USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1900 > Part 6
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92 36
$127 71
132
RECAPITULATION.
COST OF MAINTENANCE, INCLUDING INTEREST ON BONDS AND
NOTES, YEAR OF 1900.
Fuel .
. $2,899 04
Oil and waste
200 75
Water
67 99
Station wages
2,526 07
Repairs of real estate
34 66
יי " electric plant
32 72
Station tools
Wages care of lights .
728 00
Repairs of lines and lamps
555 92
Carbons
227 91 .
Incandescent lamps
240 64
Globes
31 68
Distribution tools
2 50
General salaries .
1,500 16
General office expenses
90 30
Rents .
132 00
Bad debts
72 71
Incidentals
24 35
Interest
2,276 50
Stable
592 95
Wiring, labor and fixtures .
1,214 32
Amount due from wiring and labor, Dec. 30,1899
872 59
Amount carried forward
$15,015 37
" steam plant
217 08
41 88 .
.
.
Insurance
432 65
133
Amount brought forward $15,015 37 Amount due from consumers for light, meter rent, etc., Dec. 30, 1899 . .
1,300 03
Maintenance stock on hand Dec. 30, 1899 338 74 - $16,654 14
Less amount received in 1900 from
Commercial incandescent Light
$2,570 41
Domestic
2,951 80
Town
171 39
Meter rents .
211 90
Wiring, labor and fixtures
1,237 78
Incandescent lamps
66 86
Repairs of globes
75
Interest on deposits
65
$7,211 54
Maintenance stock on hand Dec. 31, 1900 .
233 92
Amount due Dec. 31, 1900, for
Commercial Incandescent Light
716 28
Domestic 66
638 20
Town
66
37 47
Wiring, labor and fixtures
870 16
Meter rents
44 40
Incandescent lamps
33 05
$9,785 02
$6,869 12
Bills payable Dec. 30, 1899
$882 14
66
66 " 30, 1901
707 66
$74 48
Total cost of Maintenance 1900 .
.
$6,794 64
.
134
Number of arc street lamps 132.
Cost of each lamp for 1900
$51 47
INVENTORY.
CONSTRUCTION STOCK ON HAND DEC. 31, 1900.
2 Converters
$144 00
40 Bolts .
40
40 Lags .
60
1000 ft. Wire
28 46
12 Poles
56 00
30 Cross Arms
7 60
104 Insulators
1 56
7 Pole Hoods
35 00
16 Locus Pins
20
800 ft. Lead Cable
60 00
$333 82
MAINTENANCE STOCK ON HAND DEC. 31, 1900.
50 Fuse Plugs
$1 50
16 Cutouts
4 32
4 Rosettes
56
4 lbs. Splicing Compound
1 60
14 Attaching Plugs
1 68
125 Tubes
96
1 lb. Leather Nailheads
20
5 Push Buttons
87
12 Crow feet
60
40 Insulating Joints
12 00
500 ft. W. P. Wire .
6 15
Amount carried forward $30 44
135
Amount brought forward
$30 44
7 1b. W. P. Wire . 1 75
625 ft. Conduit
27 65
280 ft. Cord
8 40
3 lbs. wire
1 00
10 Shade Holders
42
31 Sockets
5 37
15 Switches
11 80
2 Receptacles
3 00
1 lb. Tape
30
110 Fuse Links
1 47
61 Bushings
30
100 Adjusters
50
540 C. Knobs
2 70
18 Arc Globes
11 88
178 Incandescent Lamps
41 51
1 Cord Slabs
4 00
223 Gals. Oil
81 43
$233 92
Total stock on hand Dec. 31, 1900
$567 74
Number of Incandescent Lamps installed in
1900 610
Number of poles installed in 1900
18
Number of meters 66
24
Number of converters installed in 1900
3
Wire installed in 1900
12,700 feet
Coal used in 1900
..
585 tons
Number of consumers Dec. 31, 1899
172
added during 1900 46
Total
218
136
Number of consumers discontinued during
1900
17
-
Net increase .
29
Number of days and hours that street circuits were lighted during year 1900:
Days.
Hours.
January
28
167
February
26
144
March
21
122
April .
21
101
May
23
1C4
June
22
87
July
25
103
August
27
126
September
25
132
October
29
189
November
24
174
December
29
185
Total
300
1,634
137
Table showing the earnings each month from Incandescent light and meter rents and a comparison with the previous year:
Meter Rents.
