REPORTS OF COUNTY HEALTH OFFICERS ON SCHOOLHOUSES. ADAMS COUNTY, I wish to submit the following report of the sanitary condition of the schoolhouses in Adams County: There are in the county about 115 schoolhouses; of that number all but eight are in a very satisfactory sanitary condition as to light, ventilation and heating. About 85 per cent. of the schoolhouses are provided with good drainage. About 75 per cent. of the schoolhouses of this county are provided with good wells, which are in good condition. Quite a number of the schoolhouses have water tanks in the building, to which are attached small drinking cups. Slates have been discarded in nearly all of the schools of the county. Sterilizers are also being used in a great number of schools. In the cities and towns nearly all the schoolhouses are heated with furnaces. In the country districts, where there is only one room in the schoolhouse, stoves are used. The outhouses are kept in good condition, a decided change from last year. The schoolhouses in our county are nearly all built of brick, especial attention being given to the selection of site for building; also special care taken to supply sufficient light, and in all cases where possible to have the rays of light to the left of the student. Nearly all the schoolhouses are supplied with adjustable desks and seats. H. F. COSTELLO, BENTON COUNTY. There are seventy-five frame country schoolhouses and one brick schoolhouse in Benton County. There are eleven houses that are not in use at the present time. There are six brick houses in the incorporated towns in the county. There are two brick and three frame houses in the five unincorporated towns. The country schoolhouses are all heated by soft coal stoves, and the means of ventilation consists of the old way of raising the windows. As a rule the light is admitted from both sides of the room, but in a few instances it is admitted only from the right side of the pupils. The water supply is good. In all cases the water comes from deep driven wells on the school lot or is taken from a close neighbor, from the same kind of a well. This insures pure water for pupils and teachers. The school yards are well drained and kept in good condition. In fact, the Trustees take pride in keeping the country schoolhouses in good condition. The eleven houses not in use are in districts where the number of school children is so small that it is cheaper to transfer to other districts than to maintain two separate schools. The schoolhouses in the incorporated towns are all brick, substantially built. The Fowler schoolhouse is a building of ten rooms, heated by hot air, with dry closets. The whole system is a failure and must soon be condemned and some other plan adopted. The other five houses are all heated by hot air furnaces and have so far given general satisfaction. The village of Raub has a two-room brick, heated by hard coal stoves. Swanington, Talbot and Templeton each have two-room frame buildings heated by soft coal stoves. The little town of Wadena is building a fourroom brick house, to be heated by steam, properly ventilated. In fact, when completed, will be a model school building. We have had but two cases of smallpox in the county. They occurred in the extreme north line of the county near Goodland, which is in Newton County. The disease was brought from near Fort Wayne. A strict quarantine was maintained and only two cases resulted from the exposure. Neither person had been vaccinated. The general health of the county has been good and no epidemics occurred, except scarlet fever, which occurred in a mild form in various parts of the county. J. S. MAVITY, Health Officer. BLACKFORD COUNTY. Blackford County has fifty-four schoolhouses. Forty-seven are country schoolhouses, constructed of brick and stone, one-story buildings, located on high ground, well drained, heated by stoves, lighted and ventilated per windows and doors, three or four windows on each side of the room. Two privies for each building, located four to five rods from schoolhouse. Hartford City has five and Montpelier has two school buildings, twostories, constructed of brick and stone, heated by furnace, lighted and ventilated per windows and doors, washout closets connected to city waterworks and sewers. Seats and desks the common or ordinary kind, not adjustable to children of different sizes, as should be. W. N. CRONIN, Health Officer. |