The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-12-28
NINETEENTH Ward SCHOOLS.
Exhaustive Remarks of a Trustee on
f'"i1 Their Condition
THE QUESTION OF VENTILATION.
Where General Intelligence and Hardness
Are Most Needed

Where General intelligence and Handness
- Are Most Needed
.of the other schools in the city know nothing"
said Mr. Eugene H. Pomeroy. school trustee, yester-
day; "but with all those in the Nineteenth ward
presume to 10 intimately acquainted There ara
seven school buildings in tho ward. containing fifteen
departments of which seven are mixed primaries and
the remainder are male and female grammar schools.
No. II, in Forty-sccond street, il al old building.
with two adjoining buildings. rented for primary
purposes The janitor of that school, named keclan,
died last spring and Mrs. Keelan the widow. was APP
pointed in Ais place against the strenuous objections
of some of the trustees sraN tItNaHt
"What were the strenuous objections?" asked tho
reporter is- "ttf
.Why. my individual objection" continued Mr.
Pomeroy "was that women are not fitted to be JAM
tors of schools. There are hundred things happen
ing about school house which they cannot properly
handle k.
what class Of persons would you approve Of for
jnnitors p &@S
Il think jsnitor should be intelligent man and
mechanic. He is very important factor In the
economy Of q school. When pane of glass is blown
out and the wind is blowing in upon the children he
should be handy enough to take glue pot and
sheet Of paper and cover it mp at once II steam
pipo bursts he ought to be skful enough to fix IL on
thu moment. If panic takes place among the chill
drcn he should be foremost in aiding the principals
to allay the excitement If child fall and hurts it.
self he should be on the spot to attend to it. In
short. janitor. to my mind, ought to BIO man Of
all work and ready with resources of his own. in
place Of contenting himself with lighting nres
swecring yard and busting desks and windows. II
VIC had janjtors Of the kind desire expense Of at
Least $500 year mightbe saved to the ward; but now
whenever anything is knocked out Of repair me-
chanc has to be sent for and paid for his services.
"As it is how docs the janitrcss perform her
duticsY'
Since her appointment must say the janitress
has kept the school scrupulously clean but it is on
principle object to women filing the position"
"How about the other schooss"
AN UNHEALTHY SCHOOL.
primary No. 35, on First avenue. between Fifty
second and Fifty third streets, is building rented.
but originally built for school purposes. There Is
too much up aud down stairs work about it. 1t is
heated with stoves. This school is full, but can
hardly be called overcrowded. The janitress, Mrs.
Holly, keeps the rooms ia clean condition.
Urinary No 81 originally lager beer garden.
There was considerable objection to retaining it last
July both By the Board of Trustees and the Board Of
Education, but the actual necessity Of accommodate
ing the hundred children that there induced
the retaining Of it for ono year more. The water
closets arc situated in the cellar and ut times very
offensive, especially in the summer. Many Efforts
have been msie to remedy this evil but they havo
not proved entirely successful.
THE BOARD EDUcArToN BLAME.
.sWhat is the cause of the delay ia furnishing tho
school accommodation which appears SO badly
well that is rather long story. andmight be
densed by saying that after several years agitation OF
the subject tho Legislature finally passed an act
giving the commissioners OF the sinking Fund power
to set aside certain OF the city lots in the Nineteenth
net aside lots io6xIO6 at tho corner Of sxtyeg
street and Lexington the exact location where
school is specially needed That fall, through tho
efforts OF the trustees the Board of Apportionmcnt,
upon petition of citizens Of the Nineteenth ward in
creased the estimate for the Board OF Education
for the erection Of school building in
the Nineteenth ward. That money
down to the present numerous applications have been
made by the Board of Trustees for schools and they
have been invariably denied on tho grounds OF lack
OF means, while other wards have bcen pccuniarily
favored with sites and new buildings Within
month past the Board Of Education did appropriate
q sufhcient sum Of money to buy site and erect
building in East Forty-sixth street, but unfortu-
nately the owner OF the land we unable to mako
title and the whole thing fell through. At its meet
ing Yesterday the Board appropriated SOS 900 Of tho
funds OF 1873 for the purposes Of q site and new
building. and there are some assurances that unless
have relief in the Nineteenth ward next year. When
we have schools there win be no complaints
about overcrowding or i'll ventilation"
HOW VENTILATION COULD M IMPROVED
Mr.. John q. Donneily, another trustee, ADVANCED
an idea on the ventilation OF school buildings which
may be worthy of attention. He said that II two
fucs separated by iron partition were built in tho
pier walls of each school building. one set at either
end and projected from the cellar to the roof with
a stove or furnace in the basement whose smoke
would ASCEND through one hue while creating vol
ume OF heated air in the other. the draught upward
would crry with it all the impure mir Of the school
rooms and do away with the necessity Of having to
open tho windows in the middle OF winter.
Tin carb hpur n n
cord might be nxed and opened whenever
the occasion rsqarea Or or n IN fae ~. DC kept
phcre should be kept uniform. The science of ven
tiiation according to Mr.. Donnelly--who has msdo
several successful experiments with his plants to
keep constant current OF lighter air ascending to
the roof aud this current creates or less OF
aong up the auc and disspated on the outside OF tho
building. Mr.. Donnclly's plan can hardly be called
Original , as osn ae espl. esuc Sih but h5s
contends that when there is no hrc in
crate the cold air down the nuc or thcchin,-
ney and dispcrscs itself around the room Accord
ing TO his theory, ascending volume OF air is
stInty required, and this liz only secured ia the mat
ter Of ventilatna large building and certain
Der of floors by the process already mentioned. Mr..
Donnclly was asked. what class OF men. ia your
opinion, should perform the work Of ianitorsr
ut is my conviction lie replied, "that the
onght TO be mechanics, who do the hundred odd
jobs there to be done around big school house.
In place OF sending for outside help ON every
cason when nail has 20 be driven or pane of glass
put in"
rs there much complaining about tho lack of ac-
commodation In the srhools?
VERY much. indeed. right here. In this ward. The
worst of IL Is that the principals insist upon taking
in well dressed pupils though they come from
far away as Harlem and turning away those living
right In the ncighborood IL they don't happen to DO
up to the mark In point of apparel"
s.1 s,IIooLnooM.
DR.. Swrezy, OF Harlem. who happened TO be In Mr..
Donnely's office when the reporter was there, re-.
marked that lac had occasion to notice number OF
OF puctilnona among the children attending
the schools up In his ncighborhood caused by tho
dramghs to which they subjected in the
class rooms. The result. the other hand,
when there is little no ventilation and conso.
quent vitiation of the atmosphere, is q low
state of fever. which makes the pupils Istless aud
sversc 10 study He related the instance of school
In 12sth street between sixth and seventh avenues,
W here there was fireplace In tho schoolroom which
carried OF all the impurities Of the atmosphere in tho
room and where pupils and teachers never SUIT
bo. pioItccn mon ha nvn llod