USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Westford > Town of Westford annual report 1908-1913 > Part 19
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capacity for high command. Out of that murky cloud, which has faded into the dim background, stand out clear and distinct, brighter and more glorious with advancing time, the pure white figures of patriotism, of loyal service, of generous sacrifice, of ministering angels, of tender compassion, and of heroic cham- pions of freedom and union, whether wearing the officer's shoulder strap or the private's blouse. In what a halo of im- mortality is framed the glorified face of Abraham Lincoln!
"Let us also take heart in the assurance that so it will be with the clouds and storms of today. They will demand the exercise of all our courage, patriotism and good sense. There must be the unflinching and generous contribution of these to the testing problems that are upon us. In the years from '61 to '65 it seemed as if the only questions affecting the future welfare and destiny of the country were the engrossing questions of that time,-union, freedom, equal rights. Slavery abolished and the union restored, what then was there to cause anxiety, what other problem to solve, what else to do but eat, drink and be merry and bask in the sunshine of tranquillity? And yet it was only the opening into new arenas of conflict, or rather it was one more step in that unceasing conflict of contending forces which is only another name for human progress. There has been no year since your service in the field when the battle has not been on, not of shot and shell but of the clashing activities of peace-the struggle of clashing interests, out of the very selfishness of which, however, springs that human endeavor which in the long run works, though at the time the mills grind hard and harsh, the ultimate steady, average betterment of all.
"This is civilization. This is the world's march onward and upward. It is not the immediate event, striking and historic as that may be. It is the steadily culminating march of the human soul towards better things, of which the event is only the expression. It is the steady, ceaseless widening of the thoughts of men with the process of the suns. Glorious as were Gettys- burg and Appomattox, the great glory was that we had reached that degree of the widening of our thoughts, that point in moral conviction and devotion in which those great victories were only
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the incident of the greater moral victories of freedom over slavery, of right over wrong-victories just as much for our Southern brethren as for ourselves. So today each sore and its exposure however mortifying and disheartening in itself, each financial dishonesty, each corrupt prostitution of the trust of office or of property, taken in connection with the scrutiny and attack that unearth it, with the outraged public sentiment that pursues it, and with the reform that follows it, is a step forward. And as the problem you solved was not the final one, so the problems which we are now working out are only those of the immediate day. We solve them; we discover and correct the evil; we reform the method in this or that department. But tomorrow and so long as human nature is human nature the plagues of Egypt will be always with us, and there is no safety but in eternal vigilance, eternal patriotism, eternal service and sacrifice. That is civilization; that is human progress. Let the young men of the generation of today fight the good fight for righteousness, which is now calling them to battle, as you in your day fought the good fight for union and freedom."
ADDRESS BY MR. HAMLIN.
Hon. Charles S. Hamlin of Boston, former assistant secretary of the U. S. treasury, and a director of the Westford Academy, was the last speaker. In the course of a brief but spirited address he said: "Almost every summer of my life for twenty-one years was spent in this Town, and the memory of them is very dear. I remember the swimming pool and the fishing in Stony Brook; the good old games of baseball; and singing in the church choir. There were many interesting men here in those days. I remember so well the letters I used to write here to my grand- mother; and I still have one of them in which I promised to drive the cows for her if she would only let me visit her for the summer. I had a princely allowance then of thirty-five cents a week, and my first financial contract was an agreement by which I paid fifteen cents to Henry Hutchins to drive the cows for me that year. How well I remember the railroad in those days. A
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ticket to Boston was then an affair a yard long, and the con- ductor was a kindly man who once stopped the train because a little girl had injured her finger. Troop F Cavalry in those days seemed to me the most inspiring body of mounted men in the whole world."
The exercises closed late in the day with the singing of "America" by the company.
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Finance Committee Report.
To the Voters and Taxpayers of Westford:
The Finance Committee elected at the last Annual Meeting, having carefully considered the estimated appropriations asked for by the officers of the different departments, as necessary to carry on the work of the departments in a satisfactory manner, recommend, for each department, a sum which is, in their judgment, sufficient to carry out all requirements, and at the same time keep the tax rate at a point as near as possible to the rate of last year.
With this consideration, the Committee recommend the following appropriations to be acted upon by the Town, at the next Annual Meeting.
