USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1934 > Part 16
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During the year the clinic operated 73 days, during which time 280 children made 1426 visits and received 2682 treatments. It is interesting and encouraging to note that the average numbers of visits per child was 5.1 as compared with 5.6 the previous year. While this cannot be considered much in the way of a reduction, it is nevertheless encourag- ing when an increase might have been expected in view of the inade- quate diets that many of the children have been having because of financial necessity.
A survey of the work also shows no increase in the number of ex- tractions of permanent teeth, but rather, a reduction. On the other hand, an increase in gum conditions that are associated with a nutrion- al deficiency has been noted.
Following the registration of children for school last spring, many pre-school children received dental care at the clinic. Parents of child- ren, eligible for treatment at the clinic, are urged to avail themselves of this opportunity. From the standpoint of preventive dentistry, it is important to get children of this age group under supervision.
Reading Posture Clinic
The posture clinic has operated on a bi-monthly instead of a monthly schedule this past year. This clinic is for remedial purposes only and is, in the main, for the diagnosis and correction of structural
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and congenital cases of poor posture. Four clinics were held at which the total attendance was 77 and the total number of new cases 19.
Because of the fact that the clinic has been in operation since 1928, and that there has been in our schools an accompanying program of corrective posture work for the same period of time, a gradual reduc- tion in the number of cases that require clinic care or corrective work of any kind should be expected.
Certain factors, however, have tended to retard this expected curve of improvement. Up to the present time there has never been a satis- factory time allotment for the physical education teachers to do the corrective work. This is particularly true in the senior and junior high schools. Furthermore, there is evidence that parents and pupils still do not fully appreciate the value and importance of good posture. These conditions must be remedied before the corrective work becomes ef- fective. The first is an administrative problem. The second is a matter of education, and is the responsibility of the combined health and phy- sical education departments.
While it is expected that as the preventive program in behalf of good posture becomes more effective, the emphasis upon correction will be correspondingly lessened, it seems safe to assume that there will always be some children that will require a reconstructive form of physical education program.
Chadwick Clinic
Owing to the fact that Reading had a large Chadwick Clinic avail- able to all our pupils in November and December, 1933, no clinic was held in the year 1934. The follow-up of cases examined at the clinic, the securing of sanatorium care for seven children and the taking of twenty-seven cases to North Reading Sanatorium for examination con- stituted the special activities in the interests of tuberculosis prevention throughout the year.
The year 1934 saw the completion of the Chadwick Clinic as a cen- tralized state function. In the future, Reading will receive this type of service from North Reading Sanatorium.
Habit Clinic
The development of child guidance clinics throughout the country within the last few years has been a source of satisfaction and help to everyone concerned with the health and welfare of children. The foundation upon which such clinical service has been built is the con- viction that much of the maladjustment and mental illness of later life can be eliminated through adequate attention to early symptoms of maladjustment and personality problems in childhood.
The early detection of maladjustment, an analysis of its causes and an application of remedial treatment is today as much a responsibility of the school as the adjustment of those factors that influence unfavor- ably the physical health of the pupils.
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Reading has been fortunate in having been able to meet its It- sponsibility in this respect for the past eleven years through the me- dium of the Habit Clinic. This clinic has met at the High School every Tuesday afternoon throughout the school year and the month of July. It is a service furnished by the state as a part of its mental hygiene program.
Parents and teachers are increasingly using the clinic because of a realization that many of the problems of child training call for expert diagnosis and guidance.
Diphtheria Prevention Clinics
These clinics have been conducted annually by the school since 1923 as a part of its disease prevention program. The work in connec- tion with the clinics is carried on by the school physician, assisted by the nurse and a group of interested lay people.
Seven clinics were held in March and April at which the total at- tendance was 656, an increase of 126 over the previous year's figures. Of the 247 children attending, 101 had the Schick test after having been immunized the previous year, and 146 were immunized, 91% receiving three inoculations. Forty three percent of those immunized were of pre-school age. From both the individual's and community standpoint, this is highly desirable. Whether the school should assume the re- sponsibility for this age group is a question.
The distribution of the work done according to ages follows :
:
Age-years
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10-14 15-19 204+
Schick Test
3 3 4 4 16 28 21 6
11
1
3
Immunization
.4 6 8 11 31 33 45 12 13
6
8
Health Instruction
Our organized health instruction, which last year carried through the junior high school, was extended this fall to the senior high school when hygiene was made a requirement of the senior year. While the time allotment for this subject is far too short it is a step in the right direction. Health content is now found in the senior high school in the basic subjects such as biology, chemistry and physics, and in the spe- cific subjects of hygiene and home economics.
