The times., 1899-03-22

door which closes upon this jamb is "a
inches thick, and to make IL fit into the
opening the edges have been rounded off
half an inch. In the first place the door
should have been of the same thickness
as the jamb, and In the second place the
edges which have been rounded off look as
though the work was done with an ordi-
nary cleaver. a door of the same kind is
found on the other side OF the building,
which makes it appear that the defects
were symmehically made on each side of
the structure.
Workmanship Bad.
The reporter, accompanied by the car
penter, then left the basement and viewed
the wainscoting along the slate stairways
leading to the first and second floors. At
the top OF one of these stairways the
wainscoting was fully one-half an inch
back of its proper position along the
washboard, and strips had been fitted into
the opening to hide the crack. These
strips are known to carpenters as blind
dutchmen." and the never used in good
work. The Office of these strips is TO fill
up bad carpenter work. Long, dark streaks
were found on the plaster below the tall
windows, showing that water had leaked
into the building from the windows.
streaks of this kind were found in rooms
on the top floor.
The flooring on the second floor is fully
an inch below the surface of the top steps
on either side. child tripping on either
of these top steps, which might easily
happen. as the children file out of their
rooms, would tumble headlong down the
steps. The iron fancy work surmounting
the coping on top of the separating wall
around which the stairways wind. is
broken. This is a peculiar feature as the
s-s., tr hrNrn and
the reach of scholars who might break
il off.
Rriclwork Loosely Done.
In the rooms of the fifth, sixth, and
seventh grades on the second floor the
plaster barely covers the brickwork of the
dividing walls, and looks as though it
were done with a whitewash brush. AS
matter of fact, it is no exaggeration to
state that every brick in these walls may
be counted. the brickwork being rough and
the plaster so thin that every prominence
can be seen twenty feet away. In some
of the cloakrooms on this floor the plaster
is cracked where the lathwork joins. A
long row of rusty-colored dots show where
the lathnails were driven. This rust is
visible all over the building and long yell
low streaks show where rust from iron
girders has worked its way through the
ceiling. No beads were nailed around any
of the transoms over the windows in the
second floor. These beads are narrow
strips Of molding and are intended to
shut out the cold which might work its
way around the transoms. The total alb
sence OF these beads permits the air to
pour into the room, and in the winter,
when the thermometer is nearly always
around the freezing point, it is no wonder
that draughts give the children colds and
cause parents to seek physicians. In some
rooms scholars sitting in their seats can
look through long erevices under the
window sils and see the buildings and
trees without. The draughts which pour
through these openings pass directly over
the heads Of the scholars, and are even
more dangerous than the air currents
which enter around the transoms.
The Ceilings n BOtch.
The ceilings on the second floor are of
the metal plate variety. They are simply
nailed to the beams and a visit to the at
tic, which is comparatively dark discloses
long openings at the tapping of the plates
where the light streams up from below.
In ike manner the heat which should
warm the rooms for the comfort of the
pupils pours through these openings and
enters the attic, whence it escapes to the
exterior of the building without having
done much good. 1t is evident that with SO
much wasted warmth many more tons OF
coal are burned annually than normal con-
ditions and good ceilings would warrant
Last winter many school buildings were
forced to close their doors because of lack
of coal 1t is easy to see how the coal
supplied to such defective buildings could
be burned up without effect and in abnor-
NAL quantities. Such ceilings cost the Dis
trict more in coal in several years than
the ceilings themselves would cost If prop
eriy made, and taxpayers are asked to pay
Tor the extra coal while parents are forced
to foot the doctor bills.
The Painting Half Done.
In the room occupied by the sixth grade
scholars on the second floor window shut
tiers were found that in parts had not been
painted at all. The bare wood shows and
the place where the painters left off is
easily visible. The sun could not have
bleached the paint off because the glass
in the windows opposite the unpainted
places is frosted while the shutters are
painted at the bottom where the full force
of the sun enters the room and attacks
the shutters
At one place in the second story hallway
the wainscoting is fully half an inch
from the wall at one end, narrowing down
TO tight fit at the opposite end The
space between the wall and the wains-
coting was filled in with plaster and the
defect is in a measure hidden at a dis
tance. In another room the trimming
over window is in two pieces, which are
mitred together. In good work the car
penter would have used only one piece of
trimming, and would have done good
work, where there is now a glaring piece
of 'botchwork."
The small eyebrow windows which
open out on the roof consist simply OF an
eyelike window, covered with curved
piece of galvanized iron. man standing
on top Of either of the windows would
fall through into the attic The light of
day streams through long opening which
extends all around the roof at the point
where the deck of the roof Joins the
lower slope of that part of the superstruc-
ture- The roof is apparently weak and the
supporting posts are not only cracked in
most instances, but the braces which ex-
! tend from them TO the deck of the roof
are apparently not capable of bearing much
of load.
Like Temporary ScanoId.
This framework looks as though IL we're
intended more for temporary scafTold
than the support of heavy slate roof
/ The cement pavement under the arch at
the main entrance on the boys side is
| incomplete. and is rough and ragged at
/ the west end. as though the payer ran cut
of cement. The brickwork over the arch
on this side of the building is notably
poor and the mortar has washed ont so
as TO make the arch look weak Many
other defects, entirely too numerous 10
mention were found. and each and all of
them must have been evident to Inspector
Brady when he visited the school build
ing on Monday afternoon. His report,