USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Newton > Town of Newton annual report 1884 > Part 13
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Leaving a balance at the close of the year of . $ 43
There has also been expended during the year from the income derived from the "Jewett Art Fund " $169 74
From " Alden Speare Fund " 143 30
From "Read Fund "
337 57
$650 61
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The Trustees desire to express their gratification at the ready compliance with which the City Council has met their suggestion in regard to the placing of the portion of the income derived from the bequest of the late Charles A. Read, which the library is entitled to receive under the pro- visions of his will. The $344 received last year, and all further sums the Trustees may hereafter receive from the same source, the Board has voted shall constitute a special fund called the "Read Fund," and has appointed A. Law- rence Edmands, Esq. Treasurer thereof.
The Trustees are more than ever convinced of the great good resulting to our city from the establishment of this FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY. Its usefulness as a great educational aid is more and more manifest each successive year, to say noth- ing of the constant enjoyment it affords the large number of the readers of its books. The great value of its distrib- uting agencies can be better appreciated when we take into account the large comparative amount of circulation of its books in the more distant wards of the city. The Library now only needs the progressive fostering aid and care of the City Council and Trustees to make it all that its founders could have hoped for or desired. It is in excellent condition at present and working harmoniously and well in all its departments. The Library building needs enlargement in order to properly accommodate its increasing business, partic- ularly in its reference department. The enlargement can be made at a moderate cost, and cannot be much longer delayed without seriously impairing the usefulness of the Library. The Trustees would therefore again respectfully urge upon the City Council this necessity, and ask for it an early and favorable consideration.
JOHN S. FARLOW, President of the Board of Trustees.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT.
To the Board of the Newton Free Library :
GENTLEMEN, - It is made my duty to present to you a statement of the present condition of the Library, and a report of its progress through the year.
I have the honor to submit the usual accompanying tables which give at a glance, the work done and its relation to previous years, with the cost to the city of the books which have been bought, of the Reading Room with its papers and periodicals, and of the administration and inci- dental expenses during the past year. The whole circulation for the year has been 83,261 volumes; 169 less than the previous year; but the Library itself has been much more largely used than heretofore by persons seeking to examine its works of reference and art, and spending hours in reading and study. At times our facilities for this very important, if not the most valuable, office of the Library have been far too limited to enable such students or readers as desired to avail themselves of our collections to use them with comfort. "A Library," says Dr. James Baldwin, "is the scholars' workshop. To the teacher or professional man a collection
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of good books is as necessary as a kit of tools to a carpen- ter." One of our own citizens, who is a highly esteemed assistant master in the Boston Latin School, says, of the Newton Free Library, that it is "the best working library he was ever in, as information on almost every subject can be found in it." Of the nature of the call for books, our busy Librarian writes in one of our local papers, "It would be well if a correspondent could spend a day in the Library and listen to the constant calls for information from all parts of the city :- a teacher is hunting up some troublesome point in history ; a minister some reference for his sermon ; a student some problem in chemistry; an artist some pretty bit to copy; an essayist a verse of poetry that will be appropriate; a Sunday School teacher a pithy anecdote for his class ; a mother something that will tell her what to do for the sick child; a reading club an interesting and instruc- tive book; a boy with a hobby for collecting coins, some work on numismatics; and so on forever, the wants, thank God, are innumerable, and what we want is suitable books to answer all these demands."
We have had constant occasion to see the imperative need of additional conveniences in order to enable our citi- zens to use freely the valuable treasures of the Library, as well as to enjoy its circulating volumes at home. The plans which have been drawn during the year by an accomplished architect of our city, Mr. Meacham, show how readily, in the rear of the present edifice, at comparatively small expense, the room so much needed at this hour, and which will become indispensable in a year or two, can be secured. In making this much-to-be-desired improvement better arrange- ments can be made for the Reading Room, which has always been open to serious complaint on account of its defective ventilation.
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It would be a source of interest and gratification to any intelligent person to look into this room during almost any evening while it is open. In addition to its adult occupants a large company of lads, who would otherwise be found in the streets, will be seen reading the newspapers or magazines. Our citizens from the other Wards, beside those nearest to the Library, are more and more availing them- selves of the facilities of the Reading Room during the day. We have on our files papers from all the chief cities in this country from Canada to Mexico, from Europe to the East, in French, German and Spanish. All the latter, and many of the others, are supplied to the Library without expense.
