The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-08-01 00:00:00

I THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING.

The nasal monthly meeting of this Board was
held in the Commissioners Room, in the Corn
Exchange, on Monday evening last Mr. James
Mc Ewen presided; and there were also present
Messrs. Billingliam, Stringer, Wall, and Pres.
cott. Mr. Swalumn Smith, architect, was also
present.
Tee Clerk read the minutes of the I,et meet.
ing, which were confirmed on the motion of Mr.
Stringer, seconded by Mr. Billingham.

Thi; Chairman said the first lotion on the
agenda was one with reference to receiving the
draft form of contract for the erection of the
school.

The Clerk having read the draft of contract,
Mr. Prescott asked when it was drawn up, and
by whom, and was told that it was drawn up at
a meeting of the General Porposes Committee,
at which Mdjor Walker, Mr Billinghinn, and
Mr. Stringer were present.
Mr. Stringer asked wbat was the estimated
amount pr child, at which ths schools were to
be erected.

fhe therk sad it was stated in the minutes to
be about £lO per head.
Mr. Billinghtun asked whether any communi-
cation had been received by the t lerk of the
Board, with reference to the plans and specifica-
tions.

In reply, the Chairman said a letter had been
received, and it would come on for discussion
shortly, but ns it would not interfere with the
principle of the draft, he thought it would ad.
visable to adopt the latter before proceeding
further.

Mr. 131Hingham then proposed that the draft
of contract be received

This was seconded by Mr. Stringer, and car-
ried ; the only one who voted against it being
Mr. Prescott.

The Chairman said the next business was a
motion by Mr. Prescott to " enquire' why a
letter was not read by the Clerk of the Board,
which was received in May last, and which bad
reference to the price demanded by Parker for
giving up possession of the field required for the
site of the Board School.

The Chairman asked the Clerk if the letter
was not a private communication, and received a
reply in the affirmative.
Mr. Prescott said it was not. He then read
a letter from Messrs. Sanders and Hassell, of
Kidderminster, stating that Mr Parker would
not give up possession of the laud unless he re-
ceived £25 as compensation. Now, he (Mr.
Prescott) would ask—and in doing so lie consi-
dered himself perfectly justified—why that letter
was not read. There was a letter referring par-
ticularly to them, which was said by the Chair-
man to be a private letter.
The Chairman: Be good enough to say what
you have to say about it, as quickly asp
Mr. Presaott : I will. I say that letter ought
to have been read in May, or in the month of
June. I wish to know why it was not read.
Why was it kept back?
The Clerk replied that the letter in question
was not addressed to the Clerk of that Board.
it was addressed to a firm of solicitors of the
Board, and if he (the Clerk) had not happened
to be a wealthy of that firm he should not have
known anything about it. He, therefore, did
not think it right to read it at that Board, as he
asok, d noon it as a private communication. He
had only retained a letter which was never in-
tended to come before the meeting.
the Chairman hoped Mr. Prescott was now
satisfied.

Mr. Prescott said he had the right to reply,
Mr. Perry was present when he (Mr. Prescott)
asked the architect, Mr. Steelman Smith.
whether it was a fact that £5O was demanded,
and did not say a word. He never heard of
such a proceeding in his life. Did Ile (Mr.
Perry) mean to say that it was a matter to be
kept back from the Board, alien Mr. Stuitu was
staling that compensation would be demanded.
Meanwhile, there was a letter where £25 was
demanded.

The Chairman: That demand had nothing to
do with the Board.

Mr. Prescott: It had, because he might have
proposed that there should be another piece of
hind purchased. The explanation he demanded
of the Clerk was whether the latter, who served
the Board in two capacities, could keep back
letters or other documents having reference to
matters coucerniug the Board.
After some conversation, in which it was gene-
rally admitted that the letter in question was not
the proper, y of the Board,
Mr. Prescott moved •"f That in future all let-
ters and papers be brought to the Board."
The Chairman said he hardly knew what he
meant by the motion.
. . .

Mr. Prescott said that on two or three occa-
sions he had to give notice and ask the clerk if
he would. bring the letters clown there.

The Chairuran said they did not want a great
load of rubbish brought down there. If the
olerk was asked to bring a letter, he (the chair-
man) was sure he would briug it.

