March 17, 1916. 
NORTHsSHORH BREEZE 
$68,000 for Manchester Highways 
Most of the fireworks which char- 
acterized the annual town meet- 
ing, Manchester, on March 6th, was 
missing from the adjourned meeting 
held in town hall last Monday even- 
ing. Everything moved smoothly 
and business was transacted with dis- 
patch. The recomendation of the 
selectmen regarding the construction of 
the highway from the Beverly Farms 
line to the junction of Bennett, Pine 
and Central sts. with Bermudez maca- 
dam; Central and Union streets from 
Pine to Beach st. with wooden block 
paving, and Union st. from Beach st. 
to Washington st. with granite, to cost 
$58,500 was lost by an overwhelming 
vote. An appropriation providing for 
Bermudez construction from _ the 
Beverly Farms line to the George A. 
Priest school at a cost of $40,000 was 
voted. 
It was voted to increase the salary 
of the chairman of the board of 
selectmen, E. S. Knight, from $500 
to $1000. Other salaries of the town 
officers remain the same as last year. 
An appropriation of $600 was made 
for improvements to the Stone Mill. 
The attendance was not quite as 
large as at the meeting last week, but 
the hall was well filled. Interest in 
the appropriations was keen and 
there were some discussions, but little 
of the friction which cropped out at 
the last meeting, was evident. 
WHAT WAS SAID AND Done at MAN- 
CHESTER Town MEETING. 
The meeting was opened at 7.35 by 
Moderator Raymond C. Allen, who 
announced the make-up of the com- 
mittee for a centrally located relief 
room other than the floor of police 
station, discussed at last meeting, as 
follows: Edward S. Knight, William 
H. Sullivan and George 5. Sinnicks. 
The following were appointed on the 
Fourth of July committee: Roland 
H. Knight, Allen P. Dennis, George 
i Dean, Abbott H. Hoare, J. Alex. 
Lodge, Charles W. Sawyer, Chester 
L. Standley, Alfred Walen and John 
F. Coughlin. 
Selectman Edward S. Knight re- 
ported the findings of the selectmen 
regarding the width of the road at 
various points along the line of .the 
proposed construction from Beverly 
line to Pine st. and the possibilities 
for a gravel shoulder of suitable 
~ $40,000 of Which to Reconstruct Main Thoroughfare 
From Beverly Line to Village. 
$500 Increase in Salary Chairman Board Selectmen 
width. He said that the matter had 
been taken up with the state highway 
commission during the past week and 
that estimates had been received 
from the commission for the con- 
struction from Beverly line to Pine 
street and also as far as the George 
A. Priest school. Both estimates 
were made on a basis of Bermudez 
construction. The estimated cost of 
the construction clear through to the 
Priest school was $40,000 and from 
the Beverly Farms line to Pine street, 
$31,000. If the work was not done 
all under one contract; that is, if part 
of the work was done this year and 
the balance at some later date, the 
estimated cost would increase by 
about $2,000. This additional cost 
would be due to the additional en- 
gineering expense, each section cost- 
ing about as much as the whole would 
if all done at once. The estimates 
provided for a shoulder four feet 
wide on each side except in the thick- 
ly settled sections. In some places 
a much wider shoulder was provided 
for and in some hardly any shoulder 
at all. It was planned to use as much 
as possible the material taken from 
the road in constructing the base of 
the shoulder. Gravel with one coat 
of oil at the time of construction and 
another later on was proposed. Re- 
garding the width of road at various 
points Mr. Knight said that the pos- 
sible width of construction at the Bev- 
erly line was from 28 to 30 feet. Tn 
the vicinity of the Daron W. Morse 
property the road gave room for only 
about 22 feet of construction. On 
Bridge st. at one point the width of 
the road allows 37 feet and at Ash- 
land avenue the width is only 26 feet. 
Regarding the question of durabili'y 
of wood block construction Mr. 
Knight said that the board of select- 
men had been informed that the first 
wooden block paving was used in New 
York City in 1835. From 1835-37 
Boston and Washington adopted it 
and in 1839 European cities adopted 
it, and it is now widely used. He 
said that everything had been done 
for the horse by providing for a 
suitable width of shoulder. Rougher 
surfaces were planned for the grades 
by not using the seal coat finish thus 
providing better footing for horses. 
It is impossible to build a road that 
will stand the auto and give a good 
footing for horses at the same time; 
aye 
for that reason the board planned the 
gravel shoulder. Mr. Knight said 
that the first cost was greater with 
part granite and wooden constructicn 
in certain parts, but that the expen e 
of maintenance would be less. He 
moved the appropriation of $58,500 
as recommended by the selectmcn 
GAriAS 
O. T. Roberts said that at a point 
in the road in front of his home on 
Bridge street automob.les passed at 
the rate of 150 an hour and that the 
whole road was used. He thought 
that autos would tear up a shoulder 
at that point. Mr. Knight explained 
that it was planned to have a 
shoulder only as far as Ashland ave., 
and to use curb to curb construction. 
Arthur E. Olson questioned the 
ability of the builders to get suiable 
footing for horses on the hills when 
the road was only 27 feet wide. Mr. 
Knight explained that it was impos- 
sible to build ‘a road in Town hall, 
but that conditions must be faced as 
they were met. At some .pcints there 
would be a shoulder on only one side 
of the roads, especially at curves 
where it was hoped to be economical 
in construction as possible. 
M. J. Callahan thought that 16 feet 
was wide erough for the macacam- 
ized part of the rcad at any point 
from Beverly to Ashland avenue and 
that the balance should be given over 
to the horses. 
Arthur E. Olson spoke of the bad 
features of wood-paving experienced 
in Boston where it is extensively used. 
On the vo'e 78 were against the 
appropriation and 37 for it. Apvrlause 
in one section of the hall followed 
the defeat. 
Selectman Knight immediately 
moved the appropriation of $40,000 
for Bermudez construction from the 
Beverly line to the Priest school. It 
was carried without discussion by a 
vote of 81 to 5. 
Selectman Knight moved that the 
selectmen be authorized to hire a sum 
not over $30,000 for not more than 
five years and that the Town treasurer 
be authorized to-issue notes for the 
same. Mr. Knight explained that 
probably $r0,co0 would be obtained 
this year from the regular income 
without increasing the tax rate. The 
motion was carried, 94 voting for and 
none against. 
Article 40 providing an appropria- 
tion for improvements to the Stone 
Mill as recommended by the select- 
men was adopted on motion of Select- 
man Knight, who said that plumbing 
was necessary for sanitation and that 
the $600 voted was about the amount 
(Continued to page 19) 
