Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-29
CONTINUES THE WORK
Especial Commission lnspects
School Buildings.
MAKES EARLY START TODAY
Carefully Examines Seven Add.
tional Structures.
B0LTED DOORS NOT UNUSUAL
Some Of the Details Noted by the
Experts Sizing Up the
Situation.
B0LTED DOORS NOT UNUSUAL

Suspecting that fire danger may lurt
| in every closet. nook and corner Of schoo
buildings, the volunteer school inspection
commission spent a strenuous time this
morning in school buildings.
The commission had visited seven struc'
lures before this report closed-the Briggs
at 22d and e streets: Toner. 24th and +
streets; Grant, G street between 21st and
2od streets; Montgomery, 9th street be-
tween X and L streets: Weightman. 20
and M streets; Stevens. 21st street be-
tween X and l. streets. and the Corcoran
2sth street between NJ street and Olive
avenue.
That bOlted exit doors are not infrequent
Is q discovery made by the investigators
during the past two days. Yesterday. at
one Of the buildings. one-half of a large
exit door was fastened. Today. at both
the Montgomery and the Corcoran schools
the same condition was found as to one
Of two side exits.
When the bolted door was discovered at
the Corcoran one Of the commission MEM
bers started to investigate. Pupils OF
several classes Of the Schbol were passing
out. and there was jam because the half
door was bolted.
Door Opens Inward.
At the Montgomery building a basement
door was found that opens inward. AT
the Grant building the outside doors were
found to stick SO hard that the smaller
children could not push them open. The
principal explained that she had asked to
have the matter remedied. but nothing had
been done, and she has finally put In q
second request for repairs.
The commission today made the earliest
start thus far. leaving the District build
ing shortly after 10 o'clock The first
eight-room structure Of brick. A storm
door has been put around the side exits
and SO arranged that the center post
about q foot In width. Is directly in front
Of the exit door and only a couple Of feet
from 1t. The stairs were found to be
flreproof. but wooden wainscoting lines
them on both sides, the same as In many
Of the school buildings
In the janitOr's room under the exit
stairway is a gas stove. used for heat
ing water. In the furnace room a large
area OF the plaster has dropped and
exposes the laths to the effect Of the hot.
air pipes nearby. Short flights of wooden
stairs lead from the teachers retiring
rooms on the second floor. This build
ing is without fire escapes.
The Toner School, visited next, was
found to be Of unique architecture, the
rooms on two floors being grouped around
an octagon-shaped hallway. The building
Is free from many OF the defects discov-
ly fireproof. The ash vault is freproof.
except that there Is q wooden door, un-
protected with iron, at the entrance. The
coal bin Is under the fireproof stairs.
Perpendicular Fire Escape.
At the Grant School the commission
looked long at the perpendicular fire
escape. which is on the front Of the struc-
ture. The rear Of the building Is In two
wings and a new and modern fire escape
was put on the rear wall of one of these
wings At this building. a storm door
which has been gut on the inside OF a
basement door makes the exit about
half the size intended.
The ashes, the commission found. are
carried from the furnace room through
a room In which is kept wood in consid-
cradle quantity. to a brick vault. Wooden
wainscoting lines the iron and stone steps
Of the stairways on each side of the pas
sage.
The radiators in this building, 1t was
noted are placed within three inches of
the wooden wainscoting and the wood
today was almost too hot to touch. There
was absolutely no protection Of the wood
from the heated radiators In many cases.
The Montgomery School. next to be
visited is a two-story eight-room building
without fire escapes. At one Of the two
side exits an abrupt turn il necessary
in order to get out. The discovery of q
basement door used by the janitor which
opened inward and Of one-half Of a door
ibolted was the special feature of the
visit Of the commission there.
In the Weightman Building.
In the Weightman building wooden
wainscoting was found along the stair
way passages and around the basement
walls even to the doors of the furnace
One room in the basement, 1t was found
is used for the storage of wood. coal and
ashes The bins for these things are made
by wooden partitions. In the furnace
room. too. It was noted that there was
q wooden floor. except for couple OF
feet Immediately in front Of the furnaces
One of the cloakrooms was found to have
no direct exit into the hallway
At the Stevens building. one Of the
largest visited SO far by the commission
containing twenty classrooms, the com
mission spent q long time. A fire escape
on the front OF the building was noted In
particular. 1t has q ladder from the first.
floor platform to the ground, which IL
kept OF the ground by q weight. A cable
holding the weight was found to have
been fastened directly in the middle OF
the stairs. thus blockading the free pas
sage. The basement was found to be q
maze of rooms and turnings. but there
are several exits.