The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-02-11
FIRE DRILLS IN SCHOOLS
supt. Mcguire Wants Them Made a
Requirement by Law.

Supts Mag uHFe wants Ihem Nkauc N
Requirement by Law.
Superintendent of the Fire Department
| Mcguire is of the opinion that the school
children of Savannah should be drilled to
leave the school houses in a quiet and or
derry manner in case of the discovery of
a fire. Not only are the children in the
Northern schools put through ''fire-drIIs, -
but those in Atlanta go through the drills
az least once week. Superintendent
| Mcguire was asked yesterday if he agreed
| with Superintendent Ashmore of the pub
! lie schools on theories expressed in an in
terview in the Morning News. The fire
! chief diffeIes with the head of the public
| schools.
Il read the article in this mornings pa
per relative to the precautions taken to
protect the school children in case of fire
| in school buildings" he said, land in this
connection 1 would like to say that the
| schools are, as rule constructed so as
to afford safe and speedy egress in case
of fire. 1t should be remembered, how
ever, that the matter of construction,
while of itself of considerable import
ance is not the only thing to be consid-
cred. No matter how many means of
egress may be provided, stampedes are
liable to occur in moments of excitement,
unless the teachers and scholars are prop
erly educated, encouraged and drilled to
suppress excitement in times of danger
! The teachers themselves need fully as
much education in this matter as the pu-
| pills under them, and do not agree with
Superintendent Ashmore when he says
that extra precautions are unnecessary
in the Savannah schools, and 1 think that
this sentiment will be echoed by the fa-
Tiers and mothers of Savannah who are
having their children educated in this
city.
II note that you refer to the fact that
in many of the Northern schools it is a
practice to have fire-drills for the pupils,
by which they are taught to leave the
buildings quietly, and in order, in case of
fire. You quote Supt. Ashmore as saying
that, in a building where there are so
many persons, it is impossible for a fire
to gain Roadway without being discovered.
In this connection I would like to say
that very many of the fires that occur
in this city are not discovered by the in
mates, but by pedestrians on the outside.
II notice Supt. Ashmore is quoted as
saying that there would be no difficulty
in getting the children out of the build
ing in case OF fire. 1 again differ from
him to the extent that in case of fire
there would be the greatest difficulty in
getting the children out of the building
without a senseless stampede, should Il
sudden alarm be given and smoke be APP
parent in the building. Constant fire drill
would educate these children and they
would surmise that there was really no
fire or that the fire was of a very slight
character, yet they would be prepared
to avoid excitement even if a serious
confagra ton were threa tened.
Il dislike very much to take issue with
Supt. Ashmore in this matter, but 1 feel
that 1 owe a duty to the public 10 ex-
press 1l nc unmistakable terms my IDEAS
in this connection and to show that this
| is a subject to which 1 have given con
siderable thought. l will refer you to my
annual II port to the Mayor for 1900"
In his report at that time, Superinten-
| dent Mcguire commented on the burn
| ing of the Chatham Academy and rec
commended the introduction of an ordi-
nance making fire-drills in the schools
| compulsory:
! The recent burning of a part of the
! Chatham Academy shows what destruc-
| ton will result from fire in a short
space of time, Had this fire occurred
| during school hours, one can imagine
the awful loss of life that might have
| resulted among the school children.
Some time since I requested the au-
| thorities of the public schools to intro
duce a fire-drill but my request was met
with refusal the authorities consider
ing that the school children were under
| the complete control of the teachers,
who could, in case of fire, clear the rooms
as quickly as was necessary. If a fire
should occur in any school in this city,
| and was not discovered until smoke or
flame was apparent 1 feel safe in as
! sorting that not only the children, but
| the teachers themselves, would seek
safety without regard to order or dis
| ciDlue
''All over the country fire-drils under
the direction of the fire department, have
proven a great success They may, oc-
| casionally, momentarily interrupt tho
| studies, but it is far better to do this
daily than to have one child killed in
! a senseless stampede, caused by excite
ment that frequent drills would prevent.
| Those drills are, in a sense of the word
| an important branch of education to the
| scholar, it teaches him to be cool and
| collected in time of danger, and in after
| life, it may be of great value Fire
| drills in schools should be required in
| our crowded schoolrooms, and if those
| in charge of the schools cannot see the
advantage and good results that accrue
! from them, l earnestly recommend that
an ordinance be enacted requiring fire
| drills in public schools in the CITY at
| stated intervals -