Worcester County, Massachusetts - Chapter 46, 1889

City Departments

In this chapter will be given a short account of the various departments maintained by the city for the benefit and protection of the citizens.

Fitchburg Water- Works. - The Water Department dates back to the year 1870, when the first Board of Water Commissioners was appointed. Previous to this time the people had obtained water from wells or springs, and the only public action of the town had been to establish the town pump, sundry reservoirs for use at fires and to authorize the establishment of two public watering troughs, which, however, were not erected for some years.

During the six years preceding 1870, the subject of furnishing the town with an abundant supply of pure water was pretty thoroughly discussed. April 11, 1864, the town appointed Alvah Crocker, Lucius Aldrich, Alpheus P. Kimball, Charles Burleigh and James B. Lane a committee to ascertain " the best method of furnishing its more elevated streets with a proper supply ot water in case of fires, and hydrants to conduct and distribute the same."

Nothing was heard from this committee until the annual town-meeting, April 9, 1866, when a report was made to the effect that they had secured an act of incorporation, and purchased land covering the necessary sites for dams, etc. This land comprised about one hundred and seventy-five acres in the vicinity of Scott, Shattuck and Falulah Brooks, and the price paid for it by the committee was $6612.70. The report also presented a plan providing for two reservoir-", having a storage capacity of about three hundred million gallons and estimates in regard to the cost of laying the necessary mains.

This report was accepted and ordered to be printed together with the act of incorporation. By this act the five members of the committee were made a corporation under the name of the Pearl Hill Water Company, to furnish the inhabitants of Fitchburg with pure water. No further action was taken by the town in regard to the report or the act of incorporation.

At this same meeting, April 9, 1866, a committee of twenty-five was raised to take the whole matter into consideration and report at an adjourned meeting. May 7, 1866, this committee reported, recommending that a committee of five be appointed, and authorized to employ an engineer to make a survey, and present to the town plans and estimates. The report was accepted, and Eugene T. Miles, Dr. Alfred Hitchcock, Louis D. Bartlett, Abel F. Adams and Eodney Wallace were appointed as the committee.

August 25, 1 866, this committee made an elaborate report, in which provision was made for two reservoirs on Falulah Brook, and estimates of the cost of the necessary mains and two reservoirs were given, varying from .$116,000 to $153,000, according to the height of the dams. This report was accepted, and the subject indefinitely postponed.

May 6, 1867, the selectmen and fire engineers were authorized to purchase Durant Pond for fire purposes, but no action was ever taken in regard to it.

town purchased wafer rights of Daniel Messinger, and voted, August 30th, that the selectmen be authorized to purchase land for storage purposes. The land was bought and pipe provided, but not until it was too late in the season to begin work, and nothing further appears to have been done about it.

November 2, 1869, the subject of a general water supply was again brought before the town, and a committee, consisting of Hon. Alvah Crocker, Hon. Ebenezer Torrey and Moses G. Lyon, Esq., was appointed to obtain from the Legislature a charter for supplying the town with pure water.

March 19, 1870, an act was approved, by virtue of which the three above-named gentlemen were made a corporation, under the name of the Fitchburg Water Company, to provide the town with a water supply, and specifying that the town might at any time, within one year from the passage of the act, a.ssume all the rights and privileges of the corporators, by a majority vote in town-meeting.

April 25, 1870, the town refused to accept this charter by a vote of 236 to 226. A week later a motion to reconsider this vote was lost, 334 to 309. The vote was very close, which encouraged the friends of the measure and forced its opponents to take active means to defeat it.

June 18, 1870, Messrs. Salmon W. Putnam, Walter Heywood, Joseph Cushing, Lyman Patch and Dr. Thomas Palmer were appointed a committee to examine " Meeting-House Pond," in Westminster, and authorized to make a survey if it seemed to them feasible to secure water rights there. On the 16th of the following July this committee reported that water rights could not be obtained there upon any terms that would justify making a survey.

