Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-03-16
MOLINE SCHOOLS
HELD FIRE TRAPS
Walter IL. Bennett, State Fire Mar.
shall. Says Conditions He Found
in That City Shocking.
BOARD OF EDUCATION INDICTED
Inspectors Find Exits in Many Build
ings Locked and Doors Opening
Inward Escapes Needed.

Walter H. Bennett, state fire mar
shall OF Illinois, did not mince his
words when he spoke Of conditions in
Moline public school buildings at the
fire prevention meeting in the Moline
high school auditorium last evening.
He indicted members Of the Moline
public school board who are respOn-
sible for condition of the buildings,
which he declared had shocked him.
A report Of the inspectors preceded
his talk.
4 was amazed to find that the ma
jority OF school buildings in Moline
have half OF their exits locked and the
greater part Of doors opening inward
instead Of outward" asserted the fire
marshal. Concluding, he said:
Il hope Moline will never have a
school fire, like that at Collinsville,
where $50 children burned to death,
or that at the Peabody school, where
y children lost their lives. and | do
not wish to scold-but should you
ever have fire, you cannot come back
at the fire department and fire mar
shals office and say you had never
been warned"
Here was the report of the inspec-
tors who visited the Moline public
school buildings yesterday:
Three one-story frame buildings
where all doors open in instead OF
out. These are the Logan, Grinnell
and Seventh street buildings.
All other schools had half of the
exit doors bolted, and great many
are equipped with patent device that
is not practicable and is unsafe.
The Irving school has a fire escape
that is very poorly installed The es-
cape from the second boor landing is
ladder on the outside of the rail
ing Rubbish was found in a closet
under the stairway in this building
At the old high school. now the
Central grammar school, the stair
landing from the second floor was
pronounced very dangerous The fire
escape at that school is also poorly
installed.
The most shocking condition was
found at the Lincoln school.
Although the Lincoln school is al
most three stories, there is no fire
escape there whatever. Worse, the in
ner stairway. particularly at the
landing leading from the second floor
was pronounced very dangerous
At the new high school building
where everything is supposed to be
strictly up-to-date, the inspectors
found a radiator in front of a window
which opens upon fire escape.
Paper in Easements.
Nine of the schools had more or less
rubbish and paper in Easements and
under stairways.
With two exceptions, all stairs
leading to the basement are of wood
construction and not lathed or plas-
tered or protected in any way
The report of the inspectors was
considered so shocking by the men
who had it in charge that they hest
tated to make it public for fear OF
causing hard feelings, and before il
was given out it was referred to State
Fire Marshal Bennett himself.
I'VE can suppress nothing" was
Mr.. Benefits reply. at is our bust
ness to tell people what is wrong and
where the danger lies"
I'VE left slips at all places visited,
said Marshal Bennett from the plat
form, calling attention to hazards
We hope to find them remedied when
We return in a month"
This called to mind that a parent