USA > Massachusetts > Hampden County > Agawam > Town of Agawam, Massachusetts annual report 1891-1900 > Part 17
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31.05
John Curran, labor,
33.30
James Collins, labor,
36.30
Monroe Hayward, labor,
12.00
D. L. White, labor,
24.80
Michael L. Ahl, labor,
43.40
George E. Covill, labor,
69.00
Patrick O'Riley, labor,
18.70
L. L. Whitman, labor,
21.20
R. L. Blaisdell, labor,
41.60
Almon Jones, labor,
28.80
Jerre Adams, labor,
24.28
WV. H. Porter, labor,
43.20
John Reilly, labor,
46.40
William Edgar, labor,
6.87
Cornelius Donovan, labor, .
13.05
L. R. Button, labor and gravel,
27.50
E. N. Powers, labor and stone, .
10.50
Mrs. Mary Lester, use of land,
3.00
175.00
Mrs. Mary Lester, gravel and bank, W. C. Campbell, superintendent,
58.25
$988.78
Appropriation,
800.00
Street Lights Department.
J. M. Bean, lighting,
$60.00
Albert Nutter, lighting and supplies,
6.23
Charles Hall, lamps,
18.25
William Hastings, lighting,
5.40
Robert Ely, Jr., lighting,
5.00
Howard D. Steere, lighting,
3.00
C. E. Hitchcock, post,
1.40
H. Letellier, supplies,
3.15
A. K. Fuller, supplies,
4.13
Appropriation,
$106.65 100.00
New School House.
Dwight Brothers, building lot, $850.00
Republican Company, advertising, 4.90
Union Company, advertising, 6.93
Clough & Reid, architects, 250.00
L. H. Scott & Co., on contract, 4500.00
Fuller & Warren Company, heating and ventilating, I420.00 A. H. Brown, grading, 2.70
Contracts let, unpaid,
$7034.53 5936.00
State and Military Aid.
Eunice Billings, under Chap. 301, Acts of 1894, $28.00
William W. Hitchcock, under Chap. 301, Acts of 1994, 48.00
Elihu Brown, under Chap. 301, Acts of 1894, 10.00
David Woodworth, under Chap. 279, Acts of 1894, 60.00
$146.00
Appropriation,
100.00
Memorial Day.
Cash paid A. P. Loomis,
$35.00
Appropriation, .
35.00
Interest.
Desire A. Pyne,
$240.00
Springfield Institution for Savings,
632.00
Plymouth Five Cents Savings bank,
200.00
Leicester Savings bank,
400.00
Spencer Savings bank,
200.00
Chicopee Savings bank,
200.00
$1872.00
Appropriation,
1800.00
Town Debt.
Sinking fund,
$900.00
Appropriation,
1500.00
Liabilities of the Town.
One note payable to Desire A. Pyne, on demand, inter- est at 6 per cent., $2009.50
One note payable at the Springfield Institution for Sav- ings, on demand, interest at 4 per cent., 4053.32
Five notes payable at the National Bank of the Com- monwealth, Boston, June 1, 1914, interest at 4 per cent., . 25,333.33
One note payable at the Springfield Institution for Sav- ing, June 1, 1900, interest at 4 per cent., 1013.33
One note payable at the Springfield Institution for Sav- ings, June 1, 1901, interest at 4 per cent., . 1013.33
One note payable at the Springfield Institution for Sav- ings, June 1, 1902, interest at 4 per cent., 1013.33
One note payable at the Springfield Institution for Sav- ings, Jnne 1, 1903, interest at 4 per cent., 1013.33 One note payable at the Springfield Institution for Sav- ings, June 1, 1904, interest at 4 per cent., 1013.33
One note payable at the Springfield Institution for Sav- ings, June 1, 1905, interest at 4 per cent., 5066.65
Contracts on new school house,
5936.00
$47,465.45
Assets.
