i ti'?i'. i 0m :;;■;',;';', 1 ; i; ■ , I] 1 1 ■ ;' Qass i«< ■i^ijra i> Book 'l\ I H 8 Z Dresslar, i'letcher Bascom, 1858- ... Rural schoolhouses and grounds, by ■1 1 Fletcher B. Dresslar ... Washington, Govt, print, off., 1914. viii, 162 p. illus., 44 (i. e. 22) pi., plans. 23™. (U. S. cation. Bulletin, 1914, no. 12. Whole no. 585) Bureau of edu- Plates printed on both sides. 1. School-houses — U. S. 2, [School grounds] 3. [Rural schoolsi L6s E 14-2308 .All Pnnv '> T ■R'^'Vy'i T)9,9 ..<■■•' ^•,rwj<'';'.v,f? NITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION JLLETIN. 1914. NO. 12 WHOLE NUMBER 585 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS By FLETCHER B. DRESSLAR PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS NASHVILLE. TENN. WA5HINGTC»* CO\nSBim.ENT PRINTING OFFICE I9M UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914. NO. 12 WHOLE NUMBER 585 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS By FLETCHER B. DRESSLAR PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS NASHVILLE. TENN. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1914 Pa C*Aaa ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PKOCUKED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS GOVEENMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. AT 50 CENTS PER COPY 0£C 6 1914 CONTENTS. Fags. Letter of transmittal ,. vn Introduction (report on health problems by a joint committee of the National Council of Education and the American Medical Association) 1 Chapter I. — Some conditions and opportunities in rural hie 7 II. — Relation of the country -school program to the country-school equipment 10 III. — Hygienic condition of typical rxiral schoolhouses and grounds 17 IV. — The location of country schoolhouses 34 V. — Orientation of the bmlding 38 VI. — The country schoolhouse 42 VII. — Plans for rural schoolhouses 62 VIII. — Remodeling country schoolhouses 115 IX.— Teachers' cottages 122 X. — Consolidation of rural schools and some special needs in buildings for such schools 126 XI. — Sanitary and convenient water supply for country schools 131 XII. — Sanitary privies for rural schools 137 Appendix. — A health program for country children 159 in ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATES. (These Illustrations follow page 162.) Plate 1. The Crossroads School, Macon County, 111. 2. A, Manual training under difficulties; B, Forest school students at work in the lath house in the Raja Yogi School, Point Loma, Cal. 3. Domestic science, rural school in Louisiana. 4. Industrial work in Virginia colored schools. 5. A, B, Model 1; front and rear views; C, Model 5; front and side view. 6. Interior views of Models 1 and 2. 7. Model 3; side and interior views. 8. Model 5; interior view and basement plan. 9. A, Model 6; B, C, Model 4; front view, and rear view showing windows. 10. Model 6; pergola and oper-air theater. 11. A, A South Carolina rural school; B, Blackberry-Holmberg School, Dis- trict No. 1, Itasca County, Minn. 12. Views of nu-al school at Cocoanut Grove, Fla. 13. A, Masonville District No. 13, Yamhill, Oreg.; B, High Hill School, Dar- lington County, S. C. 14. A, Rural school at Marbury, Ala.; B, Comet School, Isle of Wight County, Va. 15. A, District No. 10, Boulder County, Colo.; B, Logansport, W. Va. 16. A, District 28, Mower County, Minn.; B, Los Padillas, Bernalillo County, N. Mex. 17. A, District 31, Boulder County, Colo.; B, Potter County, Pa. 18. A, Rm-al schoolhouse on the plains; JB, Lack of simplicity mars the effect of an otherwise attractive building. 19. A, Model rural school, Coryell County, Tex.; B, The new Willow District, Mendocino County, Cal. 20. A, Model rural school, Kirksville, Mo.; B, Machinery in basement. 21-23. Views of the Crossroads School, Macon County, 111. 24-25. District No. 9, Canandaigua, N. Y. 26. A, A nu-al school playground; B, Method of lighting. 27. A, B, Types of Alaska schools. 28. A, School at Chogiung, western Alaska; B, One.-room school in Minnesota altered into a teacher's cottage. 29-32. Views of Porter School, Adair County, Mo., showing steps in the re- modeling of an old school building. 33-35. Views of the Silas Willard School, Galesburg, 111. 36. A, Cache-la-poudre consolidated school, Colorado; B, Washoe community school, Payette, Idaho. 37. A, Teacher's cottage, Richland County, S. C; B, Schoolboys in Washington State transforming an old schoolhouse into a modern cottage for the teacher. 38. Teacher's cottages: A, Missouri; B, South Carolina. 39. Teacher's cottage, Washington State. 40. A, Sketch for a model rural school; B, Climax High School, Pittsylvania County, Va. 41. A recently patented device for indoor toilets in rural schools or residences. 42. A rural school privy. 43. Drinkinw fountain attached to pump. 44. How well water may be contaminated. T FIGURES. Page. Fig. 1. Front elevation, Model 2 63 2. Rear elevation, Model 2 64 3. Floor plan of one-teacher school, Model 2 66 4. Suggested basement for Model 2 67 5. Sketch of one-teacher school, designed by J. L. Sibley 70 6. Floor plan. Model No. 4. Two-teacher school 73 7. Basement plan, Model No. 4. Two-teacher school 74 8. Rear elevation, rural school designed by J. L. Sibley 78 9. Main-floor plan. Model 6 82 10. Basement plan. Model 6 83 11. Floor plan, one-teacher rural school, York County, S. C 87 12. Rearranged floor plan of building shown in figure 11 88 13. Floor plan of model one-room school, showing seat room. J. H. Felt & Co., Kansas City, Mo., architects 90 14. Floor plan of a typical old school building. 91 15. Front and side elevation, one-room school, Hobart & Cheney, architects, San Francisco, Cal 92 16. Floor plan of one-room school, Hobart & Cheney, architects, San Fran- cisco, Cal 93 17. Floor plan. Crossroads School, Macon County, 111 96 18. Basement plan, Crossroads School, Macon, County, 111 97 19. Floor plan of No. 9, Canandaigua, N. Y 98 20. Main-floor plan, Silas Willard School 101 21. Basement plan, Silas Willard School 102 22. Attic and roof plan, Silas Willard School 103 23. Floor plan, school at Cocoajiut Grove, Fla 104 24. Plan of one-teacher rural school, designed by J. L. Sibley 106 25. Floor plan for one-teacher rural school of minimum cost 108 26. Two-teacher rural school; connected by pergola 109 27. Basement plan of two-teacher rural school 109 28. Floor plan, three-teacher consolidated rural school with open-air assem- bly and classroom 110 29. Basement plan of three-teacher building shown in figure 28 110 30. Two-teacher rural school Ill 31. Basement plan, model rural school, Kirksville, Mo 112 32. First-floor plan, model rural school, Kirksville, Mo 113 33. Attic plan, model rural school, Kirksville, Mo 114 34. Reconstructed floor plan for an old school building. 116 35. Same plan as figure 34, with better division of floor space 118 36. Country school grounds, showing farm of 5 acres 123 37. Cross section of drinking fountain attached to pump 134 38. Well, incased with glazed sewer tile 136 39. Form of dry privy recommended by Virginia State department of public instruction 141 40. Boys' double toilet, with partition between the seats 143 41. Dry toilet with pit 144 42 and 43. Dry toilet with pit, and open-air urinal trough 146 44. Dry toilet with buckets 147 45. Section drawing of privy shown in figure 44 148 46 and 47. Forms of the L. R. S. privy 150 48. Section through concrete tanks and seat; L. R. S. method 151 49. Vertical section of tank and house. Kentucky sanitary privy 152 50. Horizontal section, Kentucky sanitary privy 153 51. Vertical section, Kentucky sanitary privy 153 52. 53, 54. Septic tank. Sewage-disposal plant for single residences and country schoola 156 VI LEHER OF TRANSMITTAL Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education, Washington, June 20, 1914- Sir: Among the greatest needs of tlie rural schools of the United States is that of better houses. Most of the older houses arc cheap, ugly, uncomfortable, insanitary, badly ventilated, poorly heated and lighted, with no conveniences for school work, and with inadequate and fdthy toilets and privies, or with none. In many places aban- doned churches and cabins no longer fit for use as homes are given over to the schools, somewhat as outgrown, outworn, and cast-off clothing is given to paupers. Since the beginning of the recent revival of interest in rural schools miUions of dollars have been expended annually for country school- houses, and expenditures for this purpose have grown larger from year to year. Some of the newer buildings are large and relatively costly, but many, probably most, of them are built with httle or no reference to architectural appearance, to the local needs, or to the principles of sanitation and the health requirements of growing children. SchooUiouses are not only the temples which we erect to the god of childhood; they are also the homes of our children for a large part of the day through the most plastic years of their hves, the years in which they are most responsive to impressions of beauty or of ugUness, and when their environment is, therefore, most important. These houses should, therefore, be planned and built not only with the feehng of reverence with which aU temples and other sacred buildings are erected, but also with that care for health, comfort, and convenience which we exercise in the building of our homes. It is economic waste of the worst type to spend annually hundreds of millions of dollars in money for schools and hundreds of milhons more in the time of children and then fail of the best results because of bad construction and poor equipment of schoohouses. It is worse than economic waste to destroy the health and hves of children through failure to observe simple and weU-known sanitary laws. The places to which children come to gain preparation and strength for life and its duties should not prove to be hotbeds for the seeds of disease and death. The school improvement leagues of the Southern vn Vm LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. States have taken for their motto — "For our schools: Health, Com- fort, and Beauty." This might well become the motto for aU who have to do with the planning and building of schoolhouses. Within the last twenty-five years there has been a remarkable improvement in the school buildings of cities and large towns and in the buildings for county and township high schools. Many of these now approach the ideal. A bulletin of this bureau, American School- liouses, issued in 1910, has had a wide circulation and has proved very helpful to school boards and architects. The eagerness with which it was received, and the continued requests which come to this office for it, indicate both the need and demand for it. There has been an even greater need for similar help for school officials and others responsible for the building of schoolhouses of one, two, three, or four rooms in rural communities. To give this help the manuscript transmitted herewith has been prepared by Dr. Fletcher B. Dresslar, special agent of the Bureau of Education and professor in the George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn., with the cooperation of the joint committee of the National Council of Education and the American Medical Association on health problems in education, which committee accepted the material of this manuscript and sub- mitted it as its report to the National Education Association at its meeting in Salt Lake City on July 7, 1913. The manuscript is the result of careful and prolonged study of rural school architecture with constant reference to economy and the highest degree of utiUty. I recommend that it be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of Education, Respectfully submitted. P. P. Claxton, Com/missioner. The Secretary of the Interior. INTRODUCTION. [Report on Health Problems hy a Joint Conunittee of the National Council of Education and the American Medical Association.] In 1911 the National Council of Education appointed a committee on health problems in education. From the time of its appointment this committee has worked in cooperation with a special committee of the American Medical Association, and the fund available for the work of these health committees has consisted of small appropriations from the National Education Association and an equal amount appropriated each year by the American Medical Association. At the meeting of the department of superintendence of the National Education Association, held in St. Louis in February, 1912, a general report on health problems in the schools of the United States was presented and discussed. At the meeting of the National Education Association in Chicago, July, 1912, the topic ''Sanitation of Rural Schools" was selected for the two committees mentioned for their special study. During the spring of 1913 a field secretary, employed by the two committees acting as a joint committee, made a careful statistical and photographic survey of about 100 rural schools in four* Eastern States. This information has been placed at the disposal of Dr. F. B. Dresslar, to be used, in addition to the extensive body of material which he has gathered, in the preparation of a special bulletin on country schoolhouses. The following general propositions have been approved by the joint committee of the National CouncU of Education and of the American Medical Association: It is the conviction of the joint committee that there is no more important health problem in education than that which relates to the sanitation of the rural schools. The one-room country school is the oldest and most primitive type of school in this country. More than half the school children of the United States are educated in rural schools. The country-school child needs a healthful environment quite as much as the city child. 1 2 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. In general, good architecture and good sanitation have been much more carefully studied and much more frequently secured in the school of the city than in the school of the country, but the sanitation of the rural school is in every respect as important as the sanitation of the city school. The problems are at bottom identical. Both the city child and the country child need fresh air and good light and clean, wholesome, and attractive surroundings; but the methods of securing these educational essentials are somewhat different in city and country. A schoolhouse without an adequate playground is an educational deformity and a gross injustice to childhood. Neglect of anything essential for health in construction, materials, arrangement, and equipment of the country-school building is an educational sin of omission, if not a social and civic crime. The expense of the things which really affect the health of the pupil in school should be estimated in terms of child life, child health, and human efficiency, and only for convenience be reduced to dollars and cents. The following features are considered most important for satis- factory sanitation of the rural school : I. Good air. (a) Supplied abundantly from outdoors in all weather. Q)) Not warmer than 68° F. in cold weather. (c) Heated (but not overheated) and kept in moderate motion by the operation of a jacketed stove or a properly arranged furnace heater. Outdoor air is the most valuable tonic known to man, and acts constantly not only through the lungs, but as a continuous air bath affecting the entire surface of the body. Ventilation is therefore the most important feature in the sanitation of the school. A vitiated atmosphere lowers the vitality, increases the susceptibility to and the severity of disease, and decreases the physical working power of the individual. Although it does not produce sudden death, it inevi- tably shortens life. II. Cleanliness. — Cleanliness not only exerts a powerful influence upon physical health, but also produces important effects almost directly upon minds and morals. III. Water, pure and abundant. (a) Water should be as free, as health-giving, and as available as the air. (jb) A sanitary drinking fountain should be furnished in every rural school. INTBODUCTION. 3 IV. Disposal of sewage. — Provisions for toilet accommodations and sewago disposal in every rural school should satisfy all essential sani- tary requirements. ^ V. Lighting. (a) Light should be abundant and effectively controlled. (6) Windows should be located at left or at left and rear of the schoolroom; they should extend to the ceiling and provide a lighting area equal to one-fifth to one-fourth of the floor area. (c) Light should be controlled by double shades. (d) Du'ect sunlight should have access, if possible, to every school- room some time during the day. ■^ VI. Hygienic furniture, hoolcs, and materials. (a) Desks and seats, whether fixed or movable, should be indi- vidual, separate, adjustable, clean. (b) Books and other materials should not only be sanitary, but should be attractive enough to stimulate a wholesome response from the puj)ils. VII. Screening against insects. — ^Mosquitoes may convey germs of malaria and yellow fever. Flies may convey germs of typhoid, tuberculosis, infantile paralysis, and perhaps other diseases. Fleas may convey bubonic plague. Ticks may convey Rocky Mountain fever. Every schoolhouse and privy should be effectively screened against mosquitoes and flies. VIII. Location, site, surroundings, and grounds. (a) With reasonable regard for the geographic center of the com- munity, the rural school should be located on a site that is (1) well drained and away from stagnant water; (2) free from troublesome noise, unpleasant outlooks, or air contamination; (3) protected, so far as possible, from unfavorable weather conditions. (6) School grounds should provide sufficient space for play and games. IX. Cooperative worTc. — Sanitation of the rural school requires not only a healthful building and well-kept grounds, but intelligent and conscientious cooperation on the part of teacher and pupils for the preservation and improvement, where possible, of all the health values in the school and the school surroundings. X. Social and moral welfare. — The arrangements and equipment of the rural school should not only conserve in every vital way physical health, but should also favor in all fundamental particulars the social and moral welfare of all the pupils. The rural school is the most effective agency for influencing aU standards of country life. The following are some of the reasons for the present deplorable conditions in rural schoolhouses : (c) Low architectural and sanitary standards in rural regions gen- erally throughout the country. 4 RURAL SOHOOLHOtJSBfl AND GROUNDS. (&) Ignorance regarding the physical and moral effects of unattrac- tive and insanitary school buildings upon the children and upon the conununity as a whole. (c) False economy expressed by local school boards in failure to vote enough money to build and maintain suitable school plants. (d) Lack of State supervision or assistance, which is usually necessary to maintain desirable standards. Some important influences that are effective for obtaining and pre- serving the sanitary and other valuable features of rural schools are suggested : (a) Assistance of the United States Bureau of Education and of the State departments of education in furnishing plans and instructions for construction and equipment of rural school buildings. The Bureau of Education in Washington is already supplying on request help of this kind, and a few State departments are demonstrating what may be done by supervision and support which aids without restricting. (6) Supervision of rural schools by State departments of education with power (1) to condemn insanitary and wholly unsuitable build- ings; (2) to give State aid to rural schools when the local authorities fulfill certain desirable and reasonable conditions. (c) Inculcation of high standards of school sanitation in the minds of both local school patrons and of school authorities who control school funds and who administer the affairs of the schools. Public lectures in the schoolhouses on health topics. (d) Introduction of effective school health courses in normal schools and teachers' institutes. Better education of rural school teachers, county superintendents, and rural school supervisors in the principles and practice of school hygiene and sanitation. (e) Arousing the enthusiasm of rural school pupils for the improve- ment and care of everything in the school and its surroundings that affects health and happiness. Development among pupils of organiza- tions such as "Pupils' boards of health," "Civic leagues," and "Health mihtias," for actual constructive effort. (/) Cooperation with the rural school of organizations like the granges, women's clubs, county medical societies, and other groups so situated that they may further the cause of health and efficiency in the school. iff) Popular education by attractive and reliable health information m the public press. (h) Introduction of social demonstration of sanitary school stand- ards and improvements by voluntary or paid demonstrators. INTRODUCTION. The two health committees acting as a joint committee express their appreciation of the valued counsel and cooperation of the United States Bureau of Education. This bulletin has been approved and adopted by the joint com- mittee as its general report on "The Sanitation of Rural Schools." Committee on Health Problems in Education of the National Coun- cil of Education. Thomas D. Wood, Chairman, ColuTiibia University, New York. William H. Bubnham, Clarlc University, Worcester, Mass. P. P. Claxton, U. S. Commissioner oj Education, Washington, D. C. F. B. Dresslab, Peabody College, Nashville, Tenn. Clark W. Hetherington, 1115 East 54th Place, Chicago, III. David Starr Jordan, Leland Stanford, jr., University, Palo Alto, Cal. John F. Keating, Swpt. Public Schools, Pueblo, Colo. Charles H. Keyes, Skidmore School of Arts, Saratoga Springs, N. Y. Jacob Shaw an, Superintendent of Schools, Columr bus, Ohio. Albert E. Winship, New England Journal of Education, Boston, Mass. Committee on Health JProhlems of the American Medical Associa- tion. Council on Health and Public In- struction. H. B. Favill, Chairman, Chicago, III. Frederick R. Green, Secretary, Chicago, III. Special Committee on Health Prob- lems. R. W. CoRWiN, Chairman, Minnequ/i Hospital, Pueblo, Colo. John M. Dodson, Rush Medical College, Chicago, III. M. J. Rosenau, Harvard University, Mass. Cambridge, RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. By Fletcher B. Dresslar. Chapter I. SOME CONDITIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN RURAL LIFE. The main purpose of this bulletin is to offer suggestions with refer- ence to the construction of rural school buildings, especially from the sanitary and educational point of view. Before discussing the main topic, however, it is desirable to consider briefly the rural school as it should relate itself to the community, for the nature of this relation will have definite bearings on the size of the grounds, the construction of buildings, and their general utility. Rural life in the United States is in many respects different from that of any other country and especially that of continental Europe. There is probably more isolation in farm life in this country than in any other progressive country of the world, unless it be in parts of the Canadian northwest. The European farmer lives, as a rule, in a village and goes to and from his farm daily. The village church, the public garden, and the public halls give him opportunities for society and fellowship during his leisure hours. Cooperation, com- panionship, and social solidarity bring satisfaction and contentment. Such opportunities are not to be had in many of our rural communiti^ at any cost. The houses of most American farmers have not resulted from careful planning, either with reference to beauty or convenience, and least of all with due regard to the joys of Hfe. They were built to meet temporary needs. Habit has fastened upon our rural communities such types as were thus developed, and these types persist long after the financial ability to build better and more beautiful homes has been acquired. It is not more expensive houses that are needed, but more intelligently planned homes, those which will contribute greater joy, comfort, and healthfulness to the family. Many farmers have made the blunder of building expensive houses with little thought and less planning for the essentials of beauty, comfort, convienience, 8 EUKAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. and pleasure. One farmer of this type, after saving and adding to his original farm until he owned 800 acres of very valuable land, recently built a big house. The house has no bath rooms, no central heating plant, no labor-saving methods of lighting, no water supply, no kitchen conveniences, no sleeping porches, no sanitary toilets, no laundry. Is it any wonder that his sons have gone to town to work in a shop or that his only daughter has preferred the life of a stenog- rapher? A Ubrary was not thought of; opportunities for games and recreation never entered into consideration; and yet the amount of money expended in the construction of this house would have purchased these things and a more beautiful and usable house as well. Many country people have failed to grow away fipm unhygienic practices about the home simply because there were no near neigh- bors to object to unwholesome conditions. Conditions wholly per- missible, and even good, in a sparse settlement may become highly undesirable with the presence of greater numbers. The fact that there are few neighbors to view his back yard has kept many a farmer oblivious to the educational and moral significance of cleanly sur- roundings. Here is a whole series of problems to which the country schools should address themselves. It will be a better sort of education for the children to use part of their time in considering how the farm home may be made more attractive, satisfying, and sanitary, than to use all their time on subjects which touch their life only incidentally. On the other hand, farm life in our country has many elements of strength in it, and upon these elements we must build. In general it is a healthful life. Fresh air, hard work, with rest days scattered all through the year, plenty of food, and direct contact with nature have produced strong bodies possessing great resistance. The evil habits of dissipation have not fastened themselves upon country people as a class ; and, despite many insanitary conditions, the death rate in the country districts is probably lower for aU contagious dis- eases save four (typhoid fever, hookworm disease, influenza, and whooping cough) than in the cities. Vigorous health is the most effective weapon with which to fight against disease. The claim has been made that the highest type of character can not develop in the country; that the stress and strain of city hfe are needed to purify, refine, and spirituahze. Be this as it may, it is certainly true that the foundation upon which the highest types of human character can be developed requires the training and develop- ment incident to life in the country. No foundation for learning and character is safely builded if it does not include in its elements that first-hand knowledgte of nature and things, that many-sided training in prabticad affairs, and that all-round pkysicia;! deVelbpmfenfc whicfe CONDITIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN RURAL LIFE. 9 country life emphasizes in sucli a positive and natural way. Most of the men and women who have enriched our national life and whose memories we revere have had just such early training and develop- ment as our country life afforded. On this basis of insight and initiative they were able to enter into the life of a city and utilize its special opportunities, and yet abstain from its degrading influences. It would be false, however, to attempt to picture country life as free from all difficulties and discomforts, or to imagine that the only thing necessary to get the most out of hfe is to go to farming. The best of all things have never been brought together at any one spot nor included in any one caUing. Many things which the city has are vastly superior to any tiling of hke kind in the country; but it is just this need for bettering conditions that should stir all who are really seeking to reveal to our rural communities the possibilities of country hfe. Country life must be made more enticing, more beautiful, and more joyous. The field of service of the country school must include the general needs and longings of country people. The rural schools must set themselves to the task of creating a more satisfying educational fellowship in country communities. They must bring people to- gether for the sake of comradeship and for the sake of community mterests. They must teach the economic, social, hygienic, and rehg- ious importance of civic unity and civic righteousness. They must make it plain to all the people that this is an age of cooperation and that we can not Hve unto ourselves without limiting our own happiness and endangering the success of others. The public school is the only institution in which all are interested and through which all may cooperate. The schoolliouse door must swing open freely for aU who would work for the public good, and the schooUiouse must be so constructed as to invite to its shelter all who seek for a larger vision in anything and everything that may con- tribute to the community welfare. Above the door of every rural schoolhouse in this land some such legend as the following should be inscribed and tlirough the work of patrons and teacher its sentiment be woven into the fiber of the people : This huilding is dedicated to the service of this community and to the common cause of a hetter life for aU. 40742°— Bull. 12—14 2 Chapter II. RELATION OF THE COUNTRY-SCHOOL PROGRAM TO THE COUNTRY-SCHOOL EQUIPMENT. It is clear from even the brief analysis of country conditions in the preceding chapter that the rural school has before it a larger and more purposeful program than it is now undertaking. There are opportunities for a new and difficult service, and these must be seized and utilized effectively if the country school is to measure up to the needs and demands of a prosperous and satisfying country life. What, then, are the requisites for the realization of this preparation for worthy service ? THE TEACHER. 1. Teachers for rural schools should be better and more specifically prepared for their work. A sad mistake is made both by the State and the community when the intellectual and moral guidance of the children is intrusted to those who themselves have gone little further along the paths of learning than the more advanced pupils whom they are called to instruct. A teacher whose knowledge of the facts and processes of learning is meager and sterile can not bring to any community, especially to a rural community, that lively inteiest and enthusiasm which will thoroughly commend her work. Before the rural school can reach its highest usefulness the standard of scholar- ship demanded by the State for teachers of such schools must be raised so that they will have at least a wider and more critical knowledge of the common branches of learning. But there are other important considerations in the preparation of a rural-school teacher. He or she must know more about country life and country work. A girl brought up in a city, educated in a city, and adjusted to city life, has no real understanding of the problems of a country school. The general custom of making rural schools in effect training schools for those who aspire to teaching as a profession is most unfortunate. The normal schools of the country are partly to blame for this condition. Very few of them attempt to address themselves to the specific task of thoroughly preparing teachers to meet in a large way the responsibilities of the work of teaching in a rural school. Of late many normal schools, instead of wisely deciding to limit their endeavors to the preparation of elementary teachers, are dividing 10 THE COUNTRY-SCHOOL EQUIPMENT. 11 their energies, mixing up their curricula, and spreading their work over such varied fields that nothing intensive and specifically vital is done. In general, normal schools should not undertake to train teachers for both secondary and elementary schools. They should devote their time either to high-school work or to elementary-school work, exclusively. Some normal schools in every State ought to give their time and efforts strictly to the training of rural-school teachers, and their whole curriculum should be centered about the needs and opportunities in rural schools; others should devote their time to the training of teachers for city schools; and still others, if there exists no better agency for this purpose, should dedicate their energies to the work of training teachers for secondary schools. It has been said that one brought up in a city and thoroughly adjusted to city life has no real understanding of the problems of a country school. On the other hand, when such persons have specific training for country-school work and are possessed of ability to make the most of their environments, they are often more efficient than those born and reared in the country. The latter are habituated to the routine of country life, and they are often thereby prevented from seeing things from a different point of view. City experience and the educational and social refinements generally associated with it will be of very great service if, in addition, life in the country is thoroughly understood and its spirit appreciated. The purpose here, however, is not to outline in detail all that a country-school teacher should know about country life, but merely to call attention to those phases of her preparation that have a bearing on the sort of schoolhouse and grounds that must be fm-nished for her. The rural school teacher should have a liberal knowledge of the science and art of agriculture, for this is the paramount economic interest in the country. A thorough and practical knowledge of agriculture will help a teacher who has any power of imagination to see things not as they are, but as they should be. Whenever a coimtry-school teacher says, "This community is so backward and so set in its ways that I can do nothing" she shows that she is not liberally educated in the best sense of the term. The chief trouble with the teaching of agriculture in om* country schools is that the teachers know next to nothing about the real thing. They may have a smattering of book knowledge, but if they have no power to apply it to the conditions in their community their knowledge will count for naught. There are teachers who can talk volubly of the growing of corn, but who would be unable to select the best ear from a bushel, or to test, in any conclusive way, its germinating power. There are teachers who can expatiate on the value of leguminous plants but who could not, in the open, distinguish alfalfa from ragweed. 