USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1939 > Part 20
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Paul Oliver Petzold
Stewart R. Watkins
Robert Bruce Waugh
Scientific Course
Richard Earle Stratton
Secretarial Course
Dorothy Isabel Doucette
Mary Norton
Phyllis Ann Downs
Dorothy Mae Evans
Beatrice Katherine O'Donnell
Dorothy E. Foster
Helen Marie O'Dowd
Gladys Belle Hall
Helen Muriel Penney
Olivia Ruth Hersom
Natalie Mae Pitman
Catherine Josephine Powell
Earl Martin Sargent
Janet Lawson
Ruth Natalie Titcomb
Mary Helen Madden
Marjorie Joanne Wellington
Gladys Mae White
Irregular Course
Edward Louis Beaudry, Jr. Claire Elizabeth Brigham
Marjorie Gale Mildred Gill Benjamin Howe, Jr.
Mary Theresa Hutchinson
Ralph Crocker Keating
Marion E. Ober
Dorothy Olive Smith
Charles Roland Stuart
Henry Joseph Tooley
Kathleen Walsh
Helen Claire Wescott Etta Elvira Wood
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Doris Lillian Kelly'
Lois Cornwell Knapp
Marguerite Virginia Lane
Virginia Rae Lester
Mildred Louise Lorgeree
Lois Newhouse
Richard Donald Childs
Beatrice O'Connell
Ruth Miriam Jewett Shirley Johnson
Audrey Eugenia Nicholson
DEDICATION OF
PEARL STREET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL READING, MASSACHUSETTS JANUARY 28, 1940 Three o'clock Built under grant from Public Works Administration
PROGRAM MR. GROVER, Presiding Reading High School
Fantasie Impromptu MARY BRONK
Chopin
America the Beautiful To be sung by audience
Samuel A. Ward
Invocation REV. PAYSON E. PIERCE
Instrumental Trio
C Minor Trio, First Movement
Beethoven
Haydn
Minuet
MRS. ANGUS MATHIESON, Piano MRS. RICHARD BEAN, Violin MR. EDWIN HEDGES, Violoncello
Presentation of Building FRANK D. TANNER Chairman, School Committee
Acceptance
CARL W. GOODRIDGE
Chairman, Board of Selectmen
Accomplishment of an Ideal ARTHUR E. PIERCE
Superintendent of Schools, Bangor, Maine
The Community Views the School
ERNEST E. BROWN
School Patron
Introduction of Maud E. Adlington, Principal Choral Selections God is A Spirit Requiem Roll, Chariot
Scholin Bantock Cain
Samuel A. W. Peck, Director
Address The School and the Community HON. WALTER F. DOWNEY
Commissioner of Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts
The Star Spangled Banner To be sung by audience
John Stafford Smith
Benediction
REV. MYLES J. McSWINEY
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REPORT OF THE SPONSOR'S AGENT
February- 9, 1940
To the Honorable Board of Selectmen,
Reading, Massachusetts.
Gentlemen :
I herewith submit the annual report of your Sponsor's Agent for the year 1939. During this period, twenty-two Federal projects were in operation, employing an average of 250 people who received in wages $178,624.20. Each worker has an average of 4.8 dependents, making a total of 1200 individuals dependent upon W. P. A. work for their livelihood.
A brief description of projects operated during the past year fol- lows. An itemized account of expenditures of funds for W. P. A. materials will be found in another part of the Town Report.
Federal Funds Expended for Work Projects
W. P. A. Wages-January 1, 1939 to December 31, 1939 .. $178,624.20
Value of Surplus Food Commodities distributed 15,908.27
Value of Surplus Clothing distributed 11,574.25
Total
$206,106.72
Sewer Project
This project called for the installation of a trunk sewer line from Salem Street along Harrison to Orange, Orange to Pearl, and Pearl Street to new grade school, a distance of 1,700 feet. Considerable ledge was encountered in the excavation, the greater part where cut was 22 feet in depth. Pipe line however, was completed within the Federal Allotment for labor. Had this not been a W. P. A. project the additional cost of project to the town would have been approxi- mately $16,000.00.
Furniture, Shoe and Toy Repair Project
Under this project furniture, shoes and toys donated by towns- people are repaired and renovated and distributed to needy citizens. During the Christmas season 1,015 toys were distributed to 510 chil- dren. This project employs an average of 22 men, all skilled in some phase of the work being done.
