The Washington times., 1907-11-04
Repairs Needed Not Talk.


wants out of the Inspector of Build
ings is work, not talk. For two
weeks the papers have been print
ing his views on the qualifications
and energy of the school officials,
and in all that time-as for weeks,
months, and in one case two years.
preceding has not taken a
single effective step to correct con-
diticns which threaten the health
of hundreds of school children.
Several explanations are offered
by this official. None of them con-
tains any sufficient excuse for the
basement of the Petworth school,
which the Health Officer pronounces
unfit for school uses" or the base
.ment of the Emery, where the floor
of the hall and the wall outside" are
constantly wet and malodorous," or
the situation of the Berret, where
300 children depend for their supply
of water for all purposes on one
faucet.
One statement is that labor trcu-
bles are the cause of the delay. and
that no one can tell when the re-
pairs needed will be made. What,
then, did the Inspector of Buildings
mean when he informed the presi-
dent of the board that the defects
in the present building win be cor
rected at the same time the addition
is built, or his superior, the Engi-
neer Commissioner, when he stated
that the addition would not be
ready for use until the fall of next
year? Or the Inspector, again.
when he proposed to take these
rooms at the Petworth which are
''unft for school uses and fix them
in the course of the Christmas hoH-
days?
If work of this same nature is be-
ing done under his supervision any
where else, mot involving the pub
lie health in the same degree as the
board put it, or If It is true, as now
appears, that this repairing has
been deliberately put of, this is no
answer at all.
Weak as it is, however, it is at
least serious. The second state
ment accredited to the Inspector of
Buildings can hardly be regarded as
even that. 1t is, in substance, that
he has offered 'to be present at tie
board meeting next Wednesday to
throw any light which he may be
able TO give on this apparently
vexed situation" that ''the plumb
ing conditions in the schools are far
better than in the homes of most
of the children" and that when the
Health Office says a basement is
unfit for school uses" it means
only that it should be closed for
several days.
The District does not ask light"
from the Inspector of Buildings. It
asks results; and it exp scts to get
them-running water. drainage,
plumbing fixtures and connections.
It viii hear what he has to say
The condition of the
plumbing in the homes of the chill
dren has nothing TO do with the
in these three schools.
Nor are the parents interested in
his construction of Health Office
reports.
This issue merits comment from
many sides. 1t is a revelation that,
at last. the District has Board of
possessed of common
sense and courage. It prompts
warning that the poor hygiene of
these Easements shall not, on the
one hand, be enlarged into need for
the withdrawal of the children at
once, or, on the other hand, be dis /
missed as unimportant because not |
all the children must be in base
ments all the time. It suggests that |
if the Health Office can endure hav-
ing the head of another bureau dis.
its reports the public can
not long have confidence in them.
But the important things today |
are apart from all this. They are,
simply:
That the easements of these three |
buildings must be put in order with |
the least possible delay;
That the people of the District /
look to their Commissioners to see
that this is done;
That, if it is not done. they viii /
give the Board of Education their /
aun Endorsement and support in
taking the children out.