18 RURAL SOHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. On the assumption tliat it is possible to get teachers who do know, how can they successfully teach agriculture in a country school with no ground to prepare or to cultivate? The average country-school lot is not one-tenth large enough, and even school lots that are large enough are generally ill-adapted to agriculture. A few teachers have had sufficient imagination and initiative to rent or borrow a plat of land adjoining the schoolhouse and to do some real farming and teaching thereon. Three acres of arable land connected with a rural school could be made to pay a good profit, not only as a laboratory for teaching purposes but in actual money returns. The reader is possibly saying to himself: ''This is all theory, for crops must be made during vaca- tion, and then the teacher is gone and there is no one to look after them." But suppose the teacher has impressed the people with the fact that she knows, and is there for a real purpose besides drawing her salary? She will then spend part of the winter months deter- mining what is best to do with that plat of ground; what will give the best educational and financial returns to the conunimity; what preparation the soU will need; and what seeds are to be selected and tested. Suppose she thus plans during the winter the work and cultivation to be carried on during the vacation, makes out a definite program, and then appeals to the larger boys and girls and also to the men and women of her conununity to volunteer to carry out the work as directed? Here is a chance for a new kind of ''Corn club;" a chance to work for the common good and not simply for one's self; both kinds of club are needed. Here is a chance also for a community "Tomato club" to be undertaken for the benefit of the school and with resultant benefit to the individual. Each of these cooperative efforts could and would bring social contacts and social pleasures of the kind the country needs. There is a rural school "farm" in North Carolina where a plan very similar to the one here suggested has been of such influence on the neighborhood that young women who had never before thought of working in the field entered into this sort of community labor with great zest and with a sense of new-found joy. "What will you do with the money from school crops?" Devote it to the interest of the school. Buy baseballs, tennis rackets, and tennis balls; paint the schoolhouse; build sanitary toilets; build a neighborhood clubhouse; buy a piano or an organ for the school; buy books for the whole community to use; equip manual-training and domestic-science rooms; lengthen the school term; increase the teacher's salary. All this has been said mainly for the purpose of reenforcing the jLppeal for larger and better grounds for rural schools from the point of view of social service and of the actual needs of community teach- THE COUNTBY-SCHOOL EQUIPMENT. 13 ing. There are other reasons why school grounds should be larger; these wiU appear in the chapter on the location of country school- houses. It is enough to indicate here that even if we had teachers specifically prepared to do what the country schools need, neither the grounds nor the buildings are adequate. A new and broader pur- pose for country schools demands a new sort of equipment in grounds and buildings, and it is hoped that this bulletin may suggest at least some ot the necessary changes. THE CUKRIOULUM. 2. The fundamental tools or implements of education are com- prised in a knowledge of reading, writing, and mathematics, and a good control of the mother tongue. All the rest may be acquired by use of these and by orderly observation. One who can not count and calculate with precision is unable to deal effectively with the results of his observation. One who can not read, write, and spell is debarred from entering into the heritage of his own literature — moral, scientific, reUgious, aesthetic, or philosophic. Despite all the attacks on the country-school curriculum, the essen- tial tools for educational progress are generally comprised in it. Note that these fundamentals are called tools. A tool always implies material upon which it may be used. A knife would be meaningless if there were nothing to cut. Arithmetic would be equally useless if there were nothing to count and no numerical relations to calculate. It would be a poor policy for a joiner to instruct his apprentice simply in the manipulation of saw, chisel, or square rather than to teach him the use of these tools through the cutting, shaping, and fitting of timbers designed to serve a real purpose in life. Every country schoolhouse should have a workshop where boys and girls can put to test their arithmetic and reading and drawing and all the other educational tools which they are supposed to learn to use. Here is a problem that will teach more real arithmetic, or at least make this subject more actual and interesting, than all the puzzles found in the regulation textbooks: "What will it cost to build in this community the sort of a bam needed on a good farm of 100 acres, with 75 acres under cultivation?" This is a practical problem for a country boy. Before answering it he wiU first have to make drawings and plans for the barn. These drawings and plans will represent, if he goes at the problem intelli- gently, all his knowledge and ideals of that part of farm life which must center in or about a barn. He wiU have to determine how many horses it would be best to keep, and how they should be housed. He wiU need to consider the number of cattle such a farm wiU need, and how best to care for them. Problems will arise in con- 14 EUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. nection with the amount of storage space needed for hay and grain and. with the proper location of rooms. He will need to figure on shed, room for wagons, and farm tools of aU sorts, and to consider how these can be cared for with the least trouble and the greatest economy. He will be forced to give thought to the building loca- tion, to the water supply, to the care of the compost, and to all the included hygienic relations of the home. All this will require calcu- lation of the most painstaking sort. But he has not yet begun to build. When his plans are matured he will need to figure out the amount of material needed and the cost in the local markets of this material. Here questions of local economics wiU come into promi- nence. The price of labor, skilled and unskilled, the expense of hauhng — all of these will enter into the calculation. He will find before he has finished that he has in these and in a score of other ways been brought face to face with the whole problem of the farm and home hfe that centers about the bam. A teacher who sets such a problem should know many things of practical importance to farm life not learned in the schoolbooks. She will be greatly aided in making such work interesting and helpful if she has gathered many suggestive plans and descriptions of farm bams and of the common conveniences which ordinary ingenuity may suggest and construct. The arithmetic and other subjects involved in the solution of this problem might be extended to the planning and construction of a house. Here the girls will be more interested. The planning of a convenient, beautiful, and sanitary home is about the last thing thought of in our rural-school curriculum. But the farmhouse is one of the most important factors in country Hfe. Here is the center of family Hfe, for good or evil. Here conveniences, sanitation, and comfort pay the highest dividends. The farmhouse need not be large and expensive. It may be beautiful, sanitary, and convenient, oftentimes at less cost than otherwise. A log house can be made beautiful, sanitary, and convenient if those who plan know that beauty and health are fundamental, and that it is not necessarily expensive to meet these demands. There should be a collection of suggestive plans for aU grades of country houses in the libraries of country schools. These can be gathered from magazines, post cards, photographs, and drawings made directly from successful houses. They can be made intensely interesting to the larger boys and girls, and through them much of the theoretical work of the curriculum can find appHcation. All this suggests certain needs in school buildings. If there are no good places for drawing, for making plans, or for working up such plans into models, it is almost impossible for the teacher to follow the line of work suggested above. Therefore, when the appeal is made THE COUNTRY-SCHOOL EQUIPMENT. 15 for workrooms and libraries in this bulletin, the reader will under- stand that tliis is done in order to hasten the time wlien this larger pror^ram for country schools can be successfully imdertaken. "With a buiklin^^ planned to meet these suggestions, many other adjust- ments helpful to both teachers and children v/ill be ea::ily made. THE teacher's home AND FARM. 3. The time is coming when the people will learn that it pays to hire competent men as teachers of country schools and to furnish them homes on the school grounds. Then a real experimental school farm will be easily managed and all the needs of the community can be centered in a school curriculum. It would be easier to arrange for consecutive and constructive work when conditions are such that a country teacher can see the possibilities of a useful and prosperous life ahead. To allow the schoolhouse and school grounds to lie idle all summer and to depend on young and inexperienced teachers for the educational leadership of the community is poor economy. The one paramount need in most rural schools is a teacher with ideals and with the desire to focus the attention and interest of every man, woman, and child in the district on the work done in and about the schoolhouse. Suppose there is a small school farm, a home for the teacher, and a building- arranged to accommodate the intellectual and social needs of the community, what could a virile man in charge, employed for the year instead of for a few months, do under such conditions? He could make the farm pay half of his salary and at the same time make it the most effective teaching agency connected with the school. He could develop a community interest and pride in the school now sadly lacking in most country districts. He could be the social guide for all the young people, those out of school as well as those in school. If he were musical, and most certainly he ought to be, he could develop some sort of a neighborhood orchestra and chorus which would furnish an incentive and a means of entertainment for all rehgious and social gatherings. The village schoolmaster of Germany has a house and garden on the school grounds. He settles there for a life's work and is, next to the priest or pastor, the most influential and useful man in the village. But he must have had a thorough training in all the things that will make for joy and happiness in that community. First, he must be a good musician. He must be able to play the violm and the pipe organ, and in addition he must be able to sing and conduct an orchestra and a chorus. This does not mean that he must be able to do these things in a mere passable fashion; he must be a skilled musician. During the many years of his special train- 16 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. ing as a teacher his musical studies are carried, on in a most exacting way, and if he fails to develop good ability he will not receive an appointment as a village schoolmaster, even if all other requirements are met. What is the result ? He has an orchestra made up of old and young people in school and out of it. He is the leader of the church choir and of congregational singing. His help is demanded wherever music is desired. It would be almost impossible to over- estimate the influence his musical ability gives him with his people. In the United States we can not move our isolated farmhouses into villages, and it is doubtful if the work of our country schools can be made as effective in this way as that of the village schools of Germany. But as long as we neglect to give the country people the uplifting and harmonizing influence of music, so long will it be more diflS-Cult to unite a community into a social and civic body. Music is preeminently a social art, and is most satisfying when enjoyed in common. If we could have larger school grounds, a school farm, a home for the teacher, and an all-year-round social and educational center in the community, there would be fewer desertions from farm to city. Chapter III. HYGIENIC CONDITION OF TYPICAL RURAL SCHOOL- HOUSES AND GROUNDS. In investigating the hygienic conditions of typical country school- houses in 18 States, the following method was used: With the coop- eration of the State superintendents, two typical progressive counties in each State were selected. To the teachers of the rural schools in these counties the following personally addressed letter and list of questions were sent : [LETTER TO RURAL SCHOOL TEACHERS.] The United States Bureau of Education is very desirous of getting reliable infor- mation concerning the hygienic condition of typical country schools and asks your cooperation in the work. Two counties in your State have been designated by your State superintendent from which this material is to be gathered. Please fill the inclosed question form as carefully as you can and return it in the envelope inclosed, which requires no postage. Get one or two of your larger boys or girls to help you to do the measuring and calculation required. They will enjoy it, and it will do them more good than an ordinary lesson in arithmetic. Make your answers as clear as you 'can, yet short. If you have a photograph of your building, or can get one, it would help us very much if you would send us a copy. The bureau is planning to publish a bulletin on country schoolhouses and is hunting for all the good featiires available. If you desire it, a copy of the bulletin will be sent to you when ready. Please answer the questions fully, whether your conditions are good or bad. No individual answers will be published, and neither praise nor blame will appear charged to any persons or locality. We simply want the facts as they are, and we trust that you will help us immediately. Survey of the Hygienic Condition of Rural School, District No , County OF , State Survey Made by , Teacher. School grounds: Length, feet; width, feet. Size of playground, square feet; space for garden or agricultural work, square feet. Ground: Level? ; rough or hilly? ; well drained? ; trees? Building: Wood? ; brick? ; cement? ; stone? ; new? ; old? Size of schoolroom: Length, feet; width, feet. Light from one side? ; two sides? ; three sides? ; four sides? Toward what direction do the windows face? East? ; west? ; north? ; south? From what sides do your pupils get light? Left? ; right? ; rear? ; front? What is the total area of all the windows? square feet. Floors: Single thickness? ; double? 17 18 RUEAL SCH00LH0T7SES AND GEOUNDS. Blackboard: Area, square feet; where placed? ; height from floor? feet; of "what material? Are the desks single? ; double? ; adjustable? ; sufficient in num- ber? Have you window shades? ; what color? ; do they run up from the bot- tom or down from the top? What is the color of the schoolroom walls? Have you cloakrooms? One? ; two? ; none? Briefly describe any special means you employ to secure ventilation Have you tested the eyesight of your pupils? ; if so, by what method? Have you tested their hearing? ; if so, by what method? What is your water supply? From well on school ground? ; from spring? ; how far distant? Do you consider your water pure? ; are you furnished drinking fountain? ; individual cups? ; or two cups for all? How do you heat your schoolroom? Common stove? ; jacketed stove? ; where located? ; do you bum wood or coal? Do you have special janitor service? Do ycu use dry sweeping? ; sprinkle floor with water? ; scatter damp sawdust on floor before sweeping? ; use any prepared dust-gathering mate- rial? ; are your floors oiled? ; do you use a feather duster, or dust cloth, to keep the furniture clean? Do you have a thermometer? ; what temperature do you strive to maintain in your schoolroom? At what hour do you begin school in the morning? ; at what time do you dis- miss for the day? ; how much time do you give for recess in the morning? in the aitemoon? Toilets: One? ; two? ; none? ; are they protected against flies? ; are they made with deep excavations? ; no excavations? ; septic tank disposal? ; washout system? ; how far are they from the well, if you have one? Do you do any of your regular school work out of doors during pleasant weather? Do you have medical inspection of your school children? If so, how is it managed? Has any provision been made in your county or township for the care of the teeth of school children? If so, describe it Do you wish a copy of the bulletin on country schoolhouses when completed? These questions were sent to the teachers, instead of to the comity superintendents, for two reasons: First, the questions required more epecific and definite facts than a county superintendent could ordi- narily command; second, it was hoped that through these questions many suggestions would be lodged in the minds of the teachers and that thereby some good might be accomphshed in addition to getting the facts. In all, 3,300 letters and hsts were sent out, and about 50 per cent of all these were filled out and returned. The results here presented were tabulated from 1,296 returns, typically representative of the 18 States. Naturally, some who rephed did not answer all the ques- tions; hence, the figures for the different topics vary slightly. GROUNDS. Out of 1,245 returns giving figures regarding the area of school grounds, 727, or more than 58 per cent, reported less than 1 acre, and nearly half of this number, or 321, had only | acre or less. Only 124 of all these schools were furnished with grounds equal to 2 acres or more. Clearly the movement to adapt rural schools to rural life will HYGIENIC CONDITION. 19 amount to very little unless our rural schools are furnished more ground for their needs. It seems foolish to expect any sort of worthy teaching of agriculture to emerge from our district schools imder the conditions shown. With regard to the character of the ground as represented by the returns, it seems that of 1,283 rural schools of this group, 1,030 have comparatively level land, and that 253 are situated on hilly, rough land. About the same proportion of school grounds, or 1,014, are reported as well drained, and 234 are wet and undrained. There are one or more trees on the lots of 930 schools, while 340 schools report no trees at all. The returns do not show whether the trees reported are mainly natural forest trees or whether they have been planted — probably the former. Measurements of the school grounds were taken in feet and have been reduced to acres in making the tabulation. The reason for asking for returns in feet was to forestall guessing as to the size of the school lots. It should be remembered also that the dimensions given include the ground upon which the building is situated, as well as that about the building. THE BUILDINGS. In order to get some composite notion cf what a rural schoolhouse is at this date, the request called for returns on the material of which the buildings are made. Wooden buildings number 1,134, or 91 per cent; 110, or less than 9 per cent, are of brick; 37 are built of stone, and 7 of cement. Of the total number, 464 are listed as new build- ings, and 805 are tabulated as old. More than 63 per cent of the buildings included in this survey are old, and a little less than 37 per cent are new. But the term ''new building" does not in any sense of the word mean buildings constructed according to modern demands of school hygiene. The hatchet-and-saw carpenter of the country is generally unable to read architects' drawings or to follow speci- fications. Rural schooUiouses are, for the most part, attempts to copy some existing school in the township or coimty. Therefore, "new buildings" are generally very little better adapted to their purpose from many points of view than old ones. Especially is this true in the older sections of the country. LIGHTING. When we attempt to look on the inside of rural school buildings, the following significant facts come to light: Only 25 classrooms out of 1,244 received light from but one side; 880 from two sides, 346 from three sides, and 35 from four sides. In other words, about 2 per cent of the buildings under consideration received the light from 30 BUBAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GBOUNDg. one side. The prevailing custom, representing over 70 per cent, is to have hght from two sides. But this tells less than half the story of the hghting of the school rooms. Fourteen per cent have less than one-tenth as much glass area in the windows as floor surface within the room. A httle over 46 per cent have an area of glass surface between one-sixth and one-tenth as great as the floor surface. Com- bining these, we are able to see that more than 60 per cent of all the rural schools included in this survey have an insuflacient amount of glass surface to furnish proper Hghting, even if the windows were properly placed in all particiilars. Under a separate heading, facts were gathered relative to the proper use of window shades, and, although the returns are not suffi- cient to justify a final decision, it is plain that in the great majority of schools the shades are badly placed and can not be easily adjusted to suit conditions. To sum up then, investigation of the hghting problem shows that windows are often wrongly placed; that insuffi- cient glass surface is furnished; and that the best arrangement of window shades is not often foimd. It is probably not far from the truth to say that classrooms in rural schools receive only about one- half the hght they should, and that even this Ught is improperly distributed, FLOORS. With reference to the floors of school buildings, the returns show that a httle less than one-half (611) have single floors, and that the rest have some form of double floors. The importance of double floors for school buildings in any part of our country needs to be emphasized. Naturally, in cold chmates double floors are more necessary; yet even in the South, during periods of sharp weather, children are hkely to suffer from cold. It is almost impossible to equahze the heat in schoolrooms during cold weather if the floors are not practically air-tight. A warm room acts as a sort of exhaust to gather drafts of outside air from all directions, especially up through the floor, and therefore the temperature at the floor fine, unless the floors are double and properly deadened, will almost invariably be several degrees lower than at the breathing line. This is one of the reasons why children and teachers complain when the thermometer goes as low as 65° at the breathing Hne. If the floors are properly protected and the heat of the building is properly distributed, it would be comparatively easy to reduce the temperature in most of the schoobooms without objection, and to gain thereby from the point of health. Many of the rural schools reporting single floors are not only uncomfortable, but dangerous in cold weather, because of the drafts and the dust brought up in this way. HYGIENIC CONDITION. 21 JANITOR SERVICE. As to the methods of caiing for the schoolhouse, especially the floor, out of 1,262 replies, only 213 teachers stated that there was any janitor service furnished. In other words, 1,049 teachers out of 1 ,262 are required not only to teach school in such houses, but also to keep their school buildings clean. As a result, the following methods of cleansing are used: 548 sprinkle the schooboom floor with water before sweeping, 417 use dry sweeping, 227 use damp sawdust or other dust-absorbing materials, and only 199 have oiled floors. It seems unnecessary to discuss these facts at any length, but it appears that 965 schools, out of 1,391 that answered this ques- tion, must have dirty, dusty floors for a large part of the year, not to mention the dust on benches, desks, window sills, and all possible ledges throughout the room. It does seem almost inexcusable that a teacher should not at least be furnished sawdust by the use of which she may be able more easily to cleanse the floors and prevent the great clouds of dust that must necessarily arise from the sort of sweeping here indicated. WATER SUPPLY. The water supply for country schools is far from satisfactory. Of 1,258 schools reporting under this general heading, only 567 are sup- plied with a weU or with running water on the school ground; 691 schools, or nearly two-thirds of all reporting, have to depend on springs and wells outside of school grounds; and 266 schools depend on carrying water from wells or springs located more than one-quarter mile from the schoolhouse. Obviously, under such conditions as these, the children are deprived not only of fresh water, but also of clean water. Where no janitor is furnished, the children or the teacher have to carry the water. It would be much more sanitary and acceptable for each child so handicapped to bring a bottle of water from his home for his own needs, and in a few places it has been necessary to resort to this method. The receptacle for the water in the schoolroom is generally an open bucket, and approximately half of those reporting use a common drinking cup or dipper. Recently there has been a rapid growth in the use of individual drinking cups. This is due chiefly to the laws in many States making it mandatory to avoid common drinking vessels. In this connection, it needs to be said that individual drinking cups in rural schools are altogether inadvisable. They can not be kept in a sanitary condition, and despite all a teacher can do, they will be indiscriminately used. The only safe method is the bubbling foun- tain connected with a covered water can or jar, or, better still, with a pressure tank supply. These are found in only 5 of the schools reporting. 22 BUBAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. TOILET FACILITIES. The toilet facilities of the rural schools are, generally speaking, not only a disgrace but a menace to public health and decent morals. Not over 1 per cent of rural schools are furnished with completely sanitary toilets. This is a liberal estimate. From the descriptions given in the returns, it has been comparatively easy to decide between those which are passably sanitary and those insanitary. The figures are these: Out of 1,276 replies examined, 50 schools have no toilets at all; 52 have only one; and the rest, or 1,174, have two. Nearly half (601) have no pit at all for the refuse, and 631 have an open pit. Not 20 in the whole number are protected against flies or can be cleaned with any sort of success. The Rockefeller Sanitary Com- mission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease has recently con- cluded that it will inevitably fail in eradicating this devitahzing disease unless rural communities institute some form of septic toilets, both for residences and for schools. Likewise, there is little hope of keeping down typhoid epidemics when toilets are insanitary or wholly lacking. The biggest rural problem is that of domestic and personal hygiene. The rural school ought to lead in the health movement; but the facts set forth help us to reahze how far we are from what ought to be. Every State and county board of health having to do with rural or village conditions should institute a persistent campaign for better hygienic toilets. Models should be available for every community. Boards of health are already rendering a great service in this direction. They are doing much to interest and instruct in matters of health, but they can not reach all the people, and teachers and county superintendents should feel it their special duty to carry this gospel everywhere. OTHER ITEMS. A little over haK the schools in the county have some form of slate blackboards, and the rest have painted wood, painted canvas, painted plaster, or some one of the various preparations of paper or pulp. Nearly one-third have their blackboards set 3 feet or more above the floor, too high for the primary classes to use properly. School work begins at 8 o'clock in 74 schools, at 7.30 in 117, and at 9 o'clock in 1,102; only 167 dismiss before 4 o'clock. The report shows no cloakrooms of any sort in 537 'schools; 418 have one cloakroom, and 308 two. Where no cloakroom is available, clothing is hung inside the classroom, or piled up on benches in the corners. No thermometers are found in nearly two-thirds of the buildings reported, and even where they are supphed it is manifestly clear that many teachers either know next to nothing about keeping a school- room at the proper temperature, or else that the conditions of the HYGIENIC CONDITION. 23 buildings are such that the rooms can not be kept at even temperature. For example, many a teacher reports: "I am supplied with a ther- mometer and I strive to keep the temperature at 75° to 90° in winter." This may not be so bad as it seems. If the thermometer registers 80° a Uttle above the breathing hne, the temperature 1 foot above the floor may be as low as 65°. Until the buildings are more care- fully constructed, the matter cf heating rural schools will necessarily be unsatisfactory. Of 1,208 reports on method of heating, 704 schools use the common stove and 604 locate it in the middle of the room. There are practically no workrooms in the schools reporting; not one-fourth of the desks are adjustable; and few of the buildings are properly decorated. In concluding the discussion of this brief survey into typical rural schools, it should be said that it is very important at this time for the various States to render helpful service to their rural-school officers, who are eager for better things; they need specific help. Much of the back-to-the-farm movement will be disappointing, unless the rural schools are remodeled and revivified. The reader who will take time to study carefully the summarized results presented in the accompanying table will be able to get a more complete idea of actual conditions than he can get from the condensed account given above. The names of the States from which these returns were gathered are here given in order to show that the figures represent as nearly as practicable typical conditions the country over. A study of the detailed reports brings out the fact that there is less difference between rural schoolhouses in the States mentioned than might be anticipated. Returns were studied from 2 coimties in each of the following 18 States: Alabama. Missouri. Pennsylvania. Arkansas. Montana. South Dakota. Colorado. Nebraska. Tennessee. Indiana. North Carolina. Texas. Maryland. North Dakota. West Virginia. Minnesota. Oklahoma. Wisconsin. Size of school grounds: Less than one-half acre 321 One-half acre to 1 acre 406 One acre to 2 acres 394 Two acres to 3 acres 74 Three acres or more 50 irea available for gardening: Less than one-tenth acre 156 More than one- tenth acre 34 No ground available for gardening or agriculture 1. 106 24 RURAL SOHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. Character of ground : Level 1, 030 Rough or hilly 253 Drained 1, 014 Not well drained 234 Trees 930 No trees 340 Material construction and age of the buildings: Wood 1, 134 Brick 110 Stone 37 Cement 7 New 464 Old 805 Number of classrooms: One - 1, 162 Two 60 More than two 33 Method of lighting: From one side 25 From two sides 880 From three sides 346 From four sides 35 Amount of glass surface in classrooms: Less than one-tenth floor area 171 Less than one-sixth to one-tenth floor area 559 One-sixth floor area or more 482 "Window shades and methods of using them: Having window shades 1, 145 No shades 144 Shades fastened at the bottom of windows 234 Shades fastened at the top of window 897 Character of floors of the classrooms: Single thickness 611 Double thickness 644 Kind of blackboards used and height set above floor: Painted lumber 177 Some form of liquid slate 668 Painted canvas 98 Other improved material 188 Less than 3 feet above the floor 692 Character and number of desks used: Single 514 D.ouble 774 Nonadjustable 848 Adjustable 281 Sufficient in number 1, 127 Insufficient in number 143 Color of classroom walls : TJnpainted lumber 122 Passable color 691 Unsuitable color 457 HYGIENIC CONDITION. 25 Number of cloakrooms: None 537 One 418 Two or more , 308 Ventilation of the classrooms: Windows 405 Some help from jacketed stove 336 Other devices 133 Testing the vision of the children : Tested 294 Not tested 968 Testing the hearing of the children : Tested 238 Not tested 1, 002 Source of water supply : Well on school grounds 667 Spring in the neighborhood 134 Neighbor's well 557 Less than one-fourth mile from building 727 One-fourth mile or more from building 226 Pure (teacher's judgment) 1, 032 Not pure (teacher's judgment) 182 Methods of serving water to the children: Bubbling fountain 5 Individual cups 673 Common drinking cups 580 Methods of heating the classrooms: Common stove 764 Jacketed stove 603 Fireplace 1 Stove placed in middle of room 604 Stove not placed in middle of room 659 Janitor furnished : Yes 213 No 1,049 Methods of sweeping: Dry 417 Sprinkled floors 648 Damp sawdust or other dust-gathering material 227 Floor oiled 199 Method of dusting: With feather duster 145 Cloth (dusting e\'idently poorly done) 1, 080 Regulation of temperature : Well regulated (teacher's judgment) 814 No thermometer 755 Time of day for opening school : 8 o'clock 74 8.30 o'clock "117 9 o'clock 1, 102 Time of day for closing school: 4 o'clock 1,121 Earlier 167 40742°— Bull. 12—14 3 26 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. Number and condition of toilets: None 50 One 52 Two 1,174 Passably sanitary 601 Insanitary 631 Open-air studying: Yes : 406 No 845 Medical inspection: Yes 61 No 1,196 Oare of the teeth of the children : Yes 68 No 1, 148 The following report of the results of the sanitary inspection of 3,572 fourth-class district schools, made in 1911 and 1912 by the Pennsylvania State Department of Education, shows that the condi- tion of rural schools in that State is about on a par with that brought out through similar investigations in other States. The tabulated statement giving the sununaries of the inv^tigation is here reproduced : Summary of sanitary inspection of 3,572 district schools in Pennsylvania in 1911 and 1912. Number of schools inspected 3, 572 Number of schools insanitary 3, 036 Number of schools sanitary 536 School building: Rooms and halls unclean 229 Sawdust and antiseptics not used 2, 662 Dry dusting 2, 934 Light surface not 20 per cent of floor space " 1, 083 Light admitted in front of pupils 622 Ventilation insufficient 1, 647 Stove in room 2, 793 Stove not jacketed 1, 029 Steam or hot water 219 Furnace in cellar 602 Room not warm 223 Floors not warm 279 Hot air 2 Water supply: No water supply 1 Fountain 15 Hydrant or spigot in room 188 Spigot in building or on ground 246 Drilled well 794 Dug well 1, 021 Spring 1, 095 Surface drainage not excluded 437 Nuisance within 100 feet 384 HYGIENIC CONDITION. 