The Portland daily press., 1885-12-17
MONUMENT STREET SCHOOL
HOUSE.
A Statement by Or. crandaIl.

To the Editor of the Press
Having been informed that shave caused all
the fuss and been the means of breaking up the
Monument street school," / desire to vindicate
my position in the matter In doing so shall
only relate plain simple facts which can be veri-
fed by an abundance of testimony from the best
men and women living in this portion of the city,
and trust that shall be able to show that what
ever agitation caused was not from evil motives
or ill-advised knowledge, but, instead desire to
prevent human suffering and stay the rayages OF
a disease which was fast desolating the homes of
the people. Now, sir, with your permission,
shall commence from the time of my first lnfor-
nation concerning the sanitary arrangements OF
the Monument street school house and then, In
rapid manner follow the subject up to the present
time.
My attention was first called to the sanitary con-
dition of said building by lady teacher miss
Minnie Hooper, from there who boarded in the
house where Ihavemy Offices stated to me over
and over again that the school building was in
bad condition, and that at times the doors arising
from the closets were most offensive. Later Mr..
Joseph Sterlings two boys both of whom attend
ed school in that building were stricken with the
most malignant diphtheria ever saw, and died.
of the disease must have been in the school build
ing and proceeded to give his reasons, and refer
red to its offensive condition. month or so
later, Mr.. Granville Staples two boys, attending
the same school, also came down with diphtheria
simultaneously, and the eldest one soon died.
There were no other cases in this part of the city
at that time. 1t was noticeable fact, too, that
his little daughter and young nurse girl both OF
whom had been at home all the time, did not have
the disease. 1t was limited to the boys who went
to school, About the same time Mr.. HorslinS
boy, Mr.. Sargent's boy, Mr.. Nanson's daughter,
and Mr.. Powers boy, all children from the same
school, were stricken with the same disease. Mr..
Powers boy had the diphtheria in severe putrid
form, and died in four days. Then enSued the
summer vacation and the disease died out, and
nothing more was heard of it among school chill
dren until after the schools re-Opened this tall.
Not long since, it reappeared among the same
have been five more cases and two deaths. Mrs.;
Sawyer's little girls were the first to succumb,
and then followed Mr. behring's , girl Mr.; Gu sie
children, if have been correctly informed, were
from the first floor of the building, and the larger
number of them from the rooms most exposed to
the water closets in the basement Here, them is
reference to twelve cases of diphtheria occurring
in children about the same age, all of them from
Last spring, after noted that the disease thus
occurred among school children belonging in
homes where the average sanitary conditions
were good, / turned my attention to the school
house. careful survey of affairs confirmed my
suspicious, for there were defects and odors
been made. found at that time that smells were
most offensive, ventilation was utterly imperfect,
that no dislnfectants were being used, and that
everything favored the ascent OF gases and odors
into the rooms above. then stated that be-
lieved that the prevailing diphtheria had its
origin in the school building. Later the Rev: MI.
noted its imperfect arrangements, talked about
Improvements which might be made, and both of
us left with the conviction that the sanitary ar
rangements were very bad. Considerable talk
about the bad condition of the school building
being made al that time, the defects referred to
were conceded by the authorities, and so called
improvements were attempted, which consisted of
putting in some pipes to serve as drafts and VEN
tilators. These supposed improvements did not,
however, improve things very much, for the rea-
son that a trap, which was probably broken at
: that time, was left in the ground and the bad
odOrS still came forth, as we shall further
Since the present excitement has developed,
new and additional facts have kept coming to
light, all of which prove the truth of the original
statement By Mr. Sterling, that diphthera was
probably caused by the bad sanitary arrange
Inents in the Monument street schoohouse. From
time to time the children Of Mr.. S. Barbour, Mr..
S. Thurston, Mr.. w. E. Bacon and Mrs l.. w.
Sawyer have complained to their parents about
the school rooms smelling bad. Mrs. Sawyer's
and Said, Mamma, the school room smelled
awfully bad today" Soon they began to grow
pale sickened with diphtheria, and one died
AS soon as the school was closed few days
ago. for the purpose of making inspection and
improvements, Mr.. BeaI, Mr.. Shaw, Capt. Bacon,
CAPT White, Mr.; Mogsntforts M. Pickett Mr.;
men in this part of the city, visited and
inspected the building and declared the place of
fensve and utterly unfit for school purposes. The
first day after the school closed Capt. Bacon went
into the Closets and while there placed lighted
match over one of the inletS leading from the ur-
nal into the sewer, and found that the draft was
upwards, and that gases and odors were issuing
therefrom. Two days ago, when Mr.. WeScott'S
workmen were digging out the pipes and traps
the first trap they came to was the one just under
the inlet that Capt Bacon tested. This one sir,
was found to be broken square in two at the point
of greatest curve. The broken edges of this trap
were corroded, showing that it had been broken a
long time, and that liquids had been leaking
through and leeching into the ground This brok-
en- trap was seen by Mr.. fash, Capt. Bacon, Mr..
myself and others, SO there is no mistake on that
point. Moreover, the above named gentlemen
and myself went through the rooms and tested the
ventilators. We found that the infant room on
the first floor was twenty feet square, and had
seating capacity f0rfifty children. This room was
in the corner, and upon testing it with the lighted
match we found that there was hardly any draft
Hence, it did not yentilate scarcely at ALL Some
explained the fact by saying that the 1ue was OBJ
structed, Others by claiming that it was owing to
the heayiness of the atmosphere; but in any
event the probabilities we've that it was sadly de-
fective, and doubtless had been so, no one knows
how long. Accordingly, forty or fifty small chill
dren have been crowded into a room twenty feet
square for five hours day, without proper yenti-
lation. Who wonders that they turn pale, sicken
and die from blood poisoning.
It seems to me that this plain statement of facts
which can be proven by all OF the respectable cit
liens above named, must be SUFFICIENT vindication
for ''the FUSS it is said have made about the
Monument street school house.
Very respectfully,
CHARLES r. CRANDALL