A discussion of the fundamental principles underlying our health teaching and the methods used at the various grade levels is found in last year's report. The content, textbooks in use and the pupils reached by this same program is shown in the following table.
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HEALTH INSTRUCTION
Reading, Massachusetts
Textbooks
Instructor Pupils Reached
Classroom Teacher All
Classroom Teacher All
Classroom Teacher All
1V
III State Course in Health Education State Course in Safety Education State Course in Health Education State Course in Safety Education
"The Land of Health" Winslow & Hallock
Classroom Teacher All
V State Course in Health Education State Course in Safety Education
"The Game of Health Living" Winslow & Hahn
Hygiene Teacher All
Hygiene Teacher All
VI State Course in Health Education State Course in Safety Education Unit on Child Care
"The Habits of Health Living" Winslow & Hahn
Nurse Girls
VII Unit on Physiology Unit on Home Hygiene
Reference Books "The Laws of Healthy Living" Winslow & Hahn "The Body at Work" Jewett "Hygiene by Experiment" Gregg "Science of Home & Community" Trafton
Science Teacher All
Grade Content
I State Course in Health Education State Course in Safety Education
II State Course in Health Education State Course in Safety Education
"The Safety Hill of Health" Lummis & Schawe
"Building My House of Health" Lummis & Schawe
"A Journey to Health Land" Andress & Bragg
Content
Grade VIII Unit on Community Hygiene Unit on First Aid Unit on Foods
IX Hygiene
XII Hygiene X-XII Human Biology Chemistry of Foods Ventilation Foods & Clothing
Reference Books "Everyday Problems in Science" Piepic S. Beauchamp "Science of Home & Community" Trafton "Hygiene by Experiment" Gregg First Aid Pamphlets Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. "Health Hero Series" Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. "Out of Doors" Jewett "Science in the Service of Health" Downing "The Healthy Community" Winslow & Hahn "Useful Science-Book II" Weed & Renford
Instructor Pupils Reached Science Teacher A11
"Book of Popular Science"
"World Book" "Publications of American Medical Association"
"Science and The Way to Health" Phy. Educ. Teacher Andress "The Human Body & Its Care" Newmayer & Broone
A11
"The Foundations of Health" Rathbone, Bacon & Keene
Phy. Educ. Teacher A11
Biology Teacher Selected
Chemistry Teacher Selected
Selected
Physics Teacher Home Economics Teacher
Selected
Emphasis in our health teaching program this coming year should be placed upon the organization and development of the senior high school course; the intensifying of a systematic program of health habit training for the lower grades; and the study and revision of the cur- riculum in these same grades to make it better adapted and more per- tinent to our own pupil and community needs.
Community Co-operation
In a recent survey of public health nursing, one of the criticisms of school health work was the failure to make use of organized lay groups and volunteers in the school health program. Such a criticism could not have applied to our own program for we have had citizen participation since the beginning of school nursing in 1920. Many of the activities that we have carried on, and much of the remedial work that has been done could not have been possible without the help of these interested lay people.
The department again acknowledges with appreciation the assist- ance that the Reading Good Health Committee has given through the continuance of the dental and posture clinics; the providing of glasses. and other necessities for needy cases; the raising of funds to send three children to camp; and the attendance of its members at the diph- theria prevention clinics and the annual health examinations.
We are likewise grateful to the Visiting Nurse Association, the Welfare Department and the local FERA administration for their friendly co-operation and help.
Conclusions
As director of health, I am confronted with two major problems. that cause discouragement and result in ineffectiveness in the work. One, I feel, is within the power of the school committee to correct. The other can be remedied only as general economic conditions improve.
With the pressure of work due to a pupil load of approximately twenty-three hundred children plus the work of the clinics and that involved in the health education program, there is not enough time for the evaluation of the health work or for the study and improvement of the program as a whole. From the standpoint of the pupil, there is not the opportunity for the nurse to individualize her program, thus making it impossible for her to meet the individual pupil's needs. As- sistance in the form of a full time clerical assistant or the restoration of the second nurse would help to relieve this situation.
The last few years have been particularly difficult for any type of health or social service work. While it is felt that, because of the ac- tivities of the local, state and federal government, there is little actual hunger in our town, it is known that many of our children are having diets that are inadequate and non-health building in character. Added to this, is the fact that many have not proper or adequate clothing.
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These things must have an effect upon the child, and, in the aggregate, serve to undermine the efforts in behalf of health promotion. It is realized that only through redoubled efforts in our health teaching and our health supervision programs can we hope to counteract, in part, the effects of this period of depression.