27 Water supply — Continued. Menace on higher level 287 Cooler with spigot 688 Bucket not covered 1, 233 Not scalded daily 1, 500 Fresh supply not secured each session 251 Individual cups not used 2, 337 Cups dipped in bucket 1, 781 Creek water 1 Cistern 24 Ground pollution 148 Privies: One single 169 Approaches not screened 1, 748 Dividing fences not tight 1, 138 Bad repair 397 Not clean 1, 190 Objectionable odor 1, 320 No vault 839 Vault not water-tight 785 Vault full 500 Vault overflowing 208 Lime or ashes not used 1, 066 Surface drainage not excluded 962 Urinals and flush closets: Not properly vented 21 Not clean 13 Objectionable odor 17 Not sufficiently ventilated 17 The accompanying tabular statement of the general hygienic con- dition of 109 rural schools was compiled fiom the details of a survey made under the direction of the joint committee of the American Medical Association and the National Council of Education. This committee sent a specially trained field agent with a camera into certain counties of the States of Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, and Maryland to make a personal investigation of the conditions of the schools. The summary of facts given below was derived from a compilation of the returns. Many other facts were gathered, but it has not been thought necessary to present them in this connection. It should be said that the States selected and the counties chosen within each State were singled out, not from previous knowledge of conditions, but more or less fortuitously. The committee does not claim that they are typical counties and typical schools, but it believes that they are approximately so. The fact that they are typical could be substantiated only after a similar investigation had been made in practically all of the counties of each of the States named. However, indirect evidence through the results obtained by the investigations previously referred to bears out the supposition that they approximate typical conditions the country over. 28 KUEAL SOHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. Summary of results of the survey of 109 one-teacher rural schools in the States of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, and Maryland. Investigation made in 1913 by direction of the joint committee of the American Medical Association and the National Council of EduAXition. GROUNDS. Size of grounds: Schools. Less than one-half acre 74 One-half acre to 1 acre 25 One acre to 2 acres 10 Location of buildings: On side of hill 32 On level ground 43 High ground 28 Low ground - 6 Character of soil: Loam 31 Gravel 10 Sand 52 Hardpan 4 Clay • 12 Trees on grounds: Schools having trees 86 Schools without trees 23 Character of fence: Wire 26 Board 17 Stone wall 9 Picket 3 Rail and wire 5 Rail - 3 WATER SUPPLY. Source of water supply: Open springs 15 Piped from open spring 7 Dug wells 68 Driven wells 10 Walled reservoirs 4 Field stream 2 No water supply 3 Sources of defilement: Too near privies 7 Too near farm buildiags 22 In open cow pasture 4 Sources that are exposed to other kinds of defilement — 36 Receptacles for holding drinking water: Common open pail 53 Covered tanks with faucet 40 Covered tanks with bubbling cups 1 No receptacle provided 15 How often receptacles are cleaned: Four times a month 37 Daily 10 When teacher thinks necessary 8 HYGIENIC CONDITION. 29 Lavatory facilitiea: Schools. Washbasina 91 No waahbasina 18 Provided with soap 61 Not provided with Boap .- 48 Provided with towels 56 Not provided with towels 53 Towels washed twice a week 3 Towels washed once a week 31 Towels washed at infrequent intervals 13 Methods of serving water: Schools using paper cups 5 Schools with only one cup 20 Schools with one cup per child 51 Schools with more than one cup, but fewer cups than children 29 Schools without cups 4 PRIVIES. Both boys and girls use same 50 Partitioned 45 Separate buildings provided for sexes 59 Screened 51 Distance from school building: Less than 10 feet 25 Between 10 and 25 feet 32 Between 25 and 50 feet 36 Over 50 feet 16 Provided with locks 14 Obscene drawings 50 Kinds of toilets and their condition: Provided with removable receptacle 9 Cesspool protected from flies 8 Cesspool xmprotected from flies 101 Neither receptacle nor excavation 92 How often refuse removed: Once a year 101 Less frequently 8 Ventilated: No provision made 75 Some provision made 34 Odor offensive 106 Not offensive 3 Seats clean CO Not clean 49 Disinfected 1 Not disinfected 108 Number of roofs that leak 22 WALLS AND CEILINGS. Material of walls: Matching 53 Plastered and papered 14 Plastered 40 Wood 2 30 EUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. Color of walls: Schools. Wood 23 Gray 30 Green 10 Tan 8 White 25 Terra cotta 2 Yellow 5 Brown 6 Color of wainscoting: Gray 37 Green 6 Wood 8 Brown - 14 White 10 Material of ceiling: Matching 65 Plastered and papered 7 Plastered 33 Metal 4 Color of ceiling: White 36 Gray 24 Green 5 Tan 4 Terra cotta 3 Brown 3 Yellow 5 Wood 29 BLACKBOARDS. Material of blackboards: Wood 49 Slate 42 Composition 4 Cement 6 Plaster "8 Location of blackboards: Front only 42 Front and rear 9 Front and one side 13 Fiont and two sides 15 Front, rear, and one side 2 Front, rear, and two sides 12 One side only 1 Two sides - 7 Rear 2 Rear and two sides 3 Between windows 57 Height of blackboards set above floor: 4 feet 1 3ifeet 2 3 feet.. 61 Less than 3 feet 22 HYGIENIC CONDITION. 31 Width of blackboarda: Schools. 5feet 5 4 feet 11 3i feet 3 3 feet • 70 2 feet 9 Schools not given 11 Square feet of blackboards: 30 square feet or less 23 30 to 50 26 50 to 100 40 100 to 150 18 Over 150 2 SCHOOL BUILDINGS. Character of building: Wood 100 Stone 4 Brick 5 Old 103 New 6 Good condition 80 Needing repairs 29 Basements: School buildings with basements 11 Sanitary basements 7 Insanitary basements 4 Floors: Single floors 39 Double floors 70 Deadened 1 Good condition 63 Bad condition 46 Oiled 38 Roof: Leaks about belfry 7 Leaks elsewhere 22 Schoolrooms : Length — 20 feet or less 4 20 to 22 feet 20 22 to 24 feet 6 24 to 26 feet 13 26 to 28 feet 10 28 to 30 feet 7 30 to 32 feet 11 32 to 34 feet 14 34 to 36 feet 8 36 to 38 feet 11 38 to 40 feet 4 Width— 12 to 16 feet 6 16 to 18 feet 6 18 to 20 feet 28 32 BUBAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GKOUNDS. Sclioolrooins — Continued. Width — Continued. Schools. 20 to 22 feet 31 22 to 24 feet 11 24 to 26 feet 12 26 to 28 feet 8 28 to 30 feet 2 30 to 32 feet 5 Height of ceiling above floor — 7 to 8 feet 28 8 to 9 feet 39 9 to 10 feet 17 10 to 11 feet 14 11 to 12 feet 2 12 to 13 feet 4 15 to 16 feet 2 16 to 17 feet 3 Windows: Schools with — 3 windows 1 4 windows 6 5 windows 9 6 windows 58 7 windows 9 8 windows - 14 9 windows 8 10 windows - - - 3 12 windows 1 Windows in classroom face — -•■ '"'■'■'■ North and south 15 North, south, and east 9 North, south, east, and west 11 North, east, and west 17 North, south, and west 13 North and east i 1 North and west 2 East and west 1 East and south 1 South and west 1 South, east, and west 22 Total area of glass surface in windows compared to floor surface — Glass surface equal to — Less than one-tenth floor surface : 10 More than one-tenth but less than one-eighth , 27 More than one-eighth but less than one-sixth 20 More than one-sixth but less than one-fourth - . . 36 One-fourth or more 13 Not given 3 Double sash on weights 38 Can be opened for ventilation — Upper and lower sash 52 Lower sash 1^5 Can not be opened 2 HYGIENIC CONDITION. 33 Windows — Continued. When cleaned — Schools. Once a year 98 Oftener 6 Never cleaned 5 Windows with shades 100 Windows without shades 9 Shades in good condition 63 Shades in bad condition 37 Cloakrooms: Schools having one cloakroom 64 Schools having two cloakrooms 25 Schools having no cloakrooms 20 Janitor service: Special janitor service 38 Teacher serves as janitor 71 Desks: Double desks 73 Single desks 36 Sufficient in number 105 Nonadjustable 109 In good condition 94 In bad condition 15 Desks face windows 16 Heating: Jacketed stove 15 Unjacketed stove 88 Furnace 6 Stove in middle of r jom 72 Stove in corner of room 18 Sufficient heat in cold weather 94 Insufficient heat 9 Stove troublesome 26 Ventilation: At recess only 62 Oftener 41 By the use of windows 48 By the use of doors 5 Both doors and windows 56 Upper sash of windows 14 Lower sash of windows 34 Both lower and upper sash 50 Sweeping and dusting: Once a week or less 20 Once a week and oftener 39 Daily 50 Dry sweeping 70 Sprinkle or use compound 39 Use feather duster 13 Use dust cloth 86 Use brushbroom 3 Medical inspection: Vision and hearing tested by teacher 52 By regular medical inspector 38 Chapter IV. THE LOCATION OF COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSES. More friction has arisen between county superintendents and school patrons and among the patrons themselves with regard to the location of rural school buildings than over any other question directly or indirectly having to do with country schools. When school district boundary lines have been estabUshed, the people natu- rally conclude that the building should be located in the exact center of the district, or as near the center as roads will permit. Rarely has the thought of the location from the needs of health, playgrounds, or a school farm been the chief consideration. There is reasonableness in the demand for a central location, but only when more important demands are not in conflict with it. It is far more important, for example, to have well-drained school grounds, where the opportunity for securing a sanitary water supply and toilet system is good, than it is to give the preference to a loca- tion nearer the center of a district where these sanitary necessaries are not readily suppUed. The slight inconvenience to a few children resulting from locating the building to one or the other side of the geographical center should not be considered seriously when the more important considerations of health, sanitation, playgrounds, and the larger community interests are at stake. Of course, in very cold climates children will have to be protected in bad weather, but parents are generally ready and willing to do this of their own accord. In good weather a walk to school of a mile and a half furnishes excel- lent exercise, teaches the children to be self-helpful and courageous, gives them strength to resist the effects of ordinary exposure to wind and rain, and is usually of greater value in general physical training than all the unnatural calisthenic exercises the teacher can devise. In selecting a site for a rural schoolhouse, the following factors should be considered: 1. No site should be selected that will not offer a good outlet for tile drains set well below the walls of the building to keep the base- ment and garden in good condition. A wet, swampy piece of land is not only a muddy, dirty place, but it introduces dangers from ground air and moisture that will always prove troublesome and unwhole- some. The air, on account of its great weight, presses into the ground to a much greater depth than is ordinarily supposed. When 34 THE LOCATION OF COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSES. 35 the air above the ground becomes colder than that in the ground, and this is true at night during warm weather and even during the day in cold weather, the heavy air above the ground will displace that in the ground, and will drive it out at the point of least resist- ance. Since the ground underneath and about a schoolhouse is drier than that not covered, the ground air is driven from all directions toward the schoolhouse, and by reason of the fact that the heat escaping from the building will cause an upward draft, this ground air is easily drawn into the rooms. Ground air contains a far greater percentage of carbon dioxide and other noxious gases than is ordi- narily found in air above the ground. These gases are produced through the agency of the bacteria acting upon decaying animal and vegetable matter in the soil. Moreover, ground air is generally saturated with moisture, and as it rises in the schoolroom, especially at night when the building is cold, this moisture will be deposited on the walls, blackboards, and floors, so that all wooden parts of the building are rendered liable to decay and the air in the building will be stuffy and collarlike. Unless school buildings are so built as to prevent the entrance of this ground air and the moisture brought up with it, no amount of effort on the part of the teacher will be able to keep the air always wholesome and hygienic. It is of great impor- tance, therefore, to prevent these diflBiculties by selecting a site which can be kept wholesome by proper drainage. To go to the other extreme and select a high hill or a wind-swept place for the location of the school building is also an error. What is needed is a location comparatively level, but so situated that it can be easily kept dry. 2. Other things equal, it is generally better to select a site with a frontage to the north or the south, so that the building may be planned with the short side facing toward the roadway and the long sides toward the east and the west. Such a site makes it easier on the whole to plan the building with reference to its general appear- ance and also with reference to its cost. In order to make this point clearer, let the reader undertake to draw a floor plan for a lot with an approach to the building from the east or the west. Either he will have to depend for his classroom on north or south light, which is to be avoided, or to face the building with the long side toward the roadway. This will introduce some architectural difficulties, for it is often much easier to get a satisfying elevation for a one-room school building with the entrance in the end rather than in the side of the building; and it is also more economical of space. Many school buildings have been doomed to bad illumination from the fact that builders have followed the custom of facing the end of the build- ing toward the roadway, regardless of the direction from which the classroom must get its light. 36 BUBAL 9CH00LH0USES AND GBOUNDS. However, it is not impossible to adjust a satisfactory buUdiiig to a lot facing a roadway on the east or west. Several of the plans pre- sented in this bulletin have been drawn to meet just this situation, for sometimes school authorities are limited to the selection of a site east or west of a roadway. But where there is a choice and all other considerations are even, it is better to utilize a lot with a frontage on the north or the south. 3. Another set of conditions must be taken into account, and these have to do indirectly with the Hghting. Suppose a lot is selected with a north or a south frontage, and that to the east or the west of it there are high hills or mountains sufficiently near to raise the horizon line appreciably. Such a location would at once handicap the build- ing by making it next to impossible to secure the proper amount of Hght from one side or the other. If high forests or mountains are near on the east, then the west light should be preferred for the class room. If this hindrance to light is on the west of the lot selected, then the east exposure would be the only one to use. Many rural school buUdings located in vaUeys are much more seriously handi- capped from the point of view of illumination than the average school- man is conscious of. 4. Elsewhere emphasis has been laid on the fact that our school grounds are not large enough, especially from the point of view of agricultural work. The country schools will never be able to do their work properly unless the amount of ground assigned to them is increased. Playgrounds, agricultural work, fruit growing, and for- estry — all legitimate demands upon the rural school — require more land than is usually given to rural schools. But it would be possible to select a plat of ground sufficiently large and yet ill-adapted for play- grounds or for agricultural work. Hence the site selected should be on good son, adapted for the cultivation of any or aU kinds of plants or grain ordinarily grown in the neighborhood. To select a poor, sterile, rocky soil, though well situated with reference to other requirements, would be a mistake, for no teacher could, on such ground, make such a showing in agricultural experiments as would attract the favorable attention of the farmers in the community. HUly, rough, or rocky land is not satisfactory either for playgrounds or for any other purpose to which the country school plat should be devoted. In one case in New York State observed by the field agent of the joint committee in the summer of 1913 the schoolhouse was on a hill- side and the accumulated wash down the hill had risen above the foundation to such an extent that the drainage actually "seeped through to the floor." 5. An abundant and sanitary water supply is a matter for thought- ful consideration in the selection of the site for a rural schoolhouse. THE LOCATION OF COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSES. 37 A country school building is frequently located because of the prox- imity of a spring or a neighbor's well. The average spring in the country has proved to be a greater menace to health than people have ever dreamed of, because with increasing population and deforestation there is more opportunity both for contamination of springs and greater irregularity of water supply than was formerly the case. Spring water may appear very clear and yet be unwholesome to drink, and it is therefore risky to depend on springs for drinking water. If a site is selected with the idea of depending on a well for drinking water, it is important to take note of any possible chances for seepage into the well. If a high, rocky place is selected, it would be very difficult and expensive to sink a well to such a depth as to insure a sufficient amount of pure water. Generally speaking, a gravelly or sandy loam into which a well can be driven to a sufficient depth to prevent any surface contamination is preferable. 6. Finally, no site should be selected for a school building too close to electric lines and steam railways. Such a location offers oppor- tunity for the introduction of a great deal of smoke and dust into the schoolroom. Further, there is always some danger due to fires or electricity when a building is situated near such lines. There is also great temptation for children to walk or play on car lines, and this nat- urally introduces useless danger. The chief difficulty, however, is the noise. Some States have laws forbidding the erection of school buildings within 500 feet of railway lines, and this sort of legislation is bound to increase. Chapter V. ORIENTATION OF THE BUILDING. No school building can be well lighted if it is not first properly- placed with reference to the cardinal points of the compass. If a building is so placed on a lot as to make it necessary to locate the windows in the classrooms to face toward the north or the south, neither the required amount of glass surface nor the correct setting of the windows will overcome the difficulties thus introduced. In order to make this last statement clear and significant, these diffi- culties must be stated and explained. The fundamental demands of health require the purification of a classroom by direct sunhght; but it is also necessary to introduce this all-important purifying agent in such a manner as to prevent as far as possible the direct rays of the sun from falling on the desks and books of the pupils while they are engaged in study. If the windows of a classroom are placed on the north side of a building located in any section of our country, very little direct sunshine will ever enter, and during the school season practically none, for the sun's path is then too far to the south. It may be possible in the southern and southwestern sections to get sufficient well-dispersed light in a classroom with windows facing toward the north, but the light thus entering has lost its power as a germicidal agency. Direct sunlight is the most powerful and reliable disinfectant known, and it is running contrary to one of the best-estabhshed principles of hygiene to construct either a school building or a dwelling house in such a manner as to fail to get this value of direct sunlight. True, in large buildings devoted to high-school or technical educa- tion some special rooms are needed for art work, and for these the north light has an advantage because of its quality. North light is soft and produces more artistic shadow effects than light from any other direction. But these rooms are not as wholesome as those receiving direct sunlight, and are allowable only for short periods during the day. For ordinary classrooms, where children remain at work during the whole day, dependence on north light is a serious error. Elsewhere detailed reasons are given why classrooms should re- ceive light from but one side; it is sufficient here to state the fact that unilateral lighting is universally recommended in aU locations 38 OBIENTATION OF THE BUILDING. 39 where light is not impeded by tall buildings, a dirty, smoky atmos- phere, or any other serious hindrances. In cold climates it is not best to depend on windows facing toward the north, because it is more difficult, and consequently more expensive, to heat these rooms. They are not only exposed to the direct winds from the north, but they fail to get whatever available heat the direct rays of the sun carry. By reason of these two handicaps a schoolroom so situated may require in cold weather 10 to 20 per cent more fuel than one getting east or west light. Of course the effect of the wind will depend to a great extent on the construction and location of the building. A building vnth walls made of porous brick or wood will show greater leakage than one whose walls are of cement or of hard brick. But while these difficulties suggest greater expense, they are not of so much importance from the health point of view as the dangei-s due to lack of sunshine. For the sake of health every schoolroom — and, for that matter, every living room — should receive a "sun bath" every day the sun shines. Doubtless some who realize the great hygienic importance of sun- light have concluded that classrooms facing toward the south are the most acceptable. This conclusion would be warranted were it not for the fact already mentioned. With direct sunlight streaming into a schoolroom during the entire school day, it is well nigh impossible to furnish proper light to all the pupils in the room. This difficulty is not serious in a dwelling, where chairs are not fastened to the floor and where people can adjust themselves so as to get proper light either for reading or for work, but in a schoolroom, where from 25 to 45 cliildren must spend a good part of each day, it is impossible, whether the desks are fastened to the floor or not, for all of the chil- dren to adjust themselves to avoid the shifting rays of direct sun- light entering the room. If, as is usually the case and probably will be for a considerable time to come, the desks are fastened to the floor, the pupils can do httle to adjust their positions so as to avoid the painful and harmful effect of direct sunlight on desk or book. If shades are used, they will inevitably reduce the light in parts of the room below the normal demand, and hence some of the children wiU suffer for lack of light. Many kinds and qualities of window shades have been devised to meet these conditions, but none of them has fuUy overcome the difficulty suggested. Space is lacking to discuss window shades at length. Suffice It to say here no shade has been developed that will properly condition the direct rays of the sun to a schoolroom so as to guard the children from eyestrain due to reflection of direct sunhght and at the same time permit the passage of sufficient light to give satisfactory illumination for all parts of the room. 40 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. The conclusion, therefore, is this : Be sure that no lot for a building is selected which will require such an orientation of the building that it will be necessary to depend on south light for the classrooms; buildings for school purposes, especially for elementary classes, should be so planned and so located on a school lot that the classrooms may receive either east or west light. In the construction of a small building there are some advantages of the east light over the west. First, an eastern exposure will permit the morning sun to take the chill out of the room before school begins. Second, it is probably true that there are in most parts of the country fewer cloudy mornings than afternoons, and hence those rooms hav- ing windows toward the east will get a better sunning than those with windows toward the west. In those sections where foggy mornings are prevalent, the opposite would be true. In buildings with east exposure the troublesome direct rays of the sun wiU have nearly disappeared by 10 o'clock in the morning. The shades can then be rolled up for the rest of the day. In the third place, the prevailing cold winds in the winter are more from the west and northwest than from the east, except along the eastern coast. However, the correct choice between east and west windows will depend to a large degree on the surroundings. For example, if a school building must be placed near hills, mountains, or tall forest trees, it would be better to choose the west side for the windows, if the horizon line is high toward the east. If the opposite be true, the east side is preferable. A range of high hills or mountains often raises the horizon line so high that the sun may not appear above it until quite late in the day. Besides, even after the sun has reached the zenith, a mountain's side will not reflect back enough light to insure good illumination. A wide expanse of sky is necessary. It will be important then to study the surroundings, to note the possible hin- drances and the general outlook in order to decide wisely whether the building should be placed to introduce east light or west light into the classrooms. Plate 17 represents a schooUiouse in the mountains of Colorado. The location of this building makes it very essential that the light entering the classroom should come from the side opposite the mountain near which the school is built. Even when the difficulties with reference to lighting are for all prac- tical purposes equal, other considerations may affect a decision. An attractive outlook from a classroom is better than an ugly one, and it sometimes happens that this consideration decides the orientation when other things are equal. For example, if a lot must be selected near a busy, dusty roadway, much relief from the dust, noise, and disturbance may be secured by facing the windows in the opposite direction. On the other hand, the appearance of a building may ORIENTATION OF THE BUILDING. 41 demand the placing of tlio windows on the side from which the approach is made. All matters of tliis sort must be determined by local conditions. But it will always remain true that in the latitude of tliis country it is better and safer to depend on cast or west light for schoolrooms than on north or south light. There is still anotlier point worth mentioning and this favors west windows. Children seated in rooms lighted from the west will natu- rally face north, and are then in a position to read their maps without confusion. The cardinal points on the map will then agree with the realities about them. The top of the map will be toward the real north, the left side will correspond with the real west, and altogether the representation and the reality will be more easily connected. Thus far this discussion relative to orientation has been concerned with the proper lighting and sanitation of the classroom. The ques- tion of lighting workrooms, libraries, cloaki'ooms, and toilets, demands separate treatment, for in these rooms direct sunlight is not a disturb- ing element, and in the main the purifying influence of sunlight is more important. Unilateral lighting is not an essential condition in these rooms. Workrooms in general are decidedly better for receiving abundant sunshine, for here benches and tables should be arranged to suit the convenience of the students, and more individual liberty is necessary. The same is true of library rooms. Toilets and cloala*ooms require direct sunshine and abundance of light in order to keep them sanitary and wholesome. Proper orientation when applied to these rooms means provision for abundant light and as much direct sunshine as good sanitation demands. 40742°— Bull. 12—14 4 Chapter VI. TH.E COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSE. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. The country schoolhouse should be beautiful. This does not mean that it needs to be expensive. Frequently those who have much money to spend on a school building do it so thoughtlessly as to de- stroy all possibility of beauty. Towers and turrets have no place on a country schoolhouse. A log schoolhouse can be made beautiful. There is power in beauty closely allied to righteousness. The dis- satisfaction with country life which has caused so many young people to go to the cities is partly due to the bleakness and ugliness of the farm home, the farm barn, the rural schools, and churches. If a beautiful rural schoolhouse could be constructed in every neighbor- hood, it would not be long before the people would see and feel its power. How shall we get beautiful schoolhouses ? There is only one way. Those who have developed that sense of fitness which we call appre- ciation of beauty must have power and means furnished them to create it in our public buildings. Cities where a few artist-architects are at work can do much, for they can afford to hire such architects to plan their buildings and to supervise their construction. In the country where a meager allowance is made for the construction of a schoolhouse, those in authority do not feel justified in hirmg a worthy architect to make their plans. Even if they did, it is not likely that they would get the building the artist had planned; for the ordinary carpenter who builds most of our rural schoolhouses is not able to read drawings and to follow exactly the specifications the architect would draw up. Practically all of the rural schoolhouses constructed in the last quarter of a century have been copied after others in adjoining neighborhoods, and hence little progress has been made. Year after year new houses have been built perpetuating the evils of unhygienic construction and the horrors of architectural ugliness in almost every detail. By the use of the plans detailed and illus- trated in another chapter, it is hoped that a little may be done to further the construction of more beautiful rural schoolhouses, and at the same time to save money and get more satisfactory buildings. (See chap. 7.) 42 THE COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUBE. 43 This omphasis on tho Ijoiiuty of school architecture is not for the purpose of declaring it to be the prime essential. Yet none of us should forget that beauty is in its own nature useful. Unfortunately those who have built our country schoolhouses have for the most part given little or no tliought to real beauty. Some have attempted to adorn, but these adornments frequently only accentuate the lack of unity and harmony. Hundreds of rural school buildings show that if tho roof and the sides, the height and the width, had been befittingly proportioned the one to the other, much money would have been saved, and far more beautiful buildings would have been obtained. Ugliness in rural school buildings has, therefore, not only cost money, but hjis corrupted the yc^uth by rudely staring them in the face daily. Simple beauty is ndt expensive; it is by its very nature economical of material. Look at the illustration of the little log schoolhouse (plate 18A) located in a far Western State. Cover up the monstrous lean-to, and you will see how beautiful a simple building can be. Contrast this little, inexpensive building with the new and elaborate building shown in plate 18B. See how many things have been stuck together in the latter, and how much might have been saved if some one in authority had seen the real through the ideal. Beauty is more than economical; it is educational in the highest sense. Beauty is not for the rich; neither is it for the poor. It is for all. A beautiful country school building, appropriately located, will exert a quiet but persistent educational influence on all who are associated with it, in school or out. Its unconscious reflex influence will enter into the life of the neighborhood and of necessity express itself in many ways. All who see a beautiful and appropriate school building are inclined to be more loyal to the cause it represents and less satisfied with ugliness anywhere. The district schoolhouse is the only building in the community that belongs to all, and in a definite way it reflects the civic standards of all. It is, therefore, important to express through it the highest attainable ideals of beauty and fitness, so that it may serve all acceptably. WORKROOMS NEEDED. The rural schoolhouse should be designed to accommodate and encourage many legitimate phases of school work now generally neg- lected in the country. All district schoolhouses, those for one- teacher schools as well as those of the consolidated type, should have, at least, one workroom — two would be better — where manual train- ing, domestic science, and related subjects could be taught accord- ing to laboratory methods. In a district where the number of school children does not exceed 30, one good-sized, well-lighted workroom 44 EUKAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. can be made to accommodate both boys and girls by alternating their work. Here the boys can be taught to make useful articles of furniture for their homes or for the school, and to apply their arith- metic and drawing to real problems. Such work can not be done in the regular classroom. When a separate room is provided, much of the manual work can be done while the teacher is hearing other classes recite. The separate workroom will furnish an excellent op- portunity to place a definite responsibility on pupUs who work for a part of their time out of sight of the teacher, but near enough to call for direction whenever it is needed. Manual and domestic work is individual work and each pupil can be held to strict account for the faithful use of his or her time. An attempt to do manual training in a one-room rural school is shown in plate 2A, but certainly this is an unsatisfactory makeshift for a workroom. Under the conditions here shown the boys would either have to work out of school hours or else the rest of the school would have to take a vacation while they hammer and saw. Much cardboard work could be done without serious distraction; but very few vigorous boys take as kindly to cardboard carpentering as to making some real thing of wood. This interesting picture serves to emphasize in a more vigorous way than one could in words the need of a workroom for boys in a rural school. The boys can use the workroom as an agricultural laboratory as well as for shop work. The preparation of boxes for testing the germinating power of seeds, the study of soils and fertilizers, experi- ments on the growth of plants, and a large number of similar experi- ments call for a special room. This room could be used by the older boys two afternoons or two stated periods a week, by the older girls for a similar time, and possibly by boys and girls together for one period when things of common interest, like domestic hygiene and sanitation, house planning, studies in food values, drawing, could be worked out to the advantage of all the older pupils. The work- room is needed by the girls for cutting, sewing, cooking, canning, and millinery, for laundry work, and for all other subjects directly connected with women's work in the home. A well-prepared teacher can make the workroom of a district school a very significant con- necting link between the school life and the home. The ordinary district schoolhouse consists in general of a classroom only, and there will be a good deal of prejudice to overcome by those who wotdd introduce workrooms. The hoary and customary objection — "The schoolhouse I used as a boy had no workroom. I got along all right, and my children are no better than I" — will have to be met. This objection can be answered in some such fashion as this: THE COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSE, 45 Yes, you have done well; but why do you not use the same sort of a plow your father used? You find it to your advantage to use many kinds of toola he did not have. Would you be willing to deny yourself and your neighbors a modem har- vester because your father used a scythe and cradle? Would you be willing for your wife to do her cooking in an old-fashioned fireplace instead of on a modem stove? Would you have her do all your