The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1894-01-12
SUITABLE AND CONVENIENT OUT.
HOUSES.
ACT OF ASSEMBLY.

~ ACr to t<quire 8odr's of Scnol
Dire, tors and C)ntr5 lers to .o-
vide tor the better pro,cc tion OF the
health and morals Of school child.
ren in their respective school dis
tricts.
SECTION I. Be It enacted by the
Senate and House of Representatives
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
in General Assembly met, and it is
hereby enacted by the authority of the
same That boards Of school direc.
tors and controller. shalt provide suit
able and convenient water closets for
each of the schools under their official
| jurisdiction, not less than two for each
school or school building where both
sexes are in attendance, in their re-
spective school districts, with separate
means of access for each and unless
placed at remote distance one from
the other, the approaches or walks
thereto shall be separated by sub
stantial close fence not less than seven
feet in height and it shall be the duty
Of the directors or controllers to make
provision for keeping the water closets
in clean, comfortable, and healthful
condition.
Sec. q. Any failure on the part of
sci ool directors or controllers to COM
| ply with the provisions of this act
shall make them liable to be removed
from Office by the court Of quarter
sessions of the county in which the
schools are located, upon complaint
made to the court under oath or af
hrmation of not less than five taxable
citizens resident in the school district
in which the school is located.
Approved the 9th day Of June, A.
d. 1893.
RoBT. Z. PATTISoN.
The best law we know of demand
ing that outhouses conform to the re-
quirements of propriety and decency
is that of the State of New York. 1t
was passed by unanimous vote of
the Legislature at the urgent solicita-
tion Of Deputy Supt. Skinner. The
Pennsylvania bill was presented in the
Senate by Hon. Tohn II. Lands of
Lancaster county, and il he had done
nothing besides during the entire ses
sion, this would be more than enough
in the way of substantial good to the
State.
| The subject was presented as part
of very practical article on School
Architecture read before the Con-
vention OF Superintendents held in
February, 1891. by County Superin-
tendent Jos. S. Walton, of Chester
county. There is probably no better,
more conscientious, or more intelii.
gent Superintendent in the State, and
what he says upon "Outhouseo," re-
printed here from his paper, which
appears in the April number, 1891, of
The School Journal, should be pom
dered by superintends, teachers and
school directors in every part of Penn
sylvanla. We quote as follows:
''rhe marked disparity between the
average school house and It's out
house accommodations is so striking
that if man has planned and cared for
the one, surely Satan must have
planned and cared for the other.
The school system of this great
Commonwealth will never merit
the praise it receives until this crying
evil is removed. The tumble down,
wooden, sin-scratchcd, hell sodden
sheds that stagger and leer at you
from the rear of over fifty per cent. of
the school houses in this State, make
the heart sick when we think of the
injured health and blasted morals of
the boys and gir's therein educated.
Churches that hold their revival or
other religious meetings, refusing to
recognize this evil and to aid IN re-
moving it, are building upon false
foundations. Christian fathers and
mothers who pray for their children
and fail to investigate these evils are
simply beating the air. The school
man who fails to do his duty here
fails in the first principles of proper
education and the instructor who
neglects this matter of supreme impor-
tance has failed in the first duty Of
the true teacher. School Directors
who neglect to furnish and keep in re
pair the needed outhouses are respon-
slble for results. They have surely
made their little ones TO Offend
"The condition of public school
outhouses, their structure, location,
and equipment, ought to be inspected
at intervals by properly authorized
commission OF officer, and if net up
to the full standard required by decen
cy and the best law upon the subject
that can be framed, they should be
condemned without mercy. If that