The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-12-20
OUR SCHOOL BEE HIVES.
PRECA UrTONS ron SfTIyG THE
LIVES or orr LTTTLE ONES

two-thris are In the primary classes. Ten thou
sand more. Of more advanced age, are In attend
ance In tho evening schools. IL Ia surely OF tho
utmost importance that the lives - these little
ones should not nc exposed 10 the pcrils OF fire
and panic through any fault In the construction
Of the edinces In which they are gathered to-
Rether. Yet IL Is to be feared that there are
grave defects in many Of our common school
buildings which might, upon occasion. he pro-
ductivo u terrible results, aud to which the at
tcntion OF the proper authorities should at once
be directed with view to reform.
IL Is but a few years since that sudden panic
IN the Greenwicn avenue school resulted In the
death Of some forty children. a te lcher was
peizcd BY spasm or ut: sons Of the older girls
In her class called excliedly Tor "water" In n
second the thought flashed into tho minds OF
younger children, II water Is go urgently de-
manded. II must be to exiinguish Are" Many
voices cried at once, " Fre!" and panic was
started which the teachers could not check. As
the children rushed out on the IT itway, they
broke the banistcr rail, and. through the open-
ting thus made, Numbers were uu. he'd 10y their
terrified companions. uging down In the
etairwell, where they were either crushed or
sunocated Their panic also aided by the
fact that door through witch thev should have
passed bad been iuade TO SWING inward and re-
sisted tier efforts TO force their way through II.
The wall IT grief aud horror that arose from the
hearts OF the community over That terrible tatas-
trophe stimulated tbs Board OF Education OF
that day to reformatory action, at lea:t 80 fgr
pointed out to- them certain absolute require
ments. All the douis ~ school buildings we're gt
once changed So that tneN should swing outward.
The old form OF wide siair-wtll. nshtv urotect-
ed by a bauister or hand rail was modified. and
certain Instructions looking to prevcntiOn Of
panl's were issued to teachers. Then, 10 now
buildings were erected. or old ones improved
from ume to time. fre-proof stairwhys were
erected, which had but two iouts. that they
were too narrow, and b div modelled In short.
straight flights. instead OF winding regularly
from bottom to top. Beyond this complr1tiv. "
small amount 81 prOsTp-S u docs nut ablC
that any prlc ical lessons were learned from the
greenwich avenue disaster.
DIFFERENCES OF OPINION.
d. I. Stage. superintendent Of scnool Build
ines. saws. however q" do not wish To say That
any Of the school buildings now In use are bad ::
do not, indeed. thin, that there are any which
are tad, thit Is TO say, any which are dangerous
In case OF hre. In case OF panic. Of course there
would ALWAYS he liability ~ many being injured.
even II the panic wero In the Central Park or on
prairie. There are some people who would look
at them from a different standpoint. aud per-
Of opinion about that. ne about ventilation. /
don't believe there Is school buldins In the
d all its scholars 10 six minutes.
rhe superlnteudent Of No. ?, in Henry
street near Pike, tells me that they have made
the experiment there and can get all the chit
dren out IN four minutes. There are generally
fourth street near sixth avenue, has Ave out
let's; so has another IN Fifth street, near
First avenue. One Of these outlets In each
other Is the visitors door, neither ordinarily
used by the children, II T. true, hut both com
puncating by doors and through rooms with
the pass Re ways inside and cap bic OF being
used on emerzencies by direction Of the In
siructors. The building on Twentv-thnd sreet,
near Third avenue. has three outlets. These
three houses Will give an ldea Of our modern
buildings do not thak there Is public
sch dollhouse In New York, not even one on
TWENTY-FIVE foot lot. that has but one entrance
and where they ere ON wider lots they nave
three more. As for their internal INSTRUCTION,
i do not think that there IS any reasonable fault
to be found With them. me 81 hrs are all in
abort fix Is. with right angle turns rising FROM
square platforms, the safest ana best plan,
think for their const uctioD"
Mr.. Walter W. Adams. C1ty Superintendent Of
Buildings, says upon tnis question OF stairways:
"Nhei ever there are angles aud platforms IN
nlset OF stars, ,neie Is greet "a. ger III cas- OF
sceodins must be going In direction at
quontly, Jam Is exleedin-N hhcly 10 occur.
ana II one weak person Is thrown down, n the
skirt Of dress, or tue tan II stout coat gets
caught there the tran IS SPRING OF couise,
the frightened crowd behiui would continue TO
pile upon those IN tr Mt lie only safe tire
escupe stairs, or rather the only ones appro xi-
natey Re, are winding ones. o. thetu. AT
least, there can be no Jam, no tramplug 70
death and sun clting 4 the W a. iu a cglwi At
bn angle. Even II tney fall they Wili non on
down 70 the lotion, and, insiea oi = run
broken bones. VIII hc the wort To- fear. The
Ore escape stairs ia tue Academy Of Music are
models III TINS re poet.