Amounts Asked for
Art. 9 Public Library
$ 900
and Dog Tax
Amounts Recommended $ 800
and Dog Tax
10 Public Burial Grounds
150
150
66 13 Roads and Bridges
4,000
3,600
14 Town Debts and
Charges 7,000
6,500
66
15 Support of Poor
1,200
1,200
16 Public Schools
10,000
9,500
66 17 High School
2,600
2,600
18 Text-Books 600
500
66
19 Salary School Supt.
800
800
66
20 Repairs and Miscellane- ous Expenses in Con-
nection with School Houses
700
700
Amount carried forward $27,959
$26,350
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Amount brought forward $27,950 $26,350
21 Sprayer for Moth Dept .. 550
550
22 Moth Department 800
800
66
23 Fire Department 400
400
25 Fire Extinguishers
200
140
66
26 Medical Inspector of
Schools
100
70
66
31 Memorial Day
150
150
66
32 Transportation Library Books 75
75
Notes and Interest 5,500
5,500
State and County Tax. . 5,600
5,600
Hydrants
1,760
1,760
$43,085
$41,395
Less Income .. $10,971 11
Poll Taxes
1,300 00
$12,271 11
$12,271 11
Rate $15.95 $30,814 89 Rate $15.08 $29,123 89
The amount recommended will make a tax rate of $15.08 on $1,000.
GEORGE T. DAY, HERBERT V. HILDRETH, JULIAN A. CAMERON, WESLEY O. HAWKES, ELBERT H. FLAGG,
Finance Committee.
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Report of the Committee in charge of the Whitney Playground
In accordance with the vote passed at the last Annual Town Meeting, Mrs. Whitney appointed Oscar R. Spalding and Edward Fisher two members of this committee, they in turn choosing Herbert V. Hildreth the third member.
The work of transforming the rough, wet and unsightly field into a playground was intrusted to Harvey W. Tarbell of Lowell, who will have succeeded in making of the premises when finished a recreation ground of which the citizens of Westford may well be proud.
The committee found as the work progressed that additional land was needed in order to provide sufficient room for a baseball field, upon this thing being brought to the attention of Donald M. Cameron, he offered to give sufficient land for this purpose and has since conveyed to the Town a tract in the rear of the Academy containing about three-fifths of an acre.
Oscar R. Spalding also donated a triangular parcel of land containing about fifteen hundred square feet and later William L. Woods contributed a strip at the southerly end of the play- ground containing about four thousand square feet which straightened the line of the premises and also added to the grove. The committee takes the opportunity in behalf of the Town to thank these men for the generous gifts by means of which the usefulness and efficiency of the playground has been greatly enlarged.
By reason of the acquisition of this additional land the cost of the work increased to a considerable extent, but the committee is very glad indeed to report that Mrs. Whitney has throughout encouraged them in providing everything that would make the grounds more attractive and serviceable regardless of expenses.
It was deemed advisable to have a stone-marker placed upon the grounds, and after some search Mr. Tarbell located a large boulder on the westward side of the Boston road, southerly of
124
Mr. McDougal's house, which has been transferred to the play- ground, and upon which an appropriate inscription is to be cut. The grounds are provided with a baseball field, tennis court and playground apparatus, consisting of a row of swings, eight in number, a seesaw with six boards, and a giant swing and in addition several flower beds have been provided which are to be planted and maintained by the school children.
The shrubbery which it was thought best not to set out in the fall will be planted in the spring, at which time the work upon the grounds will be completed.
Mrs. Whitney very generously delivered to the committee in the fall her check for $5,000, which under the vote of the Town is designated as the Hiram Whitney Playground Fund, so that the same could be invested at once and thereby provide an income to be used in caring for the grounds during the present year. This fund has been invested as follows:
Two $1000 Bonds, American Telephone 4's, 1929 and interest $1,832 44
One $1000 Bond, Nipe Bay 6's, 1914 and interest 1,031 83
Two $1000 Bonds, Spencer Gas Co. 5's and interest 2,028 33
$4,892 60
Balance of check deposited in Lowell Institution for
Savings 107 40
$5,000 00
The committee has had occasion at various times to ask favors of and contributions from their fellow townsmen and is glad to report that in every instance the requests made have met with a prompt and generous response whereby their labors have been lessened and for which they extend to all those thus assisting, their sincere thanks.
OSCAR R. SPALDING, HERBERT V. HILDRETH, EDWARD FISHER.
125
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Middlesex, ss.
To either Constable of the Town of Westford, in said County.
Greeting:
You are hereby required in the name of the Commonwealth aforesaid, to notify and warn all the inhabitants of said Town qualified to vote in elections, and also in Town affairs, to meet at the Town House, in said Westford, on Monday, the twentieth day of March, being the third Monday in said month, at 7.45 o'clock A. M. The polls will be opened at eight o'clock A. M., and may be closed at one o'clock P. M .; and they are then and there to act upon the following articles, to wit:
1st. To choose a Moderator.