School Grounds Project
Work on school grounds was started in May 1939 and continued through the year. At the Highland School the entire area on the School Street side was regraded, loamed and seeded. All walks were
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regraded and surfaced with a permanent pea stone and asphalt surface. At the Lowell Street School, all grass areas were regraded, loamed and seeded, and all driveways and walks resurfaced.
Work on the grading of the new Pearl Street school grounds was started on August 9, 1939. This necessitated the excavation of 15,390 cubic yards of earth, the laying of 1,246 lineal feet of 6-inch tile drain pipe, construction of 12 catch basins, construction of 1,577 lineal feet of concrete curb with brick top and grading and surfacing of 1,800 square yards of walks and driveways. Work will be completed in the summer of 1940.
Laurel Hill Cemetery Wall
The elevation of the retaining wall along Laurel Hill Cemetery on Main Street was increased from 1 foot to 3 feet for a distance of 493 feet. This eliminated a serious hazard to pedestrians which had existed for several years.
Survey of Town Owned Buildings and Parks
Plans of all town owned buildings including lot and floor plans, and plans of all parks were made under this project.
Tracing of Old BPW Plans
Under this project 240 old highway plans dated from 1840 to 1922 were copied on linen. These plans were originally drawn on brown paper and were fast deteriorating from use. This gives the Board of Public Works permanent records of original street plans.
Street Survey Project
This project was completed on June 6, 1939. Twenty miles of high- ways were surveyed for street locations, and elevations for profile and cross sections taken. Plans of the surveys were made by skilled draftsmen and are now on file in the office of the Board of Public Works.
Moth Project
Under this project, trees along 30 miles of highways were sprayed and nests of gypsy and brown-tail moths, tent caterpillars and asso- ciated insect pests over approximately 1,200 acres of woodland were creosoted.
Tree Trimming
Trees along 40 miles of the town's highways were trimmed and cleared of dead branches, trees bolted where necessary, cavities filled and unsafe trees removed.
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Police Department Records Project
Work on this project was started in August 1938 and completed on October 5, 1939. The purpose of this project was to classify and cata- logue in complete filing record form, all arrests properly classified, complaints, warrants, summonses, auto accidents, etc. Also a card filing system for all dogs licensed during the current year, with full information as to the dogs and their owners, has been established. Separate listings have also been made showing street lists of all prop- erty with present tenants and owners, and a card filing system of all business establishments with names of the individuals to be notified in case of emergency. In all, 30,000 units of work were delivered to. the Chief of Police upon completion of project. The systems estab- lished are being currently maintained by a clerk.
Forest Glen Cemetery
The development of the second half of the Forest Glen Cemetery continued during 1939 until August when work was temporarily sus- pended. Work consisted of turning over 17,170 cubic yards of earth and removing all boulders, removal of 1,202 cubic yards of ledge, instal- lation of a complete drainage system, construction of roadways, and mortared stone walls, loaming and seeding of completed areas. Work will be started again in the spring. When completed, the value of the area developed under WPA will be $314,000.00. The estimated entire cost to the town for complete development of entire area will be ap- proximately $25,000.00.
Rip-Rapping Open Ditches
Three thousand, eight hundred ninety-seven feet of open drainage ditches were widened, graded, banks sloped and where necessary, bot- tom and slopes rip-rapped. This not only insured a continuous flow of drainage water, thereby draining surrounding lands, but also elimi- nated mosquito breeding pools. Work on this project will continue in 1940.
Town Forest Roadways
Work on the Town Forest roadways continued during 1939. This included the widening, grading and gravel surfacing of cart roads, the clearing of brush and trimming of new pine trees.
Grove Street Wall
Under this project a mortared stone retaining wall 680 feet in length and averaging 9 feet in height was constructed. This was nec- essary due to the laying of a 12-inch water main and the widening of travelled way.
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Reflooring Project
Under this project, all flooring in the Senior High School, Chestnut Hill School and Lowell Street School was removed and new floors laid, sanded and treated. All floors were badly in need of replacement and had not Federal labor been available, work would of necessity have had to be done by the School Department.
Housekeeping Aides Project
During 1939, the Housekeeping Aide Project, sponsored by the Board of Selectmen, has employed thirteen housekeeping aides, a clerk and a supervisor. In December this project was transferred to a state wide set-up, being sponsored by the Massachusetts Board of Public Welfare.
Seventy-nine families have received this housekeeping service dur- ing the year, twenty-six being for confinement cases, and the balance for ill health, old age and motherless homes.