Cash in treasury, $846.66
Due from Ethan D. Allen, collector, 1892,
6.60
Edward M. Wright, 1893,
88.52
Amos Gosselin, 1893,
70.14
Amos Gosselin, 1894,
228.71
Ed. M. Wright, 1894,
499.35
J. H. Clark, 1894,
503.94
L. A. Barden, 1895,
2643.04
53
E. M. Wright, 1895,
2077.75
G. D. Cooley, 1895,
1664.78
West Springfield, bridge account,
18.58
Russell, care of pauper,
5.50
Becket, care of pauper,
19.50
Southwick, care of pauper,
71.75
Ludlow, care of pauper,
16.10
State, care of pauper,
52.67
Sewer assessments,
106.56
Value of town farm, stock and supplies,
2100.00
Value of road machine and tools,
350.00
Sinking fund,
1732.32
Due from Edwin Dwight for support of Eugene F. Dwight, 178.00
State on cattle inspection, 66.28
$13,346.75
Excess of liabilities over assets, 34,118.70 HENRY E. BODURTHA, JAMES F. BARRY, ALBERT H. BROWN,
Selectmen of Agawam.
Agawam, March 16, 1896.
Report of the Public Library Trustees
Expended.
J. W. Hastings, books, $ 2.75
W. F. Adams & Co., book :,
56.85
Charles Scribner's Sons, books 37.50
C. A. Nichols, books, 30.00
F. L. Johnson, books,
6.50
$133.60
Amount Available.
Appropriation, dog fund, $232.57
Amount unexpended March 15, 1895, ·
.
106.67
Income, Mary A. Phelon fund, 20.00
$359.24
Amount unexpended, March 16, 1896,
$225.64
Whole number of books in the library, March 15, 1895,
1403
Added by purchase,
81
Added by gift, 25
Whole number in library March 16, 1896, .
1509
Number of Book Borrowers.
Agawam,
154
Feeding Hills, .
.
175
Mittineague,
16
55
Circulation.
Agawam,
1,906
Feeding Hills,
1,186
Mittineague, 66
The library is open at Agawam and Feeding Hills on Fridays from 3 to 5 p. m. ; at Mittineague once in two weeks.
JUDSON W. HASTINGS,
HENRY L. TOWER, CAROLINE S. HAYWARD,
Trustees.
Articles in the Warrant for Town Meeting,
APRIL 6, 1896.
Article 1. To choose a Moderator to preside in said meeting.
Article 2. To bring in their votes for a Clerk, a Treasurer, three Selectmen, three Assessors, three Overseers of Poor, a Board of Health of three members, three Collectors of Taxes, two Auditors, ten Constables, one School Committeeman for three years, one Library Trustee for three years, one Sinking Fund Commissioner for three years, one Trustee of Whiting Street Fund for two years; also their votes in answer to the question, "Shall licenses be granted for the sale of in- toxicating liquors in this Town ? "-all upon one ballot.
Article 3. To choose all necessary Town officers, not provided for in the foregoing article.
Article 4. To hear and act upon the reports of the Town officers.
Article 5. To see what method the Town will adopt for the support of the poor for the ensuing year.
Article 6. To see if the Town will authorize its Treasurer, with tlie approval of the Selectmen, to borrow temporarily in anticipation of the taxes of the present municipal year, the sum of ten thousand dollars, as the same may be from time to time required, and give the note or notes of the Town for the money so borrowed, and that he be also authorized to pay such loans from said taxes.
Article 7. To see if the Town will appropriate a sum not to exceed thirty-five dollars for Memorial Day.
Article 8. To see if the Town will authorize the Selectmen to build a sewer or sewers in Mittineague, and appropriate money for the same.
57
Article 9. To see if the Town will authorize the Selectmen to ap- propriate the proceeds from the sale of school buildings and lots, previ- ously ordered, towards completion of the new school building in Mittin- eague.
Article 10. To see what action the Town will take in regard to furnishing the new school building, now in process of completion.
Article 11. To see if the Town will appropriate a sum of money to pay for the new school house lot, previously ordered and purchased.
Article 12. To see if the Town will maintain a high school, or pay tuition in schools of other towns.
Article 13. To see if the Town will vote a discount on taxes.
Article 14. To make the necessary appropriations for the ensuing year, and to vote to raise by tax such sums of money as may be required for the same.
