The Catholic bulletin., 1915-11-06
SAFETY IN SCHOOL HOUSES

The sympathy Of the whole
country goes out to the bereaved
parents of the score Of children
who lost their lives in the fire
which destroyed st. Johns paro-
chial school in Peabody, Mass,
last Week,-not only to them but
to the priests of the parish and
the Sisters who had charge of the
school. They, too, feel keenly
the loss Of the bright young chill
dren whose promising lives were
snuffed out by the confiagration.
Much credit is due to the Sisters
who labored so heroically to res
cue their young charges from
danger at the imminent risk of
their own lives. But it is only an
other instance of the heroic devo-
ton to duty which has character
lied the consecrated hosts of
Gods Church in every age. The
pastor and Sisters were not un-
mindful of the possible danger
from fire. They had tried to pre-
pare for such a contingency by
holding regular fire drills; and
were it not that panic seized the
children when a cripple youth
stumbled in the smoke-filled hall,
it is probable that all would have
escaped in safety.
st. Johns parochial school was
built only few years ago. 1t
was supposed to be modern
building. 1t is regrettable, how
ever, that so much wood was used
in it's construction, and above all
that the stairways were of wood.
This made it an ever present men
ace to the children in case Of fire
The school should have been re-
modelled and made fireproof
Years ago, before the use of con
crete became as general as it is at
present, it was difficult to build u
fireproof school. Now there is no
excuse for putting up any other
kind. No expense should be
spared to make a school as fire
proof as modern construction can
make it. The floors, the walls,
the stairways and the interior fin
ishing should be Of some fire-re-
sistihg material and there should
be sufficient number Of exits to
afford means of escape in case OF
danger. In addition to the main
entrance there should be at least
two other doors in different parts
of the building All the doors
should open outwards and the
stairways should be so arranged
that these exits could be taken
advantage of by the escaping chill
dren. A defect that should be
avoided in the construction Of d
school is the opening of all the
rooms into central hall where
crowding is unavoidable. The
corridors should be roomy and sc
arranged that in case of danger
the children may leave the build
ing at different exits without
over-crowding the stairways OF
meeting at any central point In
addition to this, there should be
frequent fire drills in all schools
so that the children may be
trained to leave the building in q
quiet and orderly manner If the
children are not so trained it is
almost impossible to prevent
panic when q fire breaks out.
The parochial schools erected il
this diocese during the past few
years are. as a general rule, as
nearly fireproof as they can be
made This is especially true oi
the schools in st. Paul and Min.
neapolis which are models in this
regard. In the construction oi
them everything possible has been
done to safeguard the lives of the
children in case of fire.
Precautions similar to those
taken in the building Of schools
should also be taken IN the con
struction of churches and other
buildings in which people congre.
gate. The doors should open out
ward and there should be numer