USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Arlington > Town of Arlington annual report 1908-1909 > Part 40
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This company petitioned the Board of Railroad Commis- sioners for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for an interurban railroad connecting Lowell and Lawrence with Boston. The plans showed the locations from which to chose, both extending through Arlington. On this petition a hearing was appointed by said Commissioners for June 14, and other hearings followed, extending into November. On July 3d a Mr. Farley, attorney for said Boston, Lowell & Lawrence Electric Railway Company, appeared before the Board of Selectmen, explaining the purposes of said railway, company, and giving what he considered advantages such a railway would be to Arlington.
The Board had already looked carefully into the matter, and after having heard Mr. Farley, believing that such a road within the limits of the Town of Arlington would be of little or no benefit, but of positive and serious injury to the Town, unanimously
VOTED, That it is the opinion of the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Arlington that public convenience and neces- sity do not require the construction of an electric railway as proposed by the Boston, Lowell & Lawrence Electric Railroad Company ; that the same would be detrimental to the Town and that the Town Counsel be instructed to oppose granting a petition for a certificate of exigency now pending before the Board of Railroad Commissioners.
One of the routes contemplated extended the entire length of Arlington from the Lexington line to the Medford line, fol- lowing Sucker Brook Valley to Medford Street, near Warren, and thence in an easterly direction to the Medford line and
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then to Boston. The other route entered Arlington from the Winchester line east of Mystic Street and run parallel with said Mystic Street to Medford Street, near Warren, where it turns east and follows the other route to Boston.
Both of these routes destroy a large amount of real estate, injures adjacent property and are a serious drawback on the true development of nearby territory.
At the various hearings the Board of Selectmen were repre- sented by our Town Counsel, and with prominent citizens of the Town, entered a strong protest against granting a certifi- cate of exigency by the Railroad Commissioners, especially if the location of tracks crossed Arlington territory.
It was clearly shown by our Town Counsel and Engineer Adams, however, that if Lowell and Lawrence merited an interurban railroad, as was claimed, a route entirely out- side the limits of Arlington should be laid out. This route would pass through Winchester and Medford, then to Bos- ton, thus eliminating Arlington from the premises. It had the great advantage of being shorter and more direct to Lowell, less destructive to property, less expensive in construction and answered fully the general purpose of the proposed road.
The hearings closed in November, and the Railroad Com- missioners have the matter under advisement, not having at this writing, rendered their decision.
THE BLOCKING OF OUR STREETS BY STREET CARS.
In February, 1908, the Boston Elevated Railway Company put into operation the order of the Railroad Commissioners, allowing said Elevated Company to run between the hours of four o'clock and six o'clock P. M., ten additional cars per hour between Dudley Street Station and Arlington Centre. This was for the purpose of relieving the crowded condition of cars en route for Arlington. This method of relief has been in operation to the present time, and while it affords some relief, as was intended, it gives rise to other complaints, namely, the blocking of Massachusetts Avenue at the Centre. It is very natural to expect that ten additional cars per hour entering Arlington Centre most, if not all, making a terminal at Water Street and transferring at this point by switch from an out- going to an in-going track, will cause serious trouble, especi- ally where the facilities for transfer are inadequate. During this process of transfer cars are delayed on the tracks, block- ing and endangering travel and interfering with business.
Complaints have been entered to the Board of this serious .
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state of affairs, and the attention of the Boston Elevated Rail- way Company called to the matter, and at à conference recent- ly held in the Selectmen's room with Vice-President C. S. Sergeant and General Manager George W. Tripp an informal discussion of the matter took place. There were also present during the discussion the Board of Public Works, Mr. N. J. Hardy, representing the Business Men's Association, Town Counsel Hardy, and Town Engineer Pond.
After a conference of an hour or more Vice-President Ser- geant assured the Board that the matter would receive his serious attention and the situation relieved if possible.
On November 27th a proposition was received from Mr. Sergeant by which under certain conditions and guarantee a left-hand cross-over would be installed by the company. A reply to this proposition has been made by the Board and the matter is still pending.
GRADE CROSSINGS AT WHITTEMORE STREET AND AVON PLACE.
The following is a "copy of the certificate of the Board of Railroad Commissioners relative to the abolition of certain grade crossings of the Boston & Maine Railroad in Arlington."