August 6, 1870, the question again came before the town. A preliminary resolution " that this Town is in favor of the introduction of water from some source," was introduced and carried by a vote of one hundred and ninety-six to six. A ballot was then taken on the question whether the town would assume the provisions of the charter, which was carried in the affirmative by a vote of four hundred and nineteen to one hundred and twenty-six. '

In accordance with the provisions of the act, the selectmen appointed the first Board of Water Commissions, consisting of Jabez Fisher, Joseph Cushing, Alpheus P. Kimball, Thomas Palmer and Lucius Aidrich, and this board was duly organized August 17, 1870.

April 5, 1871, a contract was signed with George H. Norman, of Newport, R. I., for the construction of the water-works. As soon thereafter as the weather would permit work was begun, and at the end of the season Overlook and Marshall reservoirs were completed, about nine and a half miles of cement-lined watermains laid, and seventy-one gates and ninety-four hydrants set. Hydrant water was first used at a fire on Summer Street, January 5, 1872.

In the early part of 1872 a second contract was made with Mr. Norman for water-main extension. This contract was completed before winter, and on December 1, 1872, there were a little over fourteen miles of water-mains laid, and one hundred and thirty hydrants

Mr. Norman's work was well done, and the Water Commissioners were entirely satisfied with the manner in which both his contracts had been carried out.

A sufficient account has already been given, in the section on the history of the city, of the extension of the water supply during the p;ist fifteen years. Statistics of this department, November 30, 1887, show the following: Fourteen miles of cement mains, twentyone miles of iron-mains, twenty-seven miles of servicepipe, two hundred and fifty-six hydrants, five hundred and forty-five meters, two thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight families, stores, manufactories, etc., supplied with water, and a total cost of the works to date of $621,701.32.

Two more reservoirs have been constructed since 1873 - Scott and Falulah - making four in all, with a total capacity of over 300,000,000 gallons. The height of these several reservoirs above the tracks of the Fitchburg Railroad at Water Street is : Scott, 450 feet; Overlook, 405 feet; Falulah, 236 feet; and Marshall, 216 feet.

The Board of Water Commissioners, as at present constituted, consists of three members. The term of service is three years, and one member is elected in January of each year by the City Council in joint convention. The members of the board for 1888 are Charles H. Brown, Thomas C. Lovell and Samuel D. Sheldon.

Thomas C. Lovell, the present superintendent of the water-works, has held the position since 1875, and has also been city engineer since 1880. Arthur W. F. Brown has held the position of water registrar since January, 1885. Both these officers are elected by the Board of Water Commissioners.

Fitchburg Fire Department. - Most of the facts in the following account of the Fire Department are taken from a very instructive pamphlet entitled, " The Fire Service of Fitchburg,'' which was published early in 1888 by the Fitchburg Firemen's Fund Association.

The first fire-engine, as was stated in a previous chapter on the early history of the town, was purchased by vote of the town In 1823, and was located on what is now Day Street. A few years later a second engine was purphased - probably the old " Fitchburg " - and was located in a house on what is now Academy Street. These two " tubs " appear to have answered the purpose of the town for several years.

About 1835 a new engine was purchased, and the " Fitchburg" given to the youth of the town, who formed a company and, by the aid of subscriptions from the citizens, ran it for some years. This was in the boyhood days of some of our present citizein who belonged to this company, and can relate pleasing reminiscences of the by-gone days when they attended " firemen's musters," or carried the " whiskey-pan," which was as much an essential to the proper working of the " Department '' as were the buckets with which the old hand-machine was fed with water.

About 1845 two more engines were bought, which were built exactly alike and were the pride of their respective companies. One of them was called " Conqueror, No. 1,'' and was located on West Street, and the other, " Washingtonian, No. 2," replaced the old machine on Day Street.

