Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-05-05
LAUDS VILLAGE IN
ANNUAL MESSAGE
President Francis Speir, of
South Orange Trustees, Also
Praises Administration.

With praise for the administration
as the keynote. Village President
! Francis Speir. of South Orange, deliv-
cred his annual message at the re-
organization meeting of the Village
| Board of Trustees last night. The
executive spoke of the many accom-
plishments of the. board during the
/ past year. adding that he was abso-
| Iutely certain that nothing would be
| left undone during the coming twelve
months. The public officials were
highly commended.
Never in the history of the board
have the finances of the village been
more successfully administered, and
more able" the president said. I'm
n time of financial stress the finance
committee has been ale to success
fully find a large floating indebted
ness against what seemed large
financial depression"
The committee on streets, of which
Trustee Frederick j. Lovatt is chair
man, was especially lauded for its
excellent work. 1.-THE street commit
tee has run our town so that people
can tell when they leave an adjourn
Ing municipality TO come to South
Orange" Mr.. Speir said.
Continuing he asserted: Done not
knowing the business methods intro
duced by this committee would find
it interesting to see the buks kept by
the department. 1t is possible to
ascertain for what purpose ever cent
was spent" He told of the work
done in caring for the streets at the
expense of property owners and said
that plans for street conservation
are already under way and that by
o. he rlaf mill n ~
even better condition than at present
Praise for Water Committee.
Complimenting the committee on
water, of which Trustee Edwin 8.
Allen is chairman, President Speir
said that the committee had success
fully engineered the completion of the
municipal water plant. The water,
he said, had been found to almost
bacteriologically pure, the pressure
much improved and the system of
analysis results admirable.
THE necessary legislation having
been obtained. the fire committee is
about to purchase the best and most
up-to-date apparatus for the fire de-
partment. Bids are to be advertised
for and we trust that in a short time
the service will be installed" the
president said. Trustee Harry J.
Schnell's work as chairman of the
fire committee was favorably COM
mented upon.
The police committee, Trustee Ed
ward A. Marks, chairman, has over
seen the work Of the police force and
increased that body into a speedy
corps, and satisfactory running is the
result, Mr.. Speer said. The execu-
told of the improvement to the vile
lage hall, resulting in additional Of
flee room. He spoke of the commit
tee on parks having assumed control
of Grove Park, and plans under way
for its preservation of beauty, and
made mention of the excellent work
of the public utility committee. The
committee on lamps, the new scayen-
ger committee, the Board of Health
and the Playground and Sinking Fund
commissions also came in for their
share of credit.
Regret for Death of Officials.
Regret was expressed by Mr.. Speir
at the death of Village Trustee Gra-
ham II. Brewer and Tax Collector
Joseph Arnold during the year.
Lauding the officials, the village
head said: ut is with great pleasure
and with my long personal acquain-
lance of the public officials of this
village that | am able to say that no
municipality is served by a higher
grade. Each takes pride in his work
and has but one thought-success of
our government.
Concluding, Mr.. Speir told of the
work leading up to an agreement with
the Lackawanna railroad for the
elimination of grade crossings.