SUPERINTENDENT RIDDLES ACTION.
Mr. II. Kiddie. CIV SUPERINTENDENT 4 schools
says; I'VE have always, IN our modern school,
buildings, two stone s'airwaSs IN the rear. one
and at least one wide wooden stairway IN the
front Of the building. In some Il the buildings
there is u stairway in each corner, ana au iude-
pendent one besides for tue primary depart
ment. The primary departments are never
higher up than one Fight from the level OF the
street; but in some cases, where they are very
much crowded, few classes Of the larger chit
sh hsRef r0' de Know a 1S ,'nI are u" ana
buildings thar are positively dangerous; but
there are some which NAV be improved. aud
doubtless VII be ss soon rs possible, since pu1lic
attention has been directed to this subject by
the friahuul calamity In brooklyn. nave JUST
drawn up series OF resolutions. to be presented
TO the board tomorrow, directing thorough
ins ction OF all the school buildings VITA "A
view to facilitating escape Ia cases # alarm
One thing upon wnlcn depend greatly
Is tue training We give to the childreu TO prevent
them from being alarmed and enable Their
teachers t. MAINTAIN command over them. For
instHnce, the six hundred boys IN No. IA in
Iwenty-seventh street, near fhird avenue, can
all be h-Heinblrd fion their cla-s rooms IA the
great play room ia one mtnute, ana can be
en- tied INTO the street IN another minute.
well IA actual nr. as IN eXpeiinrn al Grll. We
nave Three Or four alarms Of hrs every wear in
ecAonl buildings, vet the only ono which has
nren "ineu ~ great o. ~ SrArs was mat IN
the Eleventh Neru, .rOut two VeIts ago. nat
FIRE We started from the Earning of au aGj aceLt
time, when we children were not in the building.
The building Wa- entirely DESTROYED IN about an
hour There Is extremely ltile probability OF a
IRE taking pace III any oi the school nuidin
curing school hours ana gaining such he tdWay
before discovery - he 10 an dai g-rous .
Prot. scott, Tor many years a Principal N tho
common schools, say3: " empuod the old
school buildiuZ on TWcutietn street, th.n
known Nc. 49, OF l,cuJ OOys in IA Nciy little
over six minutes. without am pIult, aud Wl. h.
out ANYBODY being huft. once wien wc went
out the flames were breeding through thc Iri-
mary department. door. about the register as
the buY- were gOln. on aud were seen uy them (;
yet 50 lert.ct were the cruor and dist pine.
ana consequently so iree were tue scholars
frOfn alarm. nat one boy Insisted uuon 81 coping
10 ask the Ni.e-runcipAl wuat would be tue
lesson for tho next DAY.
Some anxlcty having been expressed In the
community dDnut tLe condition ct tho sCnDOl
lulGiA- 40. -, Ola Thirteenth street near Sixth
avenue ia which, over 1860 children are -nl-
sembled dufing the day, AMI nearly l20l pupils
al the evening High Scuool gather - ui-ht-i
reporter OF hE SIN PAID u n VISIT Of inspection
list evening. Ia the faOuL 81 the hulldiu-, fts-
INK " tue fourth Moor. Is wooden idrw ~,
1--WE and hall feet Ia width, with Two HIGHS and
inteiMcuiate platform between elca TWO lYu4s,
ana furnished with q yer. frail ornament /
banister, or hand rail-, which cluld be pushed
over Ia me strength of one man. At rear Oi
the huiidiu., enclosed hY trick ualls, ID a one
s'HIIWay, thrce feet wide, broken INTO H. nl,
like the one In from. 1nrre is also another
htoIe s,airNay. similarly enclosed, ffolu the
primary dep .rtmrnr. ana intended extensively
Tor is Dar. IAe building i h"atrd 10 -tcau,
from huier. lu t.C .Dur " ale a, nrlcA-LlOrrt,
ana cement cclied .lnr aud tnr gre. are IN
those uOlie cannot rise o We ten puui. rrs-