The Clerk said he had lAught down every
letter of the board which he could. The papers
of the Board were being constantly added to,
and if he brought the& all they uonld very
shortly cover that table. He brought down
everything that there was any probability of
being of use to the Board.
Mr. Prescott said the attention of the mem-
bers should be called to important docu.
ments. If letters were to be thrown down on
the tube and afterwards taken back, without a
word having been said as to their contents, it was
to no purpose. It was no use bringing them
there 111.13 throwing them on the table as if they
were a bundle of rubbish.

Mr. Perry replied that he always drew the at-
tention of the Board to letters of importance,
but the one spoken of was not addressed to the
Clerk of that Board.

Mr. Stringer said the Clerk's explanation %las
quite satisfactory.
Mr. Prescott admitted it was for that Board
Mr. Stringer replied that they did not want any
other board to be satisfied— (laughter).
The Chairman said the next business was No.
4 on the agenda.

Mr. Stringer said his attention w-as recently
called by a gentleman to the way in which the
schools at Holly Hall were warmed in the winter.
The same plan was employed at the Parsonage
in this town. The (Rev. Mr. Williams afforded
him an opportunity of inspecting them. He
asked him if these fire•places would give warmth
in every room. There was it was true, this ad,
vantage, mit of eight fire-places
.tou might re.
duce the fires to six instead of eight, and this
was a consideration when the present price of
fuel was looked at. The cheapest mode was to
have one furnace and one fire, from which the
rooms could be heated by hot water. Perhaps
some of the members of the Board would visit
Holly

The C..eirtuen said he should be very ulad to
go with Mr. Stringer, and see how the schools
wore warmed in Us Wilailit.

Mr. Smith (the architect) said the grate pro-
vided for in his plans was the Manchester grate,
which would warm the rooms thoroughly, as by
it the hot air was led all over the roof. It was
very much approved of by Government.
Mr. Billiugham said what they had to take
into consideration was economy, safety, and
health. He did not think there would be eco-
nomy, but very great danger to health by using
hot water to heat the looms with. Mr. Smith
knew very well that he objected to the heating
of the Board room at the Workhouse because he
did not want all the damp air thrown into the
I room. At the same time anything that would
be a saving of what was so precious at the pee-
-1 sent time was a matter for grave consideration,
and if there would be a saving of fuel they must
give. way:
. . .

- The alairman said the next business was the
consideration of a letter from the Education
Department s,s to the plans for the erection of
schools.

The letter stated that the plans were in ac-
cordance with their lordship's rules but there
appeared to be provision for an excessive num•
her of infants. The schools (according to the
plan) would accommodate 124 boys, 124 girls,
and 240 infants. The letter also said the design
was " expensive in its character,- and the writer
concluded by saying, " I am to enquire upon
what ground your Board have to provide for so
many as 488, as the present plan shows so large
a preponderance of accommodation for infanta ;"
and ho asked how the architect arrived at the
numbers in his reports.
Mr. Prescott said the plain inference to be
drawn from that letter was that the plans were
elaborate and extravagant as far as the plans
were concerned; and not only that, but they pro-
vided accommodation for 488 children, which
was 89 wore than the architect was asked to
make provision for. And putting the estimate as
low as £lO per child, it would be a very serious
item to the town : and when the whole number
over 311 (which was all they were ordered to
provide for) was taken into consideration it am-
ounted to a .ery large sum.

The Chairman said he understood from that
letter that the Education Department were not
willing that accommodation should be provided
for more than the number declared to be defi-
cient. That Board, looking to the future.
thought it would be advisable to provide for a
larger number than 311, and consequently came
to the determination that it would be better for
the interests of the township to provide for 400
children; but they did not contemplate so large
a number as 488. If the Government architect
had gone carefully into the thing, he had found
that Mr. Smith had rather overshot the mark.
The Government architect found that there was
accommodation for 240 infants. If that were so,
it would certainly entail more expense on the
township than it was intended to have expended.
He presumed that Mr. Smith had hadsonie com-
munication with the authorities, awl he ltlie
chairman) should like to hear what had been
said.

Mr Perry said the Department had possibly
calculated the class rooms, and Mr. Smith had
not.

Mr. Prescott said the great difference was in
the accommodation provided for the infants.
Mr. Perry said Mr. Smith had provided for 160
infants, independent of the class rooms.

Mr. Smith said with regard to the boys and
girls' rooms the Government architect was in
error. lie (Mr. Smith) had calculated to an
inch.