2nd. To bring in their votes for one Selectman, one Overseer of Poor, one Assessor, two School Committee, one Commissioner of Public Burial Grounds, one Trustee of the Public Library, all for three years; Town Treasurer, Collector of Taxes, two Constables, one Auditor and one Tree Warden, all for one year; also to vote on the following question: "Shall licenses be granted for the sale of intoxicating liquors in this Town?" All on one ballot.
3rd. To see if the Town will vote to accept Chapter 423 of the Acts of 1909 entitled, "An act relative to the sale of ice cream, confectionery, soda water and fruit on the Lord's Day."
4th. To hear the report of the Finance Committee, and act in relation to the same.
126
5th. To hear the report of the Selectmen, and act in relation to the same.
6th. To hear the report of the Selectmen on Guide Boards, and act in relation to the same.
7th. To hear the report of the Overseers of the Poor, and act in relation to the same.
8th. To hear the report of the School Committee, and act in relation to the same.
9th. To hear the report of the Trustees, and raise and appro- priate money to meet the expenses of the Public Library, and act in relation to the same.
10th. To hear the report of the Commissioners of Public Burial Grounds, and act in relation to the same.
11th. To see if the Town will accept the report of the Auditor chosen to audit the accounts of the Town Officers, and act in relation to the same.
12th. To see if the Town will determine the compensation of the Tax Collector, and act in relation to the same.
13th. To raise and appropriate money to repair Roads and Bridges.
14th. To see if the Town will authorize the Selectmen to purchase a power sprayer for the purpose of destroying the moth pests, raise and appropriate money therefor, and act in relation to the same.
15th. £ To raise and appropriate money for Town Debts and Charges.
127
16th. To raise and appropriate money for support of Poor.
17th. To raise and appropriate money for Public Schools.
18th. To raise and appropriate money for High School purposes.
19th. To raise and appropriate money for School Text-Books and Supplies.
20th. To raise and appropriate money for the salary of the Superintendent of Schools, and act in relation to the same.
21st. To raise and appropriate money for repairs and mainten- ance of, and miscellaneous expenses incurred in con- nection with the various schoolhouses, and act in relation to the same.
22nd. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate money for destruction of gypsy and brown tail moths, and act in relation to the same.
23rd. To raise and appropriate money to meet the expense of the Fire Department, and act in relation to the same.
24th. To see if the Town will vote to enter into a contract for the lighting of the streets, in the villages of Graniteville, Forge Village, Westford Centre and Brookside, with electricity, raise and appropriate money therefor, and act in relation to the same.
25th. To see if the Town will vote to install an additional hydrant at Forge Village for fire protection, and authorize the Selectmen to enter into a contract therefor with the Westford Water Company, and act in relation to the same.
128
26th. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate one hundred and fifty ($150) dollars to purchase extinguishers and other apparatus, the same to be placed with the Forest Wardens in the various parts of the Town and used for extinguishing forest and building fires, and act in relation to the same.
27th. To raise and appropriate money for medical inspection in the Public Schools, and act in relation to the same.
28th.
To authorize the Town Treasurer, with the approval of the Selectmen, or a majority thereof, to borrow during the municipal year beginning February first in antici- pation of the collection of taxes of said year such sums of money as may be necessary for the current expenses of the Town, but not exceeding the total tax levy for said year, giving the notes of the Town therefor, payable within one year from the dates thereof. All debts incurred under authority of this vote shall be paid from the taxes of the present municipal year.
29th. To determine the manner of collecting taxes for the ensu- ing year, also the rate of interest on taxes remaining unpaid at a time to be fixed by vote of the Town, and when and how said taxes shall be paid into the treasury, and act in relation to the same.
30th. To choose a Finance Committee.
31st. To choose all other Town Officers necessary to be chosen by hand vote, and act in relation to the same.
32nd. To see if the Town will raise and appropriate the sum of one hundred and fifty ($150) dollars to commemorate Memorial Day, and act in relation to the same.
33rd. To see if the Town will accept the several gifts of land adjoining the Whitney playground, from Donald M.
129
Cameron, Oscar R . Spalding and William L. Woods, and act in relation to the same.
34th.
By request of the citizens of Graniteville, Forge Village, and Parkerville, to see if the Town will appropriate the sum of seventy-five ($75) dollars for the purpose of distributing books from the Public Library in these three villages, and act in relation to the same.
35th. To see if the Town will authorize the Selectmen to act as its agents in any suit or suits that may arise during the current year, and act in relation to the same.
