Milford chronicle., 1932-01-22
THE SCHOOL JANITOR
By Albert Farley
Supervisor of Schools in Sussex
County.


principal, the janitor is the most i'm
portant person in school building.
He occupies a position of more re-
sponsibility than is usually recog-
nized. He is in very real sense re-
sponsible for the health and comfort
of the teachers and children under
his care. He is also responsible for
the economical use of fuel, equip
ment and supplies.
a school janitor must have other
qualities besides the physical
strength to shovel coal into the fur
mace, rake the fire and clean out
ashes. In a little book written for
the instruction of janitors, such
terms as specific heat, British ther-
NAL units, conductiOn, convection,
radiation, laten heat, sensible heat,
! hydrocarbons, fixed carbon, nom
caking Goals, carbon diOxide, sui
phur dioxide, direct indirect radia-
ton, water hammer, float valves,
plenum chamber humidity, relative
humidity, sling psychrometer, phe-
mol, etc, are discussed.
Recently three magazines of total
ly different type and having a Writ
ually separate clientele published
buildings. This indicates that the
public is awakening to the import
ance of this subject. The writer has
on several occasions measured the
relative humidity in school rooms
by emans of a sling psychrOmeter
and foun dthe air three times as dry
as the air over the Sahara Desert.
And teachers and pupils were
breathing this air! This, however,
was not in Delaware, but / am not
sure that the same conditions could
not be found in some of our class
rooms. A janitor would be a more
valuable ianitOr if he understood rel
ative humidity. Air which is too dry
shrivels the skin and allows various
bad air diseases to develop, due to
its effect on the glands of the throat.
In the text referred to in the sec
on dparagraph of this article, the
janitor is asked such questions as
Explain why a room in which there
is no circulation will not heat. If
you found a room difficult to heat
on account of air pockets and dead
air spaces, what would you do?
Janitor A says Never open win
dow over a radiator. Janitor B
says, Always open window over a
radiator if you can" Which is
right? Explain the precautions you
would take, in putting on double
windows in order to secure the best
results. These are typical of many
other questions which an intelligent
janitor should be able to answer.
Every janitor breads clinkers, and
should seek to prevent them, To
find the remedy we must know the
cause. There are at least five causes |
of clinkers There are different I
methods of banking fires. The adj !
and disadvantages of each
should be understood by the janitor. |
Every fireman should do his best to
fire the furnaces economically and |
with as little smoke as possible. |
Proper methods of firing will do |
much to lessen smoke. There are
three general methods of firing. The
kind of coal will determine the best
method to be used.
The janitor will sometimes meet
the problem of 'f0aming" He must
its cause and how to deal 4
with it. Scale may cause much trOu-
bic. The ianitor should know what I
causes it and the various remedies.
Soda ash is the most common rem Il
edy. Caustic soda should be used /
only by a person who understands
It's properties. The action of kero-
5ene on scale and the precautions
% be observed in using it should be
fully understood
Prof S. II. Woodbridge, of Boston,
said, death rates have been reduced
by the introduction of efficient ven
ilating systems in children's hos
Ditals from so per cent to 5 per
cent" Bad air causes headache, las
;itude and mental weariness. 1t is
llso both a direct and indirect cause
If tuberculosis, diphtheria, measles,
icarlet fever and other diseases.
There are ingeneral three methods
,f ventilation. The janitor should
the fresh air require
nents in cubic feet per person per
lour. Where mechanical ventilation
S used he should know how to use
n thermometer and to calculate the
intake of fresh air per minute.
Dry sweeping in some states is
orbidden by law. If a vacuum clean
ng system is not installed, the jen-
.or should use a sweeping COM
ound. Commercial sweeping COM
ounds are sometimes expensive.
he janitor should understand how III
D make inexpensive and satisfac-
Dry sweeping compounds. He should III
lso understand the advantages and
isadvantages of floor oils.
The best methods of cleaning
larble, tile, cement and vanished
oors, dirty wash bowls, painted
alls, and BRASS should be known Il
, janitors. Experiments have shown
lat clean windows increase the
ght from per cent to 80 per cent,
spending on how dirty they are i'm
le first place. The advantages and
of dry and liquid
Gaming should be known to the
nitor.
Mere muscular strength will cn-
Die a man to shovel coal into a fur
ace or push a brush across a floor.
.rength plus intelligence and spe-
fc training will make an efficient tx