In the spring of 1851 what was then considered a very extravagant purchase was made. A new and large engine was bought, costing $1500, of which amount the town paid $1000, and $500 was subscribed by the citizens. This was named " Mazeppa, No. 3," and a new engine-house was built for its accommodation in Factory Square. One of the old machines had been placed in West Fitchburg and another in Crockerville, so that at the time the act establishing a Fire Department in the town of Fitchburg was approved, in April, 1851, the fire apparatus of the town consisted of five hand-engines, named as follows: Conqueror, No. 1 ; Washingtonian, No. 2 ; Mazeppa, No. 3 ; Alert, No. 4, West Fitchburg ; Veteran, No. 5, Crockerville.

In accordance with the provisions of the Act relating to Fire Departments, the selectmen of Fitchburg, on April 12, 1851, appointed the first Board of Engineers of the Fitchburg Fire Department. It consisted of twelve members, as follows : Kilburn Harwood, Ebenezer Torrey, Jonas A. Marshall, John H. Wheeler, Chedorlaomer Marshall, John Caldwell, .John Clark, Alpheus Kimball, Ivers Phillips, Levi Sherwin, Salmon W. Wilder and Alvah Crocker. One week later this board was duly organized by the choice of the following officers : Kilburn Harwood, chief engineer; Ivers Phillips, first assistant engineer; Jonas A. Marshall, second assistant engineer ; John Caldwell, third assistant engineer; Ebenezer Torrey, clerk of the board.

No special changes occurred in the apparatus for some years, except that the name of engine No. 2 was changed from Washingtonian to Fire King. In 1868 Alert, No. 4, was put out of service and a new engine, Undine, No. 4, was purchased at a cost of ten hundred and twelve dollars. In the same year a small hose-carriage, made by Charles Fessenden, was pur-

In 1865 the first steam fire-engine, Wachusett, No. 1, was purchased at a cost of about four thousand dollars, and a year or two later a second steamer, Eollstone, No. 2, costing nearly five thousand dollars, was bought; and in 1809 steamer Wanoosnac, No. 3, costing four thousand dollars, was bought and placed in its new brick house in West Fitchburg. The handengines were gradually replaced by hose-carriages built by the Union Machine Company of this city.

In 1870 the Gamewell fire-alarm was introduced at an expense of eight thousand dollars. It was a twocircuit repeater, and strikers were placed on three bells in town, - the Unitarian, Baptist and Rollstone Church bells. In 1888 a new system was ordered, which was put up during the summer of 1888. It is a six-circuit repeater of the Gamewell pattern.

Firemen's musters have frequently been held in Fitchburg, and on October 10 and 11, 1871, one of the largest musters ever held in New England occurred here.

The apparatus in service at the present time consists of two steam fire-engines, one two-horse hose-reel, one two-horse hose-wagon, two one-horse hose-reels, two two-wheeled hose-tenders, two two-horse hook-andladder trucks, one exercise sleigh, and one large sled for Hook-and-Ladder No. 1, in active service ; and one second-class steamer, one two-horse hose-reel and two two-wheeled hose-tenders in reserve.

The value of this department is, and has been, fully appreciated by our citizens, and ample provision is willingly made for all its needs. At the present time, the numerous hydrants in all parts of the city, the forty fire-alarm boxes, and the promptness and efficiency of the engineers and firemen, render it difficult for afire to get much headway in Fitchburg. In the following table are given statistics in regard to the fires with which the department has had to contend during the last quarter century where the damage was $10,000 or over :

The Board of Engineers consists, at the present time, of a chief, four assistants and the superintendent of the fire alarm, who are chosen annually by the City Council in convention in November. The members of the Board for 1888 are, David W. Tinsley, chief; Geo. H. Kendall, first assistant; Boardman Parkhurst, second assistant ; James N. Whiting, third assistant ; Geo. E. Wellington, fourth assistant; and John W. Rand, superintendent of the fire-alarm telegraph. There are upwards of sixty firemen attached to the several companies.

