They fulfil expectation and prove entirely satisfactory in actual use. Here- after, planting and protection, will proceed simultaneously.
There are a few persons in the community who still suppose that trees, set out by individuals, are paid for by this COMMISSION. Such has not been the custom for years, nor is it now. It was found out, long since, that the only method of definite achieve- ment is, to select certain Streets and go through them in earnest. Setting a tree, here or there, to oblige an abutter, only gives occasion for discontent among others,-perhaps equally deserv- ing, but not so favored. When the COMMISSION possess suitable trees, they are always glad to give them to any citizen who knows that digging a hole and crowding in the roots is not all of planting ; and that his care should not cease with that opera- tion even when done properly. They have a fine lot of Norway Maples coming forward, from which it is hoped that the suburban districts may shortly supply themselves and thereby complete a work that, along many roads, requires but little for consummation.
The downright worth of Shade-Trees to a community is
*
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PUBLIC GROUNDS.
seldom duly estimated. If a portion of the benefits resulting from their existence in our Streets, as well as before our homes or places for business, are measurably appreciated ; other, perhaps less directly obvious, advantages, are left for the Scientist to discover and proclaim. Thus, in an interesting paper recently read at Edinburgh, by Dr. Phene, on the " benefits to be derived from planting trees in cities,"-he stated
" Among the beneficial results to be obtained, the relief to the optic nerve · through the eye resting on objects of a green color. Just that which is effected by the use of green or blue glasses in strengthening and sustaining the power of sight, is attained, at any rate much aided, by the presence of green in nature; and in streets the only method to procure this result is by planting trees."
It was pointed out by the Dr., that
" Wherever opportunity exists, Nature provides green and blue (the latter being the same color minus the presence of yellow), and that as the absence of color produces snow-blindness, and in tropical calms where the Ocean presents only a white reflected light from a uniform glassy surface, reduced optical power soon follows a long continuance of the absence of blue color, which becomes immediately apparent on motion of the waves. So in the Streets, to the occupants of houses having a northern aspect, the glare of the reflected light is injurious ; but the effect would be much modified by the coolness to the eye produced by the green of trees. In ancient surgery, persons having weak or declining sight were advised to look at the Emerald. In the old style of building, the Streets being narrow were both cooler, from the sun not being able to penetrate them with direct rays; and less subject to noxious exhalations from the scouring and purifying effects of the searching air to which the narrow streets were subject : so that, while there was no space for trees, there was also less necessity. Wide streets, on the contrary, are hotter, and require the shade of trees to cool them; and, as in the case of London, which had so far done without trees in its streets, it was shown that not only are modern streets compulsorily wide, but that the enormous increase in metropolitan buildings, render every sanitary question one of importance. And the chemical properties of trees as shown by experiment, give them an important standing, irrespective of ornament or the pleasure they produce."
Some of Dr. Phene's experiments on this subject have extended over a period of Thirty Years; and he was the first to try the planting of trees in the Streets of London.
Few years will elapse ere Municipalities, as well as indi- viduals, will be compelled to grapple with the abuses and usurpations that seek to monopolize the common highway. The
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 37.
sky is vexed by a net-work of wires, thick enough to obstruct the flight of birds if not to check the healthful currents of the atmosphere. The earth is covered with a web of iron, adapted to a special purpose that necessarily excludes other and more legitimate uses. Quite recently an order was adopted, by the Mayor and Aldermen of this City of Worcester, allowing an individual to erect poles throughout the public streets, that he might the better sell electric light for his private gain. There seemed no pause to inquire whence that civic body derived such power! Not even a momentary hesitation if, possessing it, it could be delegated ! Least of all a suspicion that an easement is not an indefeasible right,-an absolute fee-simple; nor that municipal governments, any more than individual citizens, cannot give away what they never owned nor controlled.
The COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS have been grievously embarrassed, in their care for the Shade-Trees of the City, by a cool assumption, on the part of lawless agents of incorporated Companies, that the charters conferred upon their principals, may be stretched so as to cover any kind or excess of wrong- doing. Limbs have been lopped and trunks felled at will or caprice, sometimes in obvious spite; under the pretence of an imperative need to make room for wires whose aerial suspension, distasteful and ugly at best, should only be tolerated, if at all, as a beneficence,-never as a provocation to wanton mischief.
In their latest Report the COMMISSION felt moved to the fol- lowing utterance :-
" By sufferance of the City Council, Telegraph and Telephone Companies have invaded the City during the last year; lopping the limbs, or felling the trunks of trees, indiscriminately, as best suited their immediate purpose. And despite precaution, protest, or direct complaint at the Police Office, the aggressor triumphs ;- the sufferer remains without redress. The Republican must not alienate, nor offend : his party might be weakened, should anybody take (in this matter-spoil) umbrage. The Democrat will not squeak,-for his own sake, not his party's : that, long since, was 'fast-bound in misery and iron.' And still, though the day of reckoning may not be far off, the COMMISSION OF PUBLIC GROUNDS are sorely tempted ; when told by the City Marshal of some newer mutilation and wreck, which he observes on the road from Paxton and overlooks in the repose of his office; to cry out with him of old,-' How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation?' ' One generation passeth away and another
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PUBLIC GROUNDS.
generation cometh.' But when it is here, although those who longed for it were not spared to hail the dawn,-neither wealth, nor lust, nor princi- palities, nor power, shall longer offend. The reign of Astræa, for which the blind giant has hitherto groped in vain, shall recommence; and-brightest of Northern Lights! the aspect, prospect, and retrospect, of the popular dema- gogue shall fade away in a continually receding illusion."
From Paxton and Shrewsbury, over the Causeway and along Lincoln Street, the axe and saw have been diligently employed ;- perhaps the nearest approach to perpetual motion that our new Iron Age has yet discovered. More recently private aggression has stretched a line of wires along Park Avenue, without pretence of legal authority or even a shadow of municipal sanc- tion. And yet, for the existing public easement in that Avenue, the very men who have thus encroached upon the highway were paid roundly ; being thereby enabled, for a wonder ! to eat, and keep, their cake. The posts, upon which those wires are extended, are set close to the Shade-Trees in many instances ; in others, so set that it will be impracticable to plant in the most suitable locations without interference. And here, as every- where else, doubtless, the axe or saw will be employed in aid of individual cupidity, whenever it shall decide, for itself, that the public use and enjoyment have become inconsistent with its own requirements and exactions .*
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