Article 15. To see if the Town will vote to divide Precinct B for state and national elections, and accept the following division: That part of Precinct B lying east of the line known as the parish line between Agawam and Feeding Hills, to be known as Precinct B. That part of Precint B lying west of said parish line to be known as Precint C.
Article 16. To see if the Town will appropriate a sum sufficient to place a marker of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution at the grave of each Revolutionary soldier or sailor buried in this town, the expense not to exceed one dollar each.
Article 17. To see if the Town will accept the following list of jurors : William H. Harmon, Henry A. Huntington, Charles W. Hull, David L. Bowe, Brette H. Whitman, Orton A. Cushman, John R. Bodurtha, Charles R Miller, Almon Jones, George H. Reed, Frank L. Johnson, Albert K. Fuller, Edward L. Johnson, Amos P. Elton, George Taylor, Albert R Mecum, John H. Sullivan, Charles L. Huntley, James S. Smith, John F. Shea, Daniel J. Collins, George D. Cooley, John B. Warren, Albert Provost, Arthur Roberts, John O'Connell.
Article 18. To transact any other business that may legally come before said meeting.
san
of
rs
1
ANNUAL REPORTS
OF THE
SCHOOL OFFICERS
OF THE
TOWN OF AGAWAM,
For the Year Ending March 16,
1896.
INCOR
.1855
RA
HOLYOKE, MASS. : GRIFFITH, AXTELL & CADY CO., PRINTERS. 1896.
Report of School Committee.
Your Committee herewith present their annual report for your consideration.
During the past year the schools have been in session thirty-six weeks, which is three weeks above the average, and the longest school year on record.
The Committee would call the respectful attention of the Town to the great loss of time incurred by absence of pupils from school, and would ask the co-operation of those having the care of pupils, in preventing, as far as possible, this one great drawback to the efficiency of the schools. During the winter term, the invasion of the schools by contagious diseases has been an important factor in reducing attendance.
Statistics of absence will be found in the report of the Superin- tendent.
The Committee deemed it advisable, at the beginning of the fall term, to close the River Street School on account of the small num- ber of pupils attending there, and place them in the schools at the Center, where they could be graded according to their acquirements, and the result seems to have justified the experiment. Necessary repairs upon the building would have cost $200 or more. The Com- mittee recommend similar action in reference to the South School in Agawam, as long as the number attending there is so limited, and respectfully ask the Town to consider the question of transportation of pupils in this connection.
During the past year the Town has paid tuition for twenty -one pupils attending the West Springfield High School, and the Committee ask the Town to consider the question of affording high school accom- modations for our own pupils in the new building at Mittineague.
The efficiency of superintendence is clearly manifest in the uni- formity of action on the part of the teachers, and the interest mani-
4
fested by the pupils, and the Committee recommend its continuance.
Considerable repairing is necessary on the South School house in Agawam, and about the West Street building the ground is still un- graded, allowing water to stand around the yard in puddles.
The attention of the Town is asked to a proposition which will be presented, in regard to the teaching of music in the schools of the Town.
EDWIN LEONARD, HENRY S. TOWER, CAROLINE S. L. HAYWARD. School Committee.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
For Year Ending March 16, 1896.
Receipts.
Appropriation,
$5,500 00
Income Massachusetts School Fund,
235 35
State Treasurer for Superintendent,
. 416.66
Appropriation for High School Tuition,
. 600 00
$6,752.01
Expenditures.
FOR TUITION AT WEST SPRINGFIELD HIGH SCHOOL FOR
Earl Bodurtha,
· $30.00
Charles Irving Bodurtha,
. 30.00
Mary Cotton,
9.00
Charles Brown,
. 21.00
Laura Clark,
21.00
Katie Danahy,
21.00
Frances Ely,
21.00
Ocie Kenyon,
. 21.00
Maud Miller,
21.00
Timothy Moriarty,
. 39.00
Nettie Osborn,
21 00
James J. O'Brien,
39.00
Julia Pomeroy,
21 00
Sadie Reilly,
21.00
Bertha Roberts,
.
