Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-09-24
UNHEALTHY SCHOOLS.
4 Report on the Condition of School
Buildings in "a Wards.
INSPECTOR LAYD0N'S OPINION.
Two New Smallpox Cases Found in an I'm.
expected Quarter.
CHOLERA HOSPITAL FINISHED TO-DAY

A report of the sanitary condition of the
public, private and parochial schools in the
"A wards of the city, comprising the East
End, West End, Lawrenceville and South
side. has been submitted to Chief Brown by
William Laydon, the plumbing inspector,
who has just finished thorough investigs-
tion. In connection with his report Mr.
Lsydon makes number of suggestions of a
technical character relative to the plumbing
and drainage of school buildings
As to the condition of the schools he says
his visit had been anticipated in a number
of places, the officers in charge having
cleaned up cellars, outhouses and back
yards to give them the best possible appear
ance. But even with the preparation he
found many of them in bad condition and
was astonished to find that those in charge
considered the premises perfectly healthy.
The inspector calls attention to the fact
that many of the schools have neglected to
connect their drains with the public sewers,
and recommends that, as measure for pub
lie health, such connections be made COM
pulsory. The report states that in some
schools the conveniences are inadequate for
private family, not to mention a collec-
tion of hundred or more children.
Damp Cellars Beneath Schools.
Attention is called to the condition of the
cellars in some of the schools, there appear
ing a number in the report marked damp,
dark, musty and piled with rubbish. A
recommendation for lighting, ventilating,
and cementing the floors of the cellars is
made.
''In several of the Southside schools"
the report says, ''the necessity for filters
has been recognized, and good filters for
drinking water are in use / would recon-
mend that all schools be compelled to filter
water for use of the children, particularly
those using Monongabela river water, as on,
the Southside, and those using well water,
as in number of schools in the East End
"As a result of my investigation am of
the opinion that inspections of this kind
should be made annually, with authority
given to the plumbing inspectors to compel
school officers to adopt and maintain proper
sanitary appliances
In summing up the list of public schools
inspected Mr.. Laydon calls particular at
tention to the building in the Twentieth
ward known as the Liberty school annex
and the Thirty-s1xth ward schools as being
in very bad condition, damp. badly venti-
lated and totally unfit for school purposes
Line otner PUBIC Scnools are reported as De-
ing in generally fair condition with the
exception of one or two of the outlying
schools where well water is used and sewers
are not used.
Some Schools in Excellent Condition.
The Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth,
Twenty-frst, Twenty-second and the other
schools with the exception of the Thirty
sixth ward schools are reported in excellent
sanitary condition.
OF the parochial schools the Ursuline
Academy is reported in extra fine condition.
The St. Peters, St Adelberts school and
ST. Johns parochial schools on the South
side are condemned as being in a Bad sanI-
tary condition, filthy, and in need OF imme-
diate attention.
The German Lutheran school in the Fif-
teenth ward, and the Pennsylvania Female
College, Twenty-second ward, are also con-
demned as being in bad condition. This is
particularly true of the Female College, |
where the sanitary arrangements are in |
ferior and not properly ventilated, allowing |
foul odors to escape continually. The sewer
system in the building is also condemned,
there being many defective joints, allowing !
the waste matter to escape on the cellar
floors and poisoning the atmosphere