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the Water Department created, a single commissioner being entrusted with all the powers previously exercised by the Boston Water Board and the Boston Water Registrar.

A State commission, the Metropolitan Water Board, took possession, in 1898, of all that part of the Boston water system lying westward of Chestnut Hill Reservoir, also the pumping station there, with adjacent lands. The sum paid to the City was $12,531,000. Payments to the State by the City for its supply of water have been regularly made since 1898. Total quantity of water in the ten storage reservoirs of the Metropolitan system on January 1, 1925, 60,384,300,000 gallons, of which 76.6 per cent was in the Wachusett Reservoir in Clinton, 32 miles west of Boston, an artificial lake 4,135 acres in surface area and added to the system in 1905. There are also twelve distribution reservoirs with capacity of 2,400,680,000 gallons, five pumping-stations being connected with these, in which stations 34,439,629,000 gallons of water were pumped during the year 1924. In the existing Metropolitan Water District are nine cities, besides Boston, and nine towns. Boston takes about 75 per cent of the entire water supply of the District.

The daily average amount of water used in Boston in 1924 was 87,680,900 gallons, or 102.8 gallons per capita.

HIGH PRESSURE FIRE SERVICE.

By the provisions of Chapter 312, Acts of 1911, the Commissioner of Public Works was authorized to install an efficient system of high pressure fire service for the business center of the City. The work completed, including the old salt-water fireboat line installed in 1898, comprises 16 miles of pipe with 430 hydrants. Total expenditure for installation of system to Feb. 1, 1925, was $2,086,619. Total mileage of system to be about 17.00. Two pumping stations are now in use.

REGISTRY DEPARTMENT.

Office, 103 City Hall Annex, first floor.

[Stat. 1892, Chap. 314; Rev. Ord. 1898, Chap. 34; C. C., Title IV., Chap. 28; Rev. Ord. 1914, Chap. 29; Ord. 1924, Chap. 1; Ord. 1924, Chap. 1.]

EDWARD W. MCGLENEN, City Registrar. Term ends in 1926.

JEREMIAH J. LEARY, Assistant Registrar.

MARGARET M. FOLEY, Assistant Registrar.

The City Registrar keeps the records of births, deaths and marriages, and issues certificates of all intentions of marriage. Annual reports have been published since 1849, except in 1860 and 1861.

By Ordinance, approved July 12, 1892, the Department of Ancient Records and the office of Record Commissioners (established July 6,

1875) were abolished, and the duties of the Record Commissioners, including the publication of documents relating to the early history of Boston, were transferred to the City Registrar.

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WILFRED J. DOYLE. Term ends Sept. 1, 1928.
JOHN J. CURLEY (ex officio).

J. GEORGE HERLIHY. Term ends Sept. 1, 1929.

The Boston Retirement System was established on Feb. 1, 1923, as provided by Chap. 521 enacted in June, 1922, and accepted by Mayor and City Council in August, 1922. It is administered by a board of three members, or the City Treasurer, ex officio, one person appointed by the Mayor, and the third member chosen by the other two. The compensation of the members is $10 each for every meeting attended, but not over $500 in any one year. After the original appointments, the term of each appointive member is four years. For particulars concerning the system, see page 138 of this Municipal Register.

SCHOOLHOUSE DEPARTMENT.

Office, 1007 City Hall Annex, tenth floor.

[Stat. 1901, Chap. 473; Stat. 1904, Chap. 376; C. C., Title V., Chap. 33, 14; Stat. 1905, Chap. 392; Stat. 1906, Chap. 259; Stat. 1907, Chap. 450; Stat. 1908, Chap. 524; Stat. 1909, Chap. 446; Stat. 1911, Chap. 540; Stat. 1913, Chaps. 337, 363; Stat. 1914, Chaps. 331, 738; Spec. Stat. 1916, Chap. 267; Spec. Stat. 1918, Chap. 132; Spec. Stat. 1919, Chaps. 199, 206; Stat. 1920, Chap. 524; Stat. 1921, Chap. 169; Stat. 1924, Chap. 380.]

OFFICIALS.

JOHN H. MAHONY, Chairman.

CLARENCE H. BLACKALL, Secretary.

J. GEORGE HERLIHY, Chief Clerk.

COMMISSIONERS.

JOHN H. MAHONY. Term ends in 1928.

Term ends in 1927.

CLARENCE H. BLACKALL. Term ends in 1926.

This department is in charge of a board of three commissioners, appointed by the Mayor. One commissioner is appointed in each year for a term of three years, beginning with June 1. The salaries of the commis

sioners and the ordinary expenses of the department are met by appropriations of the School Committee.

The authority and duties of the Board are those formerly conferred and imposed upon the City Council and the School Committee in relation to selecting lands for school purposes, providing temporary school accommodations, making, altering and approving designs and plans for school purposes; erecting, completing, altering, repairing, furnishing, and preparing yards for school buildings, and making contracts and selecting architects. Annual reports to the Mayor have been made since 1901, an interesting feature of which is the "Descriptive Schedule of Permanent School Buildings," a large tabular insert showing, under 14 headings, building statistics of 270 or more schoolhouses.

SINKING FUNDS DEPARTMENT.

Office, 20 City Hall.

[R. L., Chap. 27, § 14; Rev. Ord. 1898, Chap. 35; C. C., Title IV., Chap. 9, 5; Stat. 1909, Chap. 486, § 26; Stat. 1910, Chap. 437; Stat. 1911, Chap. 165; Rev. Ord. 1914, Chap. 31; Stat. 1914, Chap. 324; Spec. Stat. 1915, Chap. 184; Ord. 1916, Chap. 7; Ord. 1925, Chap. 2.]

