USA > Massachusetts > Worcester County > Worcester > Town annual reports of the several departments for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1884 > Part 20
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315
REPORT OF BOARD OF HEALTH.
arch would easily make a convenient and clean business street, and in a measure obviate the necessity of the expensive tunneling which is now in project. It would also prevent the erection of a lot of temporary ramshackle wooden buildings, with which, if left unoccupied, it would inevitably be covered.
Within the year your Board have established dumps for the disposal of ashes, dust, sweepings and other dry waste material. These dumps are conveniently situated in different quarters of the city, so that the loads need not be hauled a very great dis- tance. They are upon the borders of wet land which needs filling, and every load disposed of serves a good sanitary pur- pose. Teamsters are not allowed by the rules of the Board to deposit in any place not designated. The working of this plan is in a high degree satisfactory. The material has been carefully inspected, so that no putrid or decaying matter should find lodg- ment there, and if by chance any should get there, it can be covered up and rendered inoffensive. Any person having waste land which requires filling can get permission to carry in clean ashes and sweepings by application to the Board. The new school-houses which the city has erected within the last few years have engaged the interested attention of the Board. From our point of view, which is the sanitary one, they are as perfect as we could wish. Nothing has been omitted which was required to make them light, warm, well ventilated and safe from accident by fire or flood or panic. The new arrangement of windows, to give light in the most approved direction, is admirable. It is a pride and pleasure to see the dear little men and women of the future so happy and so comfortable and safe, as they now seem to be. We advise, as a measure of necessity as well as of health, that as far and as fast as it can be brought about, all the old buildings be remodelled and brought under the present improved plans.
The collection and disposal of swill and house offal continues to be promptly and faithfully done. Very little complaint has reached us from the districts which the service covers. As the city grows and becomes compacted, year by year, it becomes necessary to extend the limits through which the teams must
21
316
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
pass. We have no reason to believe that all our requirements in this particular will not receive the same courteous attention from those who have this department in charge as they have in the past. We are sorry to hear complaints from individuals of the cost of the present plan. As long as it is well done, the ques- tion of expense ought not to be raised. From the nature of the material to be removed, which is perishable and rapidly becomes putrid and dangerous to health, it is a measure of prime neces- . sity that it be frequently and thoroughly removed. Our plan is the best we know of, and receives the most favorable comment from the officials of other cities who come here to examine its workings. The removal of night soil and the contents of cess- pools has now become an established and satisfactory improve- ment under the workings of the odorless process. To say that it has grown in favor with the public is proved by the fact that within the last year hardly a complaint has come to the Board from it. The small objections to the plan, which naturally came up when it was new and untried, have one by one been swept away. It now works well, and with no friction. The cleaning of sewers and catch basins should be brought under this same odorless plan. There is no reason in the world why their foul contents should be piled up in our otherwise clean and attractive streets with- out disinfection when the rendering of them inoffensive is so cheap and easy. It is the intention of your Board to press this ques- tion more urgently and persistently than ever during the coming year in the interest of health, purity and decency. The ventila- tion of the public sewers has been touched upon in our former reports. We consider it a matter of importance, and, although we have nothing new to say upon the subject, some new plans have elsewhere been tried and found to work well. One of them is to perforate the iron covers of the man holes with a number of apertures an inch perhaps in diameter. It would seem at first sight that this is just what we do not wish to do, to give exit to sewer gas and foul odors in the middle of the streets and close to the ground instead of high in the air, as has formerly been advocated. The working of the plan, however, in some of the large cities has been approved, and is now in somewhat
317
REPORT OF BOARD OF HEALTH.
extensive use. It is claimed that it establishes an air balance in the sewer pipe ; that when foul air or gas is passing out of one manhole, pure air must be passing in at another ; and that by this interchange of currents the whole air within the sewer must be changed, the foul air largely diluted with fresh, and its nox- ious and poisonous qualities eliminated to a considerable degree. The foul air passes out into the street, not in large volumes, but in small, gentle currents, which by the passing of teams and by the movement of the air which generally prevails there is soon com- pletely dissipated. These air currents being warmer in winter than the outside air, melt away the ice and snow upon the covers, and are less likely to be chilled and stagnated than in the tall stand pipes formerly in use. It is an experiment easily and cheaply tried, and is under the complete control of the officials, who have the care of the sewers under their charge. It is often asked of your Board, Are we prepared for a visit of cholera during the coming summer ? We answer, "No." Not a single city or town in the country probably is. But we are, even now, a tolerably clean city. We have an almost perfect sewer system ; we have an abundance of pure water, a good, dry soil to rest upon, and above us an atmosphere clear and active, broken into healthy currents by the alternation of hills and valleys. Our situation is all right, and if the scourge should come, with zeal and energy and a liberal expenditure of money, we hope to be able to receive and fight it.