1900 Total.
1899 Total.
January
Light. $762 45
$17 20
$779-65
$514 97
February
508 27
14 40
522 67
389 50
March
423 12
17 20
440 32
420 05
April
430 39
19 30
449 69
294 08
May
299 87
16 40
316 27
291 34
June
221 65
15 70
237 35
214 99
July
215 72
12 80
228 52
169 73
August
297 21
17 90
315 11
288 15
September
437 90
22 80
460 70
411 47
October
645 05
20 70
665 75
598 83
November
.
957 44
21 90
979 34
641 28
December
833 17
22 80
855 97
684 84
Total
$6,032 24
$219 10
$6,251 34
$4,919 23
Less discount allowed for cash payments
$211 76
$173 87
.
.
$6,039 58 $4,745 36
The cost of maintenance for the year 1900 as shown by the financial part of this report has increased as compared to previous years. This is owing to the higher prices which prevail for coal and other necessary supplies and to additional labor expended upon line and lamps.
The street lamps have been lighted 117 hours more than dur- ing 1899 as there was a demand from the citizens for the light a little earlier in the evening and on nights that were cloudy during what is known as the moonlight schedule.
The receipts from incandescent lighting have increased pro- portionate to former years which has brought down the net cost of street lamps a trifle less per lamp than for 1899.
138
The board have decided to discontinue the department of wiring, but any repairs such as fuses, switches or any small matters will be attended to as heretofore upon application to the Superin- tendent.
For maintenance the current year the Board have asked an appropriation $500 less than last year. This is based upon the belief that the earnings will continue to gain.
Respectfully submitted, HENRY ROBINSON, Chairman, A. NEWELL HOWES, Sec'y, WM. S. KINSLEY,
Town of Reading Municipal Light Board.
N
ANNUAL REPORT
... OF THE ..
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
... OF THE ...
Town of Reading
For the Year Ending December 31, 1900.
School Committee.
WALTER S. PARKER, Chairman, Walnut St., Term expires 1902 GILMAN L. PARKER, Sec'y, Washington St., “ 1903
HORACE G. WADLIN, Woburn St.,
66 1902
MRS. ELLEN M. BANCROFT, Sanborn St., 66 66 1903
MRS. MARY L. NESMITH, Main St., 66
66 1901
HENRY C. PARKER, Chute St.,
66
66 1901
Superintendent of Schools. MELVILLE A. STONE.
Truant Officers.
FREDERIC D. MERRILL, ARTHUR E. DAVIS.
ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMITTEE.
WALTER S. PARKER, Chairman. GILMAN L. PARKER, Secretary.
SUB-COMMITTEES.
Finances and Accounts.
G. L. Parker,
II. G. Wadlin
W. S. Parker,
School Houses and Property.
H. C. Parker
G. L. Parker.
Rules and Regulations.
H. C. Parker,
II. G. Wadlin
Mrs. Bancroft.
Teachers and Salaries.
Mrs. Nesmith
G. L. Parker.
Music and Drawing.
G. L. Parker
Mrs. Bancroft,
Course of Study.
H. G. Wadlin,
Books and Supplies.
Mrs. Nesmith
H. G. Wadlin,
W. S. Parker,
W. S. Parker Mrs. Nesmith.
REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE.
The School Committee, in compliance with law and custonr submits the following annual report concerning the schools of Reading during the year ending December 31, 1900.
We desire to call the attention of all interested citizens to the reports of the Superintendent, High School Principal and Direc- tors. These reports mention, with some detail, the work attempted in the various departments of school work.
We solicit the most careful scrutiny of those pages in the report which show a detailed account of the expenditure of money. The Committee appreciates the fact that the Town has nearly always granted the several sums recommended in our annual reports and we believe the financial reports of the Board will show that the money has been wisely and economically expended.
It is not too much to say that the past year has been a very successful school year, although we were unfortunate in losing several of our strong teachers, who received offers of higher salary elsewhere, yet notwithstanding that fact we were successful in procuring, with the assistance of the Superintendent, a number of teachers who have carried on the work with commendable skill.
We wish to thank those parents who responded so generously to our invitation to meet the teachers of the town at the Highland School Hall. The schools are for the pupils and the most interest- ed persons are the parents and friends of the pupils, and in order to make the greatest possible success in the schools we must have
146
the most sympathetic co-operation of parents and teachers. The school department expends yearly the largest sum given by the Town to any department and the moral and social interests at stake are of the greatest moment.