In closing, may I take this opportunity to thank the teachers for their loyal support of the health work; and the parents for their hearty co-operation and appreciation. It has been a pleasure to find you, Mr. Pierce, interested in the health work, and to feel that you are in sym- pathy with the aims and the objectives of the department.
Respectfully submitted,
MABEL M. BROWN, R. N. Director of Health.
187
FOURTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT
of the
BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS
For the Year Ended December 31,
1934
To the Citizens of Reading :
The Board of Public Works was organized March 9, 1934, with Harold W. Putnam as chairman, and A. Russell Barnes, Jr., secretary. Mr. Alexander Birnie was re-elected to serve for another year as Superintendent of the departments coming under the Board.
Directly following this report is the detailed report of the Su- perintendent to which we earnestly direct the attention of the towns- people. It should be read with great care and compared with those of other years. A certain amount of progress can be noted in each de- partment.
The Highway Department has extended the town road system through the acceptance of new streets by 1.60 miles. It is the policy of the Board to cause to be constructed each year some part of the town's roads with State and County aid. West St., South Main St. and Post Office Square were constructed in this manner during the past twelve months. As an economy measure the Board has made use of the honing method to repair and smooth the highways. Woburn St. was done over in this way at considerable less cost than other methods.
This year 1338.15 feet of granolithic sidewalk have been constructed at an average cost of .524 cents per running foot to the abutter. We cannot urge too strongly the continued construction of this type of permanent sidewalk. The amount due from property owner may be spread out over a period of years, not exceeding ten, thus reducing to a very great extent the burden of payment.
Sewer extensions have increased but slightly this year, and we regret that this is so. The cesspool as a means of caring for sewage is generally unsatisfactory, and every effort is being made to enable home owners to connect with the town wide system. As a further step toward that end a substantial reduction has been made this year in the cost of connecting the house to the sewer in the street.
The town parks this year have received considerable attention largely because the Federal Government aid has been of such a charac- ter that it is most advantageously applied here. New tennis courts, a renovated ball field and a general leveling off of formerly unusable ground are some of the accomplishments in this department, all at a negligible cost to the town.
As in the past year, this year also has placed an added respon- sibility on the Public Works Department in the supervising of a great number of Federal Government aid projects. However, by this means many necessary works have been done which might otherwise be de-
190
ferred indefinitely because of lack of funds.
The members of this Board believe that the portion of the town's money placed at their disposal has been most economically used. We have endeavored throughout the year to maintain service at lower cost and keeping in mind the fact that increased frugality tends to de- crease service we believe we have had reasonable success.
Any suggestions from the citizens of the town which will aid in the administration of the duties of this Board will be highly appreciated.
Respectfully submitted,
HAROLD W. PUTNAM
A. RUSSELL BARNES, JR. WILLIAM T. FAIRCLOUGH ROBERT E. FOWLE ELMER P. CROOKER, JR.
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
To the Board of Public Works :
Gentlemen :
As required by Section 4, Chapter 118, of an Act authorizing the Town of Reading to establish a Board of Public Works, I respect- fully submit for your consideration the fourteenth annual report of the Department of Public Works (Water, Highway, Sewer and Park) in- cluding a financial report of each department, and a chronicle of the principal work performed with recommendations for the coming year.
WATER DEPARTMENT
Maintenance Account :
Receipts :
Cash on Hand, Jan. 1, 1934
$ 4,841.02
Meter Rates
49,714.07
Service Pipe Maintenance
587.99
Service Pipe Construction
736.99
Rent
180.00
Fines and Summons
51.80
Hydrant Rental
1,000.00
Hydrant Repairs
49.24
Drinking Fountains
100.00
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Sprinklers
42.00
Misc. Receipts
88.82
Total
$ 57,441.93
Appropriation
$ 55,000.00
Expenditures :
Office Maintenance $ 3,331.96
Pumping Station Costs :
Sta. No. 1, Mill St.
1,687.20
Sta. No. 2, Grove St.