sewing by hand, as her mother did? Yes; they were as good as you and your wife; but conditions have changed, and you would not be as good as they if you did not take advantage of labor-saving devices, just as they did. They did the best they could, and would be ashamed of you, were they alive, if you did not do the same thing. Such argument may not convince all, for prejudice is not always amenable to reason. But it will rationalize the demands for work- rooms and will in the end serve a purpose. This demand will find more favor, however, if such objectors can be shown that it will often cost very little more to introduce work- rooms than to do as we have been doing; that is, building school- houses with classrooms larger than needed. There are not so many cliildren in many of the districts as there were 15 or 20 years ago. It is an unusual one-teacher country school that has an average daily attendance of 35 children. But suppose it does cost a little more to provide workrooms, that is no excuse for not doing it. A reaper costs more than a scythe and cradle, but it is worth more. No apology will be oiSered for introducing worki-ooms into most of the plans which follow later in this bulletin. They are needed, and the cliildren and the conmaxmity should have them. They should be fitted with tables, cases, di'awers, and benches, where tools and work could be kept safely during the progress of the work and when school is not in session. If possible, a small cooking stove should be installed and utiUzed for cooking an occasional warm luncheon for the children as a part of the work in domestic science, and on which, during social affairs at the schoolhouse, a pot of warm chocolate or a cup of tea could be prepared. This stove will not rust out during the summer, provided the schoolhouse is used as it should be, and as it will be if a proper incentive is furnished. With proper care, and that should be a part of the teaching, it would not rust through a summer even if not used at all. Special training in the care of tools would teach boys to take better care of tools and implements at home, as well as of public property, and this training is sorely needed by the average farmer. It is not proposed to keep children after school hours to do manual labor of any kind; the training should be a legitimate part of the daily program. Objection to such work will, of course, be urged by some teachers and patrons on the ground that the program is already overcrowded, and that if time for manual work is taken the course of study as outlined can not be completed and the exami- nations passed for promotion. Such objections have weight, and 46 BUBAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GKOUNDS. some country teachers are so hedged about with rules, regulations, and rigid programs that they could at first do little along the lines of industrial work. It is difficult to cover all the work ordinarily mapped out, and demands for more time are constant from every one who is exploiting some specialty for the supposed betterment of the school. Each devotee to mathematics, nature study, geog- raphy, classic myths, Enghsh composition, grammar, local history, spelling, or what not is pleading, and sometimes scolding, for the greater recognition of her specialty, and by reason of this persuasion the curriculum is overcrowded, and too much fact-instruction is demanded. No specialty is exploited when ib is urged that every girl in a district school should learn something about home-making and home life in general. Girls will have to learn it some day, whether they learn it in school or not; in fact, most of it can not be learned in school, but only through actual experience; yet it is possible to interest deeply all girls, and boys, too, for that matter, in home sanitation, house planning, care of children, food values, sewing, cooking, and other things of fundamental importance to the home. These are not specialties; they are the common demands of life; and even if a girl is so fortunate as to be able to keep servants, she must know how to do such things in order to direct servants properly and economically. The demand for workrooms in the dis- trict schools in which boys and girls can be taught some of the things of practical life is part of the current demand for a more rational education for the children. By no means should the ordinary school work be neglected; but it ought to be shorn of its useless features and adapted to meet actual needs. CLASSROOMS. The size of the classroom in a district school should vary to suit the number of pupils of school age in the district, and more especially the probable number attending school. A room 30 feet long and 21 feet wide will accommodate 35 pupils, will allow for 5 rows of desks — 7 desks in each row — and will give ample aisles between the seats and about them. A room 32 feet long and 24 feet wide will accommodate 40 to 45 pupils by placing 5 rows of desks and 8 to 9 desks in each row. In a room 30 feet long and 21 feet wide, such as shown in figure 16, 35 desks could be placed. The width of the aisle next the windows would be approximately 2 feet; the aisles between the rows of desks 18 inches wide; the space behind the last desk in each row 3 feet; and the space between the inner waU and the first row of desks approximately 3 feet. The space between the first seat in each row and the front end of the room would be about 8 feet. This location THE COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSE. 47 of tlio desks insures good lightmg and will give suflRcient space about and between the desks to manage the classes without con- fusion. If we could enlarge this room 1 foot in width, retaining the same number of desks, the advantage would be considerable; for then instead of 3 feet between the inner wall and the first row of desks there would be 4 feet. This suggestion is made to emphasize the need of plenty of space next the blackboard most used by the children. The size of this room should be considered in relation to the fact that it will not be cumbered by bookcases or supplies of any sort; for it has been planned for a building which is to include workroom, libraiy, and cloakrooms. By reference to statistics concerning the nimiber of children attend- ing the average district school it will be seen that such a classroom would be amply large for the great majority of one-teacher rural schools. If, however, the indications in any district are that provision should be made for 40 to 45 desks, the other dimension of 32 by 24 feet should be used. Country schools are in session usually during the winter season, and therefore are not as likely to be troubled by the presence of flies, mosquitoes, and similar pests as they would be if in session in summer; nevertheless in many parts of the country during the fall months jflies are particularly plentiful and dangerous. Whenever trouble from these plagues is liable to occur, wire screens should be provided for doors and windows, and every effort be made to prevent their presence in the schoolroom. This precaution will not only protect the children while in the schoolroom, but will impress upon them the great importance for such provision at their homes. The height of a classroom of this size need not exceed 12 or 12^ feet from finished floor to finished ceiling. If the building is located on a lot which will permit the lighting of the classroom from either east or west and there are no obstructions from taU buildings, high hills, or forest trees, 12 feet will be suflficient. This height wiU save a good deal of expense in the construction and maintenance of the building as compared with a building a foot higher. The placing of the windows will be considered carefully in another section. In planning this classroom and the other rooms in connection with it, the use of the basement as a furnace and fuel room should be borne in mind. If a classroom of this size must also accommodate a stove, it would be necessary to reduce the number of desks somewhat in order to give the proper space for the jacketed stove in the corner next the fuel room. Some objection may be raised to the size of this room because it is smaller than many one-teacher rural classrooms, but its freedom from any incumbrances whatever answers these objections. 48 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. FLOORS OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS. No more serious mistake can be made in the construction of a rural school building, unless it be in a failure to provide plenty of light, than in bad construction of floors. The floors of every country school should be made double, with some deadening material between them. This is necessary primarily to prevent the floors from being cold and to exclude the possibility of the entrance of ground air. The under or rough floor may be made of any well-seasoned, rough lumber, and should be laid diagonally across the floor joists and joined together carefully. When this floor is finished, it should be covered with some form of asbestos quilt, deadening felt, or, if expense must be reduced to its minimum, good quality of building paper. Upon this, at right angles with the joists, should be laid the boards of the main floor. Floor material of good quality is becoming more and more expen- sive, and as a result dealers are economizing by using lumber unfit for schoolroom floors. The best material to use is a good quality of white oak, well seasoned, in boards not more than 3 or 3| inches wide, tongued and grooved, and blind nailed or screwed. Nailing is much less expensive, and, if properly done, answers just as well. Floors, however, are often damaged by careless workmen in their efforts to draw the boards closely together; instead of using a nail set or carefully fitting the boards so that they will join together easily, they drive the nails in with a hatchet or hammer and frequently batter the edge of the board so that when the floor is completed it will show these marks and leave openings for the entrance of dirt. Those who have under their charge the construction of schoolhouses will save a great deal of future difficulty if they will hire someone to oversee the work of laying the floors. Such an overseer could select the boards, see that they were properly prepared, and prevent them from being marred in the nailing. If it is impossible, on account of expense, to use oak, a good quality of hard pine, with boards not more than 3 inches wide, properly tongued and grooved and set carefully, will make an excellent floor. Here again the supervisor should be on guard to prevent the use of any boards with pitch gashes or knots; otherwise the probability is that such boards will be used, and they will always make the room appear untidy and gather much dirt and dust. Maple flooring may be used, and, if properly laid and carefully kept, will prove satisfactory; but maple boards are soft, stain easily, show the dents of nails in shoes, and in general are more easily marred than either hard pine or oak. Maple, however, does not splinter so easily as pine and will generally wear longer. THE COtTNTKY SOHOOLHOUSE. 49 After the floor has been laid it should be planed or sandpapered to an even surface. Before it is used it should be treated with hot linseed oil, and then, after it is thoroughly dried, it should be waxed. The oil will fill the pores of the flooring and prevent it from shrink- ing, and the wax will give it a finish so that it will not mar easily nor hold the dust. This is a more careful preparation of the floor than is usually made in constructing a district schoolhouse. The main things, how- ever, to be insisted on are double floors, a good quality of material for the upper floor, and careful laying. The care of the floors will be discussed in another section dealing with the general hygiene of the schoolroom. WALLS OF TirE CLASSROOM. As lumber has rapidly increased in cost during the last few years, and as the use of plastering made of cement or pulp has become much more common, comparatively few country schoolhouses are now built wliich have an all-wooden finish on the inside. In certain sections of the South, where lumber is less expensive, and in parts of the Far West, where buildings are remote from railways, class- rooms are stiU ceiled entirely mth wooden boards; but throughout the country as a whole most rural school buildings use some form of plastering for the walls. When it seems necessary, on account of convenience or expense, to use lumber, the boards should be well seasoned, not more than 3 or 4 inches in width, carefully tongued and grooved, and joined evenly. The chief difiiculty in the use of lumber for the ceiling is that it is often left unpainted, absorbs much light, and makes the schoolroom too dark. Those walls on which no blackboards are placed should be painted above the 4-foot line a very fight buff or grayish color, so that there will be no glare and yet the absorption of much light will be prevented. A clear white is objectionable, because it is Hable to reflect high lights and to over- stimulate the eyes of the children. The red end of the spectrum should never be used, because those colors absorb too much light, are objectionable in appearance, and produce disagreeable mental effects. Naturally, the walls above the blackboard should be painted the same color as the other walls. All walls carrying no blackboard should be stained or painted below the 4-foot fine a neutral fight brown or a dark gray. The walls below the blackboard should be treated in the same way. The ceiling overhead should be painted a fight gray. When plastering is used the surface should be made firm and hard, so that an occasional cleaning with a damp cloth wiU not harm it. Clear white plastered walls should be tinted a light, grayish 50 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. buff or, when light is plentiful, a sUght greenish tint naay be substi- tuted. Green, however, is a rather risky color to use because of the danger of introducing too much of it. The use of a light, grayish buff is in general to be recommended. If wainscoting is used below the windows and the blackboards, the boards composing it should be stained a light brown or a medium gray. This will prevent any strong and useless reflection into the eyes of the children when at work at their desks. The ceiling should be tinted a lighter color than the walls in order to prevent too much absorption of the Hght. BLACKBOARDS FOR CLASSROOMS. Ordinarily, the best blackboard material that can be used for rural schools without a good deal of expense is a prepared slate cement, which can be mixed and spread on as ordinary plaster. This costs more than the various forms of veneer or the preparations of pulp or cardboard now on the market, but if it is put on in the proper way it is much more permanent and will not buckle or draw away from the wall as the other material mentioned is inclined to do. If it is possible to use slate for the blackboards, it should be used by aU means, for, when carefully set, it wiU prove more satisfactory than any sort of manufactured blackboards. Glass blackboards are still better, but they are so expensive that it is not Hkely that they will be used for the ordinary district school. Glass blackboards are prepared as follows: A plate of heavy glass is ground on one side lightly, but thoroughly and evenly, and is slightly roughened on the other side; then this roughened side is painted the exact color that the board is to have. By setting this painted side against the wall the color is reflected through the glass to the other side and seems to be an integral part of the structure of the glass. The ground side is the side upon which the writing will be done. The grinding roughens the glass, which causes the chalk to leave a clear, distinct mark on it. Many experiments have been made in order to determine the proper color of the blackboard. In general the most satisfactory color is a dull black. A very sHght tint of green renders the blackboard a little more satisfactory and a little less conspicuous, but it is so easy to use too much green that one hesitates to recommend it. A decidedly green blackboard is very trying on the eyes and disturbing to the sensibilities. Many people suffer when in the presence of much greenish color, and for this reason it is generally safer, unless the work can be intrusted to some one who appreciates all these difficulties, to use a duU, dead black. The liquid slating, so called, often put directly upon the plastered walls, may prove faii-ly satis- THE COUMTKV SCliOOLilOUSK. 61 factory for a time, but the plastering will soon begin to chip and discolor, and after some usage the board wiU look spotty and the crayon niarks will not give a clear, distinct impression. Money can be saved, therefore, by the use of a specially prepared cement black- board or of some good quality of the other preparations now on the market. HEIGHT OF BLACKBOAKDS. A district school must accommodate the children of all of the elementary grades, and hence the blackboards must be placed within the reach of all the children. The mistake of placing blackboards so high that the little folk can not use them is a very common error, which those who arc constructing a rural school should seek to avoid. If the blackboard on the wall opposite the windows is set 28 inches above the floor, the little folk will be able to use the lower part of this board to advantage. If the board is S^ feet wide the larger pupils will have no difl&culty in finding space at the proper height for their work. One can not do good work on a blackboard in a stooping posture, and the work can not be seen so readily if it is too high. The blackboard on the end wall near the teacher's desk will prove more satisfactory if set 3 feet above the floor and made 4 feet wi^e, for this space will bo utilized largely by tha teacher for illustrative work and for such assignments as she may wish to indicate on the board. The rear end of the room may also be utilized for blackboards when the ''breeze windows" are set as indicated in the floor plans suggested. The placing of this board may correspond with that at the other end of the room — that is, it should be set 3 feet above the floor and should be about 4 feet wide. The irregular line of the blackboards about the room will not be disagreeable, despite the opinion of some architects. No blackboards should be placed on the window side of the room. There should be no wall space of any conesquence left on the window side on which blackboards could be placed; there will be no space between the windows and only a short space in front of the windows, and this space ought not to be used for blackboards. It will not receive sufficient light, and it wiU be so badly placed with reference to the children seated at their desks that they wiU not be able to read easily anything written on it. The two ends of the room and the side opposite the windows will give space enough for blackboards. The chalk troughs underneath the blackboard should be wide enough to hold the erasers as well as the chalk, and should be deep enough to catch and hold the chalk dust dropping from the brush and the board surface. If a narrow strip of J-inch wire mesh is laid in this trough and is hinged so that it may be lifted when the trough is to be cleaned, it will keep the erasers from dipping into the chalk dust 52 BUBAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. and carrying it to the hands and to the board, and thence scattering it over the room. This device will cost very little and will prove very helpful and acceptable. DOORS OF SCHOOLROOMS. Comparatively little may be said concerning the doors of school- rooms, for those generally used are of the stock pattern, and no others are ordinarily available. It is to be hoped that we shall get away from the ordinary panel doors in time, especially for school buildings, and come to use the plain door without panels. These are now manu- factured in a few places and have proved acceptable. No panels mean no ledges to gather dust and dirt; and plain doors are easily kept clean. The outer door of the schoolhouse should swing outward, both as a protection against danger from fire and against the driving rains. The positions of the doors of the schoolrooms, workrooms, and libra- ries shown in the various floor plans are worth the attention of those who are planning school buildings. • TRANSOMS. Transoms in schoolreoms, and for that matter in dwelling rooms, are largely a delusion and a snare. They are usually the dirtiest places in the room, are rarely used, and have been continued from time immemorial out of mere habit. Generally they are so far out of reach and so hard to open that they can not be used. As a result they merely add to the expense of building, gather dust, and render the room untidy. It costs a great deal more to set transoms properly than one would imagine. The "breeze windows" and the doors and windows in the adjoining rooms jnay be utiUzed for breezes in hot weather much more safely and easily than transoms. Those who are planning rural schoolhouses would do well to abandon transoms. PICTURE MOLDINGS IN SCHOOLROOMS. One is loath to advise the leaving out of picture moldings in school- rooms and dwelling houses; they are very convenient and useful; and without them walls are usually marred and rendered unsightly by the use of nails and other fastenings for hanging pictures; but these moldings gather so much dust and dirt that a schoolroom on the whole is better off without them. Some inconspicuous nails or screw hooks may be fastened to the woodwork of the walls without marring them and without catching the dust. Incidentally it should be noted that it is not infrequent to find too many pictures in school- rooms. Few things are more tiresome than a wall loaded down with a hodgepodge of various kinds of pictures. THE COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSE. 53 CLOAKROOMS. Every country school should have a special room where children can hang up their %\Taps and place tlieir lunch baskets in safety and out of the dust and bad atmosphere of the schoolroom. Two cloak- rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls, would be better than a single cloakroom for both boys and girls; but, if a single room is properly placed, liglitod, ventilated, and heated, it will serve the purpose. In the chapter on the hygienic condition of rural schools it was shown tliat a comparatively small percentage of rural schools are furnished with cloakrooms and that in the main the children have to hang tlieir wraps in the classroom or stack them up in piles on unused benches. No argument seems necessary to prove that such care of children's wraps is not only untidy, but dangerous because of infec- tious diseases. If hooks for wraps are placed on the schoolroom walls, they will prevent the use of these walls for blackboards, render the room unsightly, contaminate the air with odors from damp or soiled garments, and absorb some of the light. Furthermore, wraps so placed wiU be knocked down as the cliildren pass about in the school- room. Merely from the point of view of economy, it wiU require almost as much space to make room for hooks and passageways about the wraps within the classroom as it would to partition off a part of the building specifically for this purpose. No teacher can make a room appear attractive and well cared for when all kinds of wraps are hung upon the walls, and it is one business of the school to teach children the proprieties of life. When cloakrooms are properly located, they can be carefully supervised by the teacher, and this will lessen the probabiHty of pilfering. The loss of umbrellas, over- shoes, and other similar articles is frequently very troublesome to the teacher, as weU as to the pupils. Cloakrooms are necessary, and every plan set forth in this bulletin calls for them. LIBRARY AND TEACHER's ROOM. It may be repeated that the school building belongs to the whole community and not simply to the children who are attending school and the teacher who is employed. It is generally the only community property within the district, and, hence, everybody has a right to use it, under proper restrictions, and to make it the general civic center of the community. Practically all district schools through- out the country have or should have some general reference books, and they need decent places to keep these books where they can be consulted readily, easily, and without disturbance. It is not neces- sary in a small district school to have a large room for the library, but the Ubrary room should be made the most beautiful and interesting 54 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. one in the building. Here little touches of decoration and comfort may appear and an atmosphere of quiet study be suggested. Many of the books found in school hbraries can be used to advan- tage in interesting the patrons in the community in what tlie school is attempting to do and is doing, and a special effort should be made to collect such books as the people need. One of the general reasons why country people do not read more good books, and why they read newspapers instead, is that the newspapers are brought to them and that books, even if found in the school Hbrary, are kept there and are not readily accessible. Many States have provided by legal enactment for the estabhsh- ment and maintenance of libraries in country schools. Lists have been made out by committees and officers to guide in the selection of. books. But for the most part these books must be kept on shelves or in bookcases within the classrooms and be used by the pupils at their desks while classes are being conducted. As a result the school library is not used effectively by the pupils unless the teacher has special aptitude for interesting them in the books at hand. Adults have difficulty in giving undivided attention to their reading when they are surrounded by much noise and confusion. School children have still less power to focus and hold their attention. Moreover, the ordinary classroom with its necessary discipHne does not furnish the incentive nor the atmosphere of a reading room. A Hbrary room can be made attractive at little expense. It can be kept neat and tidy, and will exert a tranquihzdng effect on the children who are accorded the privilege of using it. The mere experience of being in a room devoted to bool^ and reading will create a new sort of senti- ment for books and develop a love and respect for them. A district-school library should not be restricted to the use of the pupils in attendance. The books belong to the community, and all who can make worthy use of them should have access to them. Therefore, with a special library room available, children who have left school and all adults in the district should be invited to come at any time during school hours to read and to borrow books for home reading. This use of the books would be impossible if they were kept in the classroom, for the work of the regular recitations must go on and the teacher's time be left undisturbed. In brief, the country-school library should be the pubhc library for that commu- nity, and the school building should be designed with this in mind. The question of the size of this room would naturally arise here. How much space can be spared, or rather, how much can be provided for a library room ? There will not be a large collection of books in most of the rural schools for a long time to come, and, hence, from the point of view of providing room for books, only a small space will be needed. Shelves can be built in the waUs at little expense and THE COUNTRY SCH00LH0U6E. 55 without encroaching much on the space available, but a room large enough to provide for a reading table and a few chairs will be neces- sary. Furthermore, the library room should in many buildings, and perhaps in most one-teaclicr buildings, be used also as a teacher's room. For her accommodation a small wardrobe, a washstand, and a mirror would suffice. The school supplies also can be kept in this room. The library room will aflford the teacher opportunity to confer privately with patrons and school officers. Teachers will soon learn that when parents call to present a grievance it will appreciably lessen any possible friction to send them to this room where an atmosphere of quiet and dignity prevails and to allow a few minutes to elapse before conferring with them. The more beautiful and taste- ful this room can be made, the easier it will be to come to an amicable agi'eement. For these various reasons, in many of the floor plans presented for one-teacher buildings one room is planned to serve as a library and a teacher's room. A room 10 feet long and 8 feet wide will generally be large enough for both purposes, especially if the windows are correctly set and the shelves and wardrobe are built into the wall. This room should open only into the classroom, so as to give the teacher entire control of it and to make it possible to keep it warm from the classroom stove. If its location should afford an opportimity to build a small fireplace in it in connection with the chimney for the classroom stove, its usefulness and cheerfulness would be appreciably increased. The floor should be stained and waxed, and some taste- ful, inexpensive rugs be supplied. If this library room can be made a sort of spiritual and intellectual sanctuary for the community, its reflex influences will be seen and felt in many unexpected ways. A tasteful, cozy, and inviting hbrary room in some of our district schools would help mightily to develop a dissatisfaction with rusty stoves, broken window panes, dirty floors, a hodgepodge of chromos on the walls, ill-kept school grounds, and that general air of neglect so commonly seen about country schoolliouses. This reflex influence might reach beyond the school grounds. The possible use of the library room in connection with social activities in the community needs only to be mentioned. The room would be too small, of course, to attempt to entertain in it alone, but in connection with the workrooms and the classroom, it would prove a place for some social features that would aid in making the community life more enjoyable. If some such plans for a library room could be wrought out, and the books be selected and used with reference to the special needs of the 56 RUKAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. community, the people would soon be willing to increase the expendi- ture for books and would develop a commendable pride in their pubhc- school library. BASEMENTS. Until recent years very few rural schoolhouses have been con- structed with basement rooms, and these have been in the colder climates of the north, but with the use of basement rooms there has been a growing recognition of their value in rural schools. In the first place, a good basement furnishes the best location for a furnace for heating the building. The word ''furnace" is used here instead of ''jacketed stove;" the only difference between a jacketed stove and a furnace is that the jacket surroimding the furnace is open at the top only through ducts or pipes, which are devised to conduct the warm air to different parts of the building. In all essentials, a hot-air furnace is merely a modified jacketed stove. When a fiu-nace is used in a basement, it will be possible to heat directly, not only the classroom, but the workrooms, Hbrary, and cloakrooms. This will give a much more satisfactory and even heat to the various rooms than if dependence were placed upon a jacketed stove within the classroom itself. Furthermore, it will give an opportunity to ventilate all the rooms to good advantage. By placing the heating device in the basement, space will be saved in the classroom and a greater amount of space for fuel can be economically provided than would be easily possible on the first floor. In the second place it would obviate much dirt, dust, and confusion in the classroom. In spite of all one can do, even with the use of wood, a stove in the classroom is a source of a good deal of fitter in one form or another, and it always makes the room appear untidy and ill kept. Moreover, a building is less endangered by fire when a furnace is properly placed in the basement than it is with a stove located within the classroom. There is always some danger of fire dropping on the fioor, or of doors coming open out of school hours and thus endangering the building. A good basement with a cement floor and carefully protected joists above to prevent overheating from the furnace reduces the possibifity of danger from fire to a minimum. A furnace also generally has a better draft than a jacketed stove set in the room above because of the greater distance between the intake of the smoke flue and the exit at the top of the chimney. The fresh - air duct can be easily arranged from the outside through the basement to the furnace without in the least disturbing the general appearance or structure of the building. In another place more extended discus- sion will be made of the heating of schoolrooms. Basements are always advantageous for the location of toilets and baths. This matter will be taken up in another chapter; it THE COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSE. 5Y is sufficient here simply to state the fact in order to make clearer the value of basements under rural schoolhouses. It has boon said above that a basement offers opportunity for a larger fuel room than can bo accommodated on the main floor. Tliis is a very important matter. In cold chmates it is absolutely necessary to have some convenient and ample space for the storage of fuel for the winter, else the teacher or the pupils will be exposed to the weather in bringing in fuel and cleaning the stove of ashes. With a basement under a rural schooUiouse, ample room can be secured for the storage of sufficient fuel to last through the winter. This can be put in before the beginning of school and will be safe from rain and snow and will be in far better condition than if it were in some detached outbuilding. It is impracticable to attempt to build a fuel room sufficiently large on the main floor to accom- modate a year's supply of fuel. Doubtless the main objections which will be raised against the constiTiction of basements under rural schoolhouses are the expense of construction and the difficulty of keeping them in a sanitary condition. A basement should not be constructed in a school building located on flat, wet land, unless there are abundant opportunities for properly underdraining it, or, rather, surrounding it with drains so that it will not become damp or allow water to seep in diu-ing a rainy season. The best method of keeping basements diy is to surround them with tile drains, set at least a foot below the level of the basement floor. To suiTound the building with tiles is better than to attempt to run a drain beneath the floor. The tiles must be large enough to carry away all of the water flowing toward the basement, and the ditch must be so constructed that there will be ample flow into it from all dii'ections. Comparatively little local surface water sinks into the drain; the water comes up from below into the drain and is thus carried away, frequently after having traveled a long distance undergromid. This principle is not generally understood by those who have not had large experience with the use of drain tiles. The pressure of the water increases with the depth and naturally that lower down would be the first to escape, just as in artesian wells. If, therefore, a drain is placed all about a school building and below the level of the basement floor, there is no probabihty that any flow of underground water will reach the school building, for it will be carried off through the tiles thus placed. When a rural-school building is located on high, graveUy soil, with no drainage toward it from any direction, it will not be necessary to surround the building with a drain, for a good, strong cement floor and cement walls will prevent the entrance of any moisture 40742°— Bull. 12—14 5 58 BUBAL SCHOOLHOTJSES AND GROUNDS. that might otherwise come in. However, it is generally safer and frequently not expensive to surromid the building with a drain as indicated, and this makes assurance doubly sure. Under ordinary conditions eaves troughs and leaders should be provided to carry away the water from the roof of the bunding. If there are no eaves troughs, the water wiU. fall down all about the, building and saturate the ground, making it difficult to keep the basement walls dry. The water from the roof should be carried away a sufficient distance to prevent any of it from finding its way back to the basement. When a drain is placed well below the level of the basement floor, the roof water can be carried down through the leaders and through cemented sewer tiles into the drain. Care must be taken, however, to prevent the debris which gathers on the roof and in the gutters from clogging the leaders or the drain below. Generally, there should be some form of trap between the sewer tile and the end of the leaders to catch the coarser materials and thus prevent clogging. Eaves troughs, however, have their disadvantages, especially in cold climates. Frequently, when the roof is covered with snow and the atmosphere is below the freezing point at the eaves, the heat escaping from the school room wiQ cause the underside of the snow to melt. A part of this water will freeze in the troughs and leaders and in time they will be clogged with ice and rendered worse than useless. Some builders in the north have given up the eaves troughs and depend on a drain directly below the eaves to catch and carry away the water falling from the roof. They lay the drain a safe distance below the level of the walls, give it a good gradient, fill the space above it to within a few inches of the surface with coarse broken stone or boulders, put a thin coat of soil and sod over the broken stone, and thus let the water sink quickly to the tiles. When stone is near at hand, this method of drainage will cost less than the use of leaders and eaves troughs and has proved acceptable in many places. Besides the difficulty experienced with ice, eaves troughs are easily clogged with leaves and are frequently broken. Constant care should be exercised to keep them in proper condition. The space to be excavated for a basement will not necessarily be of the same size as the school building. If it seems necessary to economize, only such excavation need be made as wiU give sufficient space for the use of the basement as indicated. The height of the basement is a matter that can not be definitely settled once for all; each location wiU offer different conditions of drainage and surrounding topography. Jft some places it wiU be possible to excavate to a greater depth with safety than at others. Besides, the size and shape of the building v/iU have a good deal to THE COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSE. 59 do witli the amount of basement walls showing above the ground. Ordinarily tlic distance between the finished floor of the basement and the joists of the floor above is about 8 feet. If the depth of the finished floor is 4 foot lower than the surface of the ground around the building, it would bo necessary to raise the foundation wall 4 feet above the surfaoe of the ground, and unless the building is rather low and wido this would l(^ave tlio foundation wall too high and make it difficult for the exterior to maintain proper proportions. If the excavation is 5 feet below the surface of the ground, precaution wiU be necessary to prevent the entrance of ground water and to keep the basement from becoming damp and unhealthful. The contour of the ground and the nature of the soil, as well as opportunities for carrying water away from the building will have much to do with the depth of the basement. It is possible to make a basem Thanks are due the architects for the use of this revised floor plan and the photograph of the building. 