The St. Louis Republic., 1903-05-02
Lack Of Sanitation, Light and Air
Causes Illness Among Pupils,
He Declares.
URGES IMMEDIATE REFORM.
Public School No. q of New York
Is Denounced by Its Prin-
cipal as Unfit for
Use.
REPUBLIC SPECIAL

Spl<iC
New York. May Public School No. q
looks like a prison." declares Doctor Gruen-
thai. its principal. The children see moth
enter the same impression sreets you. In
deed" he said sarcastically some prisons
have better accommodations than We have
here
When asked to describe some of the ,In-
avory conditions which surround the build
ing, he went on:
l tell You that ] have an almost unprece-
dented percentage of sickness. both among
the pupils and teachers from the effects Of
the unsanitsry conditions, you will gain
some idea of what we are subjected 10.
The unsan,tary conditions. the dark class.
rooms opening into an area. the smoke and
gas from the adjoining blacksmith shop.
conEested traffic. and lack OF proper &C
cormodations for even part of the pupils
constitute some Of the many reasons why
the school should be condemned.
TWELVE PER CENT OF ABSENCES
Il have le per cent of absences among
the children. which is very unusual. One OF
my teachers. who has been teaching in a
dark classroom. is now away on sick leave.
s6,n. sn0 second econ has only m jus, returned after
ever. even II this Il per cent were pres
snt wouldn't have any place TO put them.
The place Is already TOO crowded, either
for comfort or health.
AS you win see said he. and suitlng the
eedoa TO the word; he stepped TO the win
s now anu pointed DOWN 10 4 small area
about ten by twenty-five feet. where the
girls d.essinE-rooms are located. all the
air possible for the classrooms opening on
this court. Of which there are eight get no
ventilation except from this source.
At times the stencil arising from unsan-
ttary conditions OF the dressing-rooms IS
sufiicent for the accommodation of go girls
You may judge for yourself.
by o'clock in the afternoon not only
the teachers. but the pupils. are in no state
This is a bright day so the sun strikes
these rooms for the space OF an hour or
beyond and the rooms will be practically in
darkness. ] give you my word that with
out gas lighted on a day when the sun is
under cloud you can't see to write your
Artificial light is necessary most of the
time. It is fairly bright to-day, but it is not
what it ought to be by any manner Of
"A dense population fills this neighbor-
hood. composed of Irish and Germans main
menians. Some. the children Of brewers, @
are wealthy, but more are not. Certainly
no children stand more greatly in need OF
venture to say that in their own poor
homes they are better supplied than here.
And the worst Of II is that the numbers
tai Of LOO pupils this Year. an increase OF
go or COO within the last few years In
eone schools that number might not have
adequacy OF the ouildins and the over
crowding Of the classronms, 1t presents
problem which vii, take some greater
mathematician than TO solve.
NOISE AND DANGER.
The noise and the danger are equally
important factors to consider. Since tine
= blacksmith shop has been built At the rear
the insufferable conditions have been assra-
why. the noise is driving my teachers
crazy, declared tho principal earnestly.
Isn't It soc' he appealed to one young
woman teaching a class of ten boys in a
tiny classroom IN the rear OF the building.
Indeed. it is" replied the teacher. 'some
days can't hear myself think. and II We
have the area windows open there is the
other alternative of terrible odors.''
From each classroom visited came the
Hame report
'Sof the peculiar danger of the schools
location Doctor Gruenthal said:
so many trolleys hereabout are a con-
gtapt menace TO the children. Two Of my
children were injured only recently in cross
ing the streets here"
When asked X the Board OF Education
was cognizant of the facts he said: oh
yes, they have known of Il for long time.
I've been agitating the subject for several
years. Why. even one OF their own iEspec-
tors acknowledged that some OF the class
rooms weren't At for use.
Il guess the board goes on the plan that
- bad school is better than none. since
there Is such a dearth of school accommo-
dations. Hundreds OF children are on half
time now. so I suppose they haven't taken
action because OF that.
Il have already suggested a new location
at Forty.fourth street. near Third avenue.
TO be seen.- The board Is afraid that Il
this building is given over to the city 1t
viii 70 into the sinking fund and they won't
get credit for it. But then. as the city. IN.
board and the sinking fund are one ana
the same, what difference will it make?
can't see"