8,131.77
Maintenance of Meters
4,724.44
Maintenance of Service Pipes
2,748.49
Maintenance of Main Pipes
552.97
Maturing Bonds
13,000.00
Bond Interest
3,080.00
Auto Maintenance
773.81
Shop Maintenance
132.76
Main Pipe Construction
12,766.59
Service Pipe Construction
2,037.74
Meter Construction
483.88
Hydrants and Drinking Fountains
1,086.57
Miscellaneous
138.77
GRAND TOTAL EXPENDITURES $ 54,676.95
Balance Dec. 31, 1934
$ 323.05
Total Cost of Water System since beginning to Jan. 1, 1934 $ 647,328.16
Expended 1934 :
Main Extension, Maint. Acct. $ 12,766.59 483.88
Meters
Total
$ 13,250.47
Total Cost Dec. 31, 1934 $ 660,578.63
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FINANCIAL STATISTICS
EXPENDITURES
RECEIPTS
Water Works Maintenance
Bal. brought forward from 1933 $ 4,841.02
From Meter Rates $ 49,714.07
From Meter Maintenance 8.37
Private Drinking Fountains 7.00
Sprinkler System Payments 42.00
Total Maintenance
$ 40,228.61
Total from Consumers $ 49,771.44
Water Works Construction
Expended New Wells
$ 838.88
Extension of Mains
11,086.84
Extension of Services 2,037.74
Extension of Meters
483.88
Total from Municipal Depts. . . $ 1.100.00 Rents, Fines, Summons, Misc. Re- ceipts $ 305.25
Total Construction
$ 14,448.34
Service Pipes
1,374.98
Balance
$ 2,764.98
Main Pipe Maintenance .00
Hydrant Maintenance 49.24
Total
$ 57,441.93
Total $ 57,441.93
Total Maintenance
$ 24,148.61
Interest on Bonds 3,080.00
Payment of Bonds 13,000.00
From Drinking Fountains $ 100.00
From Hydrants 1,000.00
SUMMARY OF STATISTICS For Year Ending December 31, 1934 Reading Water Department Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
General Statistics
Population by census of 1935-10,932.
Date of Construction : 1890, Mill Street, 1931, Grove Street.
By whom owned: Town of Reading.
Sources of Supply : Filter Gallery and Artesian Wells.
Mode of Supply (whether gravity or pumping) : Pumping.
Pumping Statistics
Builders of Pumping Machinery: Sullivan Machine Co., George F. Blake Mfg. Co., Platt Iron Works, DeLaval Steam Turbine Co.
Electric Pumps at Grove Street Station
Description of Pumps :
(A) Pumping Unit No. 1-2-stage 5/4 DeLaval, 75 H. P. 1750 R. P. M. 3 phase, 60 cycle, 440 volts, 650 G. P. M.
(B) Pumping Unit No 2-2-stage 8/6 DeLaval, 125 H. F. 1750 R. P. M. 3 phase, 60 cycle, 440 volts, 1000 G. P. M.
K. W. H. used for year : 274,435.
Power Cost for year : $5,212.12 (13 months bill).
Total Pumpage by Venturi Meter : 221,260,400.
Cost of pumping per million gallons, power only : $22.09.
Average number gallons pumped per K. W. H .: 806.24.
Cost of pumping figured on Total Pumping Station No. 2 Ex- penses, per million gallons pumped : $32.58.
Total cost of supplying water, per million gallons, figured on total maintenance, plus interest on Bonds : $115.05.
Average Static Head against which pumps work : 227.
Average Dynamic Head against which pumps work: 258.
Statistics Relating to Distribution Mains
Kind of Pipe: Cast Iron, Galvanized Iron.
Sizes : 11/4 inches to 12 inches.
Extended : 1251 feet of 12", 2198 feet of 6", Cast Iron Main. Total in use at present : 44.32 miles (6" to 12").
Cost of Maintenance per mile : $12.48.
Number of Hydrants added during year : 5.
Number of Hydrants in use, (Public and Private) : 278.
194
,
Number of Stop Gates added during year : 17. Number of Stop Gates now in use: 692.
Number of Stop Gates smaller than 4": 146.
Number of Blow Offs added during year : 12. Number of Blow Offs now in use : 28. Range of Pressure on Mains : 45-90.
Suction Line F-637 feet of 8" Main.
Gates on Suction Line-Line F-1-8", 13-21/2".
Total No. Gates in use on Suction Lines : 4-12", 2-8", 80-21/2".
Statistics Relating to Services
Kind of Pipe: Cast Iron, Galvanized Iron, Lead, cement lined and copper tubing.
Sizes : 3/4" to 6".
Extended : 2,120.90 feet.
Total in use : 37.94 miles.
Number of active service taps added during year : 21.
Number of service taps in use : 2604.
Average length of services : 1934 : 88.20 feet.
Average cost of service to owner : 1934: $34.53.
Number of meters repaired : 564.
Number of meters added: 46.
Number of meters junked: 14.
Number of meters now in use: 2783.