It will be noticed that while during the last two years, there has been a small falling off in the home circulation, there has been a constant increase of the registered names of applicants for the privileges of the Library. Two years ago these names amounted to 11,411. In 1883 they reached 12,261, and during the past year the list has increased to 13,146 - a very large number as compared with the popula- tion of the city. The significance of this falling away in home circulation, as suggested in our last report, has been made even more evident the present year. With the con stant increase of applications for more substantial works, the number of books read each week would be naturally decreased. One cannot read a solid volume of history, biog- raphy, travels or science as rapidly as he can a work of fiction. In previous years, in extreme instances, some readers would take out a fresh novel each day in the week. There are few of this class left. Our table, showing the per- centage of the literature circulated, does not do full justice to our readers. Under the title of fiction is included our juvenile books. which, although to a great degree works of the imagination, are many of them, and more and more in
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later years, books giving valuable information in a most entertaining form and really improving in their character. There has been a constant small decrease every year in the per-centage of fiction and an increase in essays and poetry, in travels, in history and science, in theology and in books of reference. In reference to the theological works on our shelves, it is proper to say, that no purely sectarian religious books are purchased with the library funds ; but many, some of them very valuable, have been given by our citizens and others.
The falling off in the per-centage of the works of the imagination has not been occasioned by any unwillingness on the part of the Trustees to meet the tastes of the patrons of the Library in this regard. No well-written pure fiction that can be safely sent into circulation among our families, which has issued from the press during the year, has been omitted from our shelves. Of this class of literature we have not always purchased copies enough to permit every one desiring to read the work to have it the same week. It will be seen at once if we made large purchases of this form of literature our shelves would soon be really filled with valueless material. Only a limited number of novels have a perennial value. They are forgotten after the year of their birth, and are valueless to sell as second-hand books. Of popular novels we buy a half dozen copies, or more, to keep the num- ber supplied when worn out, if the call for them continues. We have given no little thought to this question and have sought, as far as safe and practicable, to remove every real occasion for complaint. The novel has its office, and, in our day, is made to carry no small amount of social, intellectual, scientific and reformatory philosophy, with all its possible peril and beguiling power. Sir John Herschel says of it, " the novel, in its best form, I regard as one of the most pow-
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erful engines of civilization ever invented." And Thackeray, with his characteristic enthusiasm, once wrote, "Novels are sweets. All people with healthy appetites love them- almost all women ; a vast number of clever, hard-headed men, judges, bishops, chancellors, mathematicians, are notorious novel readers, as well as young boys and sweet girls, and their kind, tender mothers." From the very fact of this widely-prevailing taste it becomes all the more necessary to watch the character of these multitudinous works. We should not admit a book into the family, or offer it to another, of a lower character than a person with whom we should feel free to associate, or to introduce to a friend with a letter of commendation.
To meet the real requisitions of our community, with its varied tastes, we have constantly sought for suggestions from our patrons, and have had titles given us by horticulturalists, florists, mechanics, chemists and manufacturers, as well as by professional men and students in the sciences. Our books of art and in illustration of the physical sciences are purchased with funds specially given for the purpose by their generous donors. We receive many works by donation that we could not purchase with our limited means, and others come from Congress and our State Government. We mention this, as some of the titles which appear in our local paper have been the subject of criticism. These works cost us nothing but the room they occupy, and are often.invalua- ble for reference. Indeed, it has often been remarked that no volume can be considered utterly worthless in a public library. There comes, in almost every instance, some time, when, for some occasion, whatever has reached print, has a value for reference that it could never have intrinsically. The old files of newspapers afford often the richest materials for the historian of the times. It is interesting to notice
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how wide a space in the Library is sometimes examined by our curious students in the pursuit of some object of inquiry; and this is the place where such investigations are to be made. We cannot accumulate this material in our private libraries. We turn gratefully to this public resource, which, through the intelligent liberality of such a city as ours, will, year by year, have wider provisions of this character for the benefit of its citizens.
We have sought each year to purchase the best portion of the current English literature as it issues from the press, and also to make some additions to our list of standard books and works of reference. It is possible that the gentle- men of the City Council forget that for the last three years, we have had at their request, an additional expense of administration, in the daily distribution of books in the different wards, amounting to $1,500 each year in salaries and cost of transportation. Towards this amount we asked two years ago for an addition to our annual appropriation of $1,000, and $500 was given, as it was thought the Read fund would yield the required amount. That fund secured for us $344. This year the $500 has been dropped from the sum allotted to the Public Library, although the same increased expenses continue. There was no doubt a misap- prehension in the minds of the gentlemen of the Council in reference to these large outlays incidental to a daily circula- tion in all parts of the city. It will be readily seen how small a portion of the amount appropriated remains for the purchase of books. The actual expense for salaries ( nothing being required for the superintendent ), at Edmands' Hall and in all the village depositories is $3,612; fuel and lights, $700; distributing agency, $1,000, in addition to expenses of the depositories ; Reading Room, $350 ; so that with binding of books, printing, repairs and incidentals, a small part of the
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$7,500 appropriated by the city remains for the main purpose of the Library - the purchase of books.
