The New York herald., 1879-01-04
Fine Looking Buildings with but Poor
Accommodations.
FACTS ADMITTED By THE TRUSTEES.
Project for Appointing School Commissioners
from Each District.

soon be replaced by new building now i'll course of
erection. The school attendance is large and the
primaries arc crowded People insist upon sending
very small children to the schools. under four
years age and the principals feel powerless to
sist their supplcatons the children in such
are sent moro with the motive of placing them out
of harms way and allowing the mothers
to do their work than with any thought
that they should acquire much elementary knowl-
edge The trustees of the ward George D. Rhoades
chairman: John Powers, John G. Limbeck DIR. S.
Gregor and Joseph wangler. Calling on Mr.. Rhcades
yesterday and asking him whether recent article
that appeared i'll the HERALD described the condition
of certain schools the ward correctly the reporter
received that there was good deal Of truth
in it.
"There is one fault" said Mr. Rhoades. "in all our
schools. that they have not sufficient vacant space
around them and are henlmed in and cut off from
proper degree of light ventilation and yard room.
1t is too late now. suppose. under the cir
cumstances. to correct the evil. but the
schools of tho future should be constructed
with view to securing this much needed want.
Grammar School No. Is is an old building, horribly
ont of repair. and is greatly overcrowded No. 80 is
to be removed to building. right adjoining.
No. SO is new building but ovcrcrowded and the
class rooms not adequately ventilated There is
great lack of proper furniture in No. l5 and the
'How often do you visit the schools?
II go through all the schools fortnight, bat
lam in some school almost every day"
"How long was it before the report referred to.
concerning schools Nos. SO and 81, appeared that
You visited those schools?"
''I was there about two days before
''Did the state of the schools then strike you as
being faithfully portrayed in what was subsequently
ROOM FOR REFORM
'Not quite l admit that close. muggy day
the smells from the closets in the rear of tho build
ing ntoerable but these closets do not belong
the school but to the five tenement houses Eighth
street. and are of the old fashioned kind without
any drainage whatever. They stand in row at tho
back of the tenement house lots and within five
feet Of the wall of the school house at the
have to be kept closed on account Of the
stencil arising from the closets. If the school
100 foot lot the wall would have been thirty feet
removed from this pestlent nuisance and the accom-
like to vacant lot at each side for ventilation
and safety. Over two years ago planning MILL which
came plumb up to the side of the former school
house, caught fire. and the school completely
burned out; but it was fortunately time and
the children were out at play. That is one of the
dangers to be avoided by isolatng the school houses
"Do you believe the janitors fully perform their
duties and earn the money they receiver"
'wel you see. the janiors appointed for life,
and when they are long time in they are apt to get
lazy and indifferent. The anitor of No. Sc gets
year. with free house rent. coal and gas. and has
nothing to buy but clothes and provisions. Now
claim he ought to spend out of that amount $3.50
year for the hire of help sweep and scrub keep
their work is something harder than il is in the
mer. for they have to get up early and make the
fires
.'what about this charge of the janitor of No. SO
sweeping out at one o'clock and overwhelming the
children with clouds OF dust p
"Our rule is that they must dust and sweep after
every school session. about three O'Clock, not ut
O'Clock. and the closets ought to be flushed after
every This we intend to have carried out in
future as sanitary precaution.
HAS any improved system of ventilation been in
troduced in the schools 2?
1--WE adopted q No. Is of patent tin
radiator placed the base of the walls through
which the cold air is drawn but the defect in it is
that it makes the rather cooler than is
Portable"
SEES NOTHING PARTICULARLY WRONG
Mr. John c. Limbeck. another trustee. said in
ply to the request for his opinion the condition of
the schoois:-"The schools are overcrowded; but it
IL the same thing all round
Don't you think the ventilation is defcctive?'
II think III all these matters of drainage, heating
responsible. He is paid to look after such matters
and the trustees not nor have they the power to
remedy the evils complained Of. We can't contract
for any job to be done on schoohouse for more
than $50 at any time. As for No. SO. which this
report condemns. it is brand building. with all
the modern improvements. and what more do people
want?
'How long it before the report appeared that
you visited the schools?'
~ visited them before and after the article
written end found the schools all right
'How often do you visit them now?
"Well. some of us arc all the time going through
them. My visits not as regular of the
rest. but 1 keep posted about how they
Don't you suppose the schools could be made bet
ter tor the children than they are?"
"l do but to effect that object the Commissioners
of the Board of Education should be appointed from
the different school districts. We have attendance
of eight thousand children year and the Sew
enteenth ward as many more. and We have
missioner the Board. IT we had he could tell
them what the wants of the ward There Is
ward up that has nine commissioners, and it
looked after in consequence 1t is safe to say that
fifteen commissioners live in school district
More school buildings are wanted and money to build
them. AZ ri ia
they never yet complained of what was spent on cdu
eating the children, but the Board of Estimate and
Apportionment won't let us have it,"
Are the Janitors. in your opinion, eiicient?"
''The jantors may bc a little ncglectful, though
these janitors Murdoch and Wade. of No. 30 and
No. -. and told them they had better keep things
slicker than they were. and they did after that
EVERYTHING CoUT.EUH ROSE.
Dr. s. Crcgar another OF the trustees. Ill comment
ing on the report concerning the evil condition of tho
schools. exclaimed, THAT is simply ridicuousl Ii
you visited the schools last week wncn the
children had gone home for vacation you might
have found them i'll Indifferent state. the
jantors concluded not to clean till just before the
schools opened again. We arc adopting rule now
however, which be In force for the future that
the janitors must clean up all through the year.
whether school keeps or not. In regard to flushing
the closets talked with Trade the janor. and he
says he does it twice day. IL he did do this the
principal would call the attention of the trustees to
the matter. This subject has been exaggerated
much that went through to tor myself, and
failed to observe many points for criticism"
'Did you visit the schools before you the crit
cismW
II was there few days previous, before Christ
mas, and found everything acceptable but there
were few things would have altered in the coal
and lumber cellars, though they have little TO do
with the schools. Where the Janitors lax we
bound to the laxity corrected. The ventila-
ton is not perfect. 1t should not be of that Kind
that exposes the children to the cold The trouble
IL with the teachers. VINO insist upon heating the
rooms to suit themselves. One OF them may like
the thermometer at cghty-hvc because her blood is
cold and another may prefer 1t at sixty five because
her circulation is warm. Mr. Merritt, principal of
NJ "a I'm nfsrtn M
tlation, and is Mr.. Dubois of No &C."
How often do you visit the schoosp'
''rhe trustees visit the schools weekly as n rule;
some 20 almost every day. and L. myself, 20 through
them about every other day"
CHILDREN.
Mr. John Powers. another of the Ave trustees, adj
dressing himself TO the criticism the closet abom-
nations, said TT may be bad, but you cant have
IL much better, for any one who knows the hab It's
of children. especially OK the large class that attend
the public schools, must be aware tnat they abso-
lutey delight in doing all sorts of filthy tricks