صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

has five windows, twenty single seats and six double seats; forty-seven children enrolled. Floors, ceiling and side walls are cracked and dilapidated. The Principal room is 20x20x10; has five windows, 15 single seats and five double seats. No special provision for ventilation; no water supply. Children are compelled to go to neighboring houses to quench thirst. Outhouses are dilapidated and a disgrace. There are no walks approaching the house, and the children have to walk through the mud. A mud road leads from the postoffice to the schoolhouse, and children have to travel on the road or walk on the railroad. The house is built flat upon the ground and is in every way unfit for school purposes.

The following citizens, patrons of the school, petition that the schoolhouse be condemned by the State Board of Health: J. S. Williams, Benj. F. Dāvis, A. C. Trusty, teacher; W. L. Brisco, Chas. McFatridge, R. A. Dunn, E. E. Hoadley, Secretary Advisory Board; John A. Terry, Postmaster; David Culross, Chas. Steinhagen, William Hawkins, C. C. McHenry, M. Cline, J. M. Kagan, Robert Welch, Wm. Welch, Henry Stewart, Wm. Ashbaugh, A. G. Hoadley, William Rox, Charles Snodgrass, Robert Lyford, D. C. Pud, Bart Acuff, George Snodgrass, J. E. Trueblood.

SCHOOLHOUSE AT SMEDLEY.

(Report of Dr. A. A. Reed, Health Officer of Washington County.) The structure is frame, constructed in 1890, and was very poorly built. It is in a dilapidated condition. It has one room, 23x35x10, making a total cubical contents of 8,452 feet. The average attendance last year was seventy. There was, therefore, 120.7 cubic feet of space per child, which is 80 cubic feet short of the minimum standard. The room was so crowded that many were placed three in a seat. There are 24 double seats and twelve single. They are placed so closely together that there is barely a space of 16 to 20 inches for the aisle. These seats are old, wooden ones, badly out of repair. The floor is open in many places. The ceiling is cracked, also the walls. There are large open spaces in the ceiling. The room is heated by a stove and ventilated by windows and doors. There are eight windows, four on each side, 3 feet 4 inches wide and 5 feet 9 inches high. The house is on pillars and is all open beneath. There are no walks for approach. The roof is old and leaks badly. Water is procured from a dug well at a neighbor's across the road. This well contains surface water at times. The outhouses are old and dilapidated, not screened, and have no paths leading to them. I interviewed about fifteen patrons and all desired a new schoolhouse.

The names of some of the persons interviewed were: Frank Brewer, Sherman Smedley, E. Redman, Mr. Hughes, Oliver Smith, Elisha Hamilton, E. H. Brewer, Hiram Smedley, Ed. Holliday, Thomas Wyman, Robert Alexander, Mr. Killman, Mr. Taylor, teacher.

During the winter just passed there were many cases of coughs, colds and catarrhs. There were also three cases of typhoid fever, and the school children were frequently detained at home on account of slight illness.

I consider this schoolhouse exceedingly unsanitary, too small, and its condition is such that it is entirely unfit for school purposes. I recommend that it be condemned.

CAMPBELLSBURG SCHOOLHOUSE.

Campbellsburg is in Washington County and is a town of about 750 inhabitants. The schoolhouse is an old frame, two story, four-roomed. The east room downstairs is 30x25x10; contains fifty-two seats and fiftyfour pupils are enrolled. Four windows, two in the rear of pupils and two in front. These windows are small. The desks are old and all of them double. The children are compelled to look directly into the light, and headaches, nervousness and eyeaches are very common.

West Room-There are forty-three desks and forty-two pupils enrolled. Dimensions, 30x25x10; old dilapidated desks; six windows, two on the rear, two at the side and two in front of the pupils. Pupils are therefore compelled to look directly into the light. Eyeache, headache and nervousness are frequently complained of.

East Room, upstairs.-This room is 24x24x10. Twenty-five single seats, twenty-five pupils enrolled. Three small windows on the right side of the pupils. Eyeaches and headaches frequently complained of by the pupils.

West Room, upstairs.-Dimensions, 30x24x10. Thirty-eight seats, three windows on the right, two on the left and two behind the pupils. There was a large motto, reading "Do Right."