In a city within whose beautiful limits so many profes- sional men, scholars and artists, have sought their homes, where the schools hold so prominent a place and are so well endowed by annual appropriations, there can be little danger, in the long run, that so important an educational agency, as well as social luxury as the Free Library will fail to receive its adequate consideration. The Public Library is the great social leveller. Wealth may command the means of a thou- sand gratifications denied to poverty, but one of the richest and most improving and comforting of earthly boons is ' placed by the Free Library within the reach of the most limited incomes. "Let us thank God," says Dr. James Freeman Clarke, "for books. When I consider what some books have done for the world and what they are doing, I give eternal blessings for this gift, and pray that we may use it aright and abuse it not." Jeremy Collier says : "Books are the guide in youth and an entertainment for age. They support us under solitude and keep us from being a burden to ourselves. They help us forget the crossness of men and things, compose our cares and our passions and lay our disap- pointments asleep. When we are weary of the living we may repair to the dead who have nothing of peevishness, pride, or design in their conversation."
Our public school teachers can render the Library more valuable to their pupils by suggesting to them lines of inspir- ing and improving reading. We are happy to know that the accomplished Superintendent of Education of our city, aud the masters and teachers of the schools, are alive to the importance of thus giving direction to the reading of the children. This matter is now under their thoughtful con- sideration.
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The routine work of the Library for the year has moved on regularly and without complaint. The books have been distributed every secular day with the exception of legal holidays. The staff in Edmands' Hall remains the same as heretofore. The Superintendent only expresses the opinion of those who constantly visit the Library when he refers to the faithfulness and courtesy with which the often perplex- ing duties of the Librarian and her assistants have been discharged.
With thanks for the aid proffered in his special work by the other members of the Board of Trustees, the present report is
Respectfully submitted,
BRADFORD K. PEIRCE,
Superintendent.
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APPENDIX.
A.
RECEIPTS.
1884. .
1883.
1882.
Dec. 31.
Municipal appropriation
$8,000 00
$8,500 00
$8,000 00
Fines, bulletins, etc. .
336 57
329 32
309 54
Cash on hand at last report
3 65
49 07
18 83
22
$8,340
$8,878 39
$8,328 37
B.
EXPENDITURES.
1884.
1883.
1882.
Dec. 31.
Salaries
$3,599 61
$3,611 94
$3,410 00
Reading-room
383 39
345 12
391 25
Incidentals.
267 43
300 22
209 73
Repairs .
69 ֏
22 00
46 35
Furniture and fixtures
12 41
53 19
45 30
Printing and advertising Binding .
35
306 50
35 00
246 52
252 11
265 90
Books.
1,673 71
2,013 44
1,911 29
Light and fuel
709 81
696 15
675 88
Distributing agencies and express
1,177 00
1,140 99
1,141 66
Blanks and stationery
153 55
110 93
128 41
Postage account.
11 21
22 14
18 46
Total expenditure
$8,339 79
$8,874 73
$8,279 23
Bal. with City Treasurer 05
at the Library
38
Total balance.
43
3 66
49 14
$8,340 22
$8,878 39
$8,328 37
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C.
CIRCULATION.
1884.
1883.
1882.
Number of days the Library was open . of holidays the Library was closed . of other week-days the Library was closed . of volumes delivered for home use
307
306
305
7
7
7
Average daily use
271.2
272.7
280.9
Largest daily use March 1, 1884 ;
544
505
536
Smallest daily use Nov. 19, 1884; Aug. 16, 1883 ; April 27, 1882
144
144
164
Number of books lost and not paid for . of books lost and paid for
8
10
5
of books worn out and withdrawn
62
46
44
of notices to delinquents
797
787
643
of volumes re-covered . of volumes bound .
8,945
11,047
12,295
335
465
556
of names registered dur- ing the year
885
850
1,254
Total number of names registered
13,146
12,261
11,411
·
.
83,261
83,430
85,701
March 17 and 31, 1883 ; Feb. 25, and March 18, 1882
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4
.
