New-York tribune., 1895-09-19

THE PREMIsEs-REPoRT BY COMMIT
TEE OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Parents Of children attending the public schoo' %
| uaL.oeld IN the recently annexed district. arc III
a greatly perturbed state OF mind over co'i0 ~
reports as to the safety OF the school ouhdins'
principal OF the school. William p McOar'"'' "'l'
several OF the local school authorities are pe'9'
tently assuring these parents that the ouiIu'"e
nerfectv safe while C. b. J. Snyder, the superih-
tendent OF School Buildings and experts i,o" q.
Department OF Buildings are equally ehipha"O
pronounclng parts OF the structure TO be uhS"i
At present eight hundred to one "o"'
pupils are attending the school
This school property Is OF several schooIs mo
came under the management OF the Board OF hdu-
cation when another slice OF Westchesue' -,
was annexed TO the city. Some eight schools Ia "
were included in this annexation, and much "'''e
was necessarily lost in making the cunlpe'Soi''
change from the old local to municipal rha"ase
men, Of the schools. a great many details hau ~
be arranged and In some cases tangie OF ieeA
complica tions had TO be Strengthened out
DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING.
The Wakefield school property is situated on 'ne
north side of Kossuth-st.. and about TWO D'oon'
west OF White Plains-ave. The lots nave Aio'''
age OF 80 feet and are only 100 feet deep the schoo
building running back nearly 10 the depth OIL '''
lots The schoolhouse is an attractive t"o-s'o''
and basement structure. built OF brlcK' VIII s'o
trimmings For a country school, as 1t was oe'o'e
Wakefield became annexed TO New-York' THIS was
decidedly pretentous. It was built In two sec''ois
the first half years ago. while the seSo'u "'
was completed only eight months ago
II is the new half that has been attracting the
attention Of the clty's building experts II coh-
tains a number OF classrooms and a large assem-
blv room on the second top floor. This Is where
the chief danger lies This room IS about "N"o
feet and Is designed to accommodate several nun
dred pupils az time. The north wall OF the az
sembly room has been thrown seriously ou' oi
plumb by the faulty construction OF the roof me
roof Is a gabed one. the beams running from eac"
OF the side walls up the rdge-pole. The extreme
ends Of these roof beams held together oy long
iron rods running the entire ceiling OF the
assembly ROOM But even this did not prevent the
roof from saggng and the beams from spreading
out 80 push the top of the north wall out
several inches beyond the plumb line
This is the condition of the wall to-day. Any one
standing outside the building that the top OF
the wall some forty feet from the ground, is lean
ing outward IN alarming fashion. and no one can
push il so far from The peTpendlcular that the
entire wall will fall to the ground; The appear
ent of School Buildings and the experts sent up Dy
the City Department Of Buildings that they promptly
condemned all that part OF the structure. But the
local school officials anxious to have the school
opened with the beginning Of the school yeaT ana
or have assemblies in the dangerous assembly
room.
FEARING THE WEIGHT OF SNOW.
II was the opinion OF the building experts that
the other classrooms in the school could be used
until cold weather set in.
"Why until cold weather sets in" asked Trb-
une reporter IF the classrooms safe in Sep
tember and October. what sudden climatic change
IS going 70 render them unsafe in November and
December?
Just ths." replied building expert While |
believe that the roo. support Itself under the
present conditions. would not guarantee that II
would support the additional weight Of fall OF
SNOW"
This answer led to further Inquiries. II the safety
Of roof under which nearly 1000 children
semble five times week can he so nicely cacu-
lated TO indicate its incapaciiy for carrying a
investigated Mr.. Snyder did investigate the roof,
found serious defects. He discovered that some
OF the piers in the cellar which formed the main
foundation for the support OF the roof. out or
plumb and that the framing Of the roof had not
been properly done. with the result that the roof
allowed 10 sag. and consequently had ten
dency 10 overthrow the north wall.
Mr.. Mccarthy, the principal or the school makes
light Of the report OF Mr.. Snyder. and says: There
are some little repairs necessary the building
is the with most school buildings OF the city
after years use but these repairs are OF com
parativey trfing nature"
In concluding his report. Mr.. SNYDER urges that
the lots in the of this school property be pur
chased. so that the premises can run through from
street to street.
REPORT TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
At the meeting OF the Board OF Education yester-
day afternoon the committee appointed 10 look into
the condition OF the Wakefield school reported that
the roof trusses above the assembly
weak. but that otherwise the building was not un-
safe. and that the assembly room not In
The committee asked for $3.50 to make the needed re
pairs and the Board OF Estimate was requested TO