Evening star., 1932-03-15
Officials See Postponement
Until May at Browne
Junior High.
EXPENSIVE EQUIPMENT
in BUILDING DAMAGED
Water Tunneled Under Foundation
and Into Basement, Probe
Today Reveals.

At least another month beyond April
/ will elapse before the new Hugh M.
Browne Junior High School can be
opened as the result of the flooding
of the buildings basement through the
bursting of a water main Sunday, ii
was learned at the Franklin School
Administration Building at noon today
Workmen from the Water Depart
ment and the District Repair Shop are
endeavoring to clear the silt ana muo
from the equipment that was buried IN
the 4-foot-high flood.
Among the most expensive items
which were submerged were series
of motors used to operate the ventilat-
ing and the vacuum cleaning system
for the building. The electric trans
formers which control the lighting
systems also constitute items of expen-
sive equipment which were damaged
Besides these the cafeteria tables ano
chairs, the kitchen stoves and mechan-
ical devices, including dishWashers
and several hundred students lockers
were buried beneath the slime
Flood Second Reason.
The food constitutes the second rea-
much needed school, which is located
on Twenty-fourth street northeast,
overlooking the Anacostia River, north
of Benning road.
The building apparently was COM
pleted in January, In time for Its orig
inally scheduled opening date OF Feb
ruary l.. It's staff of teachers and Of
ficers was appointed. Discovery Of the
settling of the cateterias concrete floor,
however. necessitated close inspection
of the buildings foundations, which, It
was feared, were settling in the clay on
which the building was erected. Fol-
lowing several days examination and
the subsequent relaying of section of
the cafeteria floor, the building was
pronounced fit. However, the neces-
sary walks had not been completed and
the municipal architects office, through
S B. Walsh, assistant municipal archi-
tect, announced that the structure
would not be ready for occupancy be-
fore April 1.
Garnet c.. Wilkinson, first assistant
superintendent of schools, said today
the school may not be use dthis term
at all Meanwhile its organization,
set up for February opening date, is
scattered in i've northeast elementary
schools. The 663 Students thus accomo-
dated today are responsible for 20 part
time classes at the Burville, II at
the Lovejoy and at the Payne schools.
Cause of Water Probed.
Investigation of the building this
morning revealed the course which the
water from the broken main took in
entering the building. Jere j. Crane,
school business manager, explained The
iron 10-inch water main snapped off
4 feet from the southern end wall. The
tremendous volume of water thus re-
leased tore up great gullies in the clay
fill about the building, followed the
foundation wall to its footings, tun-
neled beneath them. and rose in an
earth floored, unfinished basement
chamber.
The rising waters in this chamber
broke the door leading into the base
ment corridor. The water then forced
open the doors into the cafeteria, ris-
ing to a height of 4 feet
The catastrophe was further height
ened by the fact that the clay fill in
front of the building was indiscrim-
inately dumped on the manhole hous-
ing the main shutof valve, so that
time was lost in futile hunt for this
means of shutting off the flood. The
water finally was turned off at the
valve on Benning road, quarter mile
away.