Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-04
TROUBLE OVER SPACE
Fight Between Central and
Tech.
LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS
RAPID GROWTH OF THE INsTI-
TUTIoNS.
Housing Conditions Cause Of Friction
and No End Of Annoy
ance.
LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Central High School, for the Tech Sec
lions. A war for space between the Nc
.Kinley Manual Training School and the
Central High School, which has been
waged for four years. has at last reached
a climax. Involved in the strategic move
ments are the graded schools, the Henry.
the Morse and the Polk. all Of the second
division, over which Mr.. w. B. Patterson
has recently been appointed supervising
principal.
The delay in the completion of the Nc
Kinley building four years ago caused the
entire technical body. with Its independent
faculty. principal and director. to be
housed in the Central building. The only
relief was in the shops across o street,
where the manual work was performed.
At the end of that first year. 1902 1t was
announced that the Mckinley building was
ready for occupancy.
Such was the enthusiasm among Tech
students at the idea of having an indie
pendent home. and such, it Is said, the de-
light of the academic school in getting
rid at last of the Tech, incubus, that the
coming year, 1923, was looked forward
to with delight by both institutions. Early
in the fall the rapid growth Of the Techni-
cal made it apparent that the new school
would not accommodate the candidates for
entrance. To the chagrin Of Central 1t was
found necessary to assign six rooms for
the further use of manual training section.
Divided in Sections.
Pupils in the high schools are divided in
sections, according to years. the desirable
number of pupils for section being about
thirty or thirty-five.
With the organization Of the technical
courses all the academic schools, Central,
Eastern, Western and even Business lost
In enrolment. The Central School was the
re 10 Nv ~ NJ
pointed principal Of the Central three years
ago, who took possession at the time the
overflow from the Mckinley was given six
rooms of his domain, says the increase at
Central has been about 100 per year. Three
years ago there was room in the Central
building for the technical pupils as there
were only 725 pupils on the academic rolls.
The next year there were 725, last year
S2o, and at the present time, with more
pupils still to enter, the number is 1920.
While under the Central roof the students
Of the technical sections were not amenabIe
to the authorities there. Constant clashes
IT Is said. occurred and the principals, E.
NJ. Wilson of Central and A. I. Gardner Of
the Mckinley, and the directors of the two
systems. P. M. Hughes of the academic
high school and John A. Chamberlain of
the manual training schools, are reported to
nave been frequently at odds.
Increase at Central
The increase in Central at the beginning
of the year 1904 was made the subject of
representations to the superintendent, and
the six rooms were reduced to four, which,
as the Mckinley school was also growing,
had to be used for two sections EACH This
process of doubling, as it is called, is SAID
to be most objectionable. No pupil can
own a desk in undisputed possession and
In whole-day schools the program must be
SO arranged that of the two sections snar-
ing the room one must be assigned to labo-
RI Tn hDrn I'LL
desk work. The result is that many pupils
of the Mckinley school were compelled to
take all their desk work in English history
and mathematics in the afternoon after be-
ing exhausted by shop work in the morn
ing
The sections were also detained later In
the afternoon and much inconvenience from
drill and athletic conflicts and from pri-
vate engagements rezulted. Still the Nc
Kinley teachers and pupils are said to have
made the best of conditions. With the
opening Of the school year 1904, Central
advanced another step and the Mckinley
was allowed only two rooms, which as be-
fore had to be used twice a day. In order
to find some place to house the remainder
of her pupils. Tech was given two rooms
in the Henry building, one of the grade
school buildings which makes with the
Polk and the Central High School the edu-
cational ganglia nebula on It'll street be-
tween 0 and streets.
Grades in the War.
Then the grade schools entered the war
The authorities In the Henry were as much
disturbed. it is said. by conditions in the
Technical as Central had been. Different
hours governed the separate schools. and
each was disturbed by the movements of
the other.
Central Still Growing.
Last June 1t became apparent from the
returns of transfers from the supervising
principals lists that the Central was still
growing. 1t is said the congested con-
dition of the school was at once reported
to Superintendent Stuart. and assurances
were given Director Hughes that the last
two rooms should be returned for Central
use.
The numbers at the Mckinley in Sep
TENDER, 1905, proved to be as great as In
previous years in spite Of every effort
taken by the authorities to prevent the
election by eighth grade pupils of the tech
meal course Director Chamberlain and
that the Central rooms were again prom
ised to them. September IS. when the
schools opened, the superintendent is re-
ported to have decided upon a compromise,
giving one room to Central and one to
Tech. Thursday. September 81, when the
first Tech section reported to room %,
an academic section. Alarmed teachers
thought immediate trouble would ensue.
Principal Wilson withdrew his forces.
however, and the Tech people entered upon
possession and still hold the fort.
Mr. Stuart's Promise.
Monday, October 2, on his round of in
spection, Superintendent Stuart promised
the Central authorities that the room
should be theirs, and is reported to have
interviewed Supervising Principal Patter-
son at the Henry and requested that the
third grades at the Polk be doubled up in
order to give a room in that building for
the homeless Techs. Upon inquiry at the
Polk this morning Miss Bond the principal.
expressed surprise. and said: There are no
third grades in this building
At the Morse, a nearby school. the third
grades are already doubled, and In the
Henry itself three third grades occupy two
rooms.
What the Tech. students are to do and
where they are to go is the question. Dis
cussions among teachers are violent and the
suggestions radical. The friends of Tech.
insist that the Central sections are small
and could easily be doubled, while the.
technical sections are large, numbering
AZ and 40 apiece. MIR. Wilson says he has
80 sections and only % rooms and ID study
halls. In the Henry 1t is claimed to be I'M
lust to the grades to make them suffer for