The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1893-11-10
GROSSLY rISREPSENTED.

column article signed by "CitiZen"
and headed ''Ti mely Suggestions, and
written in highly colored and sensa-
tional style, the endeavor of the writ
er being to show that the Normal
school building, with the new wings,
is fire TRAP" resting on "Vesuvius
of cracked grinning and and fire split
ting furnaces" According to the
writer the building is so planned and
built that the hundreds of students
must jump from windows twenty feet
high or burn.
A visit to the school building this
morning showed us the utter falsity
of each and every statement in the ar
ticle referred to, as it would to anyone
who would visit the building and ask
a few questions of the members of the
faculty. So far as the building being
a "tire trap" is concerned, nothing
could be further from the truth than
this statement. There is probably no
public building in the state that Will
be better arranged for the quick exit
of the occupants than this building
will be when it is completed.
In the first place the children and
the whole model school is located on
the first floor, and if they were unable
to escape from the half dozen or more
wide doorways of the first floor, they
could step from many of the windows
to the ground without so much as a
crumpled ribbon to speak for the eX-
ertion. None but the mature, self
controlled students will be seated in
the assembly room On the second floor.
Let an alarm of fire be given during
the short time each day that this is
occupied, and two sets of wide folding
doors would be thrown open and the
lines would march down one flight of
wide, easy stairs to the ground floor.
The writer says that from the ''as-
sembly room to the open air the pas
sage-way is perfect labyrinth of it.
self, which nothing but a creased
snake could follow under any circum-
stances" The Trainer of this must be
lamentably ignorant of the building
or else a monumental falsifer who
seeks to in still alarm in the minds OF
people out of pure righteousness. The
fact is that from Front street at the
conner of Jackson to the assembly
room in the north wing of the build
ing there will be but one turn, and
that will be at the foot of the wide
staircase on the fir t floor, and wher.
ever person may turn there he will
find an exit. This hallway will be
well lighted.
The present stairways, it has been
often repeated, are to be taken out as
soon as the wings can be occupied and
are to be replaced by broad stairways.
The hall space is to be increased. The
stairWays will lead down on each
wing, and if one is shut off by fire, an
other can be used. But besides these
exits, two wide fire escapes are to be
placed on the outside of each wing,
which of themselves quickly empty the
entire building. There will be no Oc-
casion for 1000 children to pour like a
cascade out Of the second story win
doWs TO the frozen ground" as the
writer states.
The new furnaces are of the most
improved kind and the old ones have
been thoroughly overhauled. They
are not cracked" or "tire-splitting"
and there is absolutely no danger to
be feared from them. Any fire that
might start would be caused by other
agencies. An expert has superintend-
ed the placing of the furnaces and all
that human forethought cOule devise
has been done to make the building
safe, as one cannot fail to see by a per-
sonal and intelligent examination.
The article resembles hObgoblin
stories written to frighten children
and superstitious nurses. 1t bears
the earmarks of member of the Re-
uieac staff, but whoever it was he wise
ly chose to conceal his ideD ii y. prob
ably either to add weight to the arti-
Gle or to avoid becoming the butt of
city's ridicule. But the editor who
would allow such an article to appear
in his paper deserves even
greater censure than the writer, The
article receiving editorial sanction,
will receive more or less credence and
the school and city damaged in por-
portion to the extent to which the
paper has credit. There is no insti-
tuition in Mankatn that is of so much
value to the city as whole as the
Normal school. -Four hundred out
side students, expanding $500 each,
leave S80,000in circulation annually
among all classes of people If no more
than ten are scared away by such a
foolish and inexcusable article as the