The Adair County news., 1922-11-07
BUILD SCHOOLS
THAT WON'T BURN
Safety of Pupils Should Be First
Consideration in Planning
to House Them.
FIREPROOF MATERIALS URGED
So-calIed "Fire Escapes" Are Often
Makeshifts That Become Death
Traps in an Emergency
Death Toll Is Heavy,

Chicago. - School buildings that
won't burn can be built as readily as
those that do, and at much less addi-
tiOnal cost than many persons imagine.
1t is largely a matter of selection of
building materials, and in many cases
materials with high fire resisting quail
tiles can be obtained from local
sources, according to men connected
intimately with the building cOnstruc-
ton industry. 1t is just as important
to have a fireproOf interior as a fire
proof exterior. Buildings with exte-
riOr walls of masonry, but with a
wooden interior, are in no sense fire
proof. A sO-called fire escape" does
not meet the deficiency, for time and
again these makeshifts have become
death traps in an emergency. Lack Of
familiarity with their use, locked doors.
obstruction in passageways or other
results of carelessness and indiffer-
ence have contributed to the large
death toll charged against the fire
escape"
One type of freproOf construction
becoming generally adopted for large
schools consists of a reinforced con-
crete structural frame, comprising all
structural parts such as floors, roof,
stairs, girders, columns and wall piers,
and f1reprOOf interior partitions. This
form of construction has been adopted
as the standard In Philadelphia, Buff
falo, Cincinnati, Seattle and a host of
smaller cities.
Has Many Advantages.
Advantages claimed for this type are
the homogeneous character of the
structure, better sequence of con-
structiOn with consequent saving of
time, great strength and rigidity, and
a slight reduction in the general d.
mensiOns of the building because Of
the thinner exterior walls and Interior
partitions. Saving in time is possible
because the entire structural frame,
including the floor and roof slabs, may
be completed without interruption,
after which the brick veneer or con-
crete surface finish, as the case may
be, may be started and completed with
out interruption.
Another type frequently employed
for exterior and corridor walls is a
double wall of reinforced concrete
formed by an adjustable metal mold.
The dead air space between the
two wall sections provides insulation
against cold and heat. The exterior
is usually coated with stucco, which
should be of specially selected mate
rial such as white sand and white Port
land cement. The interior plaster is
applied directly to the concrete, since
the dead air space within the wall
makes furring unnecessary. This elm
mates the cost of laths.
SOCalled artificial stone, which is in
reality a cast block of concrete, usu-
ally made with high-pOwered machin-
cry and faced with specially selected
aggregates, often mixed with white ce-
ment, is used quite extensively in
many sections of the country where
the art of its manufacture has been
well developed. Only experts can dis
tinguish it from natural cut stone.
Fireproof Interior.
For the interior, reinforced concrete
floors, stairs, and roof provide a high
degree of fire resistance. Because of
the comparatively light floor loads. one
of several of the lighter types of re-
infOrced concrete floors are generally
the. most economical. Interior parti-
tiOnS can be made of concrete parti-
tiOn block, usually Obtainable from
local sources. Plaster may be applied
to these blocks without the use of lath,
the corrugatiOnS in the block providing
firm grip. Portland cement plaster
on metal lath also makes a highly fire
reSiStive partition. The floor finish
itself may be a sO-called mastic or
composition finish applied directly to
the concrete slab. This makes q floor
that is quiet, comfortable, easy to keep
clean and pleasing in appearance.
The general plan of the building
| must be so arranged that a fire orig
mating in the contents cannot spread
in a horizontal direction and all stair
ways must be enclosed so that it can
not spread in vertical direction. In
such buildings school children are en-
tirely free from the menace of fire.