The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-19
HOW TO MAKE SCHOOLS sArrR.
vfce-Presiaent of the National Asse- ciation of Cement Usern. Makee
 General Recommenaa fiona.


 Vfce-Preasaent of she Nafsonal Aas>-
 cistion of cement Users, Maies
 General Recommendations.
 Youngstown, Ohio.
 Alarmed by the statement of Direc. tor of Schools ". Y. Ashbaurh., that the Cleveland disaster might he re- peated in any of the public school puiIdings m Youngstown, the Board ot Education has called in a fireproof- ins engineer Of national prominence, to formulate a plan for making the struc. lures safe. The action is due to the existing state of public opinion. bS- cause many parents declare if this ca arl- not be done at once their children win be kept from school.
 William Hale Ham, vice.Prssident of the National Association of Cement users. Tor the section on Laws, ordi. nances and Insurance, has prepared a preliminary report on the fireproofing Of school buildings in which he points out where lies the greatest danger in buildings that are now in use, ana makes recommendations as to the m ost economical method of making these buildings safe. He also describes the type of construction that should be adopted in new buildings to prevent d recurrence of the disaster at Cleveland.
 Mir. Ham is member of the Amer ican Society of Civil Engineers, ana has spent the last ten years in the construction of fireproof buildings of reinforced concrete. His rscommenda- tions. he says. apply to the average school building in any town in tne country. as strongly as to the schools in Youngstown. He says:
 "In view of the calamity that has overtaken Cleveland, there can be no question of the wisdom of the Youngs- town Board of Education in taking whatever steps are necessary to make the school buildings that are now in use. safe. and to establish definitely a policy hereafter to construct no school buildings which are not absolutely flreproof. How to accomplish these re- suits without increasing the burdens of the taxpayers unduly, is the qnes- tion of the moment and to this end, the writer makes the following gens eral recommendations
 For Oaa Buildings.
 aAii school buildings which are not known to be thoroughly freproof should be exanainad by the School Com mittee, the superintendent of Schools and the Chief of the Fire Department of the city.
 "steps should be taken. to prevent rapid spreads of ire especially from the corridors to the main rooms. This can be accomplished in all old build ings quickly by the installation of q fireproof partition between the corrt- dore and main rooms with steel doors having wire glass transoms. or with no transoms.
 "If possible every school building should have an exit at the opposite end of the building from the stairways- This exit should be protected from Ire by brick walls extending at least six feet from the building. no other open ing into the space being allowed. Fire escapes should be made of steel or east iron. The doors to these nre es~ canes should be unlocked every morn ing and opened. A fire drill should be instituted using the fire escapes ana practice should be constant throughout the school year. Tn order that the may not be frightened at the sound of alarm of fire, the practice sh ould be carried out with regular ire alarm each week at no specified time.
 Regarding New BusIaings.
 Where the School Committee is Him. Ited foI funds with which to build fireproof school building, it should be impressed upon the architects that the interior of the building is the most irn- portant of all features and that any saving that Is to be made should be made in the looks of the exterior and not in the construction of the interior ,f the building. It often occurs that or the sake of beautifying the city an elaborate exterior Is designed. This s. of course, ideal. but where the max mum amount of space must be built or the minimum amount of money, ,lain, almost severe exterior, with freproof floors and parti- ions, should be the prevailing idea of 
 "ff the rooms were not too large, the ,ost of a thorough nreproof building, with reinforced concrete floors and coi- lmns, and a neat. brick exterior can ,e constructed for approximately 10 ,er cent. increase in first cost over the of a brick and wood uildinK Insurance will soon bring town the cost of the investment to a ,oint where the city cannot afford to mild otherwise than nreproof. In this ype of a school building, children .ouId be actually kept at work at heir desks while the furniture in one art of the building was burning here would be nothing else to bum n the building.
 ''This type of construction 10 ex- | eedingly we'll suited to school build | ngs. and should be investigated by | very building committee before adopt | nR a brick and wood building. "DiSasters due to fires in this coun- ry are unpardonable and we are crit cised severely by foreign countries, |