USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Town of Newton annual report 1882-1883 > Part 27
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RIDING TO FIRES.
All drivers will be held responsible for any unnecessary overloading, and will in all cases judge of the ability of the horses, the condition of the streets, and the distance to travel. The men will mount and dismount as ordered by them. Offi- cers will avail themselves of any opportunity to ride to fires (excepting on engines), to the exclusion, if necessary, of the men.
FIRE-GROUNDS.
All engine and hose companies responding to second or general alarms will connect, but will not lay their lines until they have reported to the officer in command at the fire for orders.
STATIONS.
Stations of the department shall be open from ten A.M. until ten P.M. for visitors, and at any other time for inspec- tion by members of the City Government. On the sabbath all stations must be closed, and it is made the duty of the engineer or person in charge to see that order and quiet are preserved. All work other than that absolutely necessary will be omitted for the day. The permanent members of each station shall once in each week scrub the floors of their respective stations, and at all times keep them neat and clean. The members in charge of the several stations shall personally attend to the receiving of visitors, whether mem- bers of the City Government, officers of the department, or citizens. Citizens visiting the stations shall be courteously treated, have reasonable questions answered, and any proper information given. All members detailed to sleep in the stations must be in their quarters at the time stated for closing the station, unless otherwise excused, and all other persons must leave at that time.
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DRILL.
Until further notice the truck company will drill once each month, from May 1 to Oct. 1, and all other companies at such times as may be ordered by the Chief of Department.
CONDUCT.
All members of the department are strictly required in their intercourse with each other, social or official, to observe a courteous demeanor, and officers or men in addressing each other will do so in a respectful manner. While on duty at fires, the greatest degree of silence compatible with a proper discharge of duty will be required. No profane or ungen- tlemanly language, or disorderly conduct, will be allowed on the part of any officer or member of the department when on duty.
No spirituous or malt liquors will be allowed in any station of the department, or at any fire. If any member shall enter any station of the department intoxicated, or become intoxi- cated at a fire, he shall be subject to dismissal.
No gambling of any kind will be allowed in any station of the department.
GENERAL RULES.
RULE 1.
No driver of engine, hose, hook-and-ladder truck, or other vehicle, shall drive over any line of hose if it can be avoided.
RULE 2.
No company will be allowed to take its apparatus from their quarters, except in case of fire, without consent of the Chief of Department.
RULE 3.
The hose must be changed on reels once in four weeks, unless otherwise ordered by the Chief of Department, for which purpose the foreman will warn the members of his company detailed for this purpose ; and any member absent, unless excused, will be fined the same amount as for absence from fires.
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RULE 4.
Any member permanently employed who refuses or neg- lects to pay any just debt contracted during his connection with the department, it shall be deemed sufficient cause for suspension or discharge.
RULE 5.
No permanent officer or member of the department shall attend a caucus or political convention as a delegate, distrib- ute tickets at any election, or take any part whatever in political matters other than to exercise a right of suffrage.
RULE 6.
All members of the department will be required to address officers by their respective titles when on duty.
RULE 7.
When any member shall leave the department, he shall thereupon return his badge, key, and copy of Rules and Regulations, in good condition, to the foreman of his com- pany, who shall immediately notify the Chief of Department ; and any member failing so to do shall have the amount de- ducted from his pay.
RULE 8.
No balls, parties, or social gatherings of any description shall be held in any building in charge of the department, except on permission from the Chief of Department.
RULE 9.
No property belonging to the city will be loaned, for any purpose whatever, except upon written order of the Chief of Department.
RULE 10.
No hoseman or truckman at call shall be entitled to pay for less than fifteen days' service. All appointments shall, as far as practicable, be made to date from the first or fif- teenth day of each month.
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RULE 11.
In the use of hydrants, all members of the department are instructed to use great care in the opening and closing of the same, and to see that each cap is properly adjusted before leaving. The first company connecting to a hydrant in case of fire will leave one member in charge of the same: should a second company or line desire connection, it will not be made until the line is complete to the fire, and orders given for water. Exceptions to this are ordered for engines, which will be given immediate connection (if ordered into service), and the hydrant left in charge of the engineer.
RULE 12.
Officers of companies, hosemen, and laddermen will wear their fire-hats when on duty.
Approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, April 19, 1880. Attest : EDWIN O. CHILDS, Clerk.
