The New York herald., 1872-11-30
CHILDREN OF THE COMMUNITY.
Where and to What Extent
the Evil Exists.
w AT Err WA MT r ID.
Facts and Figures fol. n
ton.

~ Ogcu bthtculeulS COuCtIuluB Tue Sdultdry COuul
tton of the public schools in the city. These ru-
mOFs not unfrequently assumed the shape OF dis
tinct charges. and pointed out places where the
health OF the children attending these institutions
was seriously affected by the accumulated fifth In
the buildings. Now and then persons interested
In the system or public instruction took up the
cudgeis for the department, and the storm would
quietly simmer down. More often, however, q
number Of people belonging to the district com.
planned OF would go to the school in a body
and insist upon the use Of brooms and
water. That there has been good deal
Df truth In some OF the charges of uncleanllness
made there 10 no doubt but where the fault lies Is
dif1cult matter to discover. In some cases the
1anitorS are to blame in others the principals and
in good many the Commissioners. The jantors
are more responsible than any else except per-
haps, tho people, who appoint bad ones, from polit-
cal reasons. because they allow the nlth that is
now complained Of to amass from laziness They
are the authorities in the buildings and they often
use the power to the extent Of chastisng the chill
dren. Many OF them do not live in or near
the sch0ohouses, and among this number
there is a large proportion OF persons who spend
good part Of the day watching the clock
and wishing for the hour OF going home.
Where the principals Or those under them are the
cause OF the neglect the fault generally arises from
inexperience or cateiessness, and this the public
WOulu eNpeCI tuc Inspectors Dt dDIe
to remedy. In some instances OF course, the houses
are old and out Of repair that the keeping them
clean Is very difficult matter. The authorities
complain that there is
WANT OF FUNDS;
but water is not an expensive commodity, neither
are disinfectants, and bofh are sadly required IN
some OF the public schoolhouses In New York.
The Board OF Education has q sanitary inspector
attached to the department. There may or may
s.nn AA.cr.
Some people think the duty OF seeing that all public
institutions are conducted In q healthy manner
properly belongs to the Board Of Health, and the
money spent for special salaries could be much
better laid out on other branches of the edu-
cational system. or this, however, the Board
OF Education Is presumably the best judge, but the
results arrived at scarcely support the theory To
get at the root OF all this discussion and ind out
the exact state OF affairs Commissioner Barr yes
terday introduced q resolution at the meeting o.
the Board OF Health requiring that the City Sani.
tary Inspector be ordered by the Board to institute
q complete examination OF all the schoolhouses
and report to the Board upon the condition OF the
buildings. warm discussion followed the intro
ductton OF this resolution, and 1t was finally
agreed to make the examination, but upon the
condition that the Sanitary Inspector Of the Board
OF Educa ton should be requested to accompany
the Inspector Of the Board OF Health during his tour
ID uhIuly ueCesbdTy 10 pOIut OUT UHuC
aworse means OF getting at the truth could not be
adopted. 1t would plainly not be the interest of
the Educational Inspector, were he ever so immac-
ulate nm of1cer to take unusual pains to show the
Health Inspector where the defects were, even If
he knew, which it is likely he does not. The pres
ence OF the two officials and the business they were
engaged In In one institution would be quickly tel
egraphed to the others, and every thing would be
in order at the remaining places upon their arri-
val This will be the case even now, for the pub
licity given to the action OF the Board OF Health
yesterday will cause general cleaning up and by
the time the assistant health inspectors turn up at
the schoOhouses there will be no Objectionable
matter to discover. To make such an inspection
really effective the Board of Health or its officers
quietly and without previous notice. They would
in that way get at the bottom OF the evil, do
tial benefit to the thousands OF children who at
tend the schools. The greatest Inconvenience to
OF other houses. In cases these are built all
around them almost shutting OF the air and light.
dance il 2si children male and female. and the
whole number taught 60 labors under this Diff
most on the corner OF Baxter street.
TWO NARROW DoORwAYS LEAD
to the closets on the ground foor at the back OF
in That must e be no
inconvenisnt to the children but to the people
clean. can. The e'-',ss closets were not in very
bad condition yesterday I to 9,o,s look at, na but
way OF. The offensive gases, emitted from these
pest holes not only affect the children but the
minds. fs' Both are exposed to the stencil all the
time they are in the school, for the reason that
building, and the foul gases arising from them
mount up to the rear windows. and rush into the
class rooms every time one Of those windows or a
door is open TO make this deadly work more
sure, the walls are so constructed that the spaces
lett about the closets and behind the building act
a forcing pumps drive uD the destructive ele-
ment. The passages OF this house are narrow
admirable conveyance pipes for bad atmosphere
and II the children OF the district were not unus
s ny fney ceua nSt oI
lives The class rooms, though evidently Kept with
care, are gloomy dark and unin'yyiing; even the
ing from the general mould and could not bring
itself to send forth anything lively or cheerful In
all filed with children, and young lady was toll
ing diligently to open up to them the mysteries OF
more bright and attractive than the Others from
the number OF young and eager faces in IT, and the
contrast to the moist, dim cloud through which
they shone. a short distance from this house
age r%aay is Mnsre se Snd
female, and the whole number taught
1119 This building Is In Mott street, near Canal,
and is a great Improvement on It's neighbor. The
closets, Enough are not free from STENCIL paricu-
they are in an immensely better condition than
the other. The class rooms on the upper floors are
gil IN thorough Order and good deal OF tins seems
capable lady, interested in her duties. The re-
pairing OF the street now going on In front OF the
building makes quantity OF mud and dirt In the
passages, but the inhabitants OF the locality are
accustomed to these ingredients and do not object
TO their presence. on Second street. near avenue
q, is situated Primarf school No. 81. six
hundred and eighty children make the aver,
age attendance at this institution, and 1880
is the whole number taught The closets nt
this house, at least those used by the children, are
as bad, and perhaps something worse, than those
in school NO. 2. The neighborhood s German
one, and there ia m st decided German eflluva
nt the rear OF the house. They are
UNwHOLEsoME AND FOUL
and much In need Of disnectants. When these
vaults are so offensive now i'm cold weather one
shuddcrs to think what the children must suffer In
them during the Summer The Drlncipal class