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
In Board of Railroad Commissioners.
November 4, 1909.
Petition of the Boston & Maine Railroad for certificate relative to abolition of grade crossings in the Town of Ar- lington.
After notice and hearings and an examination of the pro- posed plan for abolishing the grade crossings of Whittemore Street and Avon Place and the tracks of the Boston & Maine Railroad in the Town of Arlington, as set forth in the report of the special commission appointed by the Superior Court to consider the matter, it is
Ordered, That the Board hereby certify that in its opinion the adoption of said plan is consistent with the public in- terests.
Attest:
(Signed) CHAS. E. MANN, Clerk.
It will be remembered that in 1907 the Board of Selectmen petitioned the Railroad Commissioners for the abolition of these grade crossings. The Board understands the entire
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expense is to be borne by the Boston & Maine Railroad, as Avon Place and Whittemore Street are private ways.
GRADE CROSSING AT MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE.
The following is a "copy of the order of the Board of Rail- road Commissioners extending the time for maintenance by the West End Street Railway Company of crossing at grade with the Boston & Maine Railroad at Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington":
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS ..
In Board of Railroad Commissioners.
May 11, 1909.
Petition of the West End Street Railway Company, by the Boston Elevated Railway Company, its attorney, for author- ity to maintain and use an existing grade crossing, here- tofore authorized, of railroad and railway in Arlington.
After notice and hearing it is
Ordered, That the petitioners be authorized to maintain and use a crossing of its railway and the Boston & Maine Railroad at the same level at Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, from the date of this order until December 1, 1910, subject to all provisions of law and to the conditions embodied in the order of the Board, dated April 13, 1900, and to the further condition that any substantial increase in the use of the crossing by the railway or railroad shall be seasonably reported by the petitioner to this Board.
Attest:
(Signed) CHAS. E. MANN, Clerk.
STATE AID, MILITARY AID, SOLDIERS' RELIEF, ETC.
Questions are frequently asked as to what state aid, military aid and soldiers' relief are, for what purpose they are given and who pays the bill. In view of this fact, perhaps the fol- lowing may not be out of place.
Massachusetts is said to be more liberal towards its soldiers, sailors and their dependents than any other state. For state and military aid and burial of indigent soldiers, their wives and widows, the State expended during the year 1907, $856,655
STATE AID. State aid is payable to soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War, or in the war with Spain, in the army or navy of the United States and to their wives, widows, widowed mothers or dependent children. Army nurses and one or two other classes are also entitled to this aid. All applicants, how-
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ever, must meet certain conditions before receiving it. In Towns applications are made to the Board of Selectmen. The papers are filled out under oath and forwarded to the Commissioner of State Aid at the State House, who has full authority to grant the same or not.
The law says :
"A recipient of State Aid shall have a residence, and shall actually reside in the city or town from which such aid is re- ceived, shall not receive aid from any other city or town in the Commonwealth, nor from any other State, shall be in such needy circumstances as to require public assistance." Not more than six dollars can be paid a soldier and not more than four dollars to his widow.
Money paid out by a city or town as State Aid will be reim- bursed by the Commonwealth the following year.
During the year State aid has been paid to forty-two different persons, divided as follows: eighteen soldiers, twenty-four wid- ows. The total amount paid was $1,990.00.
In his instructions to the Mayor and Aldermen, or Selectmen, the Commissioner of State Aid and Pensions, says :
"The law of 1877 was abused by the allowance of State Aid to persons of income, to persons depositing it for accumulation in savings banks and elsewhere, and to those abundantly able to provide for themselves. This must be corrected. State aid is not a pension, to which every one disabled in the war is entitled. It is not for the rich and well-to-do in the world, nor is it for the idler, the criminal or the profligate. It is not intended as an encouragement to pauperism nor as a reward to self-ruined manhood. It is not enough that the applicant was faithful in his military or naval service during the war. He must be at the present time a worthy citizen of the Com- monwealth, and in such necessitous circumstances as to need assistance. He must be a producer, unless disabled by his service, or by disease, or by the infirmities of age, and con- tribute his share to the moral and material wealth of the State. The laws make the municipal authorities the watch- ful guardians of the unfortunate and needy soldiers in their respective localities, and require that they shall be vigilant and humane in their treatment of them.