36th. To see if the Town will appropriate money for the suppres- sion of the liquor traffic in town and instruct and authorize the Selectmen to employ or appoint Con- stables or Police Officers to enforce the law, and act in relation to the same.
37th.
To see if the Town will authorize the Selectmen to offer a reward of one hundred ($100) dollars for the arrest and conviction of any person or persons setting forest or other fires in Town, and act in relation to the same.
And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting up true and attested copies at the Town House and each Depot in said Westford, eight days at least before the time of holding said meeting.
Hereof fail not, and make due return of this Warrant, with your doings thereon, to the Town Clerk, at the time and place of holding the meeting aforesaid.
Given under our hands, this Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eleven.
OSCAR R. SPALDING, ANDREW JOHNSON, SHERMAN H. FLETCHER, Selectmen of Westford.
A True Copy. Attest:
Constable of Westford.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
SCHOOL COMMITTEE
OF THE
TOWN OF WESTFORD, MASS.
FOR THE
School Year ending February 1, 1911
F
WESTF
OWN
OR
TO
INCORPO
1729.
POR
3
T.
ATED
SEP
LOWELL, MASS. COURIER-CITIZEN COMPANY, PRINTERS 1911
2
SCHOOL COMMITTEE 1910-1911.
JOHN SPINNER Term Expires 1911.
WALTER C. WRIGHT, Secretary
Term Expires 1911.
CHARLES O. PRESCOTT, Chairman . T. ARTHUR E. WILSON Term Expires 1912.
Term Expires 1912.
HENRY B. READ . Term Expires 1913.
HORACE E. GOULD
Term Expires 1913.
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS.
FRANK B. HILL, Littleton, Mass.
COMMITTEE ON TEXT-BOOKS.
CHARLES O. PRESCOTT, HENRY B. READ.
TEXT-BOOKS AND SUPPLIES.
WALTER C. WRIGHT.
TRUANT OFFICERS.
JOHN A. HEALY, F. MERTON, CHARLES EDWARDS.
SCHOOL PHYSICIAN.
CYRIL A. BLANEY, M. D.
3
Report of the School Board.
To the Citizens of the Town of Westford :-
The School Board herewith submits its annual report, together with the reports of the Superintendent of Schools, the Principal of the High School, Supervisor of Music, Supervisor of Drawing, Medical Inspector and Truant Officers.
Under the able supervision of Mr. Frank H. Hill, Superin- tendent of Schools, and with an excellent corps of teachers, we feel that the schools have made good progress during the past year. For a detailed account of the condition of the schools, we refer you to the Superintendent's report.
We wish to extend our thanks to Mrs. John C. Abbot, through whose generosity hot soup and cocoa are still furnished during the winter months, at the William E. Frost School. This kindness is greatly appreciated by the ninety or more children who take their luncheons at the school.
We can not let this opportunity pass by without expressing our gratitude in behalf of the children, for the fine and spacious playground so generously provided by one of our townswomen. Nothing connected with our schools will contribute more towards the future physical and moral development of our school children than the Whitney playground, and one has only to see the enthusiasm of the children in their play, to realize how much this gift is appreciated.
4
TEXT-BOOKS AND SUPPLIES FURNISHED.
High School $160 40
William E. Frost School
178 03
Sargent School
113 65
Cameron School
80 81
Nabnasset School 39 79
Parkerville School
27 30
$599 98
EXPENSE OF SUPERVISION.
Salary paid by the Town $800 00
Rebate from the State 625 00
Net cost to Town
$175 00
TEXT-BOOKS AND SUPPLIES.
Appropriation
$600 00
Amount expended 583 48
Balance unexpended
$ 16 52
Average cost per pupil for the year 1910-1911 $ 1 33
SCHOOL CENSUS-SEPTEMBER, 1910.
Number of boys between 5 and 15 234
Number of girls between 5 and 15 216
Total 450
5
Number of boys between 7 and 14 190
Number of girls between 7 and 14 177
Total 367
Number of illiterate minors None
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
INCOME.
Appropriation, schools $9,000 00
Appropriation, High School 2,600 00
From State on acct. of Supt. of Schools . 250 00
Income from Mass. School Fund. 1,201 21
- $13,051 21
EXPENDED.
Tuition for scholars at High School $2,600 00
Teachers
6,344 68
Transportation
2,183 75
Fuel
926 09
Janitor service, cleaning, etc.
910 44
$12,964 96
Balance unexpended $
86 25
CHARLES O. PRESCOTT, Chairman, WALTER C. WRIGHT, Secretary, JOHN SPINNER, HENRY B. READ, T. ARTHUR E. WILSON, HORACE E. GOULD.