OFFICIALS.

EDMUND L. DOLAN, Chairman.
RUPERT S. CARVEN, Secretary.

JOHN J. CURLEY, Treasurer.

COMMISSIONERS.*

Terms end in 1928. Terms end in 1927.

MATTHEW CUMMINGS, FREDERICK J. CROSBY.
WILLIAM H. SLOCUM, RANDOLPH C. GREW.
EDMUND L. DOLAN, SAMUEL KALESKY. Terms end in 1926.

The Board of Commissioners of Sinking Funds for the payment or redemption of the City debt consists of six members, two of whom are appointed annually by the Mayor for a term of three years from May 1. The Board has published annual reports since 1871. The amended City Charter, Section 26, prohibits the further establishing of sinking funds, but an exception was afterwards made by the Legislature regarding loans for Rapid Transit purposes. It also prohibits the depositing of City or County money in any bank of which any member of the Board of Sinking Funds Commissioners is an officer, director or agent.

SOLDIERS' RELIEF DEPARTMENT.

Office, 65 City Hall, fifth floor.

[Gen. Laws, Chap. 115; Rev. Ord. 1898, Chap. 36; C. C., Title IV., Chap. 29; Stat. 1904, Chap. 381; Stat. 1909, Chap. 468; Stat. 1914, Chap. 587; Gen. Stat. 1916, Chap. 116; Gen. Stat. 1917, Chap. 179; Gen. Stat. 1918, Chaps. 108, 183; Ord. 1920, Chap. 8; Ord. 1922, Chap. 8; Ord. 1925, Chap. 4.]

*The Commissioners serve without compensation.

Soldiers' Relief Commissioner. Term ends in 1929.

FREDERICK W. WATKEYS, M.D., Deputy Commissioner.
TIMOTHY W. KELLY, Deputy Commissioner.

The Soldiers' Relief Department was created as a department of the City of Boston by Chapter 441 of the Acts of 1897, and is under the charge of a commissioner appointed by the Mayor. He exercises all powers and duties for the distribution of State and City aid to soldiers in the City of Boston, such as were formerly vested in the Mayor and Board of Alder

men.

STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

Office, 73 City Hall, seventh floor.

[Rev. Ord. 1898, Chap. 37; Rev. Ord. 1914, Chap. 33; Ord. 1922, Chaps. 6 and 9; Ord. 1923, Chap. 11.]

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This department is in charge of a board of five members, whose duty it is to collect, compile and publish such statistics relating to the City of Boston and such statistics of other cities, for purposes of comparison, as they may deem of public importance, also to furnish statistical information to the City departments and to the public on request.

The MUNICIPAL REGISTER has been compiled and edited annually by the department since 1898. The new and more comprehensive work, BOSTON YEARBOOK, was issued for the first time in 1924. For the past fourteen years the annual City Council manual, "Organization of the City Government," has contained a large collection of the latest statistics contributed by the department. The same collection has also been separately issued in a more elaborate form with title "Boston Statistics" and distributed widely.

CITY RECORD.

[Stat. 1909, Chap. 486, §§ 29, 30; Ord. 1922, Chap. 9.]

In accordance with the amended City Charter of 1909, the official weekly publication of the City, with the title, Boston City Record, was re-established in that year, the size of the page, typography, etc., being similar to the form adopted by the Statistics Department, under whose manage* The Trustees other than the chairman serve without compensation.

ment the first City Record was issued during the years 1898, 1899 and to May 8, 1900, at which time it was discontinued.

The paper is now issued under the direction of the Mayor, who appoints the editor (see p. 35) while the business details are in charge of the Secretary of the Statistics Dept., who is Business Agent.

STREET LAYING-OUT DEPARTMENT.

Main Office, 401 City Hall Annex, fourth floor.

[Gen. Laws, Chaps. 82, 83; Stat. 1870, Chap. 337; Stat. 1895, Chap. 449, § 23; Stat. 1897, Chap. 426; Rev. Ord. 1898, Chap. 39; Stat. 1899, Chap. 450; Stat. 1906, Chaps. 258, 393; Stat. 1907, Chaps. 403, 584; Stat. 1908, Chaps. 447, 519; C. C. Chap. 51; Stat. 1909, Chaps. 209, 486, §§ 28, 31; Stat. 1911, Chaps. 169, 415, 453, 591; Stat. 1912, Chaps. 338, 339, 371, 558, 661; Stat. 1913, Chaps. 263, 432, 536, 554, 577, 680, 799; Stat. 1914, Chaps. 119, 128, 569, 641; Rev. Ord. 1914, Chap. 34; Gen. Stat. 1915, Chap. 176 and Spee. Stat., Chap. 91; Spec. Stat. 1917, Chaps. 318, 329; Spec. Stat. 1918, Chap. 155; Spec. Stat. 1919, Chap. 224; Stat. 1920, Chaps. 74, 312, 465; Stat. 1921, Chaps. 191, 407; Stat. 1922, Chap. 316; Stat. 1923, Chap. 489; Ord. 1924, Chap. 7; Stat. 1925, Chaps. 323, 325, 333.]

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A member of the Board of Street Commissioners is appointed each year by the Mayor to serve for three years from the first Monday in January. The Board has power to lay out, relocate, alter or discontinue highways in the City, to order specific repairs, also, with the approval of the Mayor, the construction of sewers and to take for the City any lands, water courses and ways deemed necessary for such construction. It levies the betterment assessments on estates benefited by the construction of new sewers and new or improved highways, also awards damages for takings of land, and grants to landowners permission to open private streets. In 1895 the duties of the Board of Survey were transferred to the

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