But will it come ? We answer that most likely it will. In the history of former epidemics it has been noticed that when it pre- vailed in Europe it has never yet failed to reach our shores. It always moves westward, and we are in the line. Our communi- cation with other countries is so multiplied and vast, that thousands of avenues are open to its transit. It cannot be kept out by embargoes or quarantines. Forewarned and forearmed we must be ready to receive it. It is not in the purpose of this report to present to your honorable body a treatise upon cholera. Within the last few days this has been done by an admirable lecture from one of our most experienced and respected physicians. We hope that lecture will be published and spread broadcast throughout the city.
318
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
In this connection we venture again to touch upon the subject of the establishment of public baths. The arguments and statistics in favor of them were presented in our last report. There is no need of going over them again. The project failed for want of an appropriation. The kind and hopeful remarks of the Mayor in his inaugural address, give us new courage and hope. Clean houses and clean streets will not do in face of deadly epidemics if personal cleanliness is not to be secured. Cholera starts on its deadly journey among the filthy inhabitants of India. Mahomet enjoined daily bathing as part of his religion, and his followers have been hitherto comparatively safe from its attacks.
The new rules of the Board in regard to the plumbing and drainage of houses have been published, and are now in force. They are simple, few and easily understood. They involve no greater expense in their application than the question demands, which is, how shall we improve the condition of our houses, and especially of our tenement houses ? The tenant is the one that suffers, not the landlord. To throw around him all the protection which improved sanitation demands, is in the interest of health, and the proper work of this Board.
The improved methods of street cleaning has attracted the favorable attention of the Board. The machine sweepers are an immense advance beyond the old mud hoe. They do their work rapidly and well. They do it before business hours, and they do not obstruct the street. They can do it much oftener because they work so fast, and they do it better because they reach the interstices between the stones of the pavements, which the hoe did not. We should like to see their use extended to the streets not paved and to the removal of snow and mud from the cross- walks. The amount of filth which is daily deposited in the streets of a city is very large-under the influence of heat and moisture it rapidly ferments and decays, parting with elements which are noxious and prejudicial to health. It is of the highest importance that it be frequently and thoroughly removed.
The number of complaints received and registered at the office has been one thousand and fifty-six. Nuisances abated eight hundred and fifty-eight. Visits of inspection four thou-
319
REPORT OF BOARD OF HEALTH.
sand and sixty. It will be seen by comparing these statistics with those of last year how largely the work of your Board has been increased. The receipts and expenses of your Board for the year will be found in the Auditor's Annual Report in detail.
The number of deaths in the city for the year has been thir- teen hundred and eighty-seven. This includes all the still-born and all persons found dead. The death rate is but slightly increased over that of last year, and is still low, about two per cent. Certificates of death, including the name, the disease and the residence of the deceased, signed by the attending physician, and by the Board of Health, have been returned, in all cases, to the City Clerk.
It may not be out of place in closing this report to publish a few simple rules in regard to the disinfection of houses, sick-rooms and filthy premises.
Pure air is nature's universal purifier. The oxygen which it contains slowly burns out all filth which is exposed to it. Intro- duce it freely into every room and corner where filth or disease germs may possibly find a lodgment.
Growing vegetation, by the wonderful chemical processes of nature, transforms decaying matter into new and wholesome forms of life. Plant trees, shrubs and gardens over old covered up vaults or cesspools, and also grass over soil soaked with the slops and washings of the house. Copperas costs but a cent or two a pound. It has more value as a disinfectant for common use than any other single article. Dissolve a pound in a gallon of water. Two or three ounces of this fluid will at once disinfect the discharges, and sputa and wash bowls of patients sick with fevers or diphtheria, or dysentery. A pint will serve the same purpose in a foul drain, or an offensive vault, or closet. Two quarts will disinfect five hundred gallons of ordinary sewage. Let it find its way into all drains, cesspools, foul out- houses, barns and cellars. But remember that it stains everything it touches. This is no objection, however, except in the case of clothing. It is a combination of sulphuric acid and iron.