21.00
Ida Roy,
. 39.00
Mabel Todd,
21.00
Jennie Worthington,
. 21 00
Mary Sullivan,
39 00
Clarence Duclos,
· 21.00
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
6
Fred. Paro,
· 21.00
Ralph B. Pillsbury,
· 39.00
Marion Young,
. 18.00
$576.00
FOR SUPERINTENDENT AND SUPPLIES.
Edward E. Babb & Co., books, $4.11
J. L. Hammett, books,
.
.
. 101.26
Ginn & Co.,
54 38
Springfield Printing and Binding Co., printing,
3.75
Smith & White Mfg. Co., paper,
13 98
Springfield News Co., supplies,
15 03
American Humane Educational Society, books,
1.44
O. S. Houghton, blank-books, paper,
15.20
Morgan Envelope Co., envelopes,
1 83
H. Rude, supplies,
12 00
American Book Co., books,
21.20
Leach, Shewell & Sanborn, books,
.
18.35
Houghton, Mifflin & Co., books,
15 30
Town of West Springfield, books,
1.00
A. F. Leonard Co., brooms,
5.00
Stockwell & Farnsworth, coal and wood,
212.25
Fairfield Whitney, cash paid for printing,
3.71
Fairfield Whitney, superintendent,
499.92 .
$999.71
AGAWAM SCHOOLS.
Edward B. Jones, 36 weeks' teaching,
. $432 00
Marie West,
.
· 324 00
Jennie S. Thomson,
.
. 288.00
Jennie E. Alderman, 11 66 66
·
. 88.00
care of room,
5.50
Mrs. G. H. Havens, 4 weeks' teaching,
28.00
66 care of room,
2 00
Susie M. Sykes, 11 weeks' teaching,
77.00
66 care of room,
5.50
Lulu I Annis, 7 weeks' teaching,
49.00
.-
care of room,
3.50
Edith B. Knox, 11} weeks' teaching,
80 50
66 care of room,
5.75
Hulda U. Gates, 25 weeks' teaching,
200.00
care of room,
12.50
Grace Cushman, 13 weeks' teaching,
91.00
66 care of room,
6.50
·
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
·
.
.
.
.
--
.
7
E. L. Thompson, express and repairs, 2 10
J. V. Wolcott, repairs, 14.61
C. A. Bartholomew, wood, 3 50
O. A. Cushman, wood, 5.50
John Van Slyck, sweeping and cleaning,
43.50
C. W. Hastings, supplies, . 4 80
W. B. Rice, carrying teachers,
4 00
M. Hayward. « 3 00
1.25
W. C. Campbell, cleaning stoves, . Whitcomb Stove Co., repairing stoves,
4.68
L. W. Dickinson, water,
5.00
$1,790.69
FEEDING HILLS SCHOOLS.
Alice E. Powers, 35 weeks' teaching, $465 00
Mabel L. Welcker, 11 weeks' teaching,
. 93.50
L. May Huntley, 36 weeks' teaching, 66 care and cleaning room, 21.00
. 265 00
Sarah A. Graves, 25 weeks' teaching, 212.50
Mary A. Taylor, sweeping, 17.25
Nelson G. King, wood,
4 00
James F. Barry, wood,
15.50
O. D. Case & Co., blackboards,
18.88
Day & Jobson, lumber, .
1.07
Edwin Leonard, supplies, repairs and freight.
10 98
W. W. Houghton, repairs,
2 00
A. K. Fuller, supplies,
4 35
$1,131 03
MITTINEAGUE SCHOOLS.
Hattie J. Strong,
21 weeks' teaching,
$252 00
Alice E. Durant,
6
..
60.00
Bessie F. Leonard, 35 66
.
. 315.00
Mrs. R. O. Harper, 36 66 324.00
Josie M. Danahy, 34 66 66
227.50
Jennie E. Alderman, 25 66 66
225.00
Mary N. Young, 4 66 66
40.00
W. Duclos, repairs, .
12.55
Frank R. Ross, janitor,
108.00
H. L. Tower, freight and supplies,
2.55
Mrs. T. Welch, cleaning, .
5 00
$1,571.60
6,069 03
Total expended,
1
Report of Superintendent.
