The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-03-03
DR.. King Will Probably Find
There Are Minor Defects,
But System as Whole Is
Satisfactory.
RESULTS OF PROBE
TO BE BENEFICIAL
Schools Will Be Better, the
People Better and the City
Will Be Better, Expert
Declares.

The investigation OF conditions In
the Richmond Public schools. com
plctcd today by DIR. w. +. King. as
Sistant state health commissioner, re-
suited In the disclosure Of but one
serious defect in the ventilatlng sys.
TEN; that at the Garfield school.
where four rooms have no foul air
ducts. While Dr. King has made no
statement to tho press summing up
his opinion Of the local schools. he
will no doubt declare in his formal re-
port that the mechanical fan system
IN use In the schools here. with the
exception of the Sevastopohl school.
are the best obtainabie and that the
few troubles discovered were due to
lack OF proper adjustment and manipu-
lation rather than to the system itself.
As a whole he will probably declare
the school sanitary conditions here up
TO tho average of Indiana schools.
"Thc schools will be better. the pco-
pie will be better, and the city in gen.
cral will be better because of the in
during the examinations he voiced his
approval Of the inspection, declaring
81 was a very good thing. He seemed
to be confident that the results at
t8incd will he OF great benefit. both
In remedying the defects discovered
mad In providing the teachers and
school authorities with information
which will be OF great value in main
tanning good sanitary condition in
the future.
AZ Garfield School.
The term a bad situation was ap-
piled by the health commissioner to
! the lack OF foul air escapes in four
rooms besides the office, at the Gar
field building. and II was the first time
he had found fault or criticised any of
the ventilating systems. In room No.
8. he remarked: II don't see how you
could prevent getting bad air In this
ROOM" The Garfield rooms were all
found to be receiving sufficient
quantity Of air through the intakes,
but II was pointed out by DIR. King
that with no foul air ducts the bad
air was simply being drawn out
through the doors into the halls and
into other parts Of the building to be
used again.
DIR. King said he could not state
with authority just how the situation
could be remcdied. but he suggested
the building of an outside air stack on
the north side Of the building to pro-
vide an escape for the two rooms on
that side without ducts. He will re-
commend In his report that the matter
be looked into thoroughly and be cor
rected IL possible. The school board
will probably be asked to consult with
n prominent school architect and me.
chanical engineer.
The rooms In which there are no foul
air ducts are numbers >. ). s, and 2.
and the office.
Rooms In Basement.
Two basement rooms used for class.
work In the Garfield school were Civ
en- particular attention by DIR. King,
Insufficient light space was the prin-
cipal fault discovered. Room Il has
but Ill light space while Room 16
has but lie. the minimum require
merit being l.6 Of the floor space.
Room II also has but ISL cubic feet
per pupil. and room 16 but 166 cubic
feet, while the standard Is 225 cubic
feet. Dr. King declared that despite
the general belief that basement room
was unhealthy there Is nothing wrong
with them provided they have proper
ventilation aud lighting facilities. The
air meter test showed Room 81 receiv-
Ing 40 cubic feet per pupil per min
ute and 50 cubic feet per seat. and
Room Is. 81 cubic feet per pupil.
Upon entering Room q yesterday
afternoon when the principal part of
the building was inspected. DR.. King
remarked. now you notice foul air. $
With the exception of the lack of
foul air ducts in the four rooms and
light space in the basement rooms. no
other fault was found with the Gar.
(Coutinued on Page Eight