WATER BONDS AND INTEREST
There were $13,000.00 in bonds payable in 1934.
The interest on serial bonds for the year 1934 amounted to $3,080.00.
There are $13,000.00 in bonds and $2,620.00 interest due in 1935 as follows :
Payable
Interest
Bonds
Mar. 15, 1935
$ 160.00
April 15, 1935
525.00
$ 5,000.00
May 1, 1935
40.00
2,000.00
June 1, 1935
700.00
5,000.00
Sept. 15, 1935
160.00
1,000.00
Oct. 15, 1935
437.50
Dec. 1, 1935
597.50
Total
$ 2,620.00
$ 13,000.00
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WATER DEPARTMENT Rainfall at Pumping Station, 1934
Month
Normal Rainfall Inches
Rainfall in 1934 Inches
Excess or Deficiency 1934
January
3.26
3.17
-0.09
February
3.34
3.29
-0.05
March
3.76
5.13
+1.37
April
4.00
3.09
-0.91
May
2.98
2.52
-0.46
June
3.52
4.00
+0.48
July
3.30
1.25
-2.05
August
3.42
1.73
-1.69
September
3.72
6.43
+2.71
October
3.01
3.89
+0.88
November
3.15
2.03
-1.12
December
3.41
2.70
-0.71
-
Totals
40.87
39.23
-1.64
Rainfall
The average rainfall for Massachusetts as deduced by the State Department of Public Health from long continued observation, in vari- ous parts of the State, is 44. 54 inches.
As may be seen by a table in this report showing the amount of rainfall for the years 1900-1934 inclusive, the average rainfall at the Reading Pumping Station on Mill Street is 40.87 inches. The rain- fall this past year was a deficiency of 5.31 inches compared with the State observations and a deficiency of 1.64 inches compared with the Pumping Station observations.
There was an excess of rainfall in the months of March, June, Sep- tember, and October of 5.44 inches, and a deficiency in the months of January, February, April, May, July, August, November, and December of 7.08 inches; compared each month with an average rainfall between the years of 1900-1934 inclusive.
The elevation of the Hundred Acre Meadow Pumping Station is approximately 80 feet above the sea level. The greatest rainfall in 1934
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for any one month was in September, with a fall of 6.43 inches; in any one day, Saturday, March 31, with a fall of 2.68 inches.
WATER DEPARTMENT
During the record breaking cold wave in the early part of Jan- uary, 1934, the Water Department continued the installation of a 12" water main from Haven Street to the Railroad Crossing on Ash Street. This work was a continuation of a C. W. A. project which started in November, 1933; the Main Street section, being uncompleted, was carried on into 1934. Owing to several feet of frost in the ground, work progressed slowly, but was eventually completed on January 26, 1934.
At Haven Street, the 12" main from the Mill Street Pumping Station was connected to the new 12" main with a Y connection and gate valves installed where necessary. This connection was a very difficult one owing to the fact that the department had to tuunel in 181/2 feet below the concrete roadway and all work was performed at night, when the shutting off of the water in the Square would least inconvenience the store-keepers.
Previous to the Chapter 90 concrete construction of Main Street, from Washington to Haven Streets, the house services in the section mentioned were excavated and examined for signs of weakness, and, where found, were renewed to the main. In three instances, services were laid to the street line, for possible future connections, at vacant lots. Two new hydrants were installed previous to said construction, one at the corner of Main and Washington Streets, and one at corner of Ash Street and Post Office Square. The hydrant on Main Street near the B. & M. Railroad Crossing, and the hydrant on Main Street corner Green Street were gated. The hydrant on Main Street, in front of the Municipal Light Department office, was connected to the new 12" main.
The water was let into the 12" main on May 17 and I strongly recommend the installation of a 12" main on Ash Street from Brook Street to the present 12" main on Main Street, a distance of 3200 feet. When this connection is completed it will have many advantages be- cause our two standpipes will then be connected with a 12" main, making better fire protection and reducing the friction load on the pumps.
197
Due to the permanent construction of West Street from the Wo- burn town line to Frescott Street, it was found necessary to renew 29 services which showed signs of age. All service and gate boxes in this section were located and raised to grade, and the hydrant opposite Oak Street was moved back five feet and gated.
At the intersections of West Street and Scotland Road, and West Street and Howard Street Extension, six inch mains were laid to the edge of the paved surface, for future connections.
A six inch main was laid on Pearl Street, from Franklin Street southerly, to supply fire protection to three houses and eliminate a dead end. This main was installed by E. R. A. labor, supervised by an employee of the water department.
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