40742°— Bull. 12—14 7 90 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. their desks, better light would be obtained, because less of it would be in the children's eyes. This plan could be improved somewhat by slight reconstruction, the result of which should be a building with a single workroom for all, one cloakroom, a teacher's room, a library, and a classroom. jLaro E3iid&ta^bu57 Fig. 13.— Floor plan of model one-room school, showing seat room. J. H. Felt & Co., Kansas City, Mo., architects. If a basement could be constructed under this building, it could be used for the furnace and such other conveniences as community con- ditions would warrant. Without a basement a jacketed stove could be set as indicated. A separate flue should be constructed in the workroom to furnish opportunity to use a small range for domestic PLANS FOR RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 91 science work. If it seemed best to separate the workroom into two parts, a partition could be erected between the door and the flue in the workroom. Fig. 14.— Floor plan of a typical old school building (see also p. 115). Figures 15 and 16 show a building that is not a one-room building, but a one-teacher building.^ It is really a five-room building. There ' Drawn by Hobart & Cheney, architects, San Francisco. 92 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. is a splendid workroom, beautifully lighted, with, provision for a smaU range for work in cookery. This workroom is 7 feet wide and approximately 21 feet long and will accommodate all the older boys and girls of the ordinary rural school. The uses to which this room can be put will be limited largely by the abUity and foresight of the fRONT ELEVATIOM J?iG. 15.— Front and side elevation, one-room school, Hobart & Cheney, Architects, San Francisco, CaL teacher in charge. Manual training in wood work, all sorts of draw ing work; model making for farm barns, farmhouses, and outbuild- ings; studying germination of seeds and growth of plants; cooking; designing; cutting; sewing; and all other kinds of work relating to home life and school life may be done in this workroom if the teacher has vision and power to outline and direct the work. PLANS FOR RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 93 The library room should have more light than is here shown. There should bo two windows instead of ono. These placed (as indicated for the one shown) 6 foot above the floor will permit bookcases beneath and give good light and sunshine. The two cloakrooms are well situated, and although some objec- tion might be raised to the fact that the teacher's blackboard has Fig. 16.— Floor plan of one-room school, Hobart & Cheney, Architects, San Francisco, Cal. been shortened by the doors into these rooms, it is still long enough, especially if it is made 4 feet wide, a3 it should bo. The windows of the classroom are grouped on the left. Two high windows in the rear (8 feet abore the floor) and those in workroom and library may be used to secure a breeze through the room in hot weather. The cloakrooms can be ventilated through their own windows . 94 RUKAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. If a basement were properly constructed under this building and running water, with the necessary sewage disposal, were available, sanitary toilets and baths could be installed; a furnace also could be used instead of the jacketed stove suggested in this plan. If a fur- nace is installed, inlets should be set to heat the classroom, the work- room, and the library, which should open from the inner walls about 8 feet above the floor, and the outlets should be near-by at the floor line. The furnace would enable the small room shown in the draw- ing as fuel room to be thrown into the workroom; or better still, the partition and chinmey could be moved farther to the front, and two workrooms, one for the boys and one for the girls, be made. By studying these drawings it will be seen that the plans contemplate a construction with cement plaster either of fireproof tile or of framed and galvanized steel lath and a tile roof. But the form of this build- ing lends itself to almost any kind of durable material. The building will accommodate 35 to 40 pupils without crowding. Should the hinged form of windows shown not be available in thelocal markets, the ordinary sliding sash can be used. The windows should be set 4 feet above the floor. When the upper parts of the windows are stationary, as here shown, ventilation is not so easily effected; when arranged as transoms, they are out of reach and generally use- less. The hinged form of windows here called for will make it pos- sible to turn this classroom into an open-air room by merely swinging all of the windows out. In larger buildings, where forced ventilation is used, the horizontal division of windows is less objectionable. This plan can be easily adapted so as to make a splendid one-teacher rural school. Plates 21, 22, 23 are reproductions of photographs of the Cross- roads School in Macon County, III. The bureau is under obhgation to State Supt. Francis G. Blair and the State printer of Illinois for the use of the photographs from which these cuts were made. The building was designed by Mr. V. C. Zimmerman, of Chicago. It represents an unusually good type of country school and is worthy of careful study by school officers who can afford to construct a building of this size and equip it as indicated. Some features of this school deserve especial attention. In the first place, from plate 21 and other views one can see that the windows are closely grouped and occupy almost the entire east side of the building. By reference to plate 23B it wiU be seen that the windows do not extend to the ceifing by about 2 feet. If the front one of these seven windows had been eliminated and the rest of the windows had been set higher from the floor, say 4 feet, and had extended within at least 1 foot of the ceifing, better fighting conditions would have prevailed, for the fight then would have carried across the room better and have been better adjusted to PLANS FOR RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 95 the eyes of the pupils when seated at their desks If the windows had been set as thus suggested, ample glass surface would have been afforded, yet the distiiibance due to the hght fi'om the front window shining directly into the eyes of some of the children as they attend to the teacher would have been largely ehminatcd. On the whole the lighting of tliis building is unusually good, but it would have been more satisfactory if the wiridows had been arranged as sug- gested. The naiTow mulHons between the windows arc very com- mendable and the whole appearance of the elevation is pleasing. Plato 22B, representing the interior, shows a good an'angement of the desks with one row close to the windows. This gives ample aisle space and serves to introduce without appreciable crowding six rows of desks. But if the lower part of the windows had been placed higher above the floor, there would have been less exposure to the cold on the part of the children who sit on the benches close to the windows. Plate 23B shows small rear windows which can be used for ven- tilation in hot weather. They can be easily covered with a shade duj-iiig the cold wdnter months when there will be no need for open- ing them. It is rather unfortunate that no blackboard appears on the side opposite the windows and that the blackboards are placed only in the rear and in the fi-ont. There are two spaces on the west side wall that could have been used very satisfactorily for board work by the pupils and that would have made it easier for all to see. However, these are minor points of no great significance. It is evident the blackboards are made of slate and well set. It may be suggested that the teacher's desk should be placed on the west side of the room instead of on the east, as indicated in figure 17. This would prevent those children sitting in the northwest part of the room from having to look toward the windows when attending to the teacher while seated at her desk. It will be observed that transoms are placed above all the doors. Elsewhere it has been said that transoms in schoolhouses of this type, and for that matter in practically aU types, are a delusion and a snare. They are rarely used, nearly always dirty, and generally out of order. In one of these photographs, however, it appears that two of the transoms are open, and the teacher in this school may be able to use them to some advantage. The warm-air registers in the j3.oor warm the pupils' feet and dry their clothes, but they also introduce a great deal of dirt and dust which falls into them, and after drying rises in the room to settle on fm-niture and on aU ledges. It would have been better if these registers had been placed in the wall 8 feet above the floor, and if some special provision had been made in a convenient and out of 96 RUKAL SOHOOLHOUSBS AND GEOUNDS. the way place in the room for a fixed bench with a register opening in front for the purpose of wanning the children's feet and drying their clothes. The architect has introduced the usual tower. The building, however, would have been niore beautiful if this tower had been left off, the roof would have been more secure from rain, and con- siderable expense would have been saved. Evidently this tower was buUt chiefly to accommodate the flagpole. It is better in aU places where there is sufficient room, as there is at this building, to put a flagpole in the gTound, and thereby make the flag much more Fig. 17— Floor plan, Crossroads School, Macon Co., 111. visible. The children can then practice flag drills and salute the flag with much gTeater intimacy than they can when it is far out of reach and more or less out of sight on the top of the buildiiig. The basement and floor plans reproduced are worthy of study in connection with the photographs. The whole space under the building has been excavated and frirnishes a frirnace room, a coal room, a stairway to the basement, and a large well-lighted room for play and work. It is to be regTetted that somewhere in this splendid building provision was not made for Ulterior flush toilets and bathing facUities. The use of the basement for playroom and workshop is a splendid idea, but in the climate of lUinois outside PLANS FOR RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 97 toilets often necessitate the exposure of the children to inclement and cold weather in winter. The building deserves a septic-tank disposal and a pressure-tank water supply, which would have made possible flush toilets, drinking fountains, and shower baths. In the plan of the basement area spaces are introduced about the windows so as to allow larger windows, and thereby get more light into the basement rooms. The floor plan of the building shows a cloakroom for the boys and one for the girls, a library, and a vestibule. Evidently when the building was constructed two more windows were added to the Fig. 18.— Basement plan, Crossroads School, Macon Co., 111. east side of the classroom than are shown in the floor plans. It is more than probable that if the five windows shown in the floor plan had been made higher and moved slightly to the rear better lighting would have resulted than now obtains. The various suggestions herein made must be understood as suggestions, not as criticisms, for this building is unusually attractive and carefully planned, and is to be commended to all who are inter- ested in the consti-uction of a high type of country-school building. Plate 24 represents an attractive one-teacher rural schoolhouse in district No. 9, Canandaigua, Ontario County, N. Y,, and also 98 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. the abandoned building whicb this new building displaced.* The floor plan, as will be seen (fig. 19), shows the classroom 24 feet long and 21 feet wide, large enough to accommodate about 25 or 30 pupils of such ages as attend country schools. The orientation of the building is such as to secure effective light- ing from the four windows facing the east. Two full-length windows are placed in the rear on the north. These woidd be valuable in hot weather, but for the purpose of lighting they are more trouble- some than helpful. They must introduce some trying shadows to workers in the rear of the room, and will certainly make it very hard DooitS SCHOOL ROOM 21 X 24 ,5CHOOL BUtLDl/JG FOR, D15T./S0 9 CA/^AAlDAlGUA.yNY. OTTO BLOCK, AR-Cl-llTeCT R.OCHeiTE-R- - /N Y Fig. 19.— Floor plan of No. 9, Canandaigua, N. Y. OQ the eyes of the teacher, who must face them whenever she is ia the front of the room. It would have been better if these windows had been only half length, with the bottoms 8 feet above the floor. The children then would have been more carefully shielded in winter from the cold winds entering about the sash; the troublesome shad- ows would have been largely eliminated; opportunity for a breeze would still be afforded; and most certainly the teacher would have been relieved. In addition, blackboards could have been set on this wall under such windows, if additional blackboards should ever be needed. 1 Used by courtesy of Miss Alice G. McCloskey, editor of the Cornell Eural School Leaflet (see vol. 6, No. 1, p. 175, September, 1912). PLANS P^OR RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 9& The height of the lower sash above the floor and the proximity of the tops of the windows to the ceiling arc not apparent, but the grouping of the lateral windows is good, and this small room can be well light(>d from the four windows, if the shades are handled intelli- gently. The interior decoration of the room is tasteful, and the placing of the blackboards excellent. The color scheme used is as follows : The ceilitig and the [side walls as far down as the picture molding are cream color; the main part of the room is pale green; the library is terra cotta; the fireplace in the library is red pressed brick. Tlie library, with the sliding doors, fireplace, and furniture, is especially attractive and is, no doubt, the most alluring place in the building to the older pupils and the patrons of the school. The rather unique lobby, the stairways to the basement, and the simple attractive porch are all commendable. In the drawing the hot-air register is apparently shown opening through the floor. In practice this might become decidedly objec- tionable. The dirt and dust from the floor would certainly enter such a register and be scattered through the room by the upward movement of the currents of warm air. The proper place for this register is in the central part of the wall between the library and the classroom. This position would not only prevent a great loss of heat through the use of a long duct in the basement (it is assumed that the one chimney serves both the fireplace and the heater), but would prevent the warmed fresh air from short-circuiting over the heads of the children and going du-ectly out at the exit and the fireplace* This would certainly happen if the register is located as shown in the floor plan. One excellent feature of this building is its simplicity. There are no towei-s or excrescences of any sort. A country carpenter can build it at a minimum expense for lumber and millwork. The tasteful treatment of the garden is especially to be commended. There is a hedge of Lombardy poplars forming both a pleasing backgi'ound and a windbreak on the west. In addition to these, there are 9 elms, 1 white pine, 8 Norway maples, 1 Norway spruce, 3 hemlocte, 1 English wahmt, 24 dogwoods, 1 shrub of white honey- suckle, 24 shrubs of spirea, 24 Dorothy Perkijis rosebushes, and 24 shrubs of barberry. These names are cited to show what can be done to beautify and instruct in nature work on a school lot of 1 acre. Tlie spirit that made the Canandaigua school possible is indicated in the following statement by Mr. Booth, the district superintendent: My reason for the worl? in district No. 9, Canandaigua, was that the schoolhouse and its gi-ounds were the most neglected places in the neighborhood. A beautiful lake-shore drive passing homes with all modern improvements, which were a jjleasure to look on, presented in marked contrast the place in which boys and girls, the best assets from these homes, were receiving their education. The schoolhouse was built 100 RURAL SOHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS, in 1819, the deed calling for no more ground than that on which the building was to stand. The outhouses were on land that belonged to the public highway. At the time I took up the work, many of the school patrons felt that the wisest plan was to close the school and send the pupils to town. I do not believe in this method when it is possible to avoid it. I believe that children are better cared for near their homes than when they go to and from school in a carryall, with an indiffer- ent driver and no supervision; remaining in town all day, where, in order to maintain order and a fair citizenship, we must have churches, Y. M. C. A.'s, and a police force. Very often the reason for closing the rural school and sending children to town is because it is cheaper and the patrons are not willing to assume the duties of the school and dignify those duties by their interest and cooperation. In our district to-day I am happy to say that we are hearing little of the closing of rural schools. One of the first thing's I did was to ask Mr. F. G. Benham, who owned the farm of which the school lot was a part, to give us an acre of land. This was at once granted on condition that I could carry out the plan of improvement. I then appealed to the citizens of the village who enjoy the lake drive for help in the enterprise, and re- ceived $300. A meeting of the taxpayers was next called, at which a resolution ac- cepting the money and land was passed and a levy of $2,000 made. Then, with the united efforts of school commission and people, we accomplished the election of a trus- tee in sympathy with the work we were trying to perform. With the gift of land and money, and $2,000 of the district money, we went to work. We had an engineer of good standing to lay out the grounds, and I think this was a most important step. We next engaged a good architect, who said at once that our plans could not be carried out with the amount of money we had. I told him that I was raised on a farm and never lifted a stone when I could roll one, and I believed we could do it. I proceeded, however, to get more interest and help. The workmen entered into the spirit of the thing, working hard and overtime and deducting a goodly amount from their bills. By the end of the year all was finished and paid for. But this is not all. Later there was donated to the school a swing, which is a be- ginning in the interest of recreation apparatus for the boys and girls. We then re- membered that we had a friend in the gas and oil business. I asked him if he would like to have the honor of presenting us with a steel fiagpole. As a demonstration of his response, we now have a flag flying from a 40-foot steel pole set in concrete. There are many persons who like to do things if they have definite understanding of the need and value of their contributions. We are now planning for an endowment fund, the interest of which will be used for the care and improvement of the school grounds, the district to look out for the building. The raising of an endowment fund is valuable for the community. It means looking ahead, a consideration of the futine. The following reproductions of photographs of the Silas Willard School, of Galesburg, 111., are worthy of study by those who are considering consohdation and are seeking the best type of consoli- dated rural or village school. Some of the features in this school deserve special attention. In the first place, the classrooms are provided with skyhghting as well as with supplemental side hghting. By reference to plate 34, and their effect this type of hghting will be clearly seen. The question whether skyhghts such as these are necessary or even helpful in this type of school building can not be answered without making certain reservations. There are conditions, in smoky cities PLANS FOR KUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 101 and in localities with much dark, cloudy weather, where skjHghts are helpful, particularly in one-story buildings. Generally speaking, however, if buildings are properly orientated and if the requisite amount of glass surface is correctly set in the walls, unilateral lighting is to bo preferred for classrooms not over 24 feet wide to any com- bination of sky and lateral Ugh ting. There can bo no doubt, however, that the windows shown in the rear of these classrooms could either have been left out to advantage or have been made half length and set at least 8 feet above the floor. They certainly are not needed for light, and if on warm days a breeze Fjg. 20.— Main floor plan, Silas Willard Scliool. is desirable the small high windows would serve this purpose witliout exposing the teacher to the glare of these low windows. These beautiful classrooms could be well hghted by setting in the walls to the left of the pupils one-fifth as much glass surface as there is floor space, provided the windows were set 4 feet above the floor and were extended to at least 6 inches from the ceiHng, thus throwing the Ught weU across the room. Close examination of the interior views will show that skylighting does not give as good illumination on the blackboard as on the desks and the floor. Tliis is not a serious objection for classrooms designed for the upper grades, but it needs to be pointed out. It should be said that the light introduced by these skyhghts is diffused north Hght and is very soft. 102 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. Another special feature of this excellent building is the well-Ughted and commodious basement, designed to be used for assembly and for general community gatherings. It has a stage and an excellent floor for dancing, drills, gymnastic work, etc. A basement is not the best place for an assembly room, but often it is necessary, through ack of funds, to attempt to meet the demands for an assembly room in the next best way. This basement room, as will be observed, is not more than 3i feet below the level of the ground; and as the building is situated on ground higher than the surrounding territory the room can be so underdrained as to render it dry and wholesome. The basement walls can be built of concrete and either finished to a Fig. 21.— Basement plan, Silas Willard School. smooth surface or faced with Hght glazed brick or tile. This would improve the illumination and make the room more sanitary. The arrangement and treatment of the hall deserve a few words of explanation. By reference to Plate 35A it will be seen that all of the rooms open off this one central hall. The skyhght gives the hall beautiful illumination without the use of any auxiUary outside windows. The only objection to this arrangement is that the toilets are rather too conspicuous. This objection could be readily obviated in future buildings of this type. Workrooms and baths are supplied, and a central hot-air and fan system furnishes heat and ventilation. The transoms over the PLANS FOR RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 103 doors and the glass in the doors could have been left out to advantage and with economy. Taken all in all, the building is excellent and beautifully simple in construction. It has been introduced for the consideration of those, as mentioned above, who arc charged with the construction of small country high schools, consolidated country schools, or village ele- mentary schools. The interesting school building represented by the accompanying reproductions of photographs and floor plans ^ is in use at Cocoanut Grove, Fla. It is representative of a new type for the South and is worthy the study of aU school people who are charged with building n "1 " ■ SAW TOOTH 5KY UIGHX ::i[iEi: ,11 Nil Fig. 22.— Attic and roof plan, Silas Willard School. village schools, country high schools, or consolidated country schools. It is especially adapted to conditions where the population is increas- ing and where additions are anticipated, for additions can be added at a minimum of expense and with practically no disturbance to the original building. This is a desideratum of no small moment. For example, the country consoHdated schools and the country high schools are stiU somewhat in the experimental stage, especially with reference to the number of pupils they will ultimately accommodate. This form of building permits additions to meet the needs and without doing any violence to the architectural ideal set forth in the first units. It thus warrants the use of permanent materials, such as concrete or stone, and, hence, in the long run will prove economical. > Plate 12; figure 23. 104 RUEAL SOHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. The one-story court and pergola form of structure eliminates the need for stairways and halls and reduces congestion and noise to a minimum. In warm cUmates where httle or no artificial heat is Fig. 23. — Floor plan, school at Cocoanut Grove, Fla. needed, space and expense are saved by the eUmination of basements for heating apparatus. If, however, heat is needed, it can be fur- nished by a central detached plant for the use of low-pressure steam PLANS FOR RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 105 or, if tlio climate is suflicioutly niild in winter, fireplaces could be installed at small expense. When the windows and the system of heating are correctly arranged yn.th. due regard to the demands of ventilation, fresh air can be introduced by proper manipulation of the windows, and thus mudi annoyance and expense may be saved. This brings up the matter of the location of the -svindows in this building, both as shown in the floor plans and in the photographs. It would have been very much better if the hght had been admitted from one side only. If double the number of wuidows had been placed in one side, and breeze windows —that is, short windows set 8 feet above the floor — had been set on the other side of the classroom, the hghting would have been far more satisfactory and the ventilation more evenly distributed Unilateral Ughting of classrooms is the only justifiable method (see chap. 6). The height above the floor of the lower part of the windows is 3^ feet. For the advanced classes 4 feet would have been better. The lower part of the windows should alwavs be above the level of the eyes of the children when seated at their desks. If the windows had been grouped on one side of the classrooms, as suggested, and even the same form of sash used as is shown, the class- rooms of this building could be almost instantly turned into prac- tically open-air rooms. If the sashes were made in one piece and either hinged at the top and opening in, so that they might be drawn up to the coihng, leaving the window space entirely open, or possibly pivoted in the center, another advantage would have been gained. In fact some cf the windows in this builcUng are pivoted.* On account of the immediate demand for a small assembly room, the classroom opposite has been made too wide for economical con- struction and classroom work. In low structures of this type the classrooms should never be over 24 feet wide, and preferably 22 feet if the number of pupils in each classroom does not exceed 30 or 35. Those who build after this model would do better to sacrifice the width of the temporary assembly room to the classroom than to expand the classroom for the sake of the temporary assembly room. Tlie two smaller classrooms in front are approximately correct in size and proportion. The cloaki'ooms should receive their ventilation and lightmg immediately from the outside instead of from the classroom. This change could be easily made by sunply extending the partition to the outer wall and opening a window. Doors to the cloakrooms could then be set in the most convenient places. Aside from the foregoing suggestions, only praise and commenda- tion are to be given to this building for its beauty and adaptability I According to Mr. H. H. Bundy, the architect, to whom thanks are due for the photographs and draw- ings here reproduced. 40742°— Bull. 12—14 8 106 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. to country-scliool conditions. It suggests the open air, will blend well with almost any setting, is economical of material, easy of access, and wholly inviting. The courts and pergolas unify as well as beautify, and the spirit of it all is quiet, unassuming, and restful. A final word of suggestion may not be amiss. It has to do with the ''future" assembly room. Here is a splendid opportunity for an open-air theater. In Florida there are comparatively few days even in winter when, instead of using an inclosed room for assembly pur- poses, an open-air theater might not be used, especially for short periods of morning exercises and for general midday gatherings. Let us suppose, therefore, a moderate excavation made back of the court, a series of concrete amphitheater seats and a liberal stage Fig. 24.— Plan of one-teacher rui'al scliool, designed by J. L. Sibley. erected, and all protected from the wind by properly placed walls and from the rain by a roof designed to harmonize with the whole scheme. Such an assembly room would be far more useful and attractive than an inclosed buildmg, however well it might be con- structed. Of course this open-air assembly room would have to be adapted to meet local weather conditions. In the section of Florida where this school is located the heavy beating rains of the autumn season would make it difficult to keep the water out of the slight excavation that would be necessary. This might be over- come by drainage in most places or, where it is possible, by taking advantage of a natural slope without excavation. Many parts of the South and West would not have to make such decided efforts to guard against beating rainstorms as would the east coast of Florida. PLANS FOR RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 107 Tho one-teacher rural school described in the following specifica- tions and illustrated by figures 5, 8, and 24, is from plans drawn by- Mr. J. L. Sibley, one of the rural-school supervisors of Alabama. It is designed to accommodate 40 to 45 pupils, and, as will be seen, has a workroom, a tool room, two cloakrooms, and a library in addition to the classroom. The dimensions of each room are shown on the floor plan. The height of the ceiling is to be 12 feet between ceiling joists and floor joists, making the distance between finished floor and finished ceiling approximately 11 feet 8 inches. Other dimensions will appear in the specifications. Specifications for One-Teacher Rural School. The building is to be 18 inches above ground. The corner pillars to be 8 by 32 inches; other pillars to be 8 by IG inches. Sills to be 4 by 8 inches. One sill to pass through center of the building and be supported by 8 by 16 inch pillar. Joists to be 2 by 10 inches, set 20 inches 0. 