To the School Committee of Agawam :
In presenting this, my second annual report, I refer you to the four preceding reports of your superintendents for the discussion of many matters concerning the welfare of the schools.
If you find herein an enumeration of particulars with which you are already familiar, please consider that this is made to inform people who are not in close touch with the work and to give our efforts definite record.
During the year I have made 177 school visits and held four- teen teachers' meetings. These have been local, directly after school, or general evening meetings. At the former, teachers of one section after another have been met for the usual purpose of discussion and criticism, and it has sometimes been possible to treat the school conditions of that locality more specifically than would be advisable at a general meeting. Two of the four general meetings have been attended by all the teachers and members of the committee. Subjects of general interest like language, arithmetic, and nature study have been treated in all grades by teachers as well as Superintendent. By these meetings my time has been economized and discussion among teachers of the same grade has been mutually helpful.
You have generously given your services heretofore in transport- ing teachers and I hope that unity of work throughout the Town will continue to be promoted by occasionally bringing all the teachers together.
Wednesday evening, February 26, Mr. James Hall, Assistant State Supervisor of Drawing, addressed the teachers upon that subject at Feeding Hills.
October 16, the teachers attended the institute at Chicopee.
9
Twenty-one teachers have been employed at various times during the year, eight of whom never taught in town before. Five of these graduated at a normal or training school, three took a partial course, and all have attended a school of higher grade than grammar.
At the beginning of the year Miss Leonard was promoted to Mittineague No. 2 and Mrs. Harper to the principalship of No. I. In the fall Miss Alderman was transferred from West street, Agawam, to Mittineague No. 3. Miss Lulu I. Annis finished the term at Riverside, Miss Mary N. Young supplied at Mittineague No. 3 in the spring and Miss Danahy, assistant in No. 1, has had charge of the grammar school during Mrs. Strong's illness.
By the death of Miss Alice E. Durant the Town lost a faithful and conscientious teacher, who for many years contributed to the efficiency of the Mittineague schools.
Miss Durant was educated in the Northampton public schools and at the Springfield Collegiate Institute. She was principal of the Williamsburg High School and afterwards taught in a private school at Holyoke until a severe illness compelled her to retire. She resumed her life work as a teacher at Mittineague, where she remained until her final illness in May, 1895.
School Work:
The illness of teacher or pupils has seriously interfered with the work of several schools, yet the fewer changes of teachers, longer school year, and increased equipment have been of substantial advantage. The aim has been to avoid experiments and radical changes of policy while strengthening the weak places by outlining here and there such special kinds of needed work as time and means would allow.
Teachers have reason to be pleased with the success of their pupils in passing examinations for higher institutions. Two years' experience has shown that the pupils who fail are deficient in arithmetic, grammar or geography. This seemed to indicate some trouble with our work and particular attention has been given to these subjects.
IO
The arithmetic drill referred to last year has been emphasized and an attempt has been made to increase the work of third grade so that children may become acquainted with numbers to 144 instead of 60. This work includes the multiplication table, etc., to I2 X 12. More work has been done in practical mensuration for this comes to play in the life of every child and gives those who go to a high school a kind of drill analogous to the simple geometry of more elaborate courses. A mental arithmetic for use in the grammar grades would be very helpful.
The deficiences in grammar have been aimed at by work on the parts of speech in sixth grade, and by increasing the time that older pupils give to analysis and the essentials of grammar. The child must have ideas before he can express them, and one of the easiest ways for him to obtain these is by observing facts in nature. Simple outlines have been prepared for the teacher from time to time, and the child has learned something about plants and insects, birds and trees, while gaining in power of oral and written expres- sion. Such work has been done in the schools before and is an im- portant part of the preparation for higher schools. It is equally valuable for those who remain at home, and has many advantages not the least of which is its uplifting and refining influence.
The language course provides for such study of standard authors as was hinted at in connection with reading in last year's report, and all teachers have been urged to have pupils memorize gems of literature.
The " Longfellow " entertainment, by the Feeding Hills Gram- mar school, exemplified the kind of work just referred to, besides raising money for a cabinet and awakening people's interest in the school.