Any family in the lower income group is entitled to this service upon the recommendation in writing of a doctor, Visiting Nurse, Wel- fare Office, Old Age Assistance Office, Soldiers' Relief Agent, or any recognized charitable organization. The purpose of this project is to fur- nish free home assistance in housework and care of children in the homes of the needy where the homemaker is totally or partially incapa- citated because of ill health or confinement, or in case of some tempo- rary emergency which makes this assistance necessary.
Vital Statistics Project
During the year past a complete Index of the Vital Statistics of Reading, Marriages, Births and Deaths has been completed. This index extends from the year 1637 through 1937. It has been made in triplicate; one in the form of a Card Index, housed in appropriate steel files, and two in type-written book form, original and carbon copy, ready for binding. It should be observed that many cards and entries are missing for various reasons, either they have not been reported to the Town Clerk, or records have not been transferred when births have taken place in hospitals in other towns. It would be wise for citizens to check records of their families in the Clerk's Office.
Town Meeting Records
This project was started in July 1939. The object of this work is the cataloging of all town meeting records from 1840 on, and card indexing the same. This will facilitate' the looking up of any action that has taken place in the past years.
This record, when completed, will be kept in the Selectmen's office and will be available for all town officers.
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Cemetery Record Project
Complete survey was made of all existing records in regards to lots and burials. Some fifteen hundred lots were examined and hun- dreds of names were added to the records that had not appeared there before. Many corrections were made, especially, in the existing rec- ords previous to the year 1921.
Much work of value was performed by this project and the Ceme- tery Office is now using the records that were made. A master file was completed of all lots and burials and then a cross index made from that.
Another file was made of all U. S. Veterans buried in both ceme- teries and quite a few Veteran graves were discovered that had not been known to exist before. This list will be of value on May 30th to be used in the decoration of these graves.
Many thanks are hereby extended to the cemetery authorities who gave us every cooperation and enabled us to complete a project that will increase in value as the years go by.
Fire Department Records Project
The Fire Department Records project was sponsored by the Board of Selectmen and was in operation from January 23 to December 19, 1939 inclusive, employing an average of seven men.
To have statistics available in comprehensive form it was neces- sary to install a card record system of fires occurring and other calls answered during recent years. To accomplish this work we have pre- pared the following material:
1. Transcribe and Interpret pages 11,384
2. Master Record Cards 17,562
3. Owner Record Cards 8,951
4. Occupant Record Cards 2,128
5. Location Record Cards 3,846
6. Cause Cards 5,231
7. Hydrant Location Maps 300
8. Gas Curb Cock Shut-off Maps 190
9. Business and Professional Emergency Address List 350
To assist the Department in quickly locating hydrant positions at times of fires, some stationary object in the immediate vicinity of
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each hydrant has been conspicuously posted so that it is clearly seen upon approaching same. This is particularly helpful to out-of-town departments, and in the case of heavy snow storms, resulting in the burial of hydrants, either by natural snow fall or by street plows, this being especially true in outlying sections.
The project personnel wishes to take this opportunity to thank Fire Chief Hugh L. Eames, as well as the members of the entire Fire Department, for their great assistance and co-operation.
Local Compensation Division
The following report covers the year of 1939 on injuries sustained by Reading W. P. A. workers :
1. Injuries of a minor nature not requiring the medical attention of a physician : 72 cases.
2. Injured and requiring medical attention of a physician, yet losing no time from work: 32 cases.
3. Injured and requiring medical attention of a physician, also losing time from work with compensation : Total of 8 cases.
This makes a grand total of 112 accidents in the Town of Reading for the year 1939.
The total amount of money paid to Reading doctors by the Federal Government for services rendered was $418.00.
The total amount paid to doctors and specialists outside of Read- ing was $227.00.
The total amount paid to hospitals was $198.35.
The total amount paid to pharmacies in the Town of Reading for the year 1939 was $4.50.
Centers and Playgrounds by Seasons
WINTER-January to March
Reading Recreation Center-180 Haven Street
Craft Room-8 Woburn Street Senior High School-Sanborn Street Room 19, Town Building-Lowell Street Skating Areas-Memorial Park, Dickie's
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SPRING-March to June
Recreation Center-180 Haven Street
Craft Room-8 Woburn Street Memorial Park Washington Street Room 19, Town Building-Lowell Street
SUMMER-June to September
Memorial Park
Junior High Field
Birch Meadow Washington Street Craft Room-8 Woburn Street
FALL-September to October
Craft Room-8 Woburn Street
Memorial Park
Washington Street Birch Meadow
Senior High School-Sanborn Street
Room 19, Town Building-Lowell Street
WINTER-October to December
Memorial Park Senior High School-Sanborn Street
Room 19, Town Building Craft Room-8 Woburn Street Game Rooms-44 and 46 Haven Street
I wish to thank the Board of Selectmen for their cooperation and advice, also other Town Boards who have at all times been helpful and cooperative.