0. Studs to be 2 by 4 inches, set 24 inches O. C. Ceiling joists to be 2 by 6 inches, set 24 inches 0. C. Ceiling joists over teacher's library, vestibulo, cloakrooms, and tool room to be 2 by 4 inches, set 24 inches 0. C. Rafters to be 2 by 4 inches, set 24 inches O. C, and well braced by a tie across from rafter to rafter— this tie to be placed about half way of each rafter. Building to be 12 feet between ceiling joists and floor joists. Blackboards to be 4 feet wide, 30 inches from the floor, and to run around three sides of the room where there 9.re no openings. If no weights are to be used on windows, the window frames are to be made so that the to}) sash can be let down 12 inches from the top by means of a hinged strip, which forms a part of the blind stop, and is the width and thickness of sash. The following bill of lumber and other material is required: Lumber: 9 pieces, 4 by 8 inches by 18 feet — Sills. 4 pieces, 4 by 8 inches by 16 feet — Sills. C2 pieces, 2 by 10 inches by 16 feet — Floor joists. 26 pieces, 2 by 6 inches by 24 feet — Ceiling joists set 24 inches O. C. 13 pieces, 2 by 4 inches by 14 feet — Ceiling joists set 24 inches O. C. 24 pieces, 2 by 4 inches by 20 feet — Rafters. 8 pieces, 2 by 4 inches by 20 feet — Cripples. 8 pieces, 2 by 4 inches by 16 feet — Cripples. 12 pieces, 2 by 4 inches by 14 feet — Cripples. 8 pieces, 2 by 4 inches by 12 feet — Cripples. 10 pieces, 2 by 4 inches by 10 feet — Cripples. 8 pieces 2 by 4 inches by 14 feet — Hipps — spliced. 33 pieces 1 by 6 inches by 20 feet — Ridge saddle and roof braces. 30 pieces 2 by 4 inches by 16 feet — Plates. 100 pieces 2 by 4 inches by 12 feet — Studding. 41 pieces 4 by 4 inches by 12 feet — Studding posts. 18 M No. 2 shingles. 1,200 square feet sheathing. 2,000 square feet No. 2 flooring. 2,850 square feet weatherboarding, f by 6 inches. 6,850 square feet ceiling required (approximately); for each room divide as fol- lows: Classroom, 2,685 square feet; workroom, 1,485 square feet; vestibule and teacher's library, 1,415 square feet; cloaki-ooms and tool room, 1,100 square feet. 108 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. Lumber — Continued. 3 pieces 1} by 12 inches by 10 feet — ^Treads. 3 pieces 1 by 7 inches by 10 feet — 'Risers. 1 piece 2 by 12 inches by 14 feet — Stringers. Windows: 18 windows 10 by IS inches — 12 lights and frame complete. 2 single sash 10 by 18 inches — 12 lights and frame complete. Fig. 25. — Floor plan for one-teacher rural school of m inim um cost. Doors: 1 door 3 by 7 feet by IJ inches — No. 2 and frame complete. 4 doors 2 feet 8 inches by 6 feet 8 inches by 1^ inches — No. 2 and frame complete. 1 double door 5 by 7 feet by 1| inches — No. 2 and frame complete. 900 feet of quarter round. Two 6-inch T. C. thimbles. Bricks and lime: 1,100 for chimney; 540 for pillars; 1,200 underpinning; 4 barrels lime. PLANS FOR RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 109 Naila: Onekeg20d.; l^kegsSd.; 2keg8 6d.; CO pounds shingle; 20 pounds finishing. Locks: 6 rim locks; 1 front-door lock. Hinges: 7 pairs hinges, 3^ ])y 3\ inches, loose pin; 3 pairs hinges, for single sash. Transom lifts: 3 transom lifts — 1 for each single sash. Paint for house — outside and inside door frames: 100 pounds white lead, 10 gallons linseed oil, 2 pounds lampblack. Classroom: Walls, 4 packages kalsomino— light buff; ceiling, 2 packages kalsomine — cream. Window/- 8 atova. ^^ ~%lrZ^\ ^ ^-'^°-' ^''^^^^A \g ' . Class'^oom 30'kZZ' ri y H W M M- ^ T+n. I -4 -(»- - -f- Class^oo/A 4iw 30 xZS Fig. 26.— Two-teacher rural school; connected by pergola. Workroom: Walls, 1 J packages kalsomine — light buff; ceiling, 1 package kalsomine — cream. Teache^' library, cloakroom, and vestibule: Walls, 3 packages kalsomine — light buff; ceiling, 1 package kalsomine — cream. Figure 25 represents a drawing for a floor plan of a one-teacher rural school reduced almost to the limit of inexpensiveness. It con- tains a classroom, a fuel room, a workroom, a library and office room, and a cloakroom. The representation for this building should include an uncovered porch and a low, flat roof, with wide eaves. CJno.x<^ava+«.d (■S' X.11' . "Boy^'Woi-k ■ - ■R-oom TLA'x 11' T ^ii'^'^T Fig. 27. — Basement plan of two-teacher rural school. « This plan in the hands of an artistic architect would suggest an attractive building and satisfy a community yet unable to supply more than its actual needs. Figures 26 and 27 represent drawings for floor plan and basement of i\, two-teacher rural school. As will be seen, these are separate build- ings, connected by pergolas or a court. These pergolas can be con- structed of rough timber and covered with vines. The court can be 110 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUISTDS. used as a flower garden or grass plat, as seems most suitable. In the center of the cross pergola a drinking fountain is suggested, with a wall about 5 feet high between it and the platform for the open-air assembly room. This arrangement would give privacy to the open-air ta^t 1 n.+«.r me^ia+'a.' ^ W W W iH—^—ph-p t ■'rirrtary 3o')t ZZ' Unco v«r« d Varch. ^ n^ — T ^ (1 -" ^'' H 1 = Fig. 28.— Floor plan, tkree-teaclier consolidated rural school with open-air assembly and class room. assembly room and would fin-nish a background for a small stage under the pergola. The posts for these pergolas should be at least 8 feet above the ground and may be set at such distance as the Fig. 29.— Basement plan of three-teacher building shown in Fig. 28. builder sees fit. The side pergola should be about 6 feet wide and the cross pergola about 10 feet. The basement is designed to supply a workroom for the boys and one for the girls, with toilets and separate heater in each. The unexcavated area is indicated. These basement rooms should be PLANS FOR BURAL SCHOOLHOUSES. HI well drained and well lighted. The entrance to these toilet rooms should be through the workrooms, thus insuring privacy and pre- venting additional expense in the way of steps. The entrances to the furnace and fuel rooms are indicated in the drawing. It would bo economical and satisfactory in this building to use a low roof with comparatively wide eaves. No towers or belfries are permissible. Figures 28 and 29 are floor plans and basement plans designed for a three-teacher consolidated rural school with a suggestion for an Fig. 30. — Two-teacher niral school. open-air assembly and classroom. In addition to the cloakrooms opening off each classroom, the floor plan shows a library and a girls' worla'oom. The basement plan represents a fuel and furnace room and an unexcavated area, boys' toilet and worlo-ooms, and girls' toilet and playroom. The ducts for heating the rooms can be car- ried under the floor of the central room, or, if a steam or hot-water system is used, pipes can be managed in the same way, thus giving opportunity for a central heating plant for all the rooms. The flue can be made double, to serve both for the furnace and for a range in the girls' worla'oom. The steps to the basement rooms are indi- cated on the front of the building and, except in cold chmates, need 112 RUEAi. SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. not be covered if proper drainage is insured. The door to the fuel and furnace room is indicated on the south side. It may be placed at any other point if more convenient. The front porch is to be left open, and the floor should be made of cement, so that it can be cleaned most easily. If the ground upon which the building is set slopes west, it will be comparatively easy to carry out the suggestions for the open-air assembly room. Naturally the topography of the school lot will determine the best position for the open-air theater. This school- house should be constructed with a comparatively fiat roof and BASEMENT PLAN east side Fig. 31.— Basement plan, model rural school, Kirksville, Mo. rather wide eaves, and mth a little skiU on the part of the architect could be made a very beautiful and inexpensive building. Figure 30 represents the floor plan for a two-teacher rural school building. This plan is designed with two workrooms, a*library, separate cloakrooms for the boys and girls of each room, two fuU- sized classrooms, and two porches. These porches should have cement floors dropped 2 or 3 inches below the entrance to the classrooms. The arrangement of the rooms with reference to each other can be easily made out from the floor plans. The basement has outer entrances which may be covered with roofs joining to the main structure. The toilets and the bath- PLANS FOR RTTRAL SCHOOLHOUSES. 113 rooms are ample and can be well lighted by using nontransparent, but roughened, translucent glass. This will make them private and at the same time give an abundance of light, especially if area ways are excavated. The furnace and fuel room can be lighted in the same way, or transparent glass can l^e used in this room. The en- trance to the furnace and fuel room is made through the boys' toilet and bath, and in this way expense can be reduced and satisfactory results obtained. As planned, only a part of the area beneath the building is to bo excavated. The wall, however, separating the area beneath the workrooms and the library should be solid and without communication to the area beneath the classrooms. The ceilings could be so treated as to prevent the escape of any possible Fig. 32. — First floor plan, model rural school, Kirksville, Mo. odors from the basement rooms to the rooms above. The toilets and the bathrooms should have cement floors, and a tile drain should surround the building, to prevent any possible seepage into these rooms. Naturally if running water is not furnished either by pressure tank or some other water supply, toilets and baths could not be introduced, and the rooms for them could then be used as worlvTooms. If a hot-air furnace is used, the register should be brought up on the inner walls to a point about 8 feet above the floor, and the exits should be at the floor on the same side in order to secure a good 114 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. circulation of air. The library and the cloakrooms can be heated and ventilated in the same way. If hot water or steam is used, it would be well to put the radiators on the window side of the class- room in order to insure the best circulation in cold weather and to prevent draughts. The use of window boards with steam or hot- water heating will make it possible to get more ventilation and to insure fairly equable heat throughout the rooms. The radiators in the library and the other rooms can be located to suit conditions. skyI; lioht 48 ■■ !:X20- SHY MLICHt m GASOLINE ,^^AS STOVE SAKfTABV DRINKING*— FOUNTAIN c. ^WASH BOWl WRRENCJ- _f a X20- SKV LtOHT Fig. 33.~Attic plan, model rui'al sctiool, Kirksville, Mo. No breeze windows have been introduced into the ends of the class- room, because the door to the library can be left open in warm weather, thus securing a breeze through the library as well as through the doors opening to the porches. Figures 31, 32, and 33 show the basement, first floor, and attic plans of the model rural school at the Kirksville State Normal School, Kirksville, Mo. Plate 20B shows the machinery located in the basement, by which city conveniences are made possible in a rural school. Chapter VIII. REMODELING COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSES. If tho reader will i)icture to himself an old building with two or three small windows on each side, a door in the gable end, a high- pitched roof, sm^monnted by some make-believe beKry or tower, and a small chhnney emerging at the comb of the roof near the center of the building, he will have before him the exterior outline of tlie pre- vailing type of a rural schoolhouse. These buildings are usually of wood and rest on brick pillars, with more or less open space between the floor and the groimd, so that the wind sweeps through without hindrance. The building is generally unpainted, or, perhaps, was once pamted. Many of the boards on the side are disconnected, showing the ribs of the structure underneath. Within the building we shall probably find a box stove in the center, rusty and dirty, possibly hoisted on halves of bricks, or, if a little more caution has been exercised, standing in a box filled with sand, into which the legs of the stove extend. A rusty pipe runs straight up through the ceiling into the central flue. Double benches, ranged on either side of the stove, face toward the back of the room, where a teacher's desk surmounts a useless and troublesome platform. The floors are single, made of rough boards, and the cracks are more or less stopped up with dirt. There is no cloakroom in the rear; hats and wraps are piled up on old benches or hung on naUs driven into the wall. Somewhere in this part of the room a dirty water bucket, with its accompanymg long-handled, rusty dipper, contains the visible supply of drinking water. It is needless to describe the walls, the appearance of the windows, the kind of blackboards, the condition of the desks. Those who know country schools can fill out this picture in its minutest detail. Suppose this buildiiig is in a fan* state of repair; that is, too good to give up and too bad to teach school in. Wliat can be done to make it more beautiful and more insphing as a place for teacher and pupils ? Tills is a practical question, and should be dealt with in a practical manner. Figure 14 represents the floor plan of an actual building, such as described. Suppose we make a study of this plan and see what could be done in the way of reconstructing or remodehng the building. The fii-st thing to do would be to double the number 115 116 EUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. of windows on the left side as you enter the door, and, if need be, enlarge them until the floor space to be used as a classroom shall not Fig. 34.— Reconstructed floor plan for an old building (based on fig. 14, p. 91) . be greater than five times the area of all the glass in the windows. This is a practical preliminary step to assure economical proportions of hght and space, with due regard to hygienic requirements. In all probability this floor plan, which is 36 feet long and 24 feet wide, represents one-third more space than would be needed for a class- REMODELING COUNTRY SCHOOLHOUSES. 117 room, if the seats were properly arranged, tlio stovo hotter placed, and the lighting well adjusted. In the second place, it will be necessary to study the school popula- tion of the district to discover how many children of school age really reside in that district and how many are likely to attend school. Sup- pose the average attendanc^e for the last three or four years has not been greater than 25, which number represents the attendance in a large majority of the district schools. For this number of pupils the room is needlessly large; hence we ought to reduce it, not by samng the buildmg in two, but by erecting a partition and utilizing the rest of the floor space for other purposes. If, on the basis of 25 pupils, each pupil is allowed 20 square feet of floor surface — a liberal esti- mate — then 500 square feet would represent the floor surface of the schoohoom needed for class purposes. The room is 24 feet in width; hence a length of 22 feet would yield 500 square feet and some space to spare. Suppose for good measure and for possible increase in the number of pupils during the winter time tlie room be made 24 feet square. These dimensions would give enough floor space for approxi- mately 29 pupils, and would still leave a space 12 feet wide and 24 feet long at the rear of the room wliich, if partitioned off, would make the classroom much more attractive and usable as a schooboom. The partition would cut off the door, and an entrance would have to be made elsewhere. Probably the best place for it is that shown in in figure 35, for the small porch needed will be mexpensive and the door will be convenient both to and from the classroom. The remain- ing long window on this side of the classroom could be removed to the other side, and two or three small windows for ventilation could be set 8 feet above the floor. Three ventilators, probably two, would be ample in most climates. In order to get sufficient hght, two more ■^-indov/s should be added and set, as indicated, in the left wall. The space occupied by the old door can be readily adapted for an extra window. Out of the space thus cut off' a cloakroom 8 by 12 feet should be made, as shown, and also a small fuel room. The doors should be set as indicated. There still remains a good-sized room to be utilized as a library or as a general workroom. If it be deemed better to use this space for a library, then the fol- lowing suggestions may be worth while: The first need is a teacher mth some vision and enthusiasm to build up in the district school a school and community library ; then some cooperation from the county superintendent or the coimty board of education, some help from the State superintendent's office, some help from the women's library associations or clubs, a little aid from all in the community willing to lend a book, give a book, or donate sufficient money to buy a book; and the library work begins. A teacher who would undertake this work 118 EUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. would doubtless have some taste. She would want to make this room the most beautiful in the buHding and would devise ways and means for cleam'ng and preparing the floor and for obtaining a few tasteful rugS; some inexpensive but beautiful pictures, a reading table, and Bome chairs. As a result, instead of the disagreeable and desolate appearance of the old schoolroom, there would be an attraction — a CUASS'^OO/A • C'aima«.y Libra ry and Qirl/'WorkT^oom Cloalc 'R.oom s'x \z' t f s

iLi 7i.ac/iZKr •'■^ _, '■pi? Wa/fani^ _ 'jT^icf'f 'Prc^/^urc ranj( « a rj o o o g_ £> o o o o £:Ape.rjme.nhl s:j n a Zi i:) o o a a a o */ /T-^t^ £xper/menfa/ Farm £.Acrey Cou/fnzY SCffooL /?iE/n Fig. 36.— Country school grounds, showing iarm oi 5 acres, of it. It is as much of an experiment and often far more useful to make an attempt to grow 100 bushels of corn, 2 bales ot cotton, 300 bushels of potatoes, or 40 bushels ot wheat to the acre than to attempt to grow some crop new to the neighborhood and of doubtful adaptation. Some experiments on new things are very important educationally, but these should not require much ground. 124 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AKD GROUNDS. Good experimental farming does not warrant rash experimenta- tion. The proper and wise use of the 5 acres suggested could thus be made to serve not only as an object lesson for all concerned, but to add much to the revenue for the upkeep and the upbuilding of the whole school property. If farmers can see that in their own neigh- borhood 5 acres well cared for will bring better returns than 20 acres poorly cared for, one of the best lessons in community thrift and intelhgent farming will have been learned. Besides, the attempt to make the school farm a model for the neighborhood will be the best possible incentive and responsibility to lay upon a teacher whose specific business it is to be the moral, social, and intellectual leader in the district. The cottage for the teacher should be as far as possible a model of its kind for the neighborhood. A beautiful, well-planned, and sanitary cottage on the school farm would help in a definite way to stunulate the farmers to build better houses (not more expensive ones) and to reconstruct to a degree those already built. Whab sort of cottage should be built? The complete answer to this question must of course be left to the authorities of the dis- trict. There are, however, some suggestions applicable: 1. It should be beautiful and as far as possible should harmonize with the general architectural treatment of the school building, if the latter is a modern type. An architect should be employed and the beautification of the useful be insisted on. 2. It should include a living room, a bath room, a kitchen, a dining room, and a sleeping porch. The number of bedrooms will probably not exceed two, and these should connect with the sleeping porch. The plans for the kitchen should receive a great deal of care, especially with reference to modern conveniences. 3. The sleeping porches should be models for the neighborhood. They should be carefully screened against flies and mosquitoes and should open from small dressing rooms, capable of being used as bedrooms when necessary. To most people in this country it will be a surprise to learn that several States, notably Washington,^ already have teachers' cottages in connection with many of their country schools. The cuts here introduced will give some idea of the nature and style of these cottages. The good example set by Washington, Nebraska, South Carolina, and other States should stimulate many others to progress in this direction. In this discussion the importance of cottages for men teachers on school farms has been emphasized, but without any intention of overlooking the need of them for women teachers. Very fre- 1 The State of Washington now has 83 teachers' cottages (March, 1914) . teachers' cottages. 125 quently a woman teacher has a hard time to find a satisfactory boarding phxce in the neighborhood, and for this reason alone wUl refuse to consider a second term in the school. Often the mere sck^ction of a boarding phice inv^olvcs opposition from others who were in the race for the teacher's preference. Those who have taught in rural schools know how essential to success this matter often becomes. Mre. Josepliine Preston, State superintendent of Washington, states in a recent communication relative to the development of teachers' cottages in that State: The teachers' cottages really came from the failure or refusal of one of the wealthiest districts in my county (when I was county superintendent of "Walla Walla County) to furnish a place for the teacher to board. As a result a cookhouse was moved into the yard and banked up by the side of the schoolhouse, and there the teacher lived all winter. Next year the district built a two-room cottage. Pioneering for teachers' cottages is over with us. A teacher must be happy and comfortable in her home life to give the best service in the schoolroom. Cottages for men teachers on school farms are, however, far more important, if we hope to increase the number of worthy men in the work of teaching in country districts. Plates 37 to 39 represent teachers' cottages in various States. Plates 27-28 are reproductions from photographs of .combination schools and teachers' cottages in Alaska. These are under the Alaska school service of the Bureau of Education. As has been said elsewhere, if the country school is to do the work now generally demanded of it, teachers' cottages are necessary in many parts of the country. There is no practicable way of making the district school the real social and educational center of a com- munity without keeping the schoolhouse open and the agricultural operations under supervision during the summer months. This will of course mean a change in the plan of hiring teachers, and, more especially, it will necessitate the employment of a greater number of men for rural school work. There are many difficulties in the way, and some of them may seem almost insuperable, but progress in country life demands these changes and in time they must be made. Chapter X. ONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS AND SOME SPECIAL NEEDS IN BUILDINGS FOR SUCH SCHOOLS. The relation of consolidation to sdioolhouse construction lias received less attention than the subject deserves. Many one-teaclier district schoolhouses now unfit for use should not be rebuilt, and would not be if some one who sees in time what should be done would tactfully present to the people of the community the possibilities in consolidation. A school building designed for the use of consolidated country districts will, of course, conform to the general hygienic and archi- tectural rules for buildings of the size required, and hence there is no need of repeating those details here. But there is need of special emphasis on certain points; for a consoHdated country school bears a pecuhar relation to the community it serves. In the first place, an assembly room is of special importance in these schools. The country children will find in assembly rooms the satisfaction of their desire for a wider social contact and companion- ship. Such rooms wiU also furnish opportunity for bringing parents together for entertainments, lectures, and civic gatherings. An assembly room is necessary for the morning exercises, and especially for chorus work. Music is much needed in such schools, and, as already pointed out, will appeal strongly to young people who have had to leave school. The difficulty of creating a school spirit and a neighborhood enthusiasm for general progress is greatly relieved by an assembly room. In the second place, a commodious, well-appointed, and well- lighted library room is especially important in a consolidated school, both by reason of the need for a common center of reading and refer- ence within the school and also because of the opportunity thus afforded to lend books and distribute them through the neighbor- hood. The books in a school library should be selected for both pupils and patrons, and every legitimate effort should be made to render them most useful. The library may thus serve as a sort of extension school in all that pertains to the interests of the commu- nity, in matters of agriculture, home-keeping, and sanitation, and in the dissemination of good literature. 126 CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS. 12*7 In the third place, manual-training rooms for both girls and boys are needed. This need has been emphasized elsewhere in this bul- letin, and it is only necessary to say hero that this larger community school should lead in attaching the school life to the homo life. In the term "inanual training" as used here are included all attempts at creative effort in any worthy field of useful homo acti^dty — cooking and sewing, canning and millinery, cabinetmaking and house plan- ning, practical electricity and plumbing, and every other manual activity helpful for country people to know. In the fourth place, some room or special building should be set aside for cxpc-rimc^ntal agriculture and gardening. The statement has recently been made that if the methods used in seed seloction and cotton culture on the demonstration farms in the South were univer- sally applied by the farmers of that part of the countr}'-, the cotton crop would bo doubled and would add $240,000,000 annual profits to the national income. This is only a sample of the opportunity these schools have. Fmally, emphasis should be laid on the nsed of an adequate supply of pure running water in order that lavatories, baths, and particu- larly a system of flushmg toilets and of septic disposal of sewage may bo installed in every consolidated country schoolhousc. This need is particularly characteristic of the consolidated school. A dignity and an importance never attached to the one-teacher school are attributed by the patrons to the consolidated school. It is their " big school." Even the country high school is rarely so close to the people as the consolidated school may become, because the high school does not touch so many homos direct^, and because the average farmer does not understand the high-school curriculum so well as that of the consolidated elementary school. Not long smcc the writer had an opportunity to travel over a por- tion of one of the Southern States in company with the several State officers of public education. One-teacher schools and also several central or consolidated schools were visited. Opportunity was afforded to talk with many farmers as we passed through the coun- try, and the one lasting impression brought away was the personal pride everywhere exhibited by these country people in their ''big schools." In all their conversation about them an eager interest was manifested, for the schools were opening to their children opportu- nities they themselves had never had. This sentiment is general. Along with this interest and trust in the school go the corresponding responsibility and prestige of the school in the community, because of which the community is inclined to adopt and employ what it finds in operation in the school. Now, it is possible to supply schools and farmhouses with running water at no great expense, although the farmers will have to be 128 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. sliowii how this can be done, and actually see the plan in operation before they will take much interest in it. Not, only, therefore, for the sake of the children at school, but as an educational agency for the community, all consolidated schools should be supplied with the best of sanitary fixtures and with pure running water. Consolidation of schools does not always imply the necessity of the expense involved in transporting children from the abandoned districts to the central school. This is usually necessary only in sparsely-settled communities, where many schools have combined into one, or in rigorous climates, where walking would be dangerous for the children. In some parts of the country the question of trans- portation is often negligible, or nearly so. Grenerally speaking, if three schools in adjoining districts are combined into one, the chil- dren can still walk to school without danger or inconvenience. Obviously the cost will be less to transport the children of two schools to the consolidated school when the number of children in the two schools will not total more than the number which one teacher can handle effectively, for the cost of a teacher and the main- tenance of an extra building will more than pay the expense of public transportation. Experience shows also that a saving in cost of operation may be effected if several one-teacher schools, with a small enrollment in each, are combined into one central building, in which the work can be done more effectively with fewer teachers. Here, as in the case suggested above, the saving in salaries, fuel, insurance, and repairs may be more than enough to pay the cost of transportation. Such a possible saving will depend largely on the distribution of the children in the districts, on the condition of the roads, and on the opportunity afforded for securing transportation of the pupils at a reasonable cost. If the school authorities are compelled to furnish wagons: and if the combined distance is such that it is not possible to use fewer wagons than the number of schools abolished, the cost of transportation will easily exceed the saving. For all schools in which the number of teachers employed would be equal whether consolidation were undertaken or not, the expense of transportation would likely overrun any immediate saving due to consolidation. If new buildings are necessary in several single districts, and if instead of building a number of one-teacher schools the districts combine to build a central school, the immediate expense would be lessened. In the more densely populated rural districts many of the children from abandoned districts may be able to walk during a part of the year to and from the central school without serious hardship, and a definite saving in administration may be effected. Since the conditions are so diverse in different parts of the country, due to CONSOLIDATION OF RURAL SCHOOLS. 