The whole building is dilapidated, floors are badly worn and walls are defaced. Warming of all of the rooms is by stoves. Floors are very thin and almost worn through and uneven. A noisy sawmill is immediately across the street, 300 feet distant. The sawmill makes it very difficult indeed at times for the teachers to hear the pupils recite.

Professor Mathers, superintendent, says: "The heating of this schoolhouse is very poor indeed. One time, by actual experiment, I found 20 degrees difference in temperature between the floor and six feet up. The noise from the sawmill is very disturbing. The average percentage of attendance is 90. The pupils complain in cold weather almost continually of cold feet. Some have suffered slight frost-bite. The air is always bad in all of the rooms. Coughs, colds, catarrhs, headaches and tonsilitis are frequently complained of."

Mr. W. A. Colglazier, trustee, said: "My little daughter was sick part of the winter, and I think it was due to the conditions at the schoolhouse. She frequently cried out in her sleep and suffered from indigestion and nervousness."

Mr. J. M. Pollard, trustee, said: "My son, Stanley, now 23 years old, had weak eyes while in school. When he quit his eyes got well. He also had nervousness and frequent headaches, which left him when he stopped school."

The walks approaching the schoolhouse are board and are in bad repair. The outhouses are dilapidated and too bad to describe. I talked with many of the citizens of Campbellsburg, and without exception every person condemned the schoolhouse and said they wished the authorities would build a new one. This schoolhouse is certainly unsanitary and unfit in every way for school purposes. I recommend that it be absolutely

condemned.

SCHOOLHOUSE AT BRIDGEPORT.

At the request of several citizens of Bridgeport, Marion County. I visited that place April 30th in order to examine the sanitary conditions of the local schoolhouse and give such advice as the conditions might cali for.

The building is of soft brick; no basement, built flat upon the ground; walls have cracks in them in various places; at the corners where the rainspouts are placed the mortar has been washed away to a considerable degree, and the walls are crumbling. The building is one-story and consists of two rooms, which are heated by stoves and ventilated by windows and doors.

The primary room is 24x33x14, which gives a total cubical contents of 11,088 cubic feet. It contains fifty-five single seats, and counting one child to each seat there is provided for each one over 200 cubic feet of space. This is ample, and there is no criticism on this point. The desks are old and all of one size, and, of course, some of the children are injured more or less because the seats do not fit. This primary room has six narrow windows, three on each side, and because of cross-lights is unsanitary from the lighting point of view. The blackboards are glossy and badly chipped. The entrance is by a door leading from a narrow hall, and it is evident, in case of fire, that all of the children would probably not be able to escape. Drs. Yoke and Jennings were with me and stated it has been their constant observance for several years that sickness among the children increases when the school is opened. They also stated the teachers' reports show that attendance falls off slowly as the terms progress on account of sickness among the children.

The Main Room. This room is 24x36x14, making the cubical contents 12,096 cubic feet. The room contains forty-five single seats and there is, therefore, over 200 cubic feet to each pupil. There is no criticism on this score. This room is lighted by five narrow windows, four in the west side and one in the rear in the east side. These windows are so small as not to give sufficient light, and the professional gentlemen above named report there is eye strain among the pupils on this account. The same gentlemen report that the children continually complain of cold feet and that the room is so cold they can not study; they also state that the schoolhouse is so damp on account of its bad ventilation and lack of basement as to be a cause of sickness. Attendance in this room falls off every year, also in the other room, as the term progresses.

The schoolyard is fine in every easily drained, because it is high. built of brick and properly screened. It remains to be said that all of the badly, and the latter rattle when the wind blows. It is also to be said that the plastering is cracked in many places and is falling off in places. The water supply is satisfactory.

respect. It is very large and can be The outhouses are two in number, One of them is in very bad condition. doors and most of the windows fit

Recommendations.--Inasmuch as this schoolhouse is unsanitary, as is proven by the survey above given; and inasmuch as school moneys are being annually wasted by surrounding the children with unhealthful conditions which prevent them from studying and progressing as they should,

and also because disease is caused, I recommend that this schoolhouse be condemned. I attach hereto a report made of this building by Dr. Samuel McGaughey, Health Officer of Marion County.

SANITARY SURVEY OF SCHOOLHOUSE AT WEST BADEN.