6
Superintendent's Report.
Gentlemen of the Committee:
I herewith submit my first annual report, it being the nine- teenth in the series of such reports.
School progress is not always to be measured by radical changes in courses of study, text-books, etc .; nor by overturning previous policies of administration; nor by the introduction of new subjects or departments. One or all of those changes may be made, but only when the demand for them becomes insistent, or conditions in the schools become such that the schools would profit by such changes. My predecessor left me a course of study adapted to the needs of the pupils, and text-books which I have had no occasion to attempt to improve upon; the ad- ministration of the schools of Massachusetts is practically the same in all sections, crystallizing each year into greater uniformity and more definite proportions through the influence of the State Board of Education, Superintendents' and Teachers' Conven- tions, Normal Schools, Round Tables and Superintendents' Reports; while the introduction of new subjects into the smaller towns usually comes only after they have been thoroughly tested in the larger places. All these are but changes in outward conditions which react favorably upon the inner life of the school only when teacher, pupil and community are ready for them. The real work of the school is done in the quiet of the schoolroom, without ostentation; requiring, not volumes for its expression, but the simple phrase : Our Today has prepared us for a better Tomorrow.
WORKING FOR THOROUGHNESS.
That I might be better able to advise and assist the teachers in their work, and to bring to their attention some of the things I consider of importance in a pupil's equipment if the work is to be well done and quickly done, I have personally conducted
ten-minute tests in grades three, four, five and six for proficiency in the fundamental processes in arithmetic, with the result that systematic work in the four operations is now being done in every school, orally, with quick, snappy, businesslike precision that will rob the problem work of later grades of many of its terrors. Later I tested the pupils of grades seven and eight in the vocabu- lary of mathematics, the terms peculiar to the subject and with- out a knowledge of which pupils express themselves with diffi- culty, and sent tabulated results to all the principals for their consideration. I shall extend this work to the other subjects of the curriculum. I believe that if a thing is worth teaching it is worth retaining, and shall expect to find that not alone is the work of a certain grade well done, but that the work of the previous grades is remembered and that their terms are con- stantly in use. Only in this way can the work of one grade be preserved and utilized in succeeding grades; and no teacher should blame another for what a pupil has forgotten, when five minutes each day devoted to systematic review of the work of previous years will go far toward correcting the condition.
KEEPING PUPILS AFTER SCHOOL.
The custom has been and now is prevalent in Massachusetts' towns and cities to keep pupils after school for periods varying from fifteen minutes to an hour and a half for one reason or another. At a recent teachers' meeting in Graniteville I sug- gested that it would be well to abolish this custom, and gave my reasons for my suggestion. Later I invited the teachers to express themselves in writing upon this subject, to which they responded with characteristic promptness. From the answers I find that tardiness, slovenly work in the schoolroom, the need of individual help, and naughtiness is one form or another are considered good reasons for keeping a pupil after school. There are, however, in my opinion, real objections to this custom, and I will briefly state them.
1. Tardiness, in more than 75 cases out of 100, is due to the fault of the mother. I eliminate the father, because he is
8
usually away from the house at work when the child prepares for school, and because the teacher herself has got into the habit of addressing all communications concerning the pupil to the mother. Why punish the pupil for the parent's fault? The teacher, as the executive schoolroom officer, records the tardiness in her register as a matter of permanent record. She is justified in admonishing the pupil against a repetition of the tardiness inasmuch as the habit of being always late at an appointment is one of the meanest of habits, and one of the most insidious and menacing, as it invariably leads to carelessness and disregard of all obligations. But the mother, who is usually at fault, should have as keen an interest in her child's welfare as the teacher who deals with all pupils alike, not from personal motives or individual motives, but for the welfare of the community in which the child is later to be obsorbed with all his faults and virtues to be an influence for good or ill, to uplift or to pull down-yes, a keener interest, for it is the parents who are to be honored or disgraced by the child whose habits good or bad, they are encouraging, by deliberately teaching him to disrespect the school laws and incidentally the teacher's authority, or carelessly allowing him to have his own way, trusting to luck that it will not lead him into serious difficulties. In this con- nection I suggest that it is as wrong to send a child off to school a half-hour too early, in which case the opportunity to loiter and play and acquire the habit of saying "time enough" is given, as to give him scant time to get there before school opens. The parent should allow for a few minutes more than sufficient time to reach the schoolhouse, thus furnishing the child from his earlier years a compelling motive to keep moving, furnishing him a purpose which he can accomplish without hurry or fear but which nevertheless admits of no interruption from any cause.
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