Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-29
LABOR IS SCARCE
IN Los ANGELES
WORK ON SCHOOL BUILDINGS
is DELAYED
Sixteen Of the Twenty Structures Un-
der Process Of CONSTRUCTION
viii Not Be Completed
by September II

~ Fcityf Of workmen and of ma
teriaf i'm Los Angeles Will result In q
delay in the completion of many new
schoolhouses until weeks after the
opening of the school year, September
IL.
To the educational board yesterday
the boards superintendent reported
that of the twenty bulldogs under proc
ess of construction only four-the JEFF
ferson, the Fortieth, the Micheltorena
and the Gates-would be completed in
time for the opening of the school year.
Sixteen others, he stated, would not
be ready by September II, but that It
was hoped that all would be completed
by November 1.
He said that all the contractors
complained that the delay was caused
by a scarcity of labor, especially car
penters, and that in some instances 1t
was necessary to await the shipment of
desired sizes of timber.
One contractor who is constructing
two school builders appeared before the
board and stated that his trouble prin-
cpally was the fact that he was COM
PEELED to await the shipment of lumber,
but that also there was a scarcity of
labor on account of the immense
amount of building now in progress.
Ask Aid of the Council
The board adopted a resolution ask
ing c. Wesley Roberts, the lessee of
the Spring street school grounds, now
known as Mercantile place, to post
signs at the Broadway and Spring
street entrances, announcing that the
street is a private thoroughfare.
The board fears that at the expiration
of the ten-year lease of the grounds
the street will be dedicated to public
use and that the schools will lose that
much property.
1t was decided to ask the city at
torney to prepare an ordinance recog-
nizing the school boards ownership of
the street now used for public traffic
in Mercantile place.
The tuition for nonresident pupils
at the Los Angeles and Polytechnic
high schools was placed at $46O, for the
ensuing year on an estimate of $73,-
420 for current expenses of the Los
Angeles high and $685. 403 for the Poly
technic.
Miss Mabel S. Dunn was chosen IL
brarian of the school library at the
Grand avenue school at $50 per month.
The building committee was instruct
ed to inspect offers of two tracts of land
in the southeastern section of Boyle
Heights as a possible site. for school
to be located in that district.
Graft Report Denied
Deputy Superintendent J. B. Monlux
yesterday declared that there was not
the shadow of a suspicion for the
statement in an evening paper that
there was special graft of several
thousand dollars in sight for the school
book trust in Los Angeles.
1--WE are buying supplementary
readers" said Mr. Monlux, "and the
board today authorized the purchase
of a lot. The aim of the board Is to
make the Los Angeles schools as
nearly perfect as possible and give the
children value received.
Not to exceed 5000 children will be
affected by the use of books which will
not be purchased by the board, and
the cost to each will not exceed 80
cents. In large majority of cases
the parents of children just starting
to school are only too glad to buy these
books, as their use is of great benefit
to the pupils"