"Relief is provided only in cases where the person is 'not competent to support himself or herself,' either from earn- ings or from property or income of any kind. It undertakes to relieve certain defined classes of soldiers and sailors and their dependents, who fall into necessitous circumstances, while they continue in such conditions. The former law has been also abused by paying the maximum amount in all cases. It has been taken for granted that when aid was allowed the largest amount possible was to be given, whether the recipi- ent needed it all or not; but the law is, that not more than certain specified amounts shall be paid. If less will relieve
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the person's necessity, the law requires that less be given.
"If in any month the aid is not needed, the law requires that it shall not be paid. The act requires that the money be paid for future benefit. This is to prevent its payment to settle debts or bills incurred for past necessities. It is not to be construed to be for remote future benefit, but to provide means to be used for the beenficiary to relieve his present necessity.
"The amount per month of the pension of each soldier, sailor or dependent relative, on whose account aid is paid, must be stated on the monthly return of payment.
"Under no circumstances must aid be paid, under this law, to any person not actually residing in the city or town where the aid is paid at the time of said payment; and should such recipient remove from one city or town to another, a new application and certificate of reasons must be made, stating where aid was last paid and for which month."
MILITARY AID. Military aid is payable to soldiers and sailors only who served in the Civil War or in the war with Spain and then only under certain conditions.
The law says :
"He shall be poor and indigent and by reason of sickness or other physical disability, in such need as would entitle him to relief under the pauper laws."
He must either reside or have a settlement in the city or town aiding him.
Applications are made for military aid in the same way as for State Aid.
One-half the money paid by cities and towns as military aid is reimbursed by the Commonwealth the following year, except in certain special cases, when the whole is reimbursed.
Military aid is afforded when one's pension and State aid are inadequate for necessary relief.
"No person shall at the same time receive both State and military aid."
Section 13 of the law reads as follows:
"State and Military aid shall be paid to or applied solely for the benefit of the person for whom it is intended, and only so much shall be paid to or for him as may be necessary to afford him reasonable relief or support. It shall not be paid to or for any person who is able to support himself, who is in receipt of income or who owns property sufficient for his support, nor to an amount in excess of such amount as is necessary, in addition to his income and property, for his personal relief or support, nor to or for any soldier, sailor, pensioner, dependent relative or nurse if the necessity there- for is caused by the voluntary idleness or continuous vicious or intemperate habits of the soldier, sailor or pensioner on whose account such aid is sought, nor to or for any person
1
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who has been dishonorably aischarged from any national sol- diers' or sailors' home, or from the soldiers' home in this Commonwealth, unless the commissioner of State aid, after a hearing, shall otherwise determine. State aid shall not be subject to the trustee process, and no assignment thereof shall be valid. No back State aid shall be paid, nor shall State aid be paid to or for any person convicted of crime un- less the municipal authorities and the Commissioner of State Aid otherwise determine, nor shall State or Military aid be paid if the pensioner, soldier or sailor deserted from the service of the United States, either in the war of the rebel- lion or in the war with spain, or is wilfully absent from his family and neglects to render them such assistance as he is able to give."
There has been no application for military aid during the year just closed.
BURIAL OF INDIGENT SOLDIERS, ETC.
The burial agent of a city or town appointed for the purpose "shall, under regulations established by the commissioner of State aid, cause properly to be interred the body of any honor- ably discharged soldier, sailor or marine who served in the army or navy of the United States during the war of the rebel- lion, or during the war between the United States and Spain after the 14th day of February and prior to the 12th day of August in the year 1898, and the body of his wife, widow or dependent mother, and the bodies of such army nurses, etc., if they die without sufficient means to defray funeral expenses ; but no wife, or widow of any soldier, sailor or marine of the Civil War shall be entitled to the benefit of this section unless she was married to him prior to the year 1880, and no wife or widow of any soldier, sailor or marine of the Spanish War unless she was married to him prior to the first day of Janu- ary, 1901."
The expense of such burial shall not exceed a certain specified amount.
It shall not be made in any cemetery or burial ground which is used exclusively for the burial of the pauper dead, or in any part so used of any cemetery or burial ground.