The Superintendent is now working on his second year of service for the town and we wish to congratulate the citizens of Reading in having the services of so able and efficient a man and we are convinced it would be a judicious expenditure of money to employ him for another day per week, thus making his time three days, instead of two as at present. The work now done by the Superintendent is not only necessary but absolutely indispensible to the highest good of the schools.
VACANCIES.
"The terms of Mary L. Nesmith and Henry C. Parker, members of the committee, expire at the ensuing town meeting.
APPROPRIATIONS.
The Committee recommends the sum of $19,500 for regular school expenses, $4,000 for school incidentals, $1,000 for salary of Superintendent, $500 for repairs on High School, $500 for edge- stones and concrete on Middlesex Avenue.
Adopted in School Committee January 30, 1901. WALTER S. PARKER, Chairman, HORACE G. WADLIN, ELLEN M. BANCROFT, HENRY C. PARKER, MARY L. NESMITH, GILMAN L. PARKER, Secretary.
READING, Jan. 30, 1901.
,
REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
To the School Committee of the Town of Reading :
My second annual report, the eighth in the period of superin- tendency of Reading schools, is herewith respectfully submitted.
Referring first to repairs found to be absolutely needed for the preservation of the buildings and for the proper renovation of the interior, I mention the painting of the woodwork of the Highland School, the clearing of the gutters and repairs of the slate roof, the the painting of the interior of the Lowell St., the John St. and the Chestnut Hill schools.
Additional repairs consist in placing extra windows in the rooms at Chestnut Hill School and putting in a stairway to admit of ready access to the fuel supply for the stoves still in use there.
These changes give ample light in rooms that before were gloomy on dark days and enable the teachers to regulate the tem- perature of the rooms better in the mild but uncertain weather of the fall and spring.
At the High School it was found that the main corridor would not accommodate the number of bicycles used by the pupils, and after considering two other plans it was thought best to provide an entrance to the spacious concreted basement which was formerly used for a lunch room.
Upon the opening of the High School it was found that the. former arrangement of rooms would not accommodate the type-
148
writers for the sixteen who had elected that work, and it became necessary to discover a little unused space to be devoted to this purpose. By throwing out the partition between two hallways on the second floor and enclosing with suitable partitions, a room has been secured of sufficient size to accommodate a dozen type- writers if necessary.
It was the hope of the committee that the shingling of the John street school might be postponed till next summer, but the condition made apparent by the rains of the fall required prompt action, if more extensive repairs were to be avoided, and accord- ingly a new roof has been laid during the past month.
At small expense we have been able to make safe the steps at the entrances of three of our school houses, but it is certain that new steps must be built in case of two of them, and perhaps all, this coming summer, and I wish to call your attention to this situation in time to provide for these necessary repairs.
I recall your requisition of $500, to put in proper condition the High School building and was sorry to learn that the voters in town meeting failed to comply with your request.
As the months pass it cannot be expected that the condition of the roof and the ceilings beneath will improve.
While it may seem to many unwise to expend a great deal upon so old a building, nevertheless it is certain that we must use it for our High School for the next four or five years at least. It would seem sound business policy to keep the building in good re- pair and make such changes as may be necessary to accommodate the increasing work of the school as economically as possible.
When we consider that we may expect about sixty of the eighty eighth grade pupils to enter the High School next Septem- ber, and that the present enrollment 138 will be diminished by graduation by thirteen only, it will be seen that next year the en-
149
rollment of about 175 will tax the seating capacity of the building to very nearly its limit.
But seating capacity for the pupils during the time of assem- bling is not the only thing required in a building used for modern school work.
The extension of the commercial work of the school, to which I refer later, will call for an additional recitation room, and I urge the necessity of securing a sufficient appropriation to provide for this work, about $150.
With a net increase in the enrollment of the school of 25 each year, after the next according to the numbers in the present fifth, sixth and seventh grades, it is evident that the matter of a new High School building will force itself upon us soon.
In case of the primary schools we find the rooms at the Union street and John street schools so well filled that there is no oppor- tunity to consolidate and so provide room for those pupils whose age will entitle them to admission next April. A year ago it was possible to consolidate the schools at the Highland so as to allow a transfer of nearly one room of third grade and make room for the beginners, and this was done although with considerable disad- vantage to all the pupils who were obliged to change teachers. This year the rooms in the upper grades are too full to admit of this and one of two courses seems open to us, namely, furnish the rear room of the John street building in time for the April pupils or defer their admission till next September.