West Baden is in Orange County and has about 400 inhabitants. The schoolhouse is an old frame, two story, dirty, dilapidated, inconveniently arranged and heated by stoves; ventilation by windows and insufficiently lighted; is dangerous in case of fire on account of a narrow box stairway built to reach the upper story. This upper story consists of a large room and narrow landing and a small cloak-room. The upper story is low, the ceilings being only 8 feet. The blackboards are slate, the desks are old wooden ones, much dilapidated and marred. The house was wide open at the time of my visit and the floors were actually muddy. The furniture was in confusion, and maps, charts, globes and like teaching accessories were uncared for and rapidly going to pieces. The outhouses are dilapidated and too awful to describe. There are no grounds surrounding the building where the children can take exercise.

Summary. This schoolhouse is totally unfit for school purposes. It is unsanitary from every point of view. In the past winter many children were sick. Coughs, colds, catarrh and headaches were complained of frequently. The average attendance was eighty-eight and children are frequently detained at home on account of "school illness." I talked with six patrons of the school and all of them expressed the wish that the old schoolhouse would be condemned and that a new one would be built.

Recommendations.-I recommend to the State Board that this schoolhouse be absolutely condemned for school purposes. I also suggest that 'a resolution be passed urging the town authorities to clean out the gutters of the town and order a general cleaning up of all private premises. These recommendations are made because I observed in many places the gutters were clogged with empty tin cans, pieces of stove-wood, straw and other debris. I also observed many doorways which were filthy and dirty in the extreme, and I therefore make the recommendation that the Town Board be directed to pass an order requiring that premises be cleaned up.

After full discussion and consideration of the above five sanitary surveys of schoolhouses, the following orders of condemnation were unanimously adopted:

ORDER OF CONDEMNATION OF SCHOOLHOUSE AT STINESVILLE BY THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH OF INDIANA.

It having been shown to the satisfaction of the State Board of Health of Indiana that the schoolhouse, District No. 7, at Stinesville, Monroe County, Bean Blossom Township, Indiana, is old, dilapidated, unsanitary and impossible of renovation, and it being further satisfactorily shown to said board that the pupils have, in the past, on account of said unsanitary conditions, been attacked by coughs, colds, headaches, eye strain, nervous

ness and other ills, therefore, the State Board of Health of Indiana, in special session, condemns the said schoolhouse as unfit for school purposes, and the Trustee of Bean Blossom Township, Monroe County, Indiana, Mr. Wm. H. Brown, Jr., is commanded not to use said schoolhouse for school purposes from this date forth, under pain of prosecution by the AttorneyGeneral of the State of Indiana.

Passed this day, June 12, 1903, by the State Board of Health of Indiana.

ORDER OF CONDEMNATION BY THE INDIANA STATE BOARD OF HEALTH OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE AT SMEDLEY, VERNON TOWNSHIP, WASHINGTON COUNTY, INDIANA.

It having been shown to the satisfaction of the State Board of Health that the schoolhouse at Smedley, District No. 7, Washington County, Vernon Township, Indiana, is exceedingly unsanitary, and it being further satisfactorily shown to said board that the pupils have, on account of said unsanitary conditions, been attacked by coughs, colds, catarrhs, eye strain, nervousness and other ills, therefore, the State Board of Health of Indiana condemns said schoolhouse as unfit for school purposes, and the Trustee of said Township, John A. Teagarden, is hereby commanded not to use said schoolhouse for school purposes from this date, under pain of prosecution by the Attorney-General of the State of Indiana.

Passed this date, June 12, 1903, by the Indiana State Board of Health.

ORDER OF CONDEMNATION OF SCHOOLHOUSE AT CAMPBELLS BURG, BY THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH OF INDIANA.

It having been shown to the satisfaction of the State Board of Health of Indiana that the schoolhouse at Campbellsburg, Washington County, Indiana, is old, dilapidated, unsanitary and impossible of renovation, and it being further satisfactorily shown to said board that the pupils have, in the past, on account of said unsanitary conditions, been attacked by coughs, colds, headaches, eye strain, nervousness and other ills, therefore, the State Board of Health of Indiana, in special session, condemns the said schoolhouse as unfit for school purposes, and the Trustees of the said town of Campbellsburg, namely, J. C. Brown, James Pollard and Alva Colglazier, are commanded not to use said schoolhouse for school purposes from this date forth, under pain of prosecution by the AttorneyGeneral of the State of Indiana.

Passed this day, June 12, 1903, by the State Board of Health of Indiana.

« السابقةمتابعة »