For the disinfection of houses, and rooms in which contagious diseases have existed, the burning of sulphur is the cheapest and
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CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
most efficacious process we know of. It evolves sulphurous acid. It penetrates where no fluids will go. It kills rats, mice, cock- roaches, flies and spiders. It does no harm to clothing, except to slightly fade certain colors. Spread out all clothing, bedding and curtains lightly over the furniture, burn a pound to every one hundred cubic feet of space, shut up the apartment and let it remain four or five hours under the fumes. Thoroughly expose to the air for twenty-four hours before it is again used. Send heavy carpets to a naphtha laundry.
The mineral acids are all true disinfectants; they operate both by physical and chemical destruction, but they are expensive and they require careful and experienced handling. They are not recommended for ordinary use.
Nearly all disease germs are killed by a dry heat of 246° Farenheit. A higher degree than that is likely to injure clothing. Boiling water kills many disease germs, but not all.
Avoid patent disinfectants. All of them are dear. They may cheat you into a fancied belief of security. Many of them are worthless. Carbolic acid is a valuable preventer of putrefaction, but it is not a disinfectant. It will not destroy disease germs, and therefore is of little use in the sick chamber to remove the vestiges of disease.
Corrosive sublimate is the most powerful of all disinfectants, but it is a deadly poison and must not be used by inexperienced hands.
Our thanks are due to the Mayor for his valuable advice and assistance. To Mr. Gale, clerk of the Board of Overseers of the Poor, and to the Police Department, for their uniform cour- tesy and ready response to all our calls.
Respectfully submitted.
RUFUS WOODWARD, Board HENRY GRIFFIN, of
JAMES C. COFFEY, Health.
HOPE CEMETERY.
COMMISSIONERS
HOPE CEMETERY OF
FOR THE YEAR 1885.
ALBERT TOLMAN, -
- Term expires 1886.
WILLIAM BUSH, - -
-
-
-
66
1887.
THOMAS M. ROGERS, -
-
-
-
66 66 1888. .
ELIJAH B. STODDARD, -
66
1889.
ALBERT CURTIS,
-
66 1890.
ORGANIZATION FOR THE YEAR 1885.
Chairman, - - - -
- ALBERT TOLMAN. - Secretary, - -
. E. B. STODDARD.
- Superintendent, - -
- -
. WILLIAM BUSH.
Assistant-Superintendent, - -
- ALBERT CURTIS.
-
THIRTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEMETERY,
FOR THE YEAR 1884.
To Hon. Charles G. Reed, Mayor, and the City Council of the City of Worcester :-
The Commissioners of Hope Cemetery respectfully present their Thirty-first Annual Report.
A report of the details of the " Acts and doings" of the Commission must necessarily be an account of the same kind of work performed in preceding years. The great amount of labor required to keep the roads and avenues in good order and improve them from year to year, if fully reported, would be but a repetition of former reports. Such work has been satisfac- torily done, extending over five miles or more of carriage-roads and about sixteen miles of foot-paths.
Paving in places subject to washing by heavy rains, with the stones found in grading portions of the land, has been extended. Nine hundred feet of the gutters on Maple Avenue has been paved. Fifty rods of new road has been laid out and worked ready for use.
The plan reported last year of laying out new territory into smaller sections than formerly has been followed. It increases the number of carriage-ways, but greatly diminishes the length of foot-paths, and improves the general appearance of the Cem- etery.
The purchase of the swamp land on the southeast side of the Cemetery proves to be more advantageous than the Commis-
324
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
sioners expected when they urged the acquisition. The possi- bility of draining has been found by opening and clearing an old ditch through the woods towards the river, with the help of an adjoining owner, at a cost to the corporation of sixty dollars ($60), and draining to the depth of about eight feet. Now the peat and muck may be taken out until the gravel bottom is reached. The supply is sufficient for the demand for a long time. We estimate it worth as much for top dressing the gravelly and sandy soil of the other parts of the grounds as an equal quantity of manure we could obtain at the usual price. Large quantities have been drawn out on to the upland, and is being tempered by the changing weather of Winter for use in the early Spring.
Thirty-eight lots, in different localities, have been graded and granite corner posts set, which are now ready for sale, at an expense of $1,262.00 (twelve hundred and sixty-two dollars).
