St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-21


favor OF Ruttan apparatus
In the jackson school two hard coal burn.
Ing furnaces were used to heat four rooms
during the winter OF 1888 80. The cost Of
dred and ten dollars and forty centsSl10.40)
per room, or four hundred and f0rty-One dol
lars and sixty cents (SI4l.6 0) for the four
rooms, while Ruttan apparatus in the same
building warmed and ventilated six rooms
during same time at Il cost of forty-two dol
lars and thirteen cents (S42.13) per room.
or two hundred and flfty-two dollars and
seventy eight cents (S252.7s) for six
rooms. IL will thus be seen that in Jack.
son school Ruttan apparatus warmed and
ventilated six rooms for nearly two hundred
dollars (S2D0.0D) less than hard coal furnaces
cost for tuel in four rooms of same building,
and during the winter of lSS7-SS the differ
ence was still greater.
During the vacation of schools in the win
ter OF 1888, the real estate committee, after
inspecting the various schools, found it nee
eSSary TO make Improvements In the ventila-
ton and closets of several of the old build
ings. A very careful investigation was
made of the old furnaces. and it was found
necessary 10 either put III new furnaces in
I several OF the schools or make extensive re-
pairs in the old ones. 1t was then found
that in the schools containing Ruttdn ap-
paratus that not only no repairs were needed
IN these schools, but IL had not cost the
Board of Education one cent for repairs on
any Ruttan apparatus; consequently the
real estate committee recommended, and the
board voted unanimously TO place the Ruttah
apparatus in the Adams, Garfield, Neill, Rice
and the six old rooms of the Monroe schools
This work was done during the summer of
1883, and not only was the heating of these
rooms made nearly perfect, but the
buildings were well ventilated for
the first time since they were built;
and in these five buildings the fuel bill was
reduced in one winter from four thousand
nine hundred and sixtY-two dollars and sixty
cents (S4, 962;6 SOY, to two thousand four hun
dred and twelve dollars and thirty-six cents
IS, 412.36). showing that kuttan apparatus
had saved the taxpayer of st. Paul in one
winter in five schools containing forty-two
rooms two thousand five hundred and fifty
dollars and twenty-four cents (S2,55021),
or over sixty dollars (S60) per room in fuel.
Does this not show that the Ruttan system
was cheaper for the taxpayer, and bettered
the condition of over two thousand school
children?. We could show the same rela.
tive saving i'll several more of the st.
Paul schools but as the above is a fair and
clear statement of the saving that has been
made by using the Ruttan System, we deem
this sufficient contradiction of the alleged
extravaganza In adopting the Ruttan system
III the ST. Paul public schools.
We will now take up the matter of Smead
Dry Closet System. The Smead Dry Closet
System is the result of many years expert
ments, and the expenditure of q good many
thousand dollars. They were invented and
patented by Col. Isaac ID Smead, of Toledo,
Ohio, and were first put into school build
ing in Toledo, in the fall of 1884, as an ex-
pertinent From the first day they were put
in use in this school building they were
found to be grand success. 1t should be re-
membered that Mr.. Smead was the first and
only man that ever invented dry closet sys-
tenn that would accomplish ali that was
claimed for it, and his patents OH the dry
closets have recently been sustained by the
United states circuit court
The dry closets are much cheaper to put
in than any system of water closets that
60 ficf 10 nt
quire any pipes, plumbing or sewers: there
fore no repairs or water tax. They on y reed
current OF air to pass through them to
make them work to perfection. There being
no sewers there is no possible danger of
sewer gas, by which SO many children and
others have lost their lives. During the first
six months that the Smead Dry Closets were
in Use in the Toledo school building there
were more than twenty-five committees from
as many Boards of Education, from eight
different states visited Toledo to inspect
them. These committees were composed of
over l25 gentlemen, quite number of them
health officers of their respective
places These gentlemen after an investi-
CATION, expressed themselves as thoroughly
satisfied with the marvellous working of the
dry closets, and the boards of education rep