I submit this for your consideration with the additional thought that prospects are not favorable for avoiding the use of that room in September. The census shows an increase of 25 over the enroll- ment of '99, and this gain is wholly in the grades below the High School. With the extension of the plant of the Rubber Works and other gains in population in prospect we are liable to see a consid- erable increase in the school population.
150
In regard to the amount needed for repairs it should be borne in mind that two of our school houses, the John street and the Lowell street, should be painted the coming summer for the others will all need painting in the next year or the following at latest, and it seems to me that we should plan to distribute these heavy expenses over a number of years rather than allow the buildings to suffer and eventually call for considerably larger outlay.
TRANSPORTATION.
With the opening of the Lawrence & Reading Street Railway it seemed best to transport the pupils of the Main street school to those in the center of the town. A special attendant was provided to accompany the pupils each way, and free transportation to all pupils below seventh grade. The advantage to the pupils of this and the Haverhill street school resulting from the transfer is very great as was anticipated, and we are enabled to extend the best the schools of the town afford to the most remote as well as to those living in the center, and this, I consider, should be sought in con- ferring all public benefits.
COURSE OF STUDY.
Considering first the changes in the work of the High School it is a pleasure to be able to report some of the results of extending the Commercial Course.
As we stated a year ago the work was laid out then, with the view to preparing for a complete commercial course covering four years and including two years of Stenography and Typewriting. The liberality of the citizens in town meeting assembled enabled us to offer these subjects to the pupils at the opening of the school last September.
A perusal of the report of the principal of the school will show how great was the demand for such work.
With sixteen pupils electing both these subjects it became
151
necessary to secure six typewriters instead of four, which had pre- viously been estimated sufficient, also to provide more room for their use as already stated.
As just intimated, our revised course of study enables the pupils to elect their subjects under certain restrictions, one of which is that a definite amount of the work in English shall be taken by pupils in all courses.
This arrangement allows a pupil to follow the work which has the greater interest for him better than the former plan, while in case of those taking the commercial work a sufficient amount of history, literature, and science are required to give them a good equipment for the duties and responsibilities of later years, much better, we believe, than can be secured at a Commercial College- where less attention is given to the culture studies.
Our equipment for the work in Book-keeping is incomplete, for the ordinary desk does not give sufficient room to accommodate the various books and blank forms used, and I recommend the. change referred to earlier, which would allow of arranging all the desks now on the second floor in the large room and give an oppor- tunity to fit up the rear room on the second floor with desks suited. to the needs of the work in Book-keeping. After considering sev- eral systems of Shorthand it was decided to introduce the Gregg Light Line system. The results thus far indicate that we made no. mistake. In three months six of the sixteen were able to write at the rate of one hundred words a minute.
I am sure the people who have given their support to this work so far will not be disposed to allow it to be seriously handi- capped by lack of suitable equipment.
A good gain has been made in the equipment of the school for the teaching of Physics and Biology, and the results are manifest in the work of the pupils. Some gain has also been made in Chem- istry work, but the laboratory is not suitably arranged for indi-
152
"vidual laboratory work by the pupils to the extent it should be carried on. It is hardly fair toward the teacher or the pupils for the next five years or more to expect them to meet the modern college requirements in Chemistry under the conditions now exist- ing. I recommend that the tables now in use be altered to meet the modern requirements at a cost of about $100.
MANUAL TRAINING.
A year ago we were encouraged to find the town ready to grant us $500 for the purpose of installing a plant for giving our boys in seventh and eighth grades instruction in sloyd work. The appropriation was made at the town meeting held March 5th, and on Friday, April 13, the instructor employed at the time met four classes, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, for the first time.
In putting in the plant it was deemed best to provide twenty benches, and the decision proved wise, for three rooms of seventh and eight grades this last fall gave a quota of twenty boys each and the fourth gave fourteen boys, which allowed six of the boys in High School to continue their work begun last spring. Our instructor, Mr. M. W. Murray, was called to a larger field in Spring- field in the summer vacation, and we secured Mr. Herbert F. Burrage as his successor.
The cost of the equipment, which is a little larger than that first considered, is as follows:
Benches
$150 00
Tools .