H. L. BIXBY, Chief Fire Department.
ORDINANCES RELATING TO FIRE DEPARTMENT.
ORDINANCE XIII.
Fire Department.
SECTION 1. A fire department is hereby estab- lished.
Department established. Charter, § 7.
There shall be a Chief of Fire Department, an Assistant Chief, an operator of the fire-alarm tele- graph, three steam fire-engine companies, four hose companies, and one truck company.
Each steam fire-engine company shall consist of thirteen men ; to wit, a foreman, an assistant fore- man (who shall also be clerk), an engineman, a driver, a fireman, and eight hosemen.
Each hose company shall consist of six men ; to wit, a foreman, an assistant foreman (who shall also be clerk), and four hosemen.
Each truck company shall consist of thirteen men ; to wit, a foreman, an assistant foreman (who shall also be clerk), a driver, and ten truckmen.
SECT. 2. The Chief of Department shall be Chief. responsible for the discipline, good order, and Duties. proper conduct of the officers and men constitut- ing the department, and for the good condition of all houses, reservoirs, hydrants, wells, engines, hose, hose-carriages, hooks and ladders, trucks, and all apparatus and furniture thereto belonging, and connected with the department. suspend any officer or member, and shall forth- with refer his case to the Board of Aldermen for its action. He shall have the superintendence,
Number of men and officers.
He may May suspend.
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Superintend- ence and con- trol of houses and apparatus.
and, under the direction of the joint standing committee on the fire department, the control, of the engine and other houses used by the depart- ment, of the furniture therein, and of the engines and apparatus, as well as of all other property appertaining to the department. .
Sole command of members.
SECT. 3. The Chief of Department, or, in his absence, the Assistant Chief, shall have sole and absolute control and command of all the other members of the department and of other persons present at fires.1 The officer in command of the company which first arrives at a fire shall be the officer in command until the Chief of Department or the Assistant Chief arrives.
Rolls.
SECT. 4. The Chief of Department shall keep rolls of the companies, specifying the name, age, occupation, and residence, and the date of the admission and discharge, of each member of the department; and he shall keep an accurate ac- count of all property belonging to it.
Reports of fires, etc.
He shall, at the close of each three months, and oftener if required, make to the City Council a detailed report of the condition of the fire depart- ment, of losses and accidents by fire, with the causes thereof as well as they can be ascertained, and of the description of the buildings and other
Fire-wards, etc., may or- der buildings to be pulled down.
1 PUBLIC STATUTES. - SECT. 3. The fire-wards, or any three of then, present at a place in immediate danger from a fire, or, where no fire-wards are appointed, the selectmen, or mayor and aldermen present, or, in their absence, two or more of the civil officers present, or, in their absence, two or more of the chief inilitary officers of the place present, may direct any house or building to be pulled down or demolished, when they judge the same to be necessary in order to prevent the spreading of the fire.
Engineer to have power of fire-wards under Sect. 3.
SECT. 4. In cities and towns, which by vote of the City Council, or of the legal voters respectively, have accepted the provisions of this section, or of chapter two hundred and one of the statutes of the year eighteen hundred and seventy-three, the engineer of a fire department in command at a fire shall, to the exclusion of all other persons, have the power conferred by the preceding section.
Acceptance.
[Stat. 1873, chap. 201. Accepted Feb. 12, 1877.]
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property destroyed or injured, the amount of in- surance, and the names of the owners.
SECT. 5. The foremen shall preserve order and discipline in their respective companies, and shall promptly report in writing the name of any mem- ber guilty of misconduct to the Chief of Depart- ment, who shall, if he thinks it proper, report thereon to the Mayor and Aldermen.
The foremen shall cause to be kept by the re- Rolls. spective clerks rolls of the companies, specifying the time of admission and discharge of each mem- ber, together with the age, residence, and occupa- tion of each member, and a record of all the city's property intrusted to their care. Their rolls and record-books shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the Chief of Department ; and they shall furnish him with copies or abstracts thereof at his request.
SECT. 6. It shall be the duty of the men per- Care of appa- manently employed in the department to keep the ratus, etc. apparatus committed to their care, and the several buildings in which the same is deposited, and all things intrusted to their care, clean, and in order for immediate use, and to wash and dry the hose of the entire department when required so to do ; and they shall clear the snow from the sidewalks and driveways connected with the houses under their charge.
SECT. 7. No company shall leave the city in case of a fire in another city or town, except by order of the Chief or Assistant Chief of Depart- ment.