resented by the various committees all
adopted the dry closets, and they are still IN
use in these places. and work perfectly salts
factorily. 1t is fact that remains undis-
single case of sickness of pupil or teacher
has ever been attributed to the dry closets in
any of the $3.50 school buildings in the
United States in which the dry closets are in
USE 1t has been demonstrated many times
that if an odor should get into any of the
school rooms from the closets that there is
nothing harmful in it. There are no
disease germs in the odors from a Smead
dry closet while the odors from water closets
contain disease germs of the most deadly
kind. 1t is well known that sewer gas can
and does get into buildings through water
closets, and this sewer gas goes on for weeks
at time doing its deadly work. 1t is then
found, when too late, that it was the deadly
sewer gas. Not SO with the Smead dry
closets. If, by any carelessness OH the part
of the janitor Cor by any righteousness, as
was the case in the Cleveland school build
ing of this city few weeks ago, by an out
sider) an odor from the dry closets should be
perceptible in the school rooms. it would be
detected in an instant and the remedy az
piled, and within five minutes all odors
would be gone. The instructions for operat-
ing the Smead dry closets are very
simply and easily understood, and it
is just as impossible to get back draft
into school room from the dry closets when
instructions are followed as it is for water
to run up hill. And there never has been an
odor in single school room IN any of the
school buildings of st. Paul containing the
Smead dry closets during school hours, when
instructions were followed, and there would
not have been any in the Cleveland school
on the Saturday mentioned in the report of
the committee On retrenchment if the JAM
tor of that BUILDING had not been instructed
to disObey his instructions given by u.s.
Such instructions were given the janitor by a
man not connected with the Board of Educa-
ton, who wanted to find fault with the dry
closet system and took this method of do
ing it.
In the report of the Committee on Re-
trenchment they say that the first school
visited was the cleveland. and they found
the atmosphere in the various school room
to be almost intolerable; the odors arising
from the closets were noticeable to a con-
siderable extent. etc. Now, what are the
facts? On Saturday, Oct 18th, a bad rainy
day, three gentlemen, not in any way con-
nected with the Board of Education of st.
Cleveland school about 8 or 10 o'clock in
the morning. The building was closed, not
an air duct open and no fire in the heaters
to make the dry closets perform their proper
work. The three gentlemen went in and
found the janitor just ready to build fire in
the ventilatlng heater, when one of the
gentlemen told the janitor not to build q fire
in the heater. The jantor said it was his
duty and II was necessary to do so, but they
would not let him do it. One OF the gentle
men went out to the nearest telephone and
telephoned Mr.. Heinemann to come over.
Mr.. Heinemann came over, and by that time
there was a little odor from one of the clos
cts. while the other three sets of closets were
working nicely. Mr.. Heinemann returned to
town and got Mr.. Croonquist Zone of the
Committee on RetrenchmenD. Mr.. Kuhles
and Mr.. Wright, members of the Board to go
to the building. During all this time it was
rainy, muggy day. the building closed so
the closets. could get no air and no fire in
ventilating heater, which is absolutely neces-
sary OH this kind OF day. was in st. Paul
on the same day, and Mr.. Croonquist sent me
word to be at the Cleveland school at
o'clock p. m. l did not get his message
until nearly 8 P; m, but ! Immediately
got there the jaditor told me the gentlemen
had just left the building, not having been
gone to exceed ten minutes. When got
there, the ianitor told me his ventilating heat
er had been running fifteen minutes, and
there was not the slightest odor in the build
ing from the closets. Two of the gentlemen
who were with Mr.. Heinemann told me that,
while the air was not good under the circum-
stances yet it would not have happened had
the janitor been allowed to follow his instruc-
tons II should be remembered that the jan
itor was in no way to blame, for everything
would have been all right il they had let him
alone. The reader should also remember that