December 12, 1879, the Fitchburg Firemen's Fund Association was incorporated for the purpose of mutual aid and relief in cases of accident or injuries received by its members while discharging their duties as firemen. Every member of the department belongs to it, and the funds in the treasury now amount to about $1500. Frank C. Foster, foreman of Hose 1, is now its president.

Police Department. - About 1839 there was organized in Fitchburg a "Society for the Detection of Thieves." Ebenezer Torrey was then president, Samuel Willis, treasurer, and Asa Partridge, secretary, of this society. There was a standing committee of twelve members and a " pursuing committee," also numbering, twelve. This society lasted some time, and did good work in breaking up several bands of thieves.

Up to the year 1869 all police work in Fitchburg was done by a few constables and private enterprise ; but on September 23, 1869, a Police Department was regularly organized, consisting of a chief and five police officers. Charles E. F. Hayward was the first chief of police.

During the first six months of the existence of this department one hundred and thirty-one arrests were made, and during the next year (ending March 31, 1871) three hundred and ninety -one arrests were made, showing conclusively the need of a police force.

Under the city form of government the chief of police and members of the department are appointed annually in January by the mayor and aldermen. For 1888 the 2)olice force consists of Sumner P. Lawrence, chief; Asahel Wheeler, captain ; and fourteen patrolmen. This is by no means a large force considering the population of the city ; but it is in an excellent state of discipline and has always proved amply sufficient to maintain public order.

Fitchburg has always been singularly free from crimes of a serious nature, and the number of arrests made annually is not much larger now than it was fifteen years ago, though, in the meantime, the city has nearly doubled in population.

During the past few years the temperance sentiment has predominated among our citizens, and the police officers have done good work in suppressing the sale of intoxicating liquor.

The following is a list of those who have served in the office of chief of police since the organization of the department: Charles E. F. Hayward, 18G9-71 ; M. Edwin Day, 1872; Russell O. Houghton, 1873-74; Alpheus P. Kimball, 1875; Aaron F. Whitney, 1876- 81 and 1883-85; William Gilchrist, 1882; Charles H. D. Stockbridge, 1886-87; Sumner P. Lawrence, from January, 1888, to the present time.

Highway Department. - Enough has been said in the chapters on the history of the town to showthat from the very first the people of Fitchburg have had more than ordinary difficulties to contend with in keeping their streets, bridges, etc., in a tolerable state of repair. The selectmen had charge of all these ' aflairs up to January, 1873 ; and since then five subcommittees, appointed annually from among the members of the Board of Aldermen and Common Council, have had the general charge of the various portions of the work of the Highway Department. A superintendent of streets is elected annually by the City Council, who has the immediate control and direction of all thje work done in the Highway Department.

The following is a list of those who have held the position of superintendent of streets since Fitchburg became a city: George W. Holman, 1873-74; Joel Davis, 1875-77; F. W. Aldrich, 1878-82; Abram G. Lawrence, 1883-86 ; Thomas Larkin, Jr., from January, 1887, to the present time.

Poor Department. - The selectmen acted as overseers of the poor up to within a few years of our incorporation as a city. During the last few years of town government a Board of Overseers, consisting of three members, was chosen at the annual town-meeting. Under the city form of government, the Board consists of the mayor and j'resident of Common Council, ex officio, and three members chosen in January by the City Council, in the same way as the water commissioners are chosen.

The Board for 1888 is as follows: Hon. Eli Culley, mayor ; Henry F. Rockwell, president of the Common Council ; Samuel S. Holton, Isaac C. Wright and Aaron F. Whitney.

The city farm is very pleasantly located in South Fitchburg, and has, for several years, been under the efficient supervision of Mr. Norman B. Stone, superintendent, and Mrs. E. T. Stone, matron. The value of the city farm and personal property thereat is now over thirty-three thousand dollars, and there are between fifty and sixty inmates.