Excerpt from History of the Oranges to 1921, Reviewing the Rise, Development and Progress of an Influential Community, Vol. 3 Orange in 1920 has a population of 33,268, all comfortably housed and enjoying blessings not dreamed of by the forebears of the pioneer period. So rapid have the various inventions and improvements come to us, lessening the tedium of the daily routine of home and business, that they have been appropriated as a matter of course. Sanitation has made wonderful changes in the general health of the city. Freedom from diseases formerly appearing with seasonal regularity, such as chills and fever (malaria), typhus fever, small pox, etc., is one of the greatest blessings of the era. Evenly heated homes and office buildings in the winter months, now the rule, was a few generations ago a very rare exception. Truly we have come into the enjoyment of multitudinous blessings. We have been accustomed to the rapidly moving trolley car, the speeding automobile, the railroad train gliding along under its superb equipment, the handy telephone and various other devices evolved for our convenience. It is a goodly heritage and we are not insensible of the toil of the years which has brought it to us. The Commission form of government, adopted by the electorate in 1914, is in operation in 1920. William A. Lord, mayor, is Director of Public Affairs, and the other Commissioners are: Frank J. Murray, Director of Revenue and Finance: Isaac Shoenthal, Director of Public Safety; George Roach, Director of Streets and Public Improvements, and William F. Kearney, Director of Parks and Public Property. All the departments are in the City Hall, on Day street, with the exception of the Fire Department, which is occupying a central station at the corner of Lincoln and Central avenues. The assessed valuations of Orange in 1920 amount to $27,436,532 and the tax levy was $1,096,819.50, less $103,069.54 expected from revenue. The item for local purposes was $832,010.63, and for county and other demands, $264,808.87. Orange has the largest amount of property exempted from taxation in the Oranges, and is also smallest in area. This unfair condition is partly caused by the erection of all the hospitals and several other public enterprises in the city, and also there are four cemeteries wholly or partly within its jurisdiction. Distribution of the burden among the other municipalities seems the logical way of assisting the city, which now needs increased funds for the departmental activities. Main street, a source of worriment to the city officials for a score of years, because of its constant need of repair, has been relaid with wood block pavement and is giving very good service. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.