Between the entrance way at the northwest corner, the main gateway and front of the receiving tomb, the work begun last year has been completed. The whole space was covered with muck and compost to sufficient depth to make the ground fertile for a long time. All, excepting the avenues, was seeded, and is now covered with a fine, thick-set growth of turf. The avenues are well worked, the gutters paved, and the borders protected by round-top, heavy granite curbing, hewn and set in the best man- ner. Fourteen lots, with the posts set, are ready for sale.
The expenditure upon this plot of ground last year (in 1883) was $850.00. The cost of grading, making and paving avenues and preparing the lots this year (1884) has been $840.00; the cost of the curbs and setting, $1,761.29, making a total expendi- ture of $3,451.29. This large expenditure at the entrance of the Cemetery was deemed advisable, and seems to meet the approval of the proprietors who are interested in the general improve- ments.
The sales of lots already made, and the demand for others, prove the investment to be a wise financial measure.
On the north side of Maple Avenue, near and parallel with Webster street, on land reclaimed by filling in former years, and
325
HOPE CEMETERY.
where grading was finished last year, nineteen (19) lots have been laid out.
North of Linden and Birch Avenues, near the north line of the Cemetery, the buildings and the office, twelve lots are graded and in good order. Forty-five lots are graded on Elm Avenue.
Sixty-three lots are ready for sale on the south side of Juniper Avenue, varying somewhat in size. They will be sold for from twelve to twenty-five dollars. This locality is appropriated for low-priced lots, which are smaller than in other parts of the Cem- etery. The location, on account of the surrounding scenery, is as desirable as any in the grounds. The desire or necessity of buying low-priced lots has always been duly considered, and, we believe, satisfactorily met. The whole number of lots now ready for sale is one hundred and eighty-nine (189).
About one acre south of Chestnut Avenue has been graded by filling and levelling, and is ready to lay out. Half an acre south of Cedar Avenue has been cleared of wood and stumps and is ready for grading.
The improvements near Webster street have been continued.
One hundred and sixteen dollars and fourteen cents have been paid for the extension of water pipes.
The practice of grading and caring for lots for individual pro- prietors, of putting in the foundations for monuments and dig- ging graves has been continued. The results are very marked in the general appearance of the Cemetery, as also in saving of time and money for all parties interested.
OTHER WORK, &C.
Six hundred and fifteen lots have been taken care of.
One hundred and twenty-nine lots have been graded and posts set.
Four hundred and forty-one graves have been dug.
For this service and material furnished, $5,602.56 has been received, and there is due $565.06 on uncollected bills.
326
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
The force employed has been fifteen men and three horses for about nine months, and five men for three months of the year.
The sales of lots and number of burials increase from year to year.
In the year 1880
66 lots sold for $2,706 00
1881
97 66
66
3,286 00
66 1882
96
4,109 00
66
1883
85
66
3,243 00
66
1884 109
4,765 00
In the year 1880 there were 72 free burials.
1881
90
1882
66
110
1883
116
1884
121
66
Occasional applications are made for lots by persons living in adjoining towns, or whose families have sometime been more or less connected with Worcester. We have acted in such cases upon the rule that we cannot open the grounds to those who are not residents.
The payment for care and improvements of the sum of $10,- 747.59 ; by individuals for lots $4,765.00; and by them and former proprietors a large sum for the ornamentation of lots, the erection of monuments and memorial structures of an endur- ing kind ; and the daily visits of a large number of persons indicate great material prosperity among the living, and what, perhaps is better, a strong desire to keep alive a hallowed inter- est in these consecrated grounds, and that those living here are not yet ready to begin a change in the disposal of the remains of those they have loved.
The project of building a house within the grounds for the foreman, which in our last report we said "had commended itself as a protective measure in providing for the better care and oversight of the premises at all times," resulted, after fur- ther consideration, in the purchase, by authority of a vote of the City Council, of half an acre of land, with a house adjoining,
327
HOPE CEMETERY.
and on the north side of the Cemetery, fronting on Webster street. The estate exactly meets the want, and the purchase is in every way advantageous to the corporation.
The sum paid for it was $3,000, and was taken from the fund in the hands of the City Treasurer and ex-officio Treasurer of this Commission, described in his Reports as " Deposits on general account," which is being reserved for the future care of the Cem- etery. The estate is now occupied by the foreman. The income received from it will be carried to the fund, or " Deposits on general account."
