Putnam patriot., 1913-10-10
THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING MONDAY
Light Vote. Business Meeting Lasts } Hours
Voted To Rasses Property Constitutional Amendment Voted Down

The annual town meeting was held Monday. The polls were open from 6 a. m. until 2p. m. F. w Seward was moderator. There were no contests for offices and the vote was light. The ballot box for the vote on the eonstitu- tional amendment was kept open un- uI 5 o'clock
 The business meeting was held at 7 o'clock and lasted until o'clock. It brought out good. sized gathering as there were one or two matters of con siderable interest notably whether or not the town would authorize revalu- alton of taxable property. There was considerable discussion of several mat ters which prolonged the meeting be- yend it's usual length. The matters were taken up and disposed of as fol- lows.
 1t was voted to authorize the select men to borrow such sum of money as may toe required to defray the eX penses of the town until the next an. nual meeting and give the note or notes of the town therefor.
 For the repair of highways s3,ooo was appropriated.
 In regard to the mntter of whether the town would authorize the construc. ton of cement bridges to replace small bridges which may need replacing in the near future Selectman Pierce ex- plained that the new state roads had caused new mode of travel in that heavy auto trucks were now going overland with heavy loads. The weight of these machines and the loads they carry are far in excess Of anything used in the past and that many of the small wooden bridges were giving way to the increased stiain. Repairing with wood did not meet the exigeucies of the case as they would continue to give way il thus re- paired. He stated that the expense of these bridges might be from $500 to $500 according to size but once con
 
 structed they would become perma- nent. The seleetmen had requested to be so authorized at n previous meet ing but it was voted down. He said that a certain bridge had broken down and the selectmen had not been noti- fled for some days after and during the interim the town was in danger of law suit If any vehicle had happened to go through the bridge. It was voted to authorize such construction in the futurei
 Voted thnt $500 be appropriated for the repair of bridges.
 Voted that s25,0o0 be appropriated for the public schools of the town in- cluding instruction in music and pur- chase of supplies. Charles l.. Torrey, secretary of the school board, stated that some six or eight thousand dollars of this amount would come back from the state, outside pupils, etc, which would bring the net cost to the tax payers considerable below the amount asked for. The expense of the new High school building increased the ex- penditures and created new fixed charges. He called attention to the re- port and stated that the coal for the coming winter was included in it, This double coal bill coming within one year brought up the expenditures and should be taken into considera- ton. He thought the schools were managed in an economical manner.
 For Memorial day sl25 was appro. priated.
 The sum of $500 was voted for the Day kimball hospital and SlO0 for the Woman's Board of the hospital.
 When the matter for an appropria- ton for the library was taken up w. S. Johnson requested information re. garding certain expenditures. In the absence of the treasurer ]. C. John. son, one of the trustees, explained that while only S56 appeared as being ex. pended for books in The French langu- age orders had been placed for more amounting to s95. He said the com mittee depiored the fact that the books had been so slow in arriving but they were ordered through a house in this country and by them from France and that when they arrived they had 10 be rebound. Other expenses he pointed out were eutaiied in removing from the old library rooms and the com mittee had been very careful not to ex- pend a cent of the sl 900 appropriation made at the last town meeting, that was made with the understanding that 1t was to be expended only in the new for these purposes. An ap- Of sl 900 was voted, sl50 Of which is to be used in buying books in the French language.
 An appropriation not to exceed s45 was made for the care of the old eeme- tery.
 Voted that s575.62 be appropriated to meet deficiency in building the new High school building. w. S. Johnson asked where the account was that the building committee were in- stFueted to bring in by the last town