Yours very truly, ARTHUR MICHELINI, Sponsor's Agent.
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BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE
The work of the Welfare Department for the past year has in a :general way been similar to the operations of recent years. We have, however, given the greatest possible attention to individual cases in an effort to keep the expense of public assistance to a minimum, bring- ing from twenty to forty cases up for discussion at each of the weekly meetings of the board. The Federal Government and the State wel- fare authorities have broadened their interest in the work of local boards and have continued to enlarge their financial contribution.
This means that we are constantly confronted with changes in rules, regulations, and methods of procedure, to which we must adapt the work of the local department in order that the town may benefit to : the fullest extent in Federal and State reimbursements.
It will astonish a person not familiar with the present-day pro- gram of public relief to learn the numerous categories with which the local department is connected, directly or indirectly. General Aid. ( Old Age Assistance, and Aid to Dependent Children are handled en- tirely by this department. In matters of investigation and certification the Civilian Conservation Corps, the National Youth Administration, the Surplus Commodity Division, and the W. P. A. are referred to us. We are further connected with the state divisions having charge of Aid to the Blind, Child Guardianship, and State Institutional Care. To some extent, also, we work in conjunction with departments caring for assistance to veterans and for medical care and attention in certain cases of contagious diseases. Each of these latter categories means clerical and investigation work in addition to that involved by the ordinary welfare branches of General Aid, Old Age Assistance, and Aid to Dependent Children, for which the department was originally set up.
It should be kept in mind that many decisions of local welfare boards are matters of legal compulsion and are not necessarily the action a board would take from its own knowledge of local conditions which affect the matter in hand.
The board suffered a great loss through the death of Mrs. Harriet L. Rooney in April. Mrs. Rooney gave five years of wholehearted service to the work of this department. The board gratefully acknowl-
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edges her valuable efforts and is glad of the opportunity to pay her its highest personal tribute.
Respectfully submitted, KITTIE M. BANGS, Chairman, ALBERT L. WELLMAN, Jr., MILES C. HIGGINS, Board of Public Welfare.
REPORT OF THE WELFARE SUPERINTENDENT
To the Board of Public Welfare:
The welfare department had 590 cases on its records during 1939, an increase of 37 cases over the previous year. This increase was mainly in Old Age Assistance cases, with a total of 288 in 1939, against a total of 244 in 1938. In the Aid to Dependent Children classification there was an increase of 4 cases over 1938 but several families in this group were carried only a short time during the year, with the result that expenditures showed a decrease of $500.00 from the previous. year. In General Aid there was a decrease of 10 in the total of cases handled, 280 in 1938 and 270 in 1939, the expenditure for the two years being about the same. The total of all forms of assistance furnished by the department was about $8,000.00 more than in 1938, the increase being due entirely to Old Age Assistance.
A tabulation of all the surveys and statistics which the depart- ment has made during the past seven years would be a very unwieldly thing, probably more confusing than useful, but certain factors have been developed which can be briefly summarized and which are of inter- est to the property owner and to the person who pays rent.
The General Aid case load, which rose to its highest point in 1935, has dropped to a lower level which has some appearance of becoming static. The Aid to Dependent Children cases have increased 200% in the last seven years, with a leveling off during the past 3 years. The number of persons receiving Old Age Assistance shows an increase approaching 500% since 1932, maintaining a steady rise with no defi- nite indication of tapering off. So we have: General Aid not increas- ing, Aid to Dependent Children increasing but slightly, Old Age As- sistance going up at the rate of forty cases or more each year.
A simple chart will show this rapid increase in assistance to the aged more clearly than the reciting of figures.
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Periodic Increase in Old Age Assistance Cases During the Last Four Years
1936
1937
1938
1939
Number of cases during the month
JAN.
APR.
JUL.
OCT.
JAN.
APR.
JUL.
OCT.
JAN.
APR.
JUL.
OCT.
JAN.
APR.
JUL.
OCT.
260
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Now for the financial effect in the place where it seems to hurt the most, that is, in the local property tax rate.