Mr. Prescott asked Mr. Smith if he had not
intended to make provision for 160 boys—
Mr. Billingbani said he should like Mr. Smith
to go on with his explanation, and Mr. Prescott
sat down.

Mr. Smith said it was always considered hest
to have the infants in one room, because of the
noise made by the clapping of hands, singing,
&c., and in that case be had provided for the in-
fants in that one room. Children, too, were
sometimes left in the school by parents who were
obliged to go to work, and he had provided for
all such children to be left in one room. The
other class room was intended as an occasional
toom ; but it was quite clear that Government
would not allow this additional class room. It
was merely a question of numbers. He had
made his calculations come to exactly the same
as the architect of the Department if be included
the class rooms.

The Chairman said he agreed to that.
Mr. Smith said he should lessen the class
rooms

_
Mr. Prescott said these words were very severe
words, coming from a Government Department
like that—" The design is rather expansive in its
ch aacter ''—to go to a body of ratepayers. They
would most likely look upon it as needlessly ex-
travagant. Here were pauper children— that
was the way to look at it—and they were going
td put up a building for their accommodatiOn
which was to exceed any building of the kind in
the neighbourhood. Let them look at St. John's
and other schools, and profit by the experience
of gentlemen who have seen these things.
Mr. Dillingham asked the architect whether
the building which he had submitted to them
in his plan would be sufficient io accommodate
over 488 children; because, if that was the case,
then he had acted contrary to his orders from
them.

'rhe Chairman said the explanation was this.
The class rooms had been calculated by the
Education Departwent, and they were not calcu
lated by Mr. Smalinan Smith.

Mr. BiHingham said there was provision made
for 88 more than the Board bad ever intended.
Mr. Smith said with reference to the accom•
modation for 80 infants extra, he had simply
made provision for the proper number; but it
seemed the class rooms bad been included in the
calculations made by the Department. He did
not think the class rooms should have been in-
cluded._

Mr. Prescott asked whether supposing the
architect of the Education Department had not
objected to the plans, the ratepayers would have
been paying a Board rate for 488 children, when
they hid only ordered it for 400.

The Chairman: I don't think that is a ques-
tion for us.

Mr. Prescott: Should we have been paying
upon the whole of the 488.
The Clerk said tbe figures should have been
480. Mr. Smith was at issue with the Govern-
ment about the two extra "fours.'

_
The Chairman said the matter they had to
discuss was the best mode they had to adopt for
the accommodation in the schools.
Mr. Prescott: 311; you can't do better.

The Chairman said their architect's plans were
in accordance with their lordship's rules. The
only thing they had to enquire upon was on what
grounds the Board had provided for so large a
number as 488, and why there was so large a
preponderance of accommodation for infants.
They did not say that 400 was too many. At the
same ti.ne 311 was the number they were ordered
to provide for. If the Department thought the
Board was not justified in providing for so large
a number as 400, then the plans would have to
be reduced. He should like to ask Mr. Smith
why the design was " rather expensive in its
character," because ho understood from Mr.
Smith that the design was the most economical
he could suggest.
Mr. Smith said he was instructed to have stone
dressings, and they were expensive.
Mr. Prescott said that during a recent discus-
sion in the House of Commons it was stated that
schoA boards had no right to provide for more
than they were ordered to do by the Depart.
meta.

The Chairman said that was a case in which
a Board had provided accommodation without
having asked the consent of the Department.
That did not apply in the present instance.
The Clerk asked how their lordships had ar-
rived at the numbers mentioned in the report.
He should be glad if he could have the infor-
mation to lay before the Board on the 29th
inst.

- Mr. Smith said the architect was quite right
about the size of the class rooms, he simply did
away with the class rpoms.
I.lr. Wall asked the Chairman if his attention
had been called to account of the average of at-
tendances of children at the Board Schools. He
bad been told by Mr. Williams that the average
attendance was 30 per cent.
The Chairman said if that were Co it would be
useless to provide for more than 311 children.
He thought it would be best to leave it to the
General Purposes Committee.
Mr. Prescott said be was not going to give his
power away to any committee. That was a
question of expenditure, and it ought to come
before the whole board.

Mr. Perry reniinde-d—liim that the committee
could only recommend it to the Board.
The Chairman bail he would propoae that they
meet again that day fortnight.