The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-11-06
SCHOOL BUILDING BULLETIN ISSUED Alabama Professor Pre- pares Valuable Data PICTURES ARE SHOWN United States Spends Seventy Million Dollars Annually in the Erec-
 tion of Public School
 Buildings
PICTURES ARE SHOWN
BY WALTER HARPER

Washington, November 5.-(Special) The United States bureau of educa ton has just issued a bulletin on American school houses that should De of great value to school building archi. tects and school boards. The bulletin contains 1S3 pages of reading matte, and mare than 250 pages of plates, pie lures and diagrams.
 The bulletin, which, in fact, Is a large sized book, was written and com piled by Prof. Fletcher B. Dresslar, professor of philosophy and education in the University of Alabama.
 Professor Dresslar has shown great breadth of study and research in the | compilation Of the book. He has en- Geavored to show the advantages and disadvantages of modern methods of building school houses and has adapts ed the work to every section and con- dition. Plans and pictures of some or the largest and best city schools in the country are shown. The small. country school and the village hign school have not been neglected.
  missioner F. E. Brown says: Tt has lbeen estimated that this country spends approximately s270,00o GOO annually in the erection of public school buildings This estimate does nov include build ings for normal schools, colleges ard universities. There can be no doubt that a substantial portion of this sun, might be saved and improvement made at the same time in the adaptation ol these buildings to sanitary and educe- tlonal purposes, as well as in thelr architectural appearance. by more general diffusion of knowledge respect ing the recognized standards of school house construction.
 To Promote Saving
 The monograph presented herewith for publication is intended to promote such saving and improvement and thereby to aid the people of the Unit ed states in the establishment and maintenance of efficient school systems and otherwise promote the cause of education throughout the country.
 The need of such a publication is increased by changes In school organ ization and instruction in recent years. which are reflected in the types of school house now generally approved by competent schoolmen and architects. It is a need which has been impressed upon the staff of this office by re- peated inquiries from all parts of the country for information such as is here presented. These inquiries have come with especial urgency from the south and west, where the establishment of new high schools has been going for ward with great rapidity. For the most part the principles which apply 10 the erection of high school build ings apply equally to the erection of buildings for elementary schools. It has been possible, accordingly, to give to this publication a general character and I believe it will be found useful in connection with school house con struction for public schools of every grade and in all parts of the coun try. Wherever a limitation must be made, however, the schools which the author has had particularly in mind have been the high schools in small cities and towns of the south and west.
 Professor Dresslar has been able ,, draw upon an extended experience in the states of Indiana, California and Alabama. Within recent years he has been consulted by many boards of ed ucation in the two states last namej with reference to plans for new school buildings. He approaches the snhiect from the twofold point of view of practical schoolman who is also n trained specialist in the field On sv. siene. The considerations upon which he lays especial emphasis are, accord ingly, of the utmost importance as re- Eards the plans of buildings for schoot use"