The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1908-03-12
Danger From Fire
Menace to Schools
Says Superintendent
Majority of Buildings Offer But SCant Pro-
lection, According to Report Submitted
Today TO the Board.

IldL majority or washington
school buildings offer scant protection
against fire. that danger turks IN
wooden stairs, irregular exits. and an.
tiquated fre-eccapes. and that these
conditions should be remedied at the
earliest possible moment" is the sub
stance OF the report submitted by Super
inteudent Stuart to the Board of Edu-
cation today.
The report IS in detail, and is compl ed
from the personal observations OF the
various principals and supervising Drin-
ciPals Of the school system.
A significant portion of the report re-
fers to the fact that some Of these con
ditiOns existed four years ago, and that
after the Iroquois theater fire there was
an agitation such as is now in progress
during which the Commissioners were
asked by the school authorities 10 rem
edy certain conditions. Z
Some of these conditions, Ct is said
were remediod. others have never been
and the COlEasWOOd. Ohio. disaste- has
again brought them into the limeight
Especially was it urged four years ago
that all wooden stairWays be replaced
Yet Superintendent Stuart shows that
a number OF buildings have the same
wooden stairs today that We're con-
demned at that time
The report is as follows:
Capt. James +. oyster: 1 have the
honor TO transmit 10 you for the i~fOr-
nation of the Board of Education "a
summary Of the reports OF the super
Vislng principals and principals OF high
schools in response 10 certain Inquiries
relative TO the safety OF school buildings
In the event Of fire
]. Two-slOry frame buildings with
wooden stairways.
SiN-TOOm buildimg-Garfeld
Four-room buildings-Chevy Chase,
Reservoir. Birney
AuneN-LangdOn and Reno.
TWO-rOOm bullding-BuFville
Used by grade classes and for manual
tralntng-JohnsOn annex. four rooms.
Used Tor manual training Ouly-Four
rooms, High Street and Hillsdale.
2 One-story frame buildings:
Two rOOms-Benuing Road. IVY CITY,
Congress Heights.
AnneN-Military Road
one room Conduit road, Good Hope
Ienlev Annex, Fort Slocum, and Chain
Bridge road.
Have Wooden Stairways.
8. Brick buildings with two wooden
stairways:
Eight-room buildings: Bauneker. Log
an, Ambush, Giddings. Phelps. Towers
Amidon, Jackson. Madison. Blair
Brightwood Monroe TakOma, TeuIey
Blake. Carbery, Magruder, Phillips
Wormley, Van Buren.
The BrOOkland, a twelve-TOom build
ing ~has wooden stairWays ln tie old
par; and slate stairs in the new part
The Mott, a ten-rOOm building is part
wood and part brick with wooden stair
The Cranch. although having areproof
stairs in the new part, had LEFT i'm it
an old, steep. and dangerous wooden
:. Buildings with only -IagIe stair
way.
The Thomson and Van Buren Annex
are three-s -ory buildings with two
classes on each floor and heated by
furnaces. The stairs are fireproof
The Dent, a new eight-room building,
has but one stairway leading 20 the
second fioor This stairway while fire.
proof. is steep and slippery, with narrow
treads and high risers.
The Potomac. Threlkald Hamilton.
Mccormick WOodbuTn, BeuninE, Lang
don, Reservoir, Chevy Chase Birnev
Annex, b B. French. Garfield, BurviIle.
and Hilsdale have each a single wooden
stairw~y.
One Stairway Only.
Those of Garfield. Mccormick, Ben
ming, Potomac, and BurviIle are es-
peciaITy bad
The Garfield Is a six-room frame struc-
ture with only one stairway and a front
door opening inward. This is a very
dangerous condition.
The BerTet is a three-stOry, nine-roona
building. with only one stairway, v1i{ch.
however. is fireproof
The Johnson Annex is a frame build
ing with two wooden stairWays. The
doors leading from the schOolrooms to
the stairWayS open inward. The rooms
the heated by stoves. A cooking school
a manual training shop, a kindergarten
and a sixth grade class occupy this
building.
Arrangements are being made 70 rent
stOTeroOms in the ncighborhooi for the
manual training and cooking schools so
as 10 place the two remaining ,Iasses
on the first floor.
High Street building is a four-room
frame structure, used for manual train
in" only. It Is old, out Of repair. and
dangerous
5. Buildings heated by stoves
johnson Annex, Potomac, High Street.
ThrelkeId, Benning. Van Buren Annex.
Benning road Bunker Hill road, Mill
tary road, HiUsdale, Conduit road
Good Hope, old building on Lardon site,
Chain Bridge road. Hamilton. Burville
IVY City, Fort SlOcum, Garfield. Mott
UnGGr date of January Is. 1904 7 re-
ported TO the Board OF Education
through the chairman Of the Committee
on Bullllu8s- All the FcOuQluOEg reCiteQ
above and certain others. My report a
copy of which I append. was duly re
ceived by the Board of Education and
on January 16, 1904. transmitted to the
Commissioners, with certain recon-
meudatiOns. among them the necessity
of replacing all wooden stairways, as
soon as possible, with iron or stone -
and calling attention to "the impor-
tance of the estimate of 5000 for ex-
tending the telephone service to every
sclfool house as an additional protection
against fire"
AS a result of this action Of the Board
Of Education, the Commissioners sue
ceeded in securing an appropriation for
replacing the wooden stairWays In the
Thomson Cook, Randall and Van
Buren annex with fireprOof stairways,
and obtained appropriations from time
to time which have made it possible to
connect all our school buildings with a
satisfactory telephone service.
with the exceptions noted, however.
none Of the wooden stairways have been
removed. and none Of the frame build
ings abandoned for lack of necessary
appropriations