In 1933, with an expenditure of $107,000.00, the proportion falling on local taxation was $83,000.00, or about 80%. In 1939, with a total expenditure nearly 50% larger, due to the increase in Old Age Assis- tance and, to a lesser degree, Aid to Depndent Children, local taxation carries but 40%, or $60,000. In other words, in 1933 a relief total of
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$107,000.00 placed a burden of $83,000.00 on Reading real estate, while a relief total of $150,000.00 in 1939 required raising a net amount of only $60,000.00, affecting the tax rate less than four dollars.
Of course, all this relief money is coming from somewhere, but it is clearly evident that the tendency of effect on local taxes is a mat- ter of congratulation rather than concern. A study of the sources from which the federal and state contributions are derived would undoubt- edly run into matters very involved and complicated but would tend to show just where the major portion of the burden is being carried or in what manner obigations for it may have to be met in the future.
The sections of public relief activity which come directly and wholly under this department represent considerably less than half the entire public assistance program now in operation in Reading. W. P. A. pay rolls in Reading exceeded $178,000.00 in 1939, exclusive of amounts paid for material, truck hire, administration, etc. The Federal Surplus Commodities Division gives the value of commodities distributed to needy families as $16,000.00 for food and $11,500.00 for clothing. As- sistance to veterans and their families, amounting to some $12,000.00 a year, aid given by the Division of Aid to the Blind, and certain national programs, such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, National Youth Administration, and others, will bring the total of all assistance given unemployed and needy persons well up to $350,000.00. When we look at this figure of $350,000.00 and compare it with the $60,000.00 noted previously as representing the net burden on town taxes so far as this department's expenditures are concerned, it is obvious that the town welfare appropriation is a minor figure in the whole picture.
The detailed classification of expenditures has been submitted to the Town Accountant and appears in his report.
Nearly all categories use the public welfare department for pur- poses of investigation, referral, certification, etc., so that our adminis- trative detail has increased greatly in proportion to our actual depart- mental expenditure. In September, for instance, the W. P. A. laid off all its employees who had been on the list for eighteen months or more. This meant that some 150 former W. P. A. cases had to be interviewed and preparation made for recertification within a month, in addition to the regular run of applications which ordinarily goes on. All applications for enrollment in the Civilian Conservation Corps and the National Youth Administration, as well as authorizations for Surplus Commodities, are made through this department.
In the spring it became necessary for the town authorities to make some disposition of the old Town Farm building, where we had been quartered for the past few years, to make way for the grading and clearance of the grounds for the new Pearl Street School. It was finally decided to demolish the old building, after several unsuccessful
286
attempts to sell it to someone who would remove it from the grounds, and it was suggested that welfare labor be used to tear it down. This suggestion was carried out and enough material was salvaged to erect a small building on the town dump lot on John Street, to be used as a wood shed and to provide housing for the welfare trucks. All the work was done by men working out welfare time and although many men of many trades, and indeed, several with no trade at all, put their hands to the job from time to time, a modest structure of very passable appearance was produced which serves its purpose quite satisfactorily. All the material, even to clapboards and shingles, was reclaimed in tearing down the old building, and aside from paint the expense was negligible. The men who had a hand in it may be surprised to learn that the building they created is valued at better than two thousand dollars in the town's insurance schedule.
For several months our office staff had to be crowded into two small rooms in what was formerly a private residence at the corner of Union and Harnden Streets. Conditions were uncomfortable and it was hard to maintain efficiency but we made the best of it and at this writing we are just getting settled in new quarters in the Union Street School building, which, when completely arranged, will pro- vide a place far better adapted for our work.
The State Department of Public Welfare has undergone a com- plete reorganization during 1939. The details of this movement are highly technical and, in the main, lacking in interest for the average citizen. It has, however, had and will continue to have, a profound effect on the action of municipal boards and to a greater degree on the employed personnel of local welfare departments. This radical change in the procedure of the State welfare departments has been brought about more especially by the increased participation of the State and the Federal Government towards the cost of various forms of public assistance, notably Old Age Assistance and Aid to Dependent Children. The general principle is that wherever the State or Federal dollar goes, the examining finger of the donor follows immediately after. This is all well enough, and no doubt a wise precaution in some localities, but the people of the cities and towns of New England have always viewed askance anything that takes away from local authority its privilige of free action and judgment in affairs which are predomi- nantly of interest and concern to the community where they exist. Nevertheless, we have no other course than to comply, in view of the substantial financial benefit to the town. The Board is well acquainted with the multiplicity of forms, reports, estimates, surveys, etc., which this department is required to submit for state approval, and knows, further, that they will increase in number and detail in 1940. One of these state forms has given many relief officials some sober thought
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