129 climato, to lack of good roads, and to social distinction of one sort or another, the fmancial outcome of any scheme of consolidation must be very largely a local problem. A comparison of the immediate expense incurred for each school does not, however, always tell the chief part of the story. Sometimes consolidation actually costs more, dollar for dollar, and yet there may be a saving. The cost of schools should always be considered in the light of the results attained. A consoHdatcd school offers better opportunity for effective grading and classification of the pupils than a one-teacher school, but above all it gives each child more of the teacher's time for personal help and guidance. A teacher whose school hours must be divided among the pupils of seven or eight grades, with 25 to 30 recitations a day, can not use her time most helpfully to her classes. Especially is this true with the younger children, who make up a large proportion of pupils in country schools. Young children need adequate guidance and abundant drill in their work. This is possible only where the teacher is not overburdened with a great number of classes. It may easily happen, therefore, that a dollar spent for work in a one-teacher school, where all grades are represented, will not and can not bring as good returns educationally as one-half of that amount spent under better conditions in a con- solidated school. The consolidated school, Math fewer grades for each teacher but with larger opportunities for drill in essentials, opens therefore an encouraging prospect for some relief from this lamentable weakness in average rural communities. In this particular alone the added cost of consolidation, if there be any, may and ought to increase the educational efficiency of the schools to such a degree as to more than warrant the extra expense. This is just one phase of the increased advantages which may be derived from consolidation. In addition, more ground can be covered in all subjects, more specialization can be ' demanded of the teachers, better hygienic conditions can be secured, better supervision will be possible, and particularly the civic life of the community will be quickened in many ways. Wherever consolidation has been wisely handled the people have usually kept their children in school longer and more regularly. Many consoli- dated schools have thus been able to bring to the rural communities the advantages of one or two years of secondary training, and in some places a full high-school course, which was impossible before consolidation. Thus in a certain consolidated school far out in the country four teachers are teaching in one building all the children that before consolidation had required six teachers and six buildings. In addition to all the usual subjects of the grades, there are in this central school, which is presided over by a vigorous well-educated 130 EXJKAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. man, classes in Latin, French, geometry, algebra, physics, and general history. Literary societies have been established and, per- haps most interesting of all, one teacher has regular classes in music and is training the children in chorus singing. A new piano, a product of community enthusiasm, dignifies the assembly room. In such an environment as this, civic life is engendered and local patriotism is fostered. In what has been said with reference to the advantages of the consolidated country school there is no desire to underestimate the value of the one-teacher school in the life of the community. With a good building, well arranged and well located, and with a well- paid teacher, the one-teacher school may serve its patrons and all the people within the district boundaries as well as a consolidated school. This excellence will depend on the initiative and wisdom of the teacher with whose rare leadership it is indispensably associated. Such a teacher is hard to find and hard to keep. But the consolidated school has opportunity for larger cooperation, and can more readily command the services of teachers who have proved themselves One consolidated country school in Wake County, N. C, has a cotton patch on the school grounds, planted and cultivated by the pupils. From the proceeds of the sale of the cotton grown on the grounds, furnishings and equipment were purchased for the school. On the second floor of the building there is a small but convenient assembly room in which is a good piano purchased by funds from the school-garden products. In this school several high-school sub- jects are taught, literary societies have been organized, and com- munity interest has been developed. It is worth a great deal more for a pupil to attend this school than a smaller school, even though the subjects taught be the same, for here he comes in contact with a larger neighborhood environment, enlarges his acquaintance, gets the help of better teachers, and is brought into heaUhy competition with more children of his age and general qualifications. The attitude of the neighborhood people toward this school and its work is interesting; they feel that it is their "big school" and that their children are honored in attending it. Chapter XI. SANITARY AND CONVENIENT WATER SUPPLY FOR COUNTRY SCHOOLS. The two most important sanitary needs of country schools, outside of the school building and its requirements, are sanitary toilets and a safe and abundant water supply. The results of the investigations of water supply for country schools detailed in Chapter III, as well as the results of other similar inquiries, make it clear that the drink- ing water furnished the children is often impure and dangerous. The experience of most country-school teachers will bear out this statement. Springs and farm wells are the usual sources of water supply. The springs are usually at some distance from the schoolliouse, and generally on lower ground. They are often poorly shielded from immediate contamination, and often receive the drainage from swampy ground, much-used pasture lands, or other defiled areas. In fact, they furnish merely slightly purified sm'face water. In general, they issue in open pools. These pools are depositories for leaves, dust, and dirt; insects find lodgment therein; various animals share m their use. Despite all these sources of pollution most people are brought up to beheve that no water is so pure as "spring water.'' To be sure, there are many springs which furnish fairly pure water, and many others which if properly cared for would be safe, but the number of these is small in comparison with the number that are unsafe. Bacteriological and chemical examinations made at fre- quent intervals are the only safe guides. Possibly of aU sprmgs the small intermittent, dribbling ones are the most dangerous, for, gettmg their supply from the immediate surroundings, they discharge surface drainage which has had small opportunity for pm'ification, either by filtration or by any other means. Springs in limestone regions are often subject to contamination by reason of the fact that the underground channels through which the water flows are oftsn connected with sink holes partly fiUed with water and used as a water supply for cattle, hogs, and other domestic animals. Water from such sources may be carried long distances with limited oppor- tunity for aeration, filtration, or pm'ification of any kind. All these facts, and others which might be mentioned, emphasize the need of caution in the use of springs as a source of water supply 131 132 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. for either country schools or country homes. Possibly the chief danger arises from the fact that any sort of spring is used and is generally poorly cared for. Further, many opportimities are afforded for pollution from dirty buckets and careless methods of transporta- tion before the water is put into a sanitary receptacle in the schoolroom. "When farm wells are depended on for drinking water, the school authorities rarely have any direct control over them and rarely make any investigations to determine whether the water taken from them is wholesome and safe. Many farm wells are improperly cared for and receive infected surface drainage. The logical con- clusion is that unsafe water from them is frequently supplied to school children. Just as in the case of springs from which water is carried in pails to the schools, the supply from such wells is open to serious objections. It is troublesome to have always at hand fresh water, and consequently children are often required to drink water which has stood for hours in an open bucket. Furthermore, dependence is placed on the boys to fetch the water, but they are not careful, and not infrequently return with a half pail of water more or less contaminated by their carelessness. Whenever attempts are made to furnish a weU. for these schools the objection is usually urged that wells at schools, because they are used only about half the year, are soon in bad condition and are more dangerous than farm wells. There is truth in this contention, but it is owing largely to the fact that the wells are improperly located and improperly constructed in the beginning. A dug well can be made a safe well, provided aU the water flowing mto it comes from a pure source; but it wiU cost more than many school ofhcers are willing to appropriate to make it safe. A driven well can often be sunk to a much greater depth, thus insuring better filtration; it can be so cased-in as readily to cut off surface drainage; and it frequently costs less than a properly constructed dug well^ hence the driven well should be preferred for country schools. There are, however, many erroneous notions concerning the purity of the water from a driven well. There is no difference between the puiity of the water from a driven well and of that from a properly guarded dug well of the same depth. If both are shallow and are so placed as to gather surface drainage from infected soil, they wiU be equally dangerous. The only advantage such a driven well would have over the dug well would arise from the fact that, unless the dug well were securely covered and the casing made water- tight to the lowest water Ime, surface infiltration into the driven well would be accomphshed more slowly and more opportimity would be offered for purification. The main source of supply would be the same in each case. tiANITARY AND CONVENIENT WATER SUPPLY. 133 If a driven well is forced through an impervious stratum of hard clay or other material into a deep-lying water-bearing stratum which has no direct connection with the surface of the locality, and if the boring about the pipe where it is driven through the impervious stratum is securely sealed against infiltration from above or pressure from below, local insanitary conditions would have very little or noth- ing to do with the purity of the water obtained. The problem then would be to determine if possible the source from which the deep- lying water-bearing stratum gathered its supply. This might be from a long distance. A study of the geologic formation of the dis- trict would be necessary to determine where such water entered, for it must be remembered that all ground waters, whether near the surface or deep seated, were once surface waters and came from riiins or snows. A flowing or artesian well may be dependent on sm'face connections hundreds of miles distant. Sometimes, especially in mineral regions, a deep driven well wiU draw its supply from highly mineralized waters, and hence may furnish wat<>r disagreeable to the taste and even dangerous for drinkmg. Some mineral waters are wholesome and healthful, but it is always safe to know the chemical constituents of suspected water before using it freely. Ordinarily a driven well with a force pump is the safest well, other things being equal, that can be provided either at the farm home or at the country schoolhouse. Of course, it is not always possible to supply this kind of weU on account of the geologic forma- tion. But wherever a good water supply can be reached at a good depth, the driven well is safer, because there is less opportunity for defilement. When a driven well is properly placed and is saf&ciently deep to warrant a supply of pure water, a drinking fountain can be attached to the pump, as mdicated in figure 37. This will necessitate a good cement foundation about the pump and about the drinking fountain, ready means of carrying away the waste water, and such an attach- ment of the fountam to the pump that the pressure tank will be below the freezmg line and also deep enough to keep the water cool in the summer. Plate 43 represents such a fomitam in use. If the well is a driven one, an excavation sufficiently deep to place the tank and its connections well below the surface of the gi'ound may be made, and the attachment be made to the pump in the same fashion as shown in the cut.^ If a large pressure tank were substituted for the small one shown in figure 37, not only could a drinking fountain be supplied, but lava- tories, flush toilets, baths, laboratories, and a faucet for hose as pro- 1 Thanks are due to the manufacturer and to State Supt. Francis G. Blair, of Illinois, for tt e privilege oi reproducing these cuts. 134 EUEAL SOHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. tection against fires, or for general garden use could be installed, because all that would be needed would be the necessary pipe con- nections. Naturally the drinking fountam, the tank, cr any outlet from this pressure tank could be located in the most coi ivenient and acceptable place. Figure 37 shows a cross section of the well with the pressure tank and valves and aU necessary fixtures. By operatmg the pump t!-" Fig. 37. — Cross section of drinking fountain attached to pump. handle the water is forced m at the bottom of the pressure tank, thus compressing the air at the top of the tank. With each stroke of the pump handle the tank receives more water, and the air at the top is more compressed. A check valve placed between the pump and the tank relieves the pump from aU back pressure. A self-closing valve is placed between the pressure tank and the supply pipe leading to the bubbling cup. To get a drink of water the child turns the little handwheel at the side of the bowl, which opens the valve below. SANITAEY AND CONVENIENT WATEE SUPPLY. 135 The air pressure in the tank forces the water to bubble up through the bubbling cup. In the course of the process the waste water escapes through the outer pipe at II Yind out thi-ough the pipe T. It will be necessary to make these waste pipes water-tight, so that none of the waste water would fall back into the well. The waste pipe shown at T should be carried to a safe distance from the well, so as to prevent any possible infilti'ation. The same care should be exercised in carrying away drainage from a driven wcU as from an open weU, though, of course, the danger of rapid infdtration is not so great with the former, unless the wall casing and covering of the open well are made impervious as far down as the lowest water line. Experience has proved that individual drinking cups do not satisfy the demands for good sanitation at schoolhouses and that the only sanitary and convenient contrivance is some form of drinldng foun- tain. It is a common habit where individual cups are used, for one pupH to exchange his cup with another pupil and to feel it a sort of honor to have others drink from his cup. The children often carry their cups in their pockets, or expose them so as to receive the dust from the schooh'oom, and hi many ways they offer opportunity for con- tamination. Theoretically, individual cups would seem to satisfy all requirements, but in practice they do not, simply because neither the children nor the teachers, however careful they may be, can be certain that exchanges are not made and that the cups are kept in a clean condition. There is a simple form of fountain not dependent upon running water which is usable m country schools. This consists of a recep- tacle to hold a supply of water; the water is thrown up through the bubbling cup by the force of gravity, the waste running mto the bucket sho\vn below. There are several adaptations of this kind of foimtaiQ. The chief requirements are some means of keeping the water cool, a ready means of catching the waste water, a tight cover to prevent the entrance of dust and dii^t, and a possible adjustment of the bubbling cup to the various heights of the children. Naturally the water served in such receptacles must be taken from a pure source and be kept from contamination. It is possible, with this form of fountain, to boil and cool the water before it is introduced mto the receptacle and thus to insm'e its safety. The practice of putting lumps of ice du'ectly into the water is questionable, unless it is certam that the ice has been made from pure water. In practice these fountams are not always kept in sanitary condi- tion, not being thoroughly and satisfactorily cleaned often enough Despite everythmg done, a sediment from the water and possibl}^ 136 RURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. also vegetable matter will gather on the sides of the receptacle, and make it insanitary. Fig. 38 represents a well incased with large glazed sewer tile and dug in a place where the dip of the impervious strata is clearly marked. Under such conditions it is evident that one side of this well needs more careful protection than the other. If an unpro- Irnperviou./ S+rotum +«.r-bcarinej Sand L Qravcl Fig. 38.— Well incased with glazed sewer tile. tected privy were situated on the side where the impervious strata lift toward the surface, there would be danger of infiltration, even if it were placed at a comparatively great distance, whereas, if it were placed at a reasonable distance on the other side, the danger would be small. This cut, of course, is not meant to represent usual conditions, but it does represent conditions met with at times in various parts of the country. Chapter XII. SANITARY PRIVIES FOR RURAL SCHOOLS. From the point of view of decency and sanitation the toilet facilities of great numbers of our country schools. and country homes are bad. This statement is based on data obtained from the teachers of two counties of each of 18 States representing as nearly as possible typi- cal conditions, from the report of a survey of farmhouses made by the various State agents of the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease, from a report of a school sani- tary inspection of 3,572 district schools by the Pennsylvania State Department of Health, from an investigation made under the direc- tion of the joint committee of the American Medical Association and the National Council of Education, and from data gathered by various other more or less local surveys. By reference to Chapter III of this bulletin it will be seen that in 631, out of 1 ,232 schools reporting, the toilets were adjudged insanitary, and that these 1,232 schools were probably typical of the whole country. The tabulations made of the results of the Pennsylvania survey make it clear that at least 50 per cent of the privies of the 3,572 schools inspected were in an insanitary condition. The Rocke- feller sanitary commission found, as the result of a survey of 103,346 farmhouses in 1 1 Southern States, that 50,637 of them have no privies at all. The report does not make specific mention of the sanitary condition of the privies that were observed, but it is probable that a large majority of them were and are insanitary. More than a himdi'ed photographs of both exteriors and interiors of rural school toilets, and careful notes made on the ground by the field agent of the joint committee of the National Council of Education and the American Medical Association make it clear that less than 5 per cent of the toilets of the 109 rural schools examined in Connecticut, New York, Vermont, Maryland, and New Jersey ^ are sanitary or even passably decent. One privy, typical of many, was f aii'ly new; and the schoolliouse was not old. The privy was within 3 feet of the schoolhouse. When examined in the summer of 1913 by the field agent of the joint committee, the privy was used by both boys and girls; it had no partition; the door had no lock. Eleven obscene I See p.. 29. 40742°— Bull. 12—14 10 137 138 EURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. pictures were found on the inside. The feces fell on the surface of the ground and were exposed to flies; there was an offensive odor; and apparently no attempt was niade to clean, deodorize, or dis- infect the building. Many worse privies than this were found. By most teachers and officers of rural schools these data will not be questioned, because all who have worked in country schools and are famiUar with country life know by experience that the sanitary conditions ordinarily prevailing at country schools and farmhouses are very bad. Those who are engaged in the attempt to eradicate hookworm disease from our country have concluded that, although they may relieve and cure great numbers of people by the proper use of thymol, their work will never end unless sanitary toilets on the farm and at the school are constructed; for as long as the soil about homes and school buildings is continually contaminated, these depleting parasites will continue to infect and reinfect the children. But this is not all. We know that typhoid fever is a germ disease, and that insanitary toilets, through the agency of flies and infected water, are among the chief means of spreading this dangerous disease, in cold as well as in warm climates. Proof has been brought forward again and again to show that where absolute cleanliness in this regard prevails typhoid fever generally disappears. Doubtless other diseases also have their origin in the lack of sanitary privies, but it is surely enough for our purpose to know that this lack bears to these two dan- gerous diseases the close relationship of cause and effect. Considered merely from the economic point of view, typhoid fever costs enough each year to go a long way toward paying for the construction of sanitary and decent toilets at every farm home. Aside from the danger to health, common decency demands relief. Possibly there is no better test of the real sensibility of a people than that of cleanhness. Wherever you continually find filthy gardens, nasty barnyards, and unwholesome school conditions, you are certain to find crude and uncouth people. If country Hfe is ever to surpass the best of city hfe in comfort and refinement, and there is no funda- mental reason why it should not, these conditions must be changed, and country school teachers must play a large part in bringing about this change. Country schools must teach the truths of sanitation, and they must also set the example of building sanitary toilets and of keeping them in good condition. They must complete their teaching through demonstration of theory by fact, through cooperative activity with the people. The first question for practical consideration is this : What are the essential requirements of sanitary toilets for country schools ? The first requirement is that the toilets be convenient and easily accessible to the children, so that in cold or inclement weather there; SANITARY PRIVIES. 139 shall bo attached to them no thought of exposure and no feeUng of reluctance. The location of toilets in country schools is a troublesome matter. If they are detached from the school building, they must ordinarily be removed some distance for the sake of both propriety and whole- somcness. But to locate these necessaries outside of the school building is to incur the difficulties connected with inconvenience, bad weather, and the dangers of neglect, and to invite indecent Hbcrties of various sorts. Even when washout or flush toilets are located out- side, it is difficult to prevent defilement, rough usage, and unchaste, if not immoral, practices in connection with their use. Although all these results do not necessarily follow outside location, the most rigid supervision is requisite to prevent these outbuildings from becoming insanitary and loathsome. When dry-vault toilets or those with septic tanks are used, it is best to locate them at a distance from the school building. As these are the only forms of sanitary toilets that the great majority of rural schools will be able to supply, the twofold problem of their location and construction must be considered carefully. The small size of the country school lot makes the problem more difficult. The usual half-acre lot can not well be divided by a hedge or fence into two equal parts, for such division would destroy all possibility of a fairly good playground. On the other hand, unless some screen is intro- duced, the lack of privacy in the use of toilets during the intermis- sion periods, when they are most used, is serious and indelicate, to say the least. Such lack of privacy often causes much reluctance, annoyance, and distress. The usual locations selected for these toilets are the two opposite corners in the rear of the school lot. Under no condition is it advis- able to make a single outbuilding, using one half for the boys, the other half for the girls. The buildings must be well separated. Screens of vines can be used to great advantage in most climates in summer, but as the main part of the school term is in the winter season, in cold climates evergreen shrubs so planted as to shield the buildings and to inclose the walks leading to them are more helpful. In the Southern States the English ivy stands the winters very well and is an ideal vme for covering such buildings and shielding the approaches to tliem. Basements afford the most economical and on the whole the best location within the buildings for flush toilets. These can be con- nected with sewers or with septic tanks elsewhere described. The second requirement for outside sanitary privies is to construct them in such a manner that the soil around and underneath the school building shall be kept free from contamination. This pre- caution is necessary on small lots; especially where a well furnishes 140 KURAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. drinking water. The ordinary privy set over an excavation in the soil that is not water-tight is dangerous, because of possible con- tamination of the water supply. Many rules have been given for regulating the distance from the well at which such cesspools may be located; but, obviously, no safe general rule can be formulated, for the character of the formation, the kind of soil, and the dip of the impervious strata will in all probability be different in each school lot. Sandy loam, with an impervious substratum dipping toward the well, would allow the passage of pollution through a long distance, especially in rainy weather. On the other hand, a clay soil, with an impervious stratum dipping in the opposite direction, might be safe, as far as infiltration is concerned, at a comparatively short distance from the well. Unless absolute assurance can be given that there is no danger of infiltration and that proper protection in every way will be afforded, a cesspool should never be allowed on the ordinary country school lot. In order to emphasize the seriousness of the cesspool form of toilet at country schools, the following extract from a recent letter by Dr. W. J. Kernachan, health officer of Lauderdale County, Ala., is given: In making a health survey of the rural school children of this county recently, I collected a sample of the water supplied to each school. An examination of these specimens by the State pathologist reveals the fact that 19 out of the 20 collected contained fecal matter. Dr. Kernachan does not state the source of the water supply, whether from house wells, springs, or wells on school lots. But it is evident that either at the schools or at the farm homes, or at both, the most elementary principles of sanitation are neglected. Open cesspools or even worse conditions must prevail to bring about such a condition of the water supply. The discussions that follow, and the figures introduced, have been prepared with the hope that they will afford country school officials and country people in general some suggestions in regard to the con- struction of more sanitary toilets, both at schools and at farm homes. No attempt has been made to illustrate all the possible forms of the sanitary privy, but a sufficient number of cuts and descriptions have been introduced to meet the varied conditions found in different parts of our country. Details with reference to plans, specifications, and cost are not given. Conditions are so diverse, and the cost of materials and labor varies so much in different parts of the country, that such details would not be of general value. Most country car- penters under direction of teachers or school officials can carry out these suggestions or adapt them to local conditions. The accompanying description of a form of dry privy, and the cut represented by figure 39, are taken from the leaflets sent out by the superintendent of public instruction of Virginia: SANITARY PRIVIES. 141 Two dry closets shall be constructed similar to that indicated. These closets shall be located at or near the opposite corners of the roar line of the school lot, and should bo at least 150 feet from the school building. Proper construction is of the greatest importance. The house should be well built, so as to be comfortable in winter, and have a sound roof so that the interior will always be dry. A liouse of this size should not have more than two seats. These ^ould have tight-fitting hinged covers that would stay down, except when in use. In a comer of the house there should be a bar- ^andla.^ ^^f7>)Ci)»^^ Fig. 39.— Form of dry privy recommended by Virginia State department of public instruction. rel of powdered surface soil that has been dried in the sun, and a scoop holding about a pint. The door should fit tightly, and any windows or apertures should be screened with fine wire so as to absolutely exclude flies. The construction under the seat may be of several kinds, any of which will be safe, provided a few points are observed. The "night soil" must be kept in some receptacle which can be kept dry and off the ground, and so constructed that it can be easily removed and cleaned. The contents of the receptacle must be protected against flies. These are the important 142 RURAL SCHOOLHOXJSES AND GROUNDS. points. A box made of soimd, heavy timber, well braced, and tight enough to pre- vent leakage, will be good. It should be set close under the seat, and the opening back of it protected by a door which closes tightly enough to exclude flies. This is shown in the accompanying drawing. The floor of the box should be covered with about 4 ii.ches of dry earth before it is used. Each person using the closet should empty on the contents about a pint of the dried earth. If the earth is used in abundance, the material will in a short time become relatively inoffensive. When not more than half full, the box should be placed on a wagon and moved to some dis- tant field and the contents be dumped into a hole and covered with earth. The chief difficulty with this arrangement arises from the likeli- hood that the box will not be emptied often enough. If the box were set on runners, sled fashion, handling would be easier and more expeditious. In this case the box should be made particularly strong. From the sanitary point of view the chief requisites are the use of plenty of dust, complete exclusion of flies, and safe disposal of the contents of the box. One seat should be about 11 inches high, to accommodate the smaller children, the other about 15 inches high to accommodate the larger pupils. The district school officers must hire some one to remove and empty this box at regular intervals, without the necessity of the teacher calling his attention to the need of so doing. The teacher should inspect these buildings often and should see that all sanitary requirements are regularly carried out. Figure 40 represents a boys' double toilet with partition between the two seats. The seats are of different heights; one to accommo- date the smaller boys, the other the larger. Each stall is 4 feet wide, 5 feet deep, and 7J feet from floor to a line on a level with the eaves. Doors are to be 2 J feet wide and 6 J feet high, swingmg out. The seat boxes are each to be 2 feet in length from partition to dust bin, one 14^ inches high, the other 11 inches. The width of the seat board should be 15 inches. The dust bins should be 3 J feet and 2| feet high, respectively; 2 feet wide from seat box to outer wall, and 16 inches from front to back. The ventilators above the doors are set to be sheltered by the wide eaves from driving rains and are to be carefully covered with a good quality of fine wire screen. The high windows should be fastened and are not to be opened. The floor and the roof must be made tight, both to protect against inclem- ent weather and to keep out flies. The lids of the seats should close automatically after use. The doors should be well made and hung with strong hinges to prevent sagging. It is always well to set the doors in such a way that they will close of their own weight. Good locks should be used instead of the ordinary hooks generally used on the doors of such outhouses. This will prevent the doors from being left open for the entrance of flies and the privies from being used by tramps when school is not in session. Ventilators should be SANITARY PRIVIES. 143 sot in the rear as in front. Either buckets or a dry pit, like that in figure 41, should bo used to receive the night soil. The height of the dust bins will prevent the boys from using them as urinals. Those in the girls' building may be made lower, if desirable. Some practicable scoop should be supplied for each bin. If preferable, an opening at the bottom of the bin can be made for taking out the dust, iiiifiA, Fig. 40. — ^Boys' double toilet, with partition between the seats. and a lid be fastened over the top. This would help to prevent defile- ments of any sort. The form of dry toilet shown in figure 41 will be satisfactory and sanitary only when sufficient dry loam dust is used to absorb all the moisture and to neutralize all odors and septic matter introduced. It will be observed that the pit is to be made of brick and concrete and hence will be practically water tight, to prevent leakage and also seepage from the ground. This form requires the selection of 144 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. sloping ground upon which to build the privy, otherwise it would be difficult to remove the night soil from the pit. The lids to the seats should be made to fit closely and to close automatically when the seats are not in use. The lid closing the opening of the pit in Ycrx+iUi+or Fig. 41 .—Dry toilet with pit. the rear should likewise be carefully made and adjusted, in order to prevent leakage from beating rains and also to prevent the entrance of flies. The pit should be cleaned as frequently as safety and decency dictate. Cleaning may be accomplished in this form of toilet by shoveling the night soil into a box placed in a wagon and SANITARY PEIVIES. 145 then carting it to a safe distance in some neighborii)g field and bury- ing it. The night soil should never be deposited in a field where vegetables are grown, and always at a safe distance from a well or spring. A well-built bin at least 3 feet high should be located inside the toilet for thei purpose of storing a good quantity of dust where it is readily available. Sand should not be used. Dusty loam from dirt roads is excellent. In default of this, well-pulverized dry soil taken from a neighboring field will serve. Some objection might be raised to the height of the bin, on the ground that the smaller children could not readily and easily get at the dust. Although this height may be open to this objection, it will tend to prevent in the boys' privy a more serious difficulty, for if a lower bin is put in, some of the boys will use it for a urinal; furthermore, an outflow for the dust can be made near the bottom of the bin and the lid fastened. Then, too, this height will make it possible to provide more room for stor- age without encroaching too much on the floor space. Further- more, while it is useful to instruct all the children in this method of sanitation and to urge them to use the dust without fail, children will forget, and the teacher should see tliat dust is applied daily. Other- wise insanitary conditions will prevail. The school officers of the district should be charged with the duty of seeifig that the pit is cleaned as often as necessary, the teacher reporting to them. If two seats are made in each room, one should be about 11 inches and the other about 15 inches high. The seats and lids should be kept clean, and sanitary toilet paper should be provided. Figure 43 represents a slightly different form of dry toilet with a box for dust m the end, one seat 15 inches high for the larger boys, one 11 inches high for the smaller boys, and an open-air urmal trougli delivermg mto the vault. The urinal trough is shown 14 mches above the ground near the outlet and 2G mches at the upper end. This arrangement will give good drainage, as well as accommodate both the smaller and the larger boys. The partition between the seats will serve to give more privacy-. The door is made to swing either way; but it should be provided with an Ulterior latch, and a lock on the outside so that when school is not in session the buildmg could be kept locked to prevent it from being used by tramps or other passers-by. In this as in all other forms of dry toilets, the two essentials for sanitation are the regular use of dust to cover excreta and the safe disposal of the refuse. Small openings covered with fijie whe screen should be made for ventilation. These can be introduced in the front, near the roof. Every precaution should be taken to exclude flies aiid J. . '■X^^^^^^^;,^m^mmwmmM TtS^ Wmiww^^^m "^^^ ws^ Fig. 42. 146 !FiG. 43.— rry toilet witli pit, and open-air urinal trongh. SANITARY PRIVIES. 147 mosquitoes. The lids carrying the seats should be so placed as to closG automatically. Figure 44 suggests a form of dry toilet with buckets for catching the night soil, thus makhig it necessary to dispose of the collected material oftener and also making it possible to do this more expedi- xed Window Fig 4-i.— Dry toilet with buckets. tiously. Those who attempt to follow these suggestions should be sure that the buckets are large enough and high enough to reach sufficiently close to the seat to prevent defilement. These buckets should be removed and well cleaned before they are completly filled, and then 2 inches of dry loam dust should be thrown into them before they are replaced for use. 148 RITEAL SCHOOLHOtrSES AND GEOUNDS. One of the buckets is about 4 inches shorter than the other. This fact, of course, will suggest a corresponding difference in the levels of the two seats, the higher one being approximately 15 inches from the floor, the other about 11 inches. The lids of the seats should be made to fit and to close automatically. The trapdoor in the rear should Fig. 45.— Section drawing of privy shown in fig. 44. be kept securely fastened and be opened only when the buckets are to be emptied. The whole structure should be neatly built and carefully finished, dust bins included, as described in connection with figure 41. The drawing is meant to represent a buildmg 7 J feet high at the eave lines, 5 feet wide and 8 feet long, outside measurement. SANITARY PEIVIES. 