The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1911-01-13

On School Fire Escapes Pronounced Sen
saionaI by Members Of Board Of Edu'
cation. Buildings Inspected During
Vacation, When Schools Were
Not In Session.
Fire Chief A. F. Thayer, who made
sensational report on the local
school buildings, came in for con
sidera BILE unfavorable comment by
members of the school board and
citizens present at the meeting
Wednesday night. Mr.. Thayer was
summoned to attend the meeting
and substantiate the statements
made to the Police and Fire Com
mission. but he was too busy with
his duties in some lodge to come
and offer suggestions to remedy the
"terrible" conditions which he had
pictured in his press dispatches to
the Duluth papers. If any of the
school buildings are "unsate" OF
death traps" as the chief repre-
sents in the News Tribune. he
should not rest day or night until
the lawful" conditions are rene
died.
That any such condition exists
the Board of Education deny abso
! lutely. The Chief visited the Roose
! Welt in vacation time, January 3
when there we're no children in the
building. He says he found some
of the doors locked. Strange, ism
it, that the school doors should b<
locked in vacation time! These
doors are always unlocked wher
the schools are in session. HI
found two lengths of hose off thu
rack in vacation time! This hat
been permitted partly to- test thu
hose and partly to flood the rink
The hose was in place when schoo
opened, and is always in place ir
case of an emergency. The Chic
forgot to mention the fact that hi
ordered the expensive Fire Alarm
Box No. 50, disconnected last Octo
Der, and it hasn't been connected NJ
since. Before these boxes were pu
in he represented to the Schoo
Board that the lives of the children
would be in jeopardy without sale
connection; now he orders Box 81
in three story structure, discon
nected, and leaves it disconnected
! for three months. Will he please
explain why this is done?
In his News Tribune article thu
Chief speaks about doors opening
inwards." The Chief mnet hav,
made his inspection from the ia
distance" with telescope, for as ::
matter of fact there is not an out
side door in any of the buildings il
the whole school system that opens
inwards,
!. The Chief says he found an &C
cumulation of snow and ice on tn
! Johnson fire escape. Mr.. Thoma
Carroll, the man in charge of thi
building, says that when the in
spection was made he accompanied
the Chief, and that there was no
then and never is allowed to be, ia,
accumulation of snow aud ice." Tn,
school authorities inspect these fir
escapes weekly, and have neve
found this one out of condition. A
! to the use of basement room il
this building, the only exit from
which, as the Chief reports, il
Through door leading from tn
! boiler roon," it is hardly believa BILE
that a man holding a public pos
ton would make a statement 9,
easily proven false. The exit from
this room is not through the doc
leading to the boiler room at all
The exit from this room is through
wide double doors, which commun
icate to three separate and indie
\ pendent stairways, besides the room
in question has twenty-five larg
windows that open out on to tn
level ground. There was no caus
for starting the above sensationa
yarn.
Atthe Primary building the Chic
says he found 1.-THE fire escape nc
properly taken care of" and 9TH
boilers under a good head:of stear
and no one in CHARGE" etc. Mr.. Ell
nest Geske, who has charge of thi
building, was present at the Boar
meeting Wednesday night to hea
Mr.. Thayer make his statement,
he would. Mr.. Geske says that o
the day of the inspection he wer
with the Chief to look at the fire e.
cape, that it was not covered wit
snow or ice, and that he is neve
absent from the building Will
school is in session. Moreover, tn
boilers are low pressure, aud neve
carry "a good head of steam," tn
steam gauge seldom showing owe
five pounds. The School Board al
wondering how it happens that tn
Central School, which is the veal