·
19
D.
ACCESSIONS.
1884.
1883.
1882.
Increase by purchase
1,183
1,073
1,084
by gift
111
93
54
by binding pamphlets
9
1
·
by binding periodicals .
76
79
69
Number of missing volumes re- stored since last report
1
·
·
.
Total accessions for the year . Number of volumes missing or withdrawn since last report .
1,380
1,246
1,207
71
60
49
Actual increase
1,309
1,186
1,158
Number of volumes in the Library as last reported .
20,546
19,360
18,202
Total number of volumes in the Library .
21,855
20,546
19,360
Number of pamphlets bound since last report
49
5
.
Number of newspapers subscribed for . ·
42
42
41
of newspapers given
19
20
20
of magazines subscribed for.
33
36
32
of magazines given
4
2
4
Total number received
98
100
97
20
E.
CLASSIFICATION, GROWTH, SIZE, AND USE.
ing the
Year.
Total
ber of Vol-
Volumes is-
sued during
the Year.
1884.
1883.
1882.
Literature. Prose, fiction, and juve- nile reading
254
5,032
55,994
67.25
68.1 6.95
68.3 6.4
Periodicals .
157
1,508
1,666
2.00
2.3
2.85
Foreign literature
6
463
294
.35
.3
.5
History.
Geography and travels
117
1,983
6,105
7.33
6.9
7.5
Biography .
102
2,068
3,129
3.76
3.7
3.97
History
83
1,982
3,858
4.63
4.4
3.96
Arts and Sciences.
Natural science and in- dustrial arts
178
2,047
4,802
5.77
5.9
5.4
Political and social sci- ence
78
1,102
500
.60
.5
.4
Theology
29
1,004
834
1.00
.83
.52
* Reference library
190
1,984
*137
.16
.12
.2
Accessions for the year
1,309
.
·
.
.
.
·
.
.
.
.
Circulation
for
the
year
83,216
.
.
Essays, poetry, and drama
115
2,682
5,942
7.14
Number of volumes in the Library .
·
·
21,855
umes.
PER CENT OF CIR- CULATION.
Increase dur-
num
* Represents books loaned for home use by special permission.
21
F.
Received for catalogues sold in 1884 .
$15 00
Paid City Treasurer .
$15 00
G.
ESTIMATED EXPENSES FOR THE YEAR ENDING DEC. 31, 1885.
Salaries .
$3,612
Reading-room
350
Incidentals
250
Repairs .
50
Furniture and fixtures
60
Printing and advertising
100
Binding
260
Books
2,000
Light and fuel
700
Distributing agencies and express
1,200
Blanks and stationery
120
Postage account
25
$8,727
Probable amount of fines
$300 00
Cash on hand
38
Required appropriation
8.426 62
$8,727
CITY OF NEWTON.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
CHIEF OF FIRE DEPARTMENT
OF THE
CITY OF NEWTON,
FOR THE YEAR ENDING DEC. 31, 1884.
WITH A STATEMENT OF THE FIRES AND ALARMS, ALSO LOSSES AND INSURANCE DURING THE YEAR.
EW'
LIBERTY AND UNIO!
TO FOUNDED 163
IN
88.A CITY1873
IC
NEWTON : PRESS OF THE NEWTON JOURNAL. 1 SS5.
CITY OF NEWTON.
IN THE BOARD OF MAYOR AND ALDERMEN, Jan. 5, 1885. Accepted and sent down.
Accepted in concurrence.
I. F. KINGSBURY, Clerk. IN COMMON COUNCIL, Jan. 12, 1885. ALBERT S. GLOVER, Clerk.
REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF FIRE DEPARTMENT.
FIRE DEPARTMENT HEADQUARTERS, ROOM A, CITY HALL. WEST NEWTON, MASS., Dec. 31, 1884. To His Honor the Mayor, and the City Council of the City of Newton.
GENTLEMEN : - I have the honor herewith to submit to you, the Annual Report of the Fire Department for the year ending December 31, 1884, the same being my Sixth Annual Report, and the tenth of the present system.
Manual Force.
The manual force consists of seventy-three officers and privates, detailed as follows :
Permanent Employees.
One Chief of Department.
One Fire Alarm Operator.
Three Engineers of Engines. Three Drivers of Engines. One Driver of Truck.
One Driver of Reel. Total, ten.
Call Force.
One Assistant Chief of Department. Eight Foremen of Companies. Eight Assistant Foremen of Companies.