Applications for such burial must be made to the Burial Agent who forwards the proper papers to the Commissioner of State Aid.
The money paid by a city or town for said burial expenses is reimbursed by the Commonwealth on or before the Ioth day of December in the year after the expenditures have been paid.
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During the year burial expenses have been allowed in two cases, one a soldier of the Civil War and one a widow of a sol- dier of the Civil War.
SOLDIERS' RELIEF.
Chapter 79, Revised Laws, relative to Soldiers' Relief, reads as follows :
"Section 18. If a person who served in the army or navy of the United States in the war of the rebellion and received an honorable discharge from all enlistments therein, and who has a legal settlement in a city or town in the Commonwealth, becomes, from any cause except his own criminal or wilful misconduct, poor and entirely or partially unable to provide main- tenance for himself, his wife and minor children under the age of sixteen years, or for a dependent father or mother; or if such person dies leaving a widow or such minor children or a depend- ent father or mother without proper means of support, he or they shall receive such support as may be necessary by the city or town in which they or either of them have a legal settlement. Such relief shall be furnished by the mayor and aldermen or the selectmen or in Boston, subject to the direction of the alder- men thereof as to the amount to be paid to beneficiaries, by the Soldiers' Relief Commissioner, at the home of the beneficiary or at such other place as they may deem proper. A beneficiary shall not be required to receive such relief at an almshouse or public institution unless his physical or mental condition requires it, or unless he or, if he is a minor, his parents or guardian so elects. Printed reports of cities and towns shall designate such expenditures as soldiers' relief."
Section 19. The mayor and aldermen of a city or the select- men of a town shall furnish such relief without a vote of the city council or of the town authorizing them thereto. Such relief shall be furnshed only by, through or under the agency or direc- tion of city or town officers who are authorized to disburse State or military aid. If the mayor and aldermen fail to furnish it, any person who is aggrieved may apply to the commissioners of State aid, who shall forthwith make a thorough investigation of the qualifications and circumstances of the applicant and shall determine the amount of relief, if any, to be given to him. Their decision shall be final, but may at any time be amended or reversed by them."
In dispensing soldiers' relief to soldiers or sailors or their dependents, special precaution must be taken that they are not considered as paupers, and that nothing on the records indicate them to be such. Overseers of the Poor have nothing to do
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with dispensing this relief and all expenditures of this character must be designated in printed reports of cities and towns as Sol- diers' relief.
Money paid by a city or town as soldiers' relief is not reim- bursed by the State,-the city or town having to bear the entire expense.
Five different persons have received soldiers' relief during the year, one a soldier, one the wife of a soldier, and three widows of soldiers.
THE CITIZENS-SOLDIERS' FUND AND THE MILITARY FUND.
These two funds are practically one and the same, as will be seen from the following :
At a public meeting held Sunday evening, April 21, 1861, it was,
Voted, That the Selectmen and the Town Treasurer, with the Selectmen of Belmont, be a Committee to collect and disburse the amount subscribed for the purpose of equipping the company from this Town.
At a Town Meeting held April 29, 1861, ten thousand dollars was appropriated for war purposes, and a committee of nine appointed to report the mode of raising and the manner of dis- tributing the same.
This report recommended, and the same was adopted :
That all unexpended balances of subscription money remaining in the hands of the Selectmen after equipping the company be at the disposal of the Selectmen of West Cambridge and Bel- mont for the benefit of the soldiers or their families of said town.
Dec. 30, 1861, the balance of this subscription money was $600, which was invested in a Town note, payable to W. I. Lane, Treasurer of the Military Committee ; up to 1865 payments on the note reduced it to $349.85, from which time it, with its accu- mulation, has been known as the Citizens-Soldiers' Fund.
The Military Fund, so-called, appears to have been, like the citizens-soldiers' fund, a part of the balance of the subscription money for equipping the company referred to above in 1861.
The balance was $78.66, and was deposited in the Five Cents Savings Bank, April 26, 1862, and has been added to and drawn from since.
Since 1869, until recently, the interest from the Citizens-Sol- diers' Fund, so-called, was deposited in the Savings Bank to the credit of the Military Fund, which fund, Jan. 1, 1888, amounted to nearly $900.