The Appraisal of Property, the Commissioners' Statement of their Account and Treasurer's Statement follow as a part of our Report, and will give further and clear information of our " doings " and of the present condition of the affairs of the Cemetery.
VALUATION OF PROPERTY.
APPRAISAL DEC. 1, 1884.
Tools, as per schedule,
$107 65
4 lawn mowers,
37 00
Ladders, hose carriage and rubber hose,
42 00
Ropes and blocks,
15 00
5 harnesses, parts of harnesses and halters,
82 00
3 carts, 1 wagon, sled, &c.,
270 00
Lumber on hand,
8 00
5 tons of hay, 1 ton rye straw,
107 00
3 horses,
575 00
$1,243 65
Wood on hand,
$40 00
Manure and muck,
120 00
$160 00
$1,403 65
Barn, shed and tool house,
$950 00
Store house and office,
950 00
Two summer houses,
100 00
House and lot (¿ acre),
3,000 00
Total,
$6,403 65
Worcester, Dec. 1, 1884.
328
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING NOVEMBER 30, 1884.
Balance Dec. 1, 1883,
$593 78
Cash from Wm. S. Barton, as per his statement, $6,331 02
Cash for wood sold, 70 48
Cash for labor and material, grading and care of lots and digging graves,
5,602 56 12,004 06
Total Receipts,
$12,597 84
PAYMENTS.
For Hay, grain and straw,
$312 91
Surveying,
18 52
Labor with teams,
199 47
Telephone,
38 00
Wagon, tools and repairs,
213 83
Printing Reports, &c.,
41 84
66
Stone posts,
652 95
Horse shoeing,
40 93
66
Repairs harness,
28 30
Turf and sod,
240 16
66
Lumber and carpenter work,
172 83
Plants and flowers,
15 00
Iron stakes (markers),
60 30
66 Lime and cement,
30 90
Paints and painting,
17 83
Repairs of water pipes,
52 78
Sash for hot beds,
18 39
Coal,
6 75
Manure,
206 05
Stone curbing,
1,761 29
Grass seed,
29 63
Extension of water pipes,
116 14
Cement walks,
61 40
Stone for base of monuments,
40 00
Sundries (per bills),
40 37
Labor, as per pay rolls,
6,331 02
Cash to City Treasurer,
1,500 00
Balance with Commissioners,
350 25
Total,
-$10,747 59
$12,597 84
Worcester, December, 1884.
329
HOPE CEMETERY.
TO THE COMMISSIONERS OF HOPE CEMETERY.
Gentlemen :- The undersigned, as treasurer, ex-officio, of the funds in charge of your Board, presents herewith a statement of his receipts and payments, on account of the Cemetery, together with the several balances carried forward at the close of the financial year ending Nov. 30, 1884.
Balances Dec. 1, 1883, viz. :
Savings Bank deposits, general account,
$8,000 00
Savings Bank deposits (special), care of lots, 1,400 00
Cash on deposit,
2,005 57
$11,405 57
Receipts during the year, viz. :
Proceeds of 109 lots sold,
$4,765 00
Grading account, from W. Bush, Com'r,
1,500 00
Special deposits, care of 16 lots,
1,300 00
Dividends on Savings Bank deposits,
360 44
Interest on bank deposits,
18 36
$7,943 80
Total,
$19,349 37
Payments during the year, viz. :
Labor of men, etc., as per pay rolls, $6,331 02
House and ¿ acre of land, purchased per order, 3,000 00
$9,331 02
330
CITY DOCUMENT .- No. 39.
Balances Nov. 30, 1884, viz. :
Savings Bank deposits, general account,
$5,000 00
Special deposits, Pub. Stat., Ch. 116 (26 lots),
2,200 00
Special deposits, St. 1884, Ch. 186 (5 lots),
500 00
Cash on deposit,
2,318 35
$10,018 35
Total,
$19,349 37
Respectfully submitted.
WM. S. BARTON,
Treasurer.
Worcester, Mass., Dec. 21, 1884.
We respectfully ask that the foregoing, with the statements annexed, may be accepted as our Report for the year ending Nov. 30, 1884.
ALBERT TOLMAN, Chairman,
For the Commissioners of Hope Cemetery.
WORCESTER, January 17, 1885.
WORCESTER SCHOOLS.
22
ORGANIZATION OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
CITY OF WORCESTER,
OCTOBER, 1884.
CHARLES G. REED, President.
ALBERT P. MARBLE, Sup't and Sec'y.
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