203 89
Carpenter work
184 17
$538 06
The running expenses of the department consist in the salary of the instructor, which for this first six months of school amounts
153
to $189, and the material used in making the models, wood of various kinds and small hardware amounting in all to $59.08. This gives a statistical account of what we are doing for our boys in the upper grammar grades. While these are engaged in this work the girls of the same grades are busy with careful work in card- board construction, cutting to the accurately drawn lines and in some cases pasting to make a variety of useful and decorative articles.
I am aware that some people are still inclined to talk as if we were bringing so great a variety of work into the curriculum that the pupils are passed along with nothing definitely grasped men- tally. In answer to such an opinion regarding manual training I wish to refer to the statement of one who has had considerable experience with grammar grade pupils. "There is a certain condi- tion of the work I see going on in these rooms this year that I can hardly explain unless it is due to the manual training work. In my own room specially and in the others to a good degree I notice greater care in the English work, greater accuracy and better arrangement in the work in arithmetic, a clearer idea of taking notes and entering them in an orderly way in the historical note books." Now if this is secured when the pupils have about an hour and a half less time per week than formerly in which to do their former regular work it seems to me clear proof of the value of manual training as a means of stimulating thought, of gaining full control of one's powers, and the remarks of our chairman a year ago, that "on account of the nature of the work it has not been consid- ered an additional burden to the requirements of the course," have again been verified in our experience here.
As soon as we can have the necessary means I recommend that the card-board construction work and other kinds of manual training be introduced into the lower grades. Skill in the use of the needle, the scissors, the splints in mat weaving, all prove help-
154
ful to the pupil as he advances, and both muscular control and mental power are gained.
HISTORY.
This study has received a fresh impulse in the seventh and eighth grades by the use of the Ivanhoe Historical Note Book. In this are to be found outline maps of the country at various stages of its discovery and development and the pupils take pleasure and a commendable pride in placing upon the opposite page brief notes on the events connected with the region studied. This proves with us a very satisfactory plan of reviewing practically all the work attempted in the study of our country's history, for with the maps and notes ample opportunity is given to place in a permanent record for the pupil all that he has learned from song and story as he has advanced through the grades. There is still need of addi- tional reading material of this character to make possible the carry- ing out of a definite course in history, but we hope to be able to report a decided gain in this matter at a later time.
ARITHMETIC.
The Speer number work introduced last year is giving excel- lent results in the second grade where we are introducing the pupils to arithmetical work almost exclusively by this plan. The use of these blocks in the latter part of the first year is simply to become somewhat familiar with their names as a preparation for second year work.
In accordance with my recommendation of last year copies of the First Book of the Werner Arithmetics have been given to the pupils of third and fourth grades. The results are already gratify- ing in both grades while the pupils in third grade especially mani- fest the keenest interest in this work. The teachers of fifth and sixth grades have given much oral work from the desk copy of these arithmetics, and it is now felt that the work would be greatly aided by placing the books in the hands of these pupils.
155
I would recommend that this be done as soon as possible that we may make the most of the time that remains to us this year.
If our pupils are to secure the proper familiarity with arith- metical work in the time that is proportional to the value of the subject, it must be by so changing our methods of presentation that the pupils shall be able to comprehend the several steps better as they proceed. In my judgment no better plan has been presented to the great body of teachers for years than that of Mr. Frank H. Hall in the Werner Arithmetics, and while I think it advisable to introduce them gradually I think it is best to give the pupils this material as fast as they are prepared for it, hence my recom- mendation.
GEOGRAPHY.
Additional interest in this subject is secured by the use of outline maps in connection with the text. We find that Frye's Ele- ments of Geography gives sufficient material for the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades.
In the fourth grade we aim to make the pupils somewhat familiar with the first portion of the book including the relative- size and location of the continents, the location of the world ridge, river basins, surface features, shore forms, reading of maps, rainfall and the variety of life dependent upon climate, with the application of this knowledge to the continents of the Western Hemisphere, using the outline maps.
For the fifth grade similar treatment is given to the divisions of the Eastern Hemisphere with a review of the countries of the Western Hemisphere for the last ten or twelve weeks of the year.
For the sixth grade a careful study is given to the United States, using the development maps of the different sections, pay- ing special attention to the products, industries, and later to the commerce with the old world countries.
156
The information given in the Elements of Geography is sup- plemented by such material as may be available in informatiou readers or descriptions of various industries.
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