Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-02-18
THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
High schools Not to Open IntiI Tbur

The scarcity of coal in Washington prom
ises to give the educational authorities IF
the District no little trouble and unless
the supply Of fuel is substantially increased
"lInlh the next few days there may be a
| complete shutdown Of the public schools
AS matters now stand, IL is believed there
Is sufficient coal on hand to warrant tho
opening of the graded schools of The CITY
proper on Monday morning, and This will
lie done. The Central Western Rusip.ss
ana Night High Schools, however. will not
be opened until Thursday unless notice 70
the contrary shall be issued and published
IN tomorrow mornings or Mondays papers
The graded schools in the suburbs will re-
mann closed for some time 10 come from the
present outlook
Most of the schools have been closed dur-
ing great part Of the past week on ac-
count OF the mpededistreet car traffic and
stormy weather The season of cold weat her
immediately preceding the last blizzard had
caused deep inroads to be made into the
store OF coal in the different buildings of
the school system, fairly depicting MANY
OF them. The difficulty Of obtaining fuel
curing the last few days mas been ex-
perlenced by individuals and all manner Of
business establishments Heating a-nar-
aluS mas been necessarily run al nigh st
pressure for some time past on account Il
the zero and below tempera lures thar bavs
PieNalFu Inc snow drifted upon the rail-
road tracks and completely blocked tram.
Throughout the east for TWO or three DAVIS
ana IN some places for a longer period of
'lile. ne transportation companies were
compelled to make extraordinary sacrifices
10 get passenger trains through The hanks
OF snow and relieve belated travellers.
freight trains have been like angels
visits IN the diminutiveness Of their num-
Ders ana the great space of seDarafinD
Those freights which were piIsb "a tr-,,,,,-b
were loaded Tor the most part with sub
slstehce stores, food famine being a some
wnat more serious matter, the railroad Of
Meals believed, than an absence of incl
i ne small quantity of coal arriving over
the railroads has been transferred IN tho
yards and from thence to consumers Win
me greatest difficulty Imaginable. The
L. SOW mas sent the price of truckage
sky-hlsh, and even then teams have been
scarce and hard to engage
In speaking of the situation I'm the scbools
TINS morning, Superintendent W. h. Powell
We have tried to secure coal for .A
schools through all manner of means but
as yer nave been able to get fuel only in
Snah quantities Every one in the city
knows of the scarcity of coal and the great
trouble experienced in having II delivered
We have now on hand enough, we believe
10 run the heating apparatus in the graded
scnoC4s OF the city proper; so the little ones
VIII De provided with school facilities be-
ginning Monday morning We hope to Sc
cure enough additional TO open the West
erh, the Central, the Business and the
Night High Schools by Thursday morning
In the meantime, however, should we get
an additional supply of coal to warrant an
Garner opening of these last named institu-
uons due notice will be given TO scholars
ana parents in the daily papers In the
suburbs, where most of the roads are stiu
impossible and the schools inaccessible
we viii be unable to do anything for the
present Next week it is hoped the situa-
ton will brighten. so that ali the schools
may be running soon again"