The money drawn from the Military Fund has been expended for the benefit of needy soldiers and their families.
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The fund is now entirely exhausted, the balance having been drawn out for a worthy and destitute soldier this present year.
The Citizens-Soldiers' Fund, however, is still available for the same purpose.
Thinking it might be of special interest to many of our citizens, both old and young, we have printed the following from the Town Records bearing on these funds :
PUBLIC MEETING IN THE TOWN HALL.
SUNDAY EVENING, APRIL 21, 1861.
The Meeting was called by posting the following Notice.
OUR COUNTRY, THE UNION AND THE CONSTITUTION.
The patriotic Citizens of West Cambridge are invited to meet at the Town Hall on Sunday evening, April 21st, at half-past seven o'clock, to consult together upon the distracted condition of our be- loved Country and to adopt such measures as may be in our power in the discharge of our duty as loyal and true citizens to uphold the Federal Constitution, the administration of Laws and the law- fully constituted authorities of the Nation.
Washington I. Lane, Samuel Butterfield, Samuel F. Wood- bridge, John Schouler, George H. Gray, John Osborn, N. M. Fessenden, Joseph Burrage, William Adams, Abel G. Peck, John Field, Otis Greene, Addison Hill, Wm. E. Parmenter, Jesse Buckman, Reuben Hopkins, Edward Chapman, Daniel R. Stanwood, James Russell, Thomas Russell, George C. Russell, Nathan Robbins, Addison Gage.
WEST CAMBRIDGE, APRIL 20, 1861.
Pursuant to the foregoing notice the inhabitants of West Cam- bridge and many from Belmont assembled in the Town Hall at the time specified.
Washington I Lane, Esq., Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, called the meeting to order and nominated the following named
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persons as officers of the Meeting and they were unanimously chosen as such :
President: WILLIAM E. PARMENTER, EsQ.
Vice-Presidents : COL. THOMAS RUSSELL. NATHAN ROBBINS, EsQ. ADDISON GAGE, EsQ. SAMUEL BUTTERFIELD, EsQ.
WILLIAM F. HOMER, EsQ., of Belmont HON. JOHN SCHOULER. WASHINGTON I. LANE, EsQ.
GEORGE C. RUSSELL, EsQ. SAMUEL F. WOODBRIDGE EsQ.
ALBERT WINN, EsQ. CAPT. REUBEN HOPKINS.
JOHN OSBORN, EsQ.
Secretaries :
N. M. FESSENDEN, EsQ. OTIS GREENE, E'SQ. ABEL R. PROCTOR. ALBERT S. INGALLS, EsQ. DANIEL R. STANWOOD. SAMUEL S. DAVIS.
Prayer was offered by Rev. Daniel R. Cady of the Orthodox Con- gregational Society.
The President stated that the committee on organization had in- vited the Hon. James Russell to preside and up to the last moment they were in hopes he would be able to do so, but the feebleness of his health prevented and he sent a letter expressing his sentiments in regard to the present condition of the Country of which the fol- lowing is a copy.
SUNDAY EVENING, 7 O'CLOCK.
Messrs. Wm. E. Parmenter and W. I. Lane,
Gentlemen : - I regret to say to you that I am too feeble to attend any public meeting especially so exciting as the one contemplated this evening. I will just say my heart is deeply touched at the lamentable condition of our beloved Country. But the Government must be sustained.
Yours truly, JAMES RUSSELL.
WEST CAMBRIDGE, APRIL 21, 1861.
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The President Submitted the Following Resolutions
Resolved, 1st. That we the Citizens of West Cambridge, in obe- dience to the sacred duty we owe to our Country, do pledge ourselves to uphold with all the means which God has given us the Federal Union, the Constitution, the Laws and the lawfully constituted authorities of the Nation.
2nd. That with pride and gratitude we applaud the exalted pa- triotism of those young men of our Town who have been the first among us to enlist as a Military Corps with the intention of joining their brave companions in arms from this Commonwealth who have already gone to the post of duty.
3rd. That we request the Selectmen of this Town to call at the earliest date a legal Town Meeting for the purpose of appropriating the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars, to be expended in aid of the families of those soldiers from this Town who shall be absent and in service.
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