SECT. 8. No member shall be transferred from one company to another, except by order of the Chief of Department.
SECT. 9. Every member of the department Badge. shall wear at every fire such a badge as the Chief of Department shall prescribe ; and no person without such badge shall, except by permission of
Foremen.
Companies not to leave city, except.
Members not to be trans- ferred, except.
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the officer in command, enter within lines formed at a fire by such officer.
Shavings and other combus- tible material. Pub. Stats., chap. 104, §§ 1-12.
SECT. 10. The Chief of Department shall ex- amine all places where shavings or other combus- tible materials are deposited or collected ; and shall see to the removal of the same, whenever, in his opinion, the same are dangerous; and shall direct the owners, tenants, or occupants of such places to remove the same, which they shall do forthwith ; and, in case of refusal or neglect, he shall cause the same to be removed at the expense of such owners, tenants, or occupants.
Inspection of buildings by Chief.
Steam- engines.
Camphene, etc.
SECT. 11. The Chief of Department shall ob- serve all buildings in which steam-engines are used, and all buildings in process of erection or alteration, and make a record of such of them as in his judgment may be dangerous, and report thereon to the Mayor and Aldermen forthwith. Whenever, in the opinion of the Chief of Depart- ment, any camphene or other explosive or inflam- mable fluid or material should be removed, he shall forthwith notify and direct the owner, ten- ant, or occupant of the premises upon which the same are situated, to remove the same, which he shall forthwith do. In case such tenant, owner, or occupant shall refuse or neglect so to do, the Chief of Department shall cause the same to be removed at the expense of such owner, tenant, or occupant. No person shall obstruct the Chief of Department in carrying out the provisions of this section.
Chief to pre- pare pay-roll.
SECT. 12. The Chief of Department shall, on the last day of each month, prepare a pay-roll of all persons regularly employed in the department, and present it to the committee on the fire depart- ment, for their action. On the last day of June and of December in each year, the clerk of each company shall make a roll, bearing the full name, age, occupation, and residence of every member of
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the company, specifying also the number of times the company has been called out, and the attend- ance of each member, to which shall be appended the following certificate : -
" We the undersigned do hereby certify, that, according to the best of our knowledge and belief, the foregoing per- sons are members of - company, and that said company has consisted of - members during the last six months; that during that time they have performed all the duties incumbent on them as firemen, have been present at every turn-out of the company, or been duly excused, and that they are entitled to all the privileges and pay of firemen."
The certificate shall be signed by the foreman Certificate of and clerk, and shall be delivered to the Chief of pay-roll. Department.
The Chief of Department shall examine these rolls, and, if they are found correct, shall approve them, and present them, with the pay-rolls of the several companies, to the committee on the fire department, for their action.
SECT. 13. The Chief of Department shall have the care and management of the rooms, apparatus, and machinery connected with the fire-alarm tele- graph, and shall determine to whom shall be in- trusted the keys of the signal-boxes. He shall Keys. prepare rules and directions for giving alarms of fire through the telegraph.
SECT. 14. No unauthorized person shall open Signal-boxes. any of the signal-boxes, except in case of fire, or interfere with the wires, or the poles, or other supports of the wires.
SECT. 15. The Chief of Department shall see False alarms. that every person raising a false alarm of fire is prosecuted.
SECT. 16. No gambling shall be allowed in any Gambling. building occupied by the fire department, nor shall spirituous liquors be kept or used there.
SECT. 17. No person shall draw water from the reservoirs or fire-hydrants, except in case of
Fire-alarm telegraph.
Water from hydrants, etc.
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fire, and except as otherwise provided ; 1 nor shall any engine, hose, or truck, be taken out of the city, without permission of the Chief or Assistant Chief. No part of the apparatus shall be taken from the city, unless to a fire, without special per- mission from the Mayor and Aldermen.
SECT. 18. No occupant of any building or room in which there is a hatchway or trap-door shall suffer the same to be left open at night.
Disabled members.
SECT. 19. Any member of the department in- jured or disabled while on actual duty shall receive pay for the time lost in consequence, not exceeding three months.
Setting fires wantonly to trees, etc.
SECT. 20. No person shall wantonly or care- lessly set fire to any tree, bush, grass, leaves, brush- wood, rubbish, or other substance in any place in the city of Newton.
Penalty.
