Evening journal., 1915-06-08

windows and all woodwork including
the wooden parts OF seats and desks
Township trustees, school
boards, and boards of school commits
sioners who neglect or refuse to obey
the provisions of this section shall be
fined in any sum not less than $40 or
more than 500 and each said re-
fusal or neglect shall constitute a
separate offence.
Drinking Fountains.
To come back to sanitation in our
Wilmington elementary schools. il ia
true that I'm twenty-six Of the thirty.
sanitary drinking fountains exist: but
these are in some cases. reported as
most unsatisfactory owing to poor wa
ter pressure and other defects Where
the pressure is too poor to send up
jet of water, the children's tendency
to put their mouths tightly over the
top of the fountain creates a condi-
tion worse than the common cup. The
cup was In use in seven schools this
winter and in one case a teacher
/ frankly remarked that the defective
drinking fountains were bad enough
but the cup got real slimy in the
bottom"
The number of fountains varies in
our elementary schools from twelve
in the latest built school, No 30, TO one
! in school No. 10. The majority OF
the schools have two-one upstairs
and one down. The government stand
ard demands four for each une hun
dred children in the school. Taking
this as 100 per cent, not one Of our
elementary schools reaches 1.-THE
highest being as per cent. in No. 30
Ten of the schools measure only IA
per cent. To get a concrete picture oI
what this means. imagine a hot day
and three hundred and seventy-fv'
children wanting TO get a drink during
the ten minute recess at two foun
tains. The standard for this number
! of children would be fifteen foun
tains.
} Compared with washrooms. how
ever, tho situation in regard TO drink
! ing-fountain accommodations Is les
3 open to criticism, for wash
- rooms or proper facilities 70
= washing are. generally speaking.
, minus quantity. Only in three case
I are there wash basins in the toil6
rooms. or at least a bowl for IN
] teachers In all other cases the chi
y dren wash at sinks in the halls fror
n the water overfowing from the drink
s ing fountains, OF II there IS anothe
r faucet they use that.
n When we consider that a great man
4 children must depend on the scho,
D TO form their ideas and habits I,
r cleanliness and that children genera
D ly speaking are often more impresse
y by teaching outside of the home tha
y by the manner Of living in the hom
!. no matter how good the latter ma
q be. the school has in this particul;
: a responsibility that cannot excus'
e ably be shirked. A great many fol
% eigners come in contact with ou
- standard Of habits and living onl
e. through the schools In cleanline'
b and sanitation do we wish our pre-
p ent condition 10 stand as a model?
h In some cases. principals keep ii
r. basins underneath the sink. and no a
b lotment for soap or towels being mad
e by the school board. teachers in
Z number of cases supply these two. an
r keep them where they can be borrow
u ed In an emergency. Here again th
+ teacher has felt called upon to max
't good a neglect for which she is /
l. no way responsible.
IS So much has been said in the paper
s, this winter about unsanitary toilet
al that the subject is perhaps dangerou
b. TO touch upon, particularly as the al
4 preparation for improvement has bee
q. made, The conditions with which n
board has now to deal. however. al
" in detail worse than they we're pain
d ed. The careful investigation mac
it last winter, disclosed the followir
Il facts which are given in technic
II survey language:
& 1. Much of the plumbing has bee
S giving trouble since first put in. /
: one case the plumbing inspector r
fused TO pass on the toilets whe
4 they we're being installed, as tf
= water pressure was Inadequate. For
g cases Of inside toilets we're reporte
! as constantly causing trouble. II ev
e IDENTIFY does not always pay to give