The sun., 1912-07-12
OUR SCHOOLS UNSAFE.
SAYS c. c. Armstrong
Engineer Employed 10 Examine
Them Makes Startling
Report.
WOODEN FIRE ESCAPES
FIRE ESCAPES
WOODEN
Coal Waste and Dirty Air
Forced In by Old Vcntilat.
ing Systems.

Charles g. Armstrong. consul,ing
engineer employed by the committee on
school inquiry OF the Board of Estimate
and Apportionment. consisting of Presi-
dent Mitchell OF the Board of Aldermen,
Comptroller Prendergast and Borough
President Miller. has made report on
the condition OF nfty-six public school
buildings and their ventilating plants
and finds great many things wrong with
the schools. His remarks on lack ~
adequate FIRE protection are particularly
start ling.
In the first place. he rays that the ma
chanical designs are inefficient and made.
quate. He has found that boiler plants
are not concentrated even In the sama
buildings and that the power plants vera
not planned In the most efficient manner
He says that in many Of the schools he
inspected the engineers do not care fov
their machinery as they should and that
coal and ash are handled carelessly.
He says that too much coal Is being used
In the schools and that II Il too expensive,
Coal and ashes should be weighed and
there should be intelligent reports kepn
by the engineers az to the amount COM
sumed. He advocates the Improvement
"t an hodt'ns eye.ems ID 'he Scnoo's ~
that the amount OF steam generated may
be reduced while at the same time Ind
coal NAV be conserved and uti,ized
He thinks that automatic elevators
ought to be put in tho schools for tns
teachers.
AT present the only way Of providing
drinking water Ia by turning faucets -
one sac NO tnat they oiscnsree az an ans,s
OF about Is degrees into dirty receptacle
somewhat resembling a horse trough. y hs
says. The children must bend down over
ia. -. - -. s - -,
'"'e "ouk" anu "Iu'H ,'o',, ''e 'auce''
some putting their mouths directly on the
filthy brass outlet of the same. others
irving 10 drink from the flowing stream.
~, ~ 10Th Tho y.,oo;,v arJ ,o,ur,o .,
uu' 90 o." .'o .e =. =. u .o'ue W
the ~ater a'o 'oo erea' ~ Ie n', Suoees''
suitable number OF pedal operatin;
drinking fountains should be installed
at the earliest possible moment
The windows in many schools are
80 loosely fitted ~ to permit of much loss
of heat and draughts on the heads of the
pupils and he says that the heating sys-
tems in general are poorly designed
Nearly az schools nave mixtures o,
various hca'nE sys.sniH,i y,, So,me coou anu
h.
,; au..u;u ,od.,rn ,an,,,,,, s,.s,o,,,
sho,,id ho ;ns,.,ind in !. II cases
.pra NJ ;calIv cverv known svs,e,n of
ventilation and heating NAV he found in
the schools Of New York. vet in only one
building did Wa find modern methods in
use The principal faults were found to
he the forcing Of dirt laden air into the
class room and the lack OF proper humidl-
Tying apparatus
Mr' Armstrong SAYS Inat IN an Gases 4"
mooern ar Washins an" trGnper'nH hp-
purIa;.us capHIp's on o,,nJ t".rp""s '"' ""'
f'ITnS s"Iu 'I'n sd ~ az ,ro, .o,;o, bo
.vs ,ha, Nc, ona ri The buiid;nos H., in
spected is wholly fireproof.
None OF them conforms to the fire
rules and regulations. he says. Here and
there an axe or hook or hand ex-
tinguisher may be found but in no case is
there ANYTHING that the most kindly cril-
cism could dignity into a modern fire
fighting system.
sTo be sure. the architect has in num-
Der of buildings devised very ingenious
system of enciosed stajrways which would