The Washington times., 1908-05-14
Fear Appropriation for Re-
pairs Will Not Be Grant
ed by Congress.
HUGHES REVIEWS
MORROW FINDINGS
Suggests Corrections and Says
Subordinate Must Have Pre-
pared the Paper.

Fearing that Commissioner Norrow's
recent statements before the Ho use
subcommittee on appropriations that
the Central High School building was IN
satisfactory condition, might nuIufy
the efforts OF the Board OF Education
10 obtain $4,000 for repairs, as well as
cause the committee 20 look skeptically
upon otner estimates, board members
today took decided issue with the Com
missioner
President Oyster OF the board, on re-
ceipt of the report of the committees
hearing containing Commissioner Nor
rows commeudatory testimony concern
ing the Central High, asked thar Assist
ant Superintendent Hughes submit to
the board a statement of the exact con-
dition of that building.
Report of Subordinate.
President Oyster said today that the
Commissioner report must have been
based upon the report Of a subordinate
official rather than a personal inspec-
ton, considering the inaccuracies there
81.
Mr.. Hughes report to the board. in
part, is as follows:
IT ind several errors In the state
ments made by Major J. J. Morrow. En-
gineer Commissioner, the most serious
of which are the statements in refer
ence TO the fireproof condition of boiler
and engine rooms. and 10 the Central
High school
Major Morrow states:
The boiler, aRd the furnace. and. the
little gasOlene engine which runs the
Ventilatlng apparatus. and everything
that is connected with that installation,
IS inclosed IN what may be called
Gfe-prOof box The walls around them
ere thick masonry walls, and the roof
over them which IS the main floor Of
the building. is a rrepEOOr moor, con-
crete floor
Gasolene Not Used.
"Gasolene is not used IN any OF our
schools. All engines used for ventiiatmg
are run by gas, steam, or electricity
The engines in the following school
buildings are not il fireprOOf rooms, as
stated by Mayor NfOrrow.
Some OF these are upon wooden
floors. and are adjacent to wooden par
tf-ions; namely, the
Morse School. lTwining school.
Banneker School. MauEy Schooi,
Brent School Amldon SenooI-
Wormley school Blair School
Cook School.
.In reference to Mayor Morrow' >
statements concerning the Central High
School, permit me 20 call attention 10
the following errors:
.'The entire first floor OF the building
il not fireproof, as stated. Inc only
sections of thar floor which are ire
proof are the corridors anc the cell
ings over the two main boilers Inc
third, that is, the central boiler, is un-
der a wooden floor, which, however, OF
recent years has been protected by Il
metal covering. The ceilings Of the
playrooms, toilet rooms, cloakrOOms.
storerOOms in the basement are not
fireprOOf
Major MorrOw's error in the statement
that the Central High School has teen
entirely gone over and remodeIled m
side This is not the case. TIE build
ing hiss been tinltered at in the way of
repairs for the last twenty yeavs. 1t
is in very bad condition, and VIII re-
quire considerable money 20 put II IN
a proper state. 1t was on this ground
that the Board Of Education asked for
$50 900 for it's repair. This building
houses 100 high school pupils. There
= no building in the city worth repair
ing which IS more IN need OF repairs
tkan the Central High School.
Applies to New Buildings.
Major Morrow's remarks seem to
have applied generally TO the new build
ings now under construction. He did
not discuss with the committee the
numerous buildings with wooden stair
ways and unprotected basement cell
tngs, besides other dangerous features
all of which have been compia ned
about by the Chief Of the Fire Depart
ment"
'.The board fears" said CAPTAIN
Oyster, that such erroneous state
ments although unintenriOnal, coming
from such a high source as a District
Commissioner, may mislead the House
Committee and Ce-Se the Conferees on
the increased appropriations recon-
menied BY the Senate TO look less
favorably upon the real needs Of the
schools. for which the Senate has gen
erously provided. For this reason, both
Congress and the public should be ac-
Quainted with the true state of affairs
through persons who are acquainted
with the facts We fear that Commits
sioner MCrrow's statement harmed
rather than helped the situation and
the board regrets that the matter was
not investigated more thoroughly"