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Three Stokers. Thirty-three Hosemen.
Ten Truckmen. Total, sixty-three.
Apparatus.
The Apparatus in service consists of
Three Steam Fire Engines (complete).
Seven Four-wheel Horse Reels.
One Two Horse Truck.
Three Coal Tenders.
Six Hose and Exercise Sleighs.
One Concord Buggy, one Cutter for Chief of the Department.
One Wagon, one Sleigh, Fire Alarm Department.
In Reserve.
One Four Wheel Reel. One Truck Platform on runners
Present Condition of Apparatus.
Number One Engine is in complete repair.
Number Two Engine, in fair condition. I would suggest a careful examination of boiler as early in the year as possible.
Number Three Engine should be in complete order, having been provided with new boiler, new set of wheels, etc., but at the present time several leaks show in the boiler, and the work throughout not at all creditable for the amount expended.
Number One Truck is in good condition. I would suggest heavier set rear wheels.
Numbers One, Two, Four, Six and Seven Reels are in complete repair.
Numbers Three and Five Reels should be repaired and painted.
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The several Exercise Wagons and Sleighs should be painted and varnished.
A new wagon should be provided for the Assistant Chief of Department, and the old wagon retained for heavy work in the Fire Alarm Department.
Horses.
The seventeen horses employed in this department are all in good condition, except one belonging to No. 1 Reel, which, from old age and other causes, should be replaced at an early day.
Two horses have been purchased during the year, one, for No. 2 Reel, and the Fire Alarm Department, also for No. 5 Hose.
Hose.
There is a total of ten thousand, three hundred feet of hose in service, as follows:
Forty-five hundred cotton - first-class. Fourteen hun- dred and fifty cotton -fair. Forty-three hundred and fifty feet of leather, distributed to companies 5, 6 and 7, which is unreliable.
In addition to the above, there is eleven hundred feet of leather hose condemned.
Fire Stations.
The several stations, as a rule, are in good repair. I would recommend the painting of No. 1 Station, inside and out, and renew the request of 1883 for the removal of the Police Station from the building.
Slight repairs and alterations will be required to Stations 5 and 7, and No. 1 Truck station. Radical change is neces- sary to the stable at No. 7 Station.
"Sliding Poles " should be placed in Stations 5 and 7.
.
6
Hydrant Service.
In accordance with recommendations from this depart- ment, additional hydrants were located in the following streets:
Cherry, between Webster and River Streets.
Lander and Winthrop Streets.
Margin, between Highland and Chestnut Streets.
Woodland and Vista Avenues.
Vernon Street and Waverly Avenue.
Sargent, between Park Street and Waverly avenue.
Central Avenue and Court Street.
Crystal and Beacon Streets.
Pleasant and Crescent Streets.
Glen Avenue and Elgin Street.
In addition to the above thirteen new hydrants were placed upon new and old mains. See Appendix.
I would recommend the following additional hydrants for 1885:
Opposite residence W. C. Strong, Beacon Street.
Cherry and Henshaw Streets.
Chestnut Street, 800 feet north Boylston Street.
Aspen and Vista Avenues.
Grove, between Hancock Street and Woodland, Avenue. Elm, between Webster and River Streets.
Lincoln and Bowdoin Streets.
Lake and Hyde Avenues.
Summer and High Streets.
Alpine, 500 feet south Mt. Vernon Street.
The perfect supervision maintained by the Superinten- dent of Water Department, has kept the hydrants and connections at all times in complete working order.
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Fires and Alarms.
There has been a total of fifty-one alarms during the year, a decrease of fifty alarms from 1883. The largest loss was occasioned by the railway collision and fire at Long Bridge, December 20th. For loss, insurance, etc., see statistics. No members of the department have been seriously injured; slight casualties incidental to the service have occurred; other than these, the general health of the force has been remarkable.
Recommendations.
While recognizing the demand at the present time, for decreased expenditures in the several departments of the City, it is still incumbent upon me, to recommend such changes and additions, as may best strengthen and maintain the present efficiency of this department. With that in view, I would again renew the recommendations of 1882 and 1883, for the appointment of permanent drivers for Reels 1, 2 and 3, and also to 5, 6 and 7, later on. The three first are the most imperative, as the bulk of the duty must necessarily devolve upon the engine companies. At the fires at Elmwood and Eldredge Streets, Chestnut and Boylston Streets, and the Long Bridge railway disaster, each of which entailed losses of from five to thirty thousand dollars, the apparatus was delayed from lack of permanent drivers.
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