In geography we too often fail to teach the relation of facts. and neglect to train the memory through the reason. Dry state- ments fail to arouse the child's interest and imagination, and some- times inability to read understandingly has hindered him. Books of geographical information are needed and the public library can be utilized.
An outline course in drawing, furnished by the State, has been placed in each school, together with the small amount of material
II
necessary to carry out its provisions. This tells what to teach and when and how to teach it.
Transportation.
After a careful house to house canvass for the purpose of deter- mining whether any injustice would be done, you wisely decided to close Riverside School in the fall. As a result the children in that locality have enjoyed better privileges and every child in town has had the opportunity to attend school two weeks longer. Several of the parents, whose children have the longest distance to come of any from that section, have appreciated the advantage of the change and expressed their hearty satisfaction. Your considerate and conservative action ought to command the hearty approval of every intelligent citizen.
Brief reference was made in last year's report to the better privileges enjoyed in the central schools. These deserve more specific enumeration. In such schools children are in warm, well- furnished rooms that are carefully looked after by a competent janitor. Such oversight and equipment cannot be economically fur- nished for a single room of ten or fifteen pupils. Again in the vil- lage schools pupils are better classified, have more time for recita- tion, receive instruction in branches that are often neglected in the outside schools for lack of time, and feel the influence of a trained and experienced teacher. The stimulus that comes from compe- tition and the advantage of association, under proper restraint, with numbers of children of about the same age are felt by the village pupils as well as those from outside. Parents have seemed to recog- nize the superiority of the large, advanced schools and have fre- quently claimed the right to send their older children to these. The above-named advantages exist for the primary pupils in just as great a degree. The early years are the impressionable ones, and the idea that anybody can teach a primary school was exploded years ago. True teaching power gains its greatest results in such schools. If any children need first-class teachers and first-class schools, they are these little ones who are fast fixing habits that will cling to them through life. Young children cannot be expected to travel long distances, especially in stormy weather, and in some
I 2
cases parents are unable to carry them. The Town should so appro- priate its money for school purposes that you may use a part of it in transporting children when justice and the good of all demand such expenditure. I hope that such an appropriation will be made this year and that the policy of consolidating schools will be applied wherever the welfare of the children and the interest of the tax- payers demand such a course.
Books and Supplies.
At the request of your purchasing agent, I have acted with him in buying books and supplies. Little, if any, school time has been taken for this purpose, but his work has been lessened and I have had a better knowledge of the amount and kind of material that teachers were using.
The books, etc., recommended in last year's report have been put into the schools. The expense for arithmetics was reduced by an exchange of old books. A similar exchange of readers should be made at once.
Repairs and Buildings.
The new building at Mittineague promises to admirably meet the needs of that section. Its cost, together with the uncertainty that exists regarding the policy of the Town toward small outlying schools, has doubtless led to the neglect of even minor repairs in other places. Some of these things, such as blackboards, heating arrangements and outhouses, must receive attention this year.
" The outhouses should be properly constructed, the buildings for boys and girls widely separated ; if out of doors, separated by a tight board fence or wall. The doors should be locked nights, the buildings inspected daily by teachers and janitor, and be kept neat and decent."
Flags should be bought for school houses not supplied and one or two poles will be needed.
Enrollment and Attendance.
The average membership is small compared with the enroll- ment because fifty-three children have been in the French private
I3
school at Mittineague since the fall term began. This has relieved the crowded condition of the old building, but we must be ready to accommodate them in case they wish to return.
It is probable that six or eight new pupils will apply for tuition next fall, giving us a high school enrollment of twenty-five or thirty.
I have twice made a careful investigation, giving the child the benefit of the doubt in every case, and find there were seventy-five children, residents of the Town all the time, who were not in school 140 days between September 1, 1894, and September 1, 1895. Forty-five, the teachers told me, ought to have been in school. Ninety-five were not present 140 days between January 1, 1895, and January 1, 1896. Forty-one of these had no sufficient reason for absence. A longer school year will make it easier to comply with the law. If this does not improve the record I know of noth- ing else that will, except the arrest of delinquent parents, and this ought not to be necessary in an intelligent American community. To those who have disregarded the law of the State I commend this sentence from the walls of Boston's Public Library:
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