SECT. 21. Whoever shall violate any provision of this ordinance shall forfeit a sum not exceeding twenty dollars.
ORDINANCE XXIV.
Buildings.
Permit.
SECTION 1. No person shall erect, alter or re- build, or essentially change, any building or any part thereof, for any purpose other than a dwelling- house, without first obtaining in writing a permit from the Board of Aldermen. The application for such permit shall specify the location and size of said building, the material of which it is to be constructed, and the use for which it is intended.
SECT. 2. No person shall use any building, or part thereof, for any purpose rendering said build- ing, or buildings adjacent thereto, hazardous, un- safe, or liable to be destroyed by fire, or dangerous
1 Ordinance XV. § 19.
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to persons or property, without first obtaining a permit as named in section one.
SECT. 3. All chimneys hereafter erected shall be built of brick, stone, or other fire-proof, non- conducting material. All brick flues shall be smoothly plastered inside with mortar from top to bottom, and outside below the roofing. In no case shall chimneys rest upon any flooring without a footing of masonry or iron, supported by iron beams, having a secure bearing on iron at either end.
Hearths of fireplaces or grates shall be laid upon brick or other trimmer arches, or upon bars of iron supporting a bed of brick-work.
No wood-work of any kind shall be placed at a Wood-work. less distance than one inch from the outside brick- work of any flue, and in no case shall a nail be driven into the masonry of any flue.
No wood-work shall be placed at a less distance than one inch from any tin or other metal flue or flues, pipe or pipes, used or intended to be used to convey heated air or steam in any building, unless such flues or pipes be cased with metal, leav- ing a free circulation of air all around the same.
No smoke-pipe shall pass through any stud or Smoke-pipe. wooden partitions, whether plastered or not, with- out being guarded either by a double collar of metal with at least four inches' air-space and holes for ventilation, or by a soapstone ring not less than three inches in thickness, and extending through the partition.
SECT. 4. Whoever violates any provision of the preceding sections of this ordinance shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars.
Chimneys and brick flues.
Hearths and grates.
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ORDINANCE XXII.
Gunpowder and Other Explosive Compounds.
Pub. Stats., chap. 102, § 56.
SECTION 1. No person shall keep or deposit any gunpowder within the city, unless it is well secured in tight casks or canisters.
No person to keep or de- posit gunpow- der, unless, etc.
Limit of amount.
No person shall keep or deposit more than fifty pounds of gunpowder in any shop, store, or other building which is within the distance of twenty- five rods from any other building or wharf; no person shall keep or deposit more than twenty-five pounds of gunpowder in any shop, store, or other building which is within the distance of ten rods from any other building; and no person shall keep or deposit more than one pound of gun- powder in any shop, store, or other building which is within ten rods of any other building, unless it is well secured in copper, tin, or brass canisters, holding not exceeding five pounds each, and closely covered with copper, brass, or tin covers.
Licenses.
SECT. 2. Licenses may be granted by the Mayor and Aldermen, for the retailing of gunpowder, in form substantially as follows ; to wit: -
Gunpowder License No.
LICENSE TO SELL GUNPOWDER IN THE CITY OF NEWTON.
This certifies that of Newton is (or are) hereby licensed and authorized to sell gunpowder at retail, at on Street, being place of business in said city, for one year from the date hereof, at noon, provided shall duly conform to the laws and to the provisions of the ordinance printed hereon. And in case the said shall at any time during the term aforesaid infringe the laws, or any of the provisions of the said ordi- nance, then this license shall be void.
Dated at Newton this day of in the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and
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No person shall sell any gunpowder within the city without such license. Every such license shall be in force one year from the date thereof, provided that any such license may be rescinded by the Mayor and Aldermen, at their discretion.
SECT. 3. Every person so licensed shall keep a sign over the outside of the principal entrance from the street, of the building in which powder is kept, on which shall be printed in capitals the words " Licensed to keep and sell gunpowder."
SECT. 4. The City Clerk shall keep a record of all such licenses, and of the places designated therein ; which places shall not be changed, unless by consent of the Mayor and Aldermen, in writ- ing. Every person who receives a license shall sign his name to a copy of the rules prescribed in this ordinance, as evidence of his assent thereto.
