Oct. 22, 1915. 
CIVIC AFFAIRS 
Gro. F. Wintert TALKs At Man- 
CHESTER Town HALL. 
HE, Town hall was filled Tuesday 
evening at the open meeting of 
the Manchester Woman’s club, at 
which George F. Willett of Norwood 
and Manchester delivered a most 
comprehensive address upon the sub- 
ject, “The Application of Business 
Principles to Civic Affairs.” 
Mr. Willett had more than a little 
to say about the German efficiency, 
which America would do well to ab- 
sorb, In fact, the keynote of -this 
part of his address was that when 
America combines the German efh- 
ciency with the American democracy, 
this country will have the finest sys- 
tem in the world. It is said that the 
immense German army brings back 
enough increased efficiency into the 
country so that its maintenance costs 
not one penny. 
The main part of Mr. Willett’s ad- 
dress had to do with conditions in 
Norwood, where a new system is be- 
ing tried out wherewith the citizens 
are keeping the democracy of the old 
form of government while getting the 
administrative advantages of a cen- 
tralizing force This centralizing 
force in Norwood is the Norwood 
Civic association, which is taking the 
place in community life, formerly 
filled by the church, whem the latter 
was a powerful factor in political and 
municipal, as well as religious, life. 
It is the needed supplement to the 
town meeting, which has ceased to be 
a liberative, representative assembly, 
as the community has grown. ‘The 
civic association gives the stimulatioa 
to town affairs that the church doe 
to religious life, and it is, moreover, 
the only place where the citizens meet 
on the basis of their obligation to the 
community itself. 
The Norwood Civic association has 
é« large clubhouse with one large audi- 
torium for such uses as town meet- 
ings, and another smaller one for so- 
cial purposes. In the building there 
are also a gymnasium and a game 
room, and on the grounds are the 
tennis courts, the baseball diamond, 
the football gridiron and the running 
track. The headquarters for relief 
work are also on these grounds and 
the “Corner House,” so-called, com- 
bines an emergency hospital support- 
ing 12 beds, headquarters for the dis- 
trict nursing organization, rooms for 
domestic science classes, a model 
apartment, a dental clinic and an eye 
and ear infirmary. 
An important point in the civic as- 
sociation is its absolute co-operation 
NOpReE tein OR 1 1B RE HZ E 
with the public schools. In this con- 
nection, Mr. Willett spoke of the 
plans for a new grammar and high 
school at Norwood. The new system 
will have the child under its influence 
practically all day, and will provide 
guidance and intelligent advice as 
well as the necessary training for 
definite vocations. These are ideas 
after those which have been success- 
fully worked out in Germany. 
The Real Estate Trust and Build- 
ing Association in Norwood _ has 
bought up tracts of the undeveloped 
land there and is making it fit for 
building lots, and is also laying out 
streets and parks, so that when the 
time comes for new homes to be built 
a symmetrical town will result. The 
‘project is to sell land, not for as much 
as they can get for it, but for an 
amount that the purchasers can af- 
ford to pay. 
As an outpost of the Civic Associa- 
tion building, German Hall, a settle- 
ment house in the foreign part of the 
town, has been prepared for use. It 
will be managed by a woman, pecu- 
liarly adapted to this work, and phy- 
sical directors will be supplied. 
All of these things, it will be seen, 
are tending to make Norwood the 
healthiest and most pleasant town in 
the Commonwealth. The physical 
well-being of the people, the develop- 
ment of the home life, particularly 
among the great number of foreigners 
there the playgrounds, parks and pub- 
lic buildings, the education of the 
boys and girls, not only for the home, 
but for active service in life, are all 
working toward this end. 
The town government has been 
divided into two parts for greater 
efficiency, the official and the business 
departments. In the former are the 
elected officials such as the selectmen, 
whose power has not been at all limit- 
ed by the new system; in the latter 
are the business manager, who is di- 
rectly responsible to, and hired by the 
selectmen, and the men, who have tv 
de with the town expenditures. The 
thing to strive for is rotation in office 
ir the Business Department, and con- 
tinuity in office in the Official Depart- 
ment. The result seems to be the 
solution of the responsibility of 
spending the community’s money 1) 
an efficient way and of getting a full 
return for the expenditure. 
In closing, Mr. Willett advised the 
serious consideration of the plan and 
_invited representatives of the town to 
come to Norwood to see how it had 
worked out there. 
The discourse was one of the most 
interesting ever given under the di- 
rection of the Manchester Woman’s 
MOSQUITO CAMPAIGN 
SuRVEY oF NortH SHorRE BEING 
Maprt Looxinc Towarp Ex- 
TERMINATION OF Ps’. 
‘HE campaign for next season 
against the mosquitoes is being 
planned by the committee appointed 
and consisting of Walter D. Denégre, 
Teer raziers Mo eG ecraughton; 
Philip Sears, Thos, Silsbee, George 
R. White and F. M. Whitehouse. A 
charter has been drafted by Mr. 
Thorndike for an association with 
dues of $50 a year for three consecu- 
tive years, that the entire amount 
necessary to do the work of exter- 
mination thoroughly may be raised, 
and yet that too large a sum may not 
be asked in one year. 
For the past week Mr. F. Warnerx, 
thévengineer of the -U.°S.. Drainage 
and Irrigation Company of New 
York has been making a survey of 
the Shore to include all of Beverly 
and Manchester, by taking in the 
marshes back of Beverly and Salem 
bridge, and running back two miles 
parallel to the seashore, up to Nor- 
man’s Woe. 
Based on this survey a bid will be 
made by the New York company for 
the extermination work, and _ if 
the bid is not too high, and the funds 
to accept it can be raised the work 
will be done by that company in the 
scientific manner which proved so 
effective in eliminating the mosqui- 
toes on parts of Long Island, Green- 
wich, Oyster Bay and New Jersey. 
The giving of an illustrated lecture 
ir. the Town hall, at Manchester, Bev- 
erly Farms and Beverly, is being con- 
sidered, and they will be given if the 
townspeople wish it. 
Mr. Harvey, one of the engineers 
of the Boston & Maine system, gave 
a lecture before the Engineers club 
en the subject recently and he could 
probably be procured to come here. 
“No Shooting” signs for sale at 
the Breeze office,—cloth, 20c each; 
cardboard, 10c. 
club, and everyone felt that the even- 
ing was an entire success. Mr. Wil- 
lett was applauded and was given a 
vote of thanks from the club. - Mrs. 
FE. S. Knight, the president, also read 
an invitation to the members of the 
Woman’s club’ to attend a meeting 
concerning the “Teaching of English 
at Home and at School,” to be he'd 
tomorrow afternoon at the Ames 
Memorial Hall, Salem. It is under 
the auspices of the Salem Woman’s 
club and the Thought and Work 
club. 