SECT. 5. The provisions of this ordinance shall not apply or extend to the keeping or storing of metallic cartridges in fire-proof magazines, nor to cartridge-manufacturers, so long as they shall keep their powder in canisters, as prescribed in Sect. 4, and in fire-proof magazines, located and built to the satisfaction of the Mayor and Aldermen, and so long as such manufacturers allow no more than one hundred pounds of gunpowder in any maga- zine, or five pounds of gunpowder not made into cartridges, to be in any one workshop at any one time.
SECT. 6. No person, except on military duty in the public service of the United States or of this Commonwealth, shall keep, have, or possess, in any building, place, vehicle, ship, or other vessel within one rod of a dwelling-house, any explosive compound other than gunpowder, in quantity ex- ceeding one-fifth of a pound.
SECT. 7. The Mayor and Aldermen may license any suitable person to keep, store, and sell such compound, in accordance with the foregoing pro- visions.
Sales without license pro- hibited.
License may be rescinded.
Sign.
City clerk to keep record of licenses, etc. Place not to be changed, etc.
Exceptions. Keeping in magazines.
Pub. Stats., chap. 102, §§ 59, etc.
Licenses.
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SECT. 8. Any member of the police or of the Fire Department may enter the building or prem- ises of any person so licensed, to make the exam- ination provided by law, at his discretion, and on alarm of fire may cause such compound there. de- posited to be removed or destroyed, as the case may require.
SECT. 9. Whoever violates any provision of this ordinance shall be liable to a fine not exceed- ing twenty dollars.
Penalty.
STATISTICS OF THE NEWTON FIRE DEPARTMENT,
From Jan. 1, 1883, to Dec. 31, 1883.
.
Number of telegraph-alarms .
65
Number of verbal and telephone alarms
36
Total of alarms
101
Aggregate number of alarms, 1882
59
Increase in number of alarms
42
Alarms given by citizens
74
Alarms given by police .
11
Losses on personal property ·
$1,163.00
Insurance paid on real estate .
$5,045.00
Insurance paid on personal property
$833.00
Loss in excess of insurance paid .
. $1,188.00
Total insurance at risk .
. $180,683.50
Assessed value of real estate at risk
. $204,690.00
Annual appropriation for Fire Department
. $24,000.00
Number of employees and members of department Number of hydrants
402
Population of city .
. 20,000
Area protected by Fire Department
. 20 square miles.
7
Alarms given by firemen
16
Losses on real estate
$5,903.00
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CITY OF NEWTON.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
CITY ENGINEER
FOR THE YEAR 1883.
> FOUNDED 163
(BERTY AND UNIO
NON
UM
ORPORATED ATOY
BOSTON : PRINTED BY RAND, AVERY, & COMPANY, 1884.
OFFICERS OF CONTROLLING BOARDS AND COMMITTEES.
Chief Executive Officer (ex officio). HIS HONOR THE MAYOR, WILLIAM P. ELLISON.
Joint Standing Committee on Highways. ALDERMAN DWIGHT CHESTER, Chairman.
Water Board. EDWARD W. CATE, President.
Joint Standing Committee on Public Property. ALDERMAN JAMES R. DEANE, Chairman.
Joint Standing Committee on Parks. ALDERMAN JOHN Q. HENRY, Chairman.
Board of Health. ALDERMAN JAMES R. DEANE, President.
Joint Special Committee on Sewerage. ALDERMAN DWIGHT CHESTER, Chairman.
CITY ENGINEER'S DEPARTMENT.
City Engineer. ALBERT F. NOYES.
Principal Assistant Engineer in Charge of Office, and Draughtsman. HENRY D. WOODS.
Principal Assistant Engineer in Charge of Field-Work. FRED. H. BARNES.
Assistant Engineers.
WILLIAM S. FRENCH. I. W. HASTINGS.
Transitman and Leveller. WILLIAM P. MORSE.
Rodmen. ARTHUR L. WOODRUFF. STEPHEN CHILDS.
REPORT.
CITY ENGINEER'S OFFICE, CITY HALL, WEST NEWTON, MASS., Dec. 31, 1883.
To the Honorable City Council.
GENTLEMEN, - In compliance with Section 5 of Ordinance No. 9, I herewith respectfully submit the Annual Report of the City Engineer's Department for the year 1883. Amount appropriated for the year 1883 $6,000 00
Amount transferred from general appropriation for highway widenings and improvements . 125 00 Amount transferred from general appropriation for public property 125 00
Amount transferred from general appropriation for water maintenance 125 00
Amount transferred from general appropriation for parks 125 00
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