149 Separate stalls should be provided in this and other detached build- ings of a similar type, so that one side may be used by the small boys, the other side by the larger boys. The same suggestion should be followed for all detached buildings for girls. The form of toilet known as the ''L. R. S. privy" was devised by Dr. Lumsden, Dr. Roberts, and Dr. Stiles of the United States Public Health Service. One of the simplest forms of it is represented by figure 46. This form consists of a water-tight barrel with seat arrangement fitted over the top and a connecting T pipe leading from the barrel to an outside effluent tank made of a bucket or a barrel and securely covered to prevent mosquitoes and flies from entering it. The house covering this toilet will leave the small tank on the outside, which will be adjusted to the floor line as shown in the cut. This will necessitate placing the barrel in a pit or sinking ifc in the ground so that the top of it will be flush with the floor of the toilet building. It is important that the building be made proof against flies and mosquitoes and that it receive suflicient sunlight to keep it wholesome. The theory of the action of this toilet is exactly the same as that in any septic-tank disposal system. In the beginning the barrel should be filled with water up to the level of the outflow, then, to aid the action of the liquefying bacteria, a small cpiantity of well-rotted stable manure should be tlirown into the water. The action of bacteria upon the excrement is to liquefy it, and, as the water line in the barrel rises, this liquid will flow out into the outside tank, which can be carted ofl and emptied in a safe place. The simple form shown in this figure makes it possible for this toilet to be con- structed at a smaller expense than any other form of septic tank. It, however, necessitates the removal of the outside efiluent tank and discharging the material. Chemicals which would destroy the lique- f3dng bacteria should not be used. Figure 47 represents the same form of privy built in concrete so as to be permanent. In this form, however, instead of being movable the effluent tank is stationary, and the fluid must be pumped or drawn out and carried away in separate vessels. There is no reason why this form of toilet should not be connected with subsurface drains, like the other septic-tank disposals men- tioned further on. If the ground upon which the toilet is constructed is properly sloping and the soil sufficiently porous to permit the proper purification of the subsurface through which the drain tiles are spread, then the necessity of carrying away the liquid material would be obviated. Experiments made with this form of toilet prove fairly conclusively that the fecal matter is liquefied; that there is comparatively little odor about the builchng; that if the structure is carefully built both above and below ground it may be made safe 150 ETJEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUN"DS. Automatically clo/inq Lid Connectina "Pifxs E^PLOE/lTTA/^^ v^ /^^^ J j/^^jy jjjj^iUJ j/?/j / J/ l/r/h Fig. 46. mzmmm, mmwtM^'^ Aa Adaptation otThe L.t..5.?ii,ivY Fig. 47.— Forms of the L. E. S. privy. SANITARY PRIVIES. 151 from flies and mosquitoes; and that the labor of cleansing is slight compared with that of any of the dry-toilet systems.* The success of any form of septic-tank disposal depends to a large degree on the slope of the ground carrying the drain tiles, the nature of the soil, and the extent of gi-ound through which the drain tiles may be carried. If the ground is nearly level, the drain tiles must of necessity be placed too deep in the ground to insure rapid absorption and purification of the liquid. On sloping ground it is an easy matter to bring the tiles within 18 inches of the surface, or at most ■ '^ Concrctc/Ioor; wall/, d"nd cover S +hicl<.'^\ Fig. 4S.— Section through concrete tants and seat; L. R. S. method. just below the freezing line. Thus located, the tiles discharge the liquid in reach of the active bacifceria, and the absorption and evapo- ration of the liquid thus discharged is increased. Moreover, if a few trees or shrubs are present in the absorption field, but far enough awaj^ to prevent the rootlets from choking the tiles, the capacity of the ground to care for the outflow will in general be increased. Natu- rally, a wet absorption field should not be chosen, for good dra'inage and rapid drying are essential. The drain tHes should not be laid in ditches with too much fall, for the efiiuent from the tank would rush > Thanks are due Dr. John A. Ferrell for the reproduction of these cuts from his bulletin on the sani- tary privy, issued by the North Carolina Board of Health. 152 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNDS. too quicMy to the lower ends of the tiles and hence overwork those parts of the absorption field. The fall should be such as to equalize as nearly as possible the demands on various parts of the absorption field. No one can be sure that material laden with typhoid germs wiJl be rendered inert by a septic tank of this sort, but if the absorption field Fig. 49. — Vertical section of tank and house. Kentucky sanitary privy. is of the right sort and is large enough and if the subdrainage is care- fully guarded, it is probable that there is less chance for infection than where sewers are used which open into small streams and infect water for long distances. This statement would not hold true if SANITAEY PRIVIES. 153 wells were so situated as to draw into them the seepage from the absorption field described above. (See Chapter XI on water supply.) Through the courtesy of Dr. A. T. McCormack, of Bowling Green, Ky., secretary of the State board of health of that State, the cuts nait AI»houqh the Ootitt 1/ /Km ' Tank, it may be pf Fig. 50.— Horizontal section, Kentucky sanitary privy. (figures 49-51) of the latest form of the Kentucky sanitary privy are reproduced, with the accompanying description and a few suggestions Fig. 51.— Vertical section, Kentuciiy sanitary privy. regarding its construction and use. It is a pleasure to present this form of toilet, because it seems to come nearer meeting common con- ditions and health demands than any septic-tank disposal within the 40742°— Bull. 12—14- -11 154 RUKAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUISTDS. reach of all communities. Attention is called to the urinal here introduced. As has been said elsewhere, the chief difficulty with the ordinary seat arrangement for boys' toilets arises from the lack of urinals, and as a consequence the boys are not careful to lift the under lid, and hence are almost sure to defile the seat itself. Conse- quently, they will next stand on the seat, and still more serious defile- ment ensues. Photographs of the interior of more than a hundred country school privies exhibit these defilements as a result of the lack of proper urinal facilities. The height of the urinal needs careful study. When properly placed for the smaller boys, it is likely to be too low for older ones. A narrow bench may be used to advantage. The other features of this toilet will be easily understood from the description which follows. These cuts represent the self-cleaning, fly-proof, septic-tank privy which the State board of health, after three years' experimental work, recommends for country and town homes, hotels, railway stations, schools, and other places where no sewer con- nections are possible. The details have been worked out with extreme care, and ii the directions are followed to the letter the privy may be placed within 10 feet of the house, but never inside of it. Toilets and bathrooms from the house may empty into the tank, but kitchen sinks should never do so on account of the grease. Pit and forms. — The size and depth of the excavation for the pit or tank are clearly shown in the cuts. The earth walls, if the digging is carefully done, will make the best outside forms for the concrete except where plank are needed above the surface of the ground as a form for the top of the tank walls. The inside forms can be made by any one of ordinary skill of any lumber which can be closely fitted so as to retain the moisture, and the lumber may be used over and over again for an entire com- munity if care is taken in putting it together \vith light nails foi* easy removal. Cona-ete. — The proportions for the mixture are: 1 part of good, fresh Portland cement, 2 parts of sand, and 4 parts of gravel or finely crushed rock, with enough water to bring it to the consistency of soft batter. For the tank of the size shown in the cuts, 15 bags of cement, 1 cubic yard of sand, and 3 cubic yards of crushed rock or gravel will be required. The floor of the tank should go in as soon as the digging is dene. After this has set for 24 hours the forms should be tacked together and put in place, care being taken to have no particles of trash or dust under them where the walls and floors are to join. The concrete should then be poured in, tamping constantly with a thin-edge board next to the plank forms so as to give a smooth finish to the inside walls. After the walls have set for three. days the forms should be removed and the surfaces of the inside walls and floor coated over well with a mixture of cement about the con- sistency of thick cream, put on with a whitewash brush. The seat should tlien be put in place and the tank covered with IJ-inch or 2-inch lumber so as to permit con- crete to join concrete over the walls and entirely around the seat. The concrete top, which is to be the floor of the privy, should be reenforced with one or two layers of galvanized iron fence wire, and finished to a smooth surface which may be easily kept clean. Drains. — The drains of porous tile should extend in the aggregate about 100 feet, depending upon the character of the soil, should be laid below the frost line and away from the well or spring, should have a sufficient fall, should discharge entirely under- ground, and the surface over them should be utilized for a flower bed or rose garden, to be benefited by the constant irrigation and fertilization. Filling and inoculating the tank. — Before the house is put in place and bolted down, the tank should be filled with water and five or six shovelfulls of old, well-rotted SANITARY PRIVIES. 155 stable manure put in to inoculate the fluid with the liquefying germs upon which everything depends, a supply of toilet paper should be provided, and it is ready for use. Aftermanagement. — A bucket of water should be poured through each hole in the seat and one through the urinal every day in order to break up the mass of fecal matter and toilet paper. The floors, and especially the urinals, should be well scrubbed daily, and care should be taken that the lids close down automatically after use. If care is taken to make the tank water-tight, it will never need to be filled but once, and if no disinfectant of any kind is ever used except camphor balls in the urinals if the water is poured in daily as directed, and if the pipe from the urinal extends well into the water, there should be practically no odor, and in years there will be little accumulation of solid matter at the bottom of the first tank. The accompanying cuts (figures 52, 53, and 54) of a septic-tank disposal plant designed for a washout inside toilet for a country residence or a small one-teacher country school, and its description, are reproduced through the courtesy of Prof. C. A. Haskins, engineer for the State Board of Health of Kansas: The septic tank shown (figure 53) is constructed of concrete, but it may be built of brick or masonry just as well. If of concrete, the mixture should be 1: 3: 5, mixed not too wet, and well tamped into place. If the tank is built of brick, the brick should be laid in rich cement mortar, all joints well filled, and the cross wall bonded in with tlxe side walls at every alternate course. In either case, after the mortar or concrete has had time to "set," the excess earth from the excavation should be well tamped around the sides, and the inside of the tank should be plastered with ^-inch coat of rich cement mortar. The inlet and outlet pipes and the siphon should be carefully set to tlie proper elevation shown on the drawing. It is important that the inlet and outlet pipes extend down below the water level to escape clogging by the scum which forms on top of the sewage. The top may be of concrete or wood, although wood is preferable on account of the fact that it may be so constructed that it may be all lifted off, affording ingress to the tank in case of stoppage. Ordinary 2 by 12 inch cypress lumber, with suitable 2 by 6 inch braces, are often used for roofs, with hinges on one side and a hasp on the other, for holding it closed. In case concrete is xised for the roof, a manhole should be placed in both the tank proper and the dosing tank for ingress to the tank. In any event, the ventilating pipe should be in place as shown. The siphon is necessary to the proper working of the system, for if the sewage is allowed to trickle out into the drain tile as it comes into the tank from tlie house, most of it will leach out into the soil at the first few open joints, causing the ground there to become sour and foul smelling, and the full efficiency can not be obtained. With the siphon working properly, the eflluent will be held in the dosing chamber until tlie proper elevation is reached, when it will all be rapidly discharged into the drain system. In order that a more complete description of the method of opera- tion of this form of siphon might be furnished than was given in the original published article (see Bulletin of the Kansas State Board of Health, No. II, November, 1913, pp. 215-219), a letter asking for this information was sent to Prof. Haskins. The following excerpt from his reply (December 17, 1913) will make its action clear: The siphon operates in the following manner: First, the siphon is set in the dosing chamber of the tank exactly to its proper position. Then the trap is filled with water, both legs holding water level with the top of the small \eg. The bell is then placed over the top of the long leg. As the water rises in the tank it reaches the bell, con- 156 KURAL SCHOQLHOUSES AND GROUNDS. \5ur/dce. ofQroatyd 4- 5«.wcr 4^ from H<9ci/c «• mclr .-Hie 3"5ab-irriqa+ion 5ep+icTank| i/frlbu+ina j> /or/o-hjr\\\'7AETHodopLAY«/i& ,A^ jVj.f{(]>R,AI/sTlL.B I/iTjGHTSoiU/ e.x+en-'ion DlSTRIBOTlOAi Box '~\ /^ Lea+her Washer 5lODQE Cl_eAAlOOT VAwUVE Tig. 52. hou/e. Uid with Fig. 53. -^z Fig. 54. Septic tank. Sewage-disposal plant for single residences and country schools. SANITARY PRIVIES. 157 fining a certain volume of air in the bell and the long leg of the trap; and as the water continues to rise, the confined air starts to push downward the column of water in the lonji; leg to the trap toward the bend at the bottom. During the period of filling the tank the column of water in the short leg is slowly spilled out by the pressure of the air and the colunm of water in the long leg, so that when the predetermined discharge level in the tank is reached we have the water line (the compressed-air column being behind it) just at the flattened bend at the bottom of the trap, the water line inside the bell being near the top of the long leg. Hence a balance of water columns exists, if no further water is admitted to the tank. This equilibrium is upset if a small amount of water is added to the tank, so that the air compressed in the trap by the water exjKiuds at the bend at the bottom and finds its way into the waste-outlet tiles, while the original pressure exists in the tank. As soon as this air escapes, the water in the bell suddenly rises and the siphon is set into action, the water in the tank being drawn rapidly down and discharged. When the water reaches the bottom of the bell at the discharge, air is introduced, breaking the vacuum, and a complete cii-culation is established and the siphon is completely air-locked again, the trap is primed, and everything is ready for a second dose to' be held back until the high-water line in the tank is again ready, and the discharge operation is repeated. The connection from the house to the tank should be of 4-inch vitrified sewer pipe of the bell-and-spigot type. It should be laid to an even grade and alignment, and great care should be taken to see that all the joints are well filled with cement mortar, with a full bevel. This is especially important if the line passes through a grove of trees or through a swamp or low land — in the first case to prevent the entrance of fine roots, which will in time clog the pipes; and in the second case, to prevent the infil- tration of ground water. The pipes for the distribution system should be sound, hard-burned, 3-inch agri- cultural drain tiles, in 1-foot lengths. If necessary to reach a desii'able location for the sub irrigation system, the siphon may discharge into a 4-inch sewer, laid the same as the house connection, but on a grade of not less than 2 feet in 100 feet, to a diverting box or manhole, out of which the drain tile may lead in one or more lines. They should be laid at a depth of from 1 foot to IS inches below the surface of the ground, and should be laid on a grade of 3 inches in 100 feet. This matter of grade, or "fall," should receive careful attention, since if the grade is too great the lower end of the pipe will receive more than its fair proportion of sewage, while if the grade is too email the upper end will receive too much. The length of this 3-inch pipe should be proportioned according to the nature of the soil. If the soil is quite open and sandy, approximately 200 feet will be sufficient for the sewage from an ordinary residence, while if the soil is of a closer texture, 300 or 400 feet, or even more, will be necessary. The system is not well adapted to very tight and retentive clay soils, though it has been used successfully for a time in soils of this character. A desirable, though somewhat costly, modification that has been successfully used in tight soils consists in digging the trench about 4 feet deep, filling the lower 3 feet or so with cinders or gravel, and then laying the 3-inch distribu- tion tiles at the surface of this porous filling material and covering them with about a foot of earth. The total length of distribution tiles deemed necessary for any par- ticular installation may be laid in one or more single lines extending out from the dosing chamber, or a single line may be divided into two or more branches, as indi- cated in the drawing. In case more than a single line is used, great care should be taken to see that each line receives its fair- share of the septic-tank effluent. Where the natural slope of the ground is steeper than the grade required by the distribution lines, these may be zigzagged down the hill. It should be the expectation that once in one to four or five years the tank will re- quire cleaning out, the freqaency depending largely upon the character of the sewage. 158 RUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES ANT> GROUNDS. The sludge taken from the tank at these cleaning periods will be found to be relatively small in amount, and may be best disposed of by running it into a trench or furrow and covering it over with soil. This cleaning out should be done in the fall of the year, if possible, as at this season the sludge in the tank possesses less odor and is less objectionable to handle than at other times. The sludge clean-out valve shown in the illustration may be built for this purpose, but it is not essential, as an ordinary "pitcher" pump may be used. It should also be expected that every few years the distribution tiles will have to be taken up and relaid in a new trench a few feet away from their former position. This is simply because there is a gradual choking up of the open spaces in the soil, with the result that the soil immediately adjacent to the pipes may become water- logged and sour. Particularly for those States where the rainfall is such that the water of the sewage, as well as its fertilizing constituents, has an appreciable value, the disposal schemes outlined above may have a considerable economic as well as important sanitary value. It is quite possible by this method to maintain in the driest region a large, well- fertilized and well-watered lawn. The process should be carried on entirely without odor, though, of course, the septic tank should be located at some little distance from the house — say 100 feet or more — if possible. Especially, the disposal plant should not be near any open well which is used as a source of water supply. This plant is automatic in operation, but, nevertheless, will require some care. It should be carefully inspected occasionally to see that the pipes are not stopped up, that the tank itself is not completely sludged up, and that the siphon is working properly. However, if the plant is-carefully built, according to the drawing and the directions included herein, it should give good general satisfaction. Recently a chemical toilet has been developed which is designed for indoor use where flushing toilets can not be introduced on ac- count of the lack of water supply or of sewage disposal. The closet is constructed, as will be seen by the illustrations (Pis. 41 A-B) of a steel cabinet finished to resemble wood. This incloses a galvanized container with a lid and the necessary handles for removing it and carrying it away. The toilet is prepared for use by introducing into it a chemical which is claimed to be " a powerful germicide, deodorant, and disinfectant." A circulation of air and an exhaust are pro- vided, so that no odors escape. Such a toilet as this, if really prac- ticable, may be introduced into a special room in a country school- house and the excreta may be carried away and deposited where no danger of odors or infection is posssible. This device has perhaps not yet been tested for a sufficient length of time to warrant the statement that it will satisfy all sanitary conditions, but it is worthy of careful consideration. APPENDIX. A HEALTH PROGRAM FOR COUNTRY CHILDREN. In their efforts to improve hygienic conditions in the schools and in the community, teachers frequently find som.^ assistance in a simply worded health program or creed for the individual child to apply to his own experience. The following is not intended as a final or exhaustive statement of such a program, but it is believed that by means of it the rural teacher may be able to drive home certain fundamentals in hygiene and sanitation that will ultimately mean much for good health in home, school, and community and make a direct contribution to the movement for better schoolhouses in the country. It is assumed that the teacher will select such of these items as seem most useful for her purpose and supplement them with illustrative examples from real life. LEST I FORGET. I believe that good health and a strong body are essential, and that the only real wealth is good health. In order that I may be strong and well, therefore, I will endeavor to observe the following rules of health: 1. I will keep my teeth clean by using my toothbrush every day. 2. I will drink no coffee or tea before I am 20 years of age, and no sort of alcoholic stimulants at any time in my life, unless ordered to do so by a physician. 3. I will chew my food thoroughly. 4. I will sleep at least nine hours each night in well-ventilated rooms winter and summer, or in an open-air sleeping porch. 5. I will bathe my whole body at least once a week and keep my face, hands, and nails clean. 6. I will strive daily to acquire a habit of self-control, habits of anger being not only wrong but unheal thful. 7. I will strive to help make my home as clean and sanitary as possible, especially to prevent contamination of the milk and drinking water. 8. I will do all I can to prevent the development of flies about the house in which I live, since they carry the germs of typhoid fever and other diseases. 9. I will do all in my power to prevent mosquitoes from breeding in or about the house I live in. I will bury or destroy all old tin cans, barrels, or other vessels wliich catch and hold rainwater and offer a place for mosquitoes to breed. I will help to drain all stagnant pools near my home or put kerosene oil on them once every 10 days during summer. TO. I will try hard to kill all rats and mice about my home, since they are both troublesome and dangerous, carrying, among other things, the bubonic plague, one of the most deadly of all diseases. 11. I will do all in my power to help secure sanitary toilets throughout the whok: neighborhood. 159 160 EUEAL SCHOOLHOUSES AND GEOUNiOS. 12. I will strive to keep the backyard of my house as clean and tidy as a front yard should be kept. 13. I will take no patent medicine, and will do all I can to teach people that most of it is both useless and harmful. 14. I will keep my personal life clean and pure, for it is a duty I owe to myself and to all who live now and may live in the future. 15. I will take good care of my eyes, taking special pains not to strain them by dreading at night or in bad light. 16. I will be careful about spitting, since disease is often spread in that way. 17. I will do all I can to help make our schoolhouse more attractive and to keep it clean and neat at all times. 18. I believe the best investment I can make for myself and my fanoily is to invesi in good health, a good education, and a clean moral life. 19. I will strive with all my power to make country life more healthful, more enjoyable, and more beautiful. I believe life in the country is finer and better than life in any city. INDEX. Air, good, necessity, 2. Alabama, sanitary survey, 23-2G. American Medical Association, report on health ])rol)lems, 1-5. Arkansas, sanitary survey, 23-26. Basements, country schoolhouses, 56-59. Blackboards, country schoolhouses, 22, 28-30, 50-52. Buildings. See Schoolhouses. Bureau of Education. See United States Bureau of Education. Children, country, health program, 159-160. Classrooms, size, country schoolhouses, 31-32. 46-47. Cleanliness, influence on physical health, 2. Cloakrooms, country schoolhouses, 33, 53, 117-118. Colorado, orientation of schoolhouse; sanitary survey, 23-26. Connecticut, sanitary survey, 28-33. Consolidation of rural schools, relation to schoolhouse construction, 126-130. Cooper & Bailey, plan of model rural school, 81. Cooperative work, teachers and pupils, 3. Corn clubs, work, 12. Cottages, teachers, 122-125. Country school program, relative to equipment, 10-16. Curriculum, country schools, 13-15. Drinking fountains, construction, 133-134. Equipment, relative to country-school program, 10-16. Farm life, conditions in the United States, 7-9. Farms, country school, experimental work, 123-124. Felt, J. H., jjlans for school buildings, 89. Floors, construction, country schoolhouses, 48-49; hygienic conditions, 20. Furniture, hygienic, 3. Grounds, hygienic condition, 18-19; location of, 3; sanitary survey of five States, 28. Harvey, Mrs. M. T., remodeling of Porter School, 120-121. Haskins, C. A., on septic tanks for toilets, 155-158. Health problems, report, 1-5. Heating, 33. Hygiene, progrdmforcoim try children, 159-160; typical rural schoolhouses and grounds, 17-33. Indiana, sanitary survey, 23-26. Insects, screening against, 3. Ittner, W. B., and model of floor plans, 77, 86. Janitors, service, 21. Kansas, sanitary privies for schoolhouses, 155 — 158. Kentucky, sanitary privies for schoolhouses, 153-155. Kernachan, W. J., on contamination of water supply, 140. Libraries, country schoolhouses, 53-56. Lighting, hygienic conditions, 19-20; necessity of good, 2-3; unilateral, country school- houses, 59-61. Location, country schoolhouses, 34-37. Manual training rooms, necessity for, 44, 127. 161 162 INDEX. Maryland, sanitaiy survey, 23-26, 28-33. Minnesota, sanitary survey, 23t-26. Missouri, sanitary survey, 23-26. Montana, sanitary survey, 23-26. National Council of Education, report on health problems, 1-5. Nebraska, sanitary survey, 23-26. New Jersey, sanitary survey, 28-83. New York, location of schoolhouses, 36-37; sanitary survey, 28-33. North Carolina, rural school farm, 12; sanitary survey, 23-26. North Dakota, sanitary survey, 23-26. Oklahoma, sanitary survey, 23-26. Orientation, schoolhouses, 38-41. Pennsylvania, district schools, summary of sanitary inspection, 26-27; sanitary survey, 23-26. Plans, rural schoolhouses, 62-114. Porter School, Missouri, reconstructing, 120-121. Preston, Josephine, on the development of teachers' cottages, 125. Privies, sanitary, country schools, 137-158. Remodeling, country schoolhouses, 115-121. Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradication of Hookworm Disease, work, 22. Rural life, some conditions and opportunities, 7-9. Schoolhouses (countxy), basements, 56-59; blackboards, 50-52; cloakrooms, 53, 117-118; doors, 52; floors, 48— i9; general considerations regarding beauty, 42-43; hygienic condition, 17-19; libraries, 53-56; orientation, 38-41; plans and models, 62-114; remodeling, 115-121; sanitary privies, 137-158; sanitary survey of five States, 31-33; size of classrooms, 46-47; unilateral lighting, 59-61; workrooms needed, 43^6. Schoolrooms, picture moldings, 52; walls, 49-50. Sewage, disposal, 2. Sites, country schoolhouses, 34-37. Social and moral welfare, 3-4. South Dakota, sanitary survey, 23-26. Southern States, consolidation of rural schools, 127. Teachers (rural schools), cottages, 122-125; home and farm, 15-16; letter from U. S. Bureau of Education; preparation for rural school work, 10-13. Tennsessee, sanitary survey, 23-26. Thermometers, lack of, 22-23. Toilet facilities, 22; sanitary survey of five States, 28-30. See also Plans. Transoms, country schoolhouses, 52. Transportation of children to school, 128. United States Bureau of Education, letter to rural school teachers, 17-18; plans and instructions for constructions of rural schools, 4. Vermont, sanitary survey, 28-33. Virginia, sanitary privies in schoolhouses, 140-142. Vision. See lighting. Wake County, N. C, consolidated country school, 130. Walls, country schoolhouses, construction and color, 49-50. Water supply, 2, 21, 131-136; sanitary survey of five States, 28-29. West Virginia, sanitary survey, 23-26. Windows, 32-33. Workrooms, lack of, 23; necessity for, country schoolhouses, 43-46. Zimmerman, V. C, and plan of school building, 94. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 2 A. MANUAL TRAINING UNDER DIFFICULTIES. ,4 .^S, is^- ^itt^P J|;|i'- 5. FOREST SCHOOL STUDENTS AT WORK IN THE LATH HOUSE IN THE RAJA YOGI SCHOOL, POINT LOMA, CAL. BUREIAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 3 .1. CORNER OF KITCHEN, RURAL SCHOOL IN LOUISIANA. B. DOMESTIC SCIENCE, RURAL SCHOOL IN LOUISIANA. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 5ULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 4 ^m^n^ ^^p^-'^^p^ii-- -^^wp ^. NEGRO SCHOOL, CAROLINE COUNTY, VA. A PRIZE GARDEN. B. SEWING. INDUSTRIAL WORK IN VIRGINIA COLORED SCHOOLS. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 5 A. FRONT VIEW, MODEL 1. B. REAR VIEW, MODEL 1. C. FRONT AND SIDE VIEW, MODEL 5. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 6 A. INTERIOR VIEW OF MODEL 1. B. INTERIOR VIEW, MODEL 2. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 5ULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 7 .1. SIDE VIEW OF MODEL 3. .*.. • I INTERIOR VIEW OF MODEL 3. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE A. INTERIOR VIEW, MODEL 5. B. BASEMENT PLAN, MODEL 5. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 9 J. MODEL 6. I B. FRONT VIEW, MODEL 4. C. GROUPING OF WINDOWS, MODEL 4. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 10 PERGOLA AND OPEN-AIR THEATER, MODEL 6. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 11 .1. A SOUTH CAROLINA RURAL SCHOOL. '•■■fl^jl^^^^^^BBBBI Hik 1 J ■«w!i^„ii) 1 •ik*--,.^ B. BLACKBERRY-HOLMBERG SCHOOL, DISTRICT NO. 1, ITASCA COUNTY, MINN. BUREAU OF EDUCATION ULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 12 VIEWS OF RURAL SCHOOL AT COCOANUT GROVE. FLA. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 13 A. MASONVILLE DISTRICT NO. 13, YAMHILL COUNTY, OREG. B. HIGH HILL SCHOOL, DARLINGTON COUNTY, S. C. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 5ULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 14 A. RURAL SCHOOL AT MARBURY, ALA. S. COMET SCHOOL, ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY, VA. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 15 .1. DISTRICT NO. 10, BOULDER COUNTY, COLO. B. LOGANSPORT, W. VA. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 5ULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 16 A. DISTRICT NO. 28, MOWER COUNTY, MINN. B. LOS PADILLAS, BERNALILLO COUNTY, N. MEX. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 17 J. DISTRICT NO. 31, BOULDER COUNTY, COLO. B. POTTER COUNTY, PA. The ever-present cupola, which the new rural school is avoiding BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE M A. A RURAL SCHOOLHOUSE ON THE PLAINS, DISTRICT NO. 23, CUSTER COUNTY, MONT. B. LACK OF SIMPLICITY MARS THE EFFECT OF AN OTHERWISE ATTRACTIVE BUILDING. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 19 .1. MODEL RURAL SCHOOL, CORYELL COUNTY, TEX. /?. THE NEW WILLOW DISTRICT SCHOOL, MENDOCINO COUNTY, CAL. BUILT IN 1911. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 20 A. MODEL RURAL SCHOOL, KIRKSVILLE, MO. £. MACHINERY IN BASEMENT OF MODEL RURAL SCHOOL, KIRKSVILLE, MO. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 21 A. REAR VIEW (SEE ALSO PLATE 1). B. SIDE AND REAR, CROSS ROADS SCHOOL, MACON COUNTY, ILL. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 22 A. CLASSROOM, SHOWING LIGHTING, CROSS ROADS SCHOOL. B. FRONT OF CLASSROOM, CROSS ROADS SCHOOL. BUREAU OF EDUCATION iULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 23 A. LOOKING INTO LIBRARY AND CLOAK ROOMS, CROSS ROADS SCHOOL. B. SEATING ARRANGEMENT, CROSS ROADS SCHOOL. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 24 A. "THE OLD AND THE NEW." DISTRICT NO. 9, CANANDAIGUA, N. Y. B. CLASSROOM IN CANANDAIGUA SCHOOL. BUREAU OF EDUCATION SULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 25 .1. CORNER OF THE HALL, NO. 9, CANANDAIGUA, N. Y. B. LIBRARY, WITH FIREPLACE, NO. 9, CANANDAIGUA, N. Y. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 25 A. A RURAL SCHOOL PLAYGROUND. B. WINDOWS AND LIGHTING, AUDUBON OPEN-AIR SCHOOL, LOUISVILLE, KY, BUREAU OF EDUCATION 5ULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 27 .4. UNITED STATES SCHOOL, ARCTIC ALASKA. P. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT SCHOOL ON LITTLE DIOMEDE ISLAND, ALASKA. BUREAU OF EDUCATION iULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 28 A. SCHOOL AT CHOGIUNG, WESTERN ALASKA. B. A FORMER ONE-ROOM SCHOOL IN MINNESOTA THAT BECAME A TEACHER s' COTTAGE. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 29 .1. PORTER SCHOOL. MAY 1, 1913. AN OLD BUILDING RENOVATED. n. PRIVY AT PORTER SCHOOL IN AUGUST, 1912. LATER REPAIRED. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 31 ^^^^^^^^lE^ 1 V f-sS ^p^^ ^ i^.:t jL-n_- SOUTH WALL OF PORTER SCHOOL ON FEBRUARY 20, 1913, SHOWING HOW CROSS LIGHTS ARE AVOIDED. B. ANOTHER INTERIOR VIEW OF THE REMODELED SCHOOL, MAY 1, 1913. BUREAU OF EDUCATION iULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 32 A. SOUTH SIDE OF BASEMENT, SHOWING IMPROVEMENTS. FEBRUARY 20, 1913. B. THE MODERNIZED BASEMENT OF PORTER SCHOOL. 5UREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 34 A. CLASSROOM, SILAS WILLARD SCHOOL, GALESBURG, ILL. i ^ — ^ i 1 ■^ i^^mmmmmmprnm-W--^^^^^^ ^XH^^^^S t^^^^^^^^^BH^^r ^ ■P^ !up. BW.iMi^^^y -^^ -^^JJPiBi wOl 'J .1 ^ r^H ^^ g 1 I^B £. CLASSROOM, SILAS WILLARD SCHOOL, GALESBURG, ILL. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 35 .1. CORRIDOR, SILAS WILLARD SCHOOL, GALESBURG, ILL, B. AUDITORIUM AND GYMNASIUM (IN BASEMENT), SILAS WILLARD SCHOOL, GALESBURG, ILL. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 35 A. CACHE LA POUDRE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL, COLORADO. B. WASHOE COMMUNITY SCHOOL, PAYETTE, IDAHO. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 37 TEACHER'S COTTAGE, RICHLAND COUNTY, S. C. SCHOOLBOYS IN WASHINGTON STATE TRANSFORMING AN OLD SCHOOLHOUSE INTO A MODERN COTTAGE FOR THE TEACHER. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 5ULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 38 A. TEACHER'S COTTAGE, PORTER SCHOOL, ADAIR COUNTY, MO. B. TEACHER'S RESIDENCE, MILL CREEK SCHOOL, RICHLAND COUNTY, S. C. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 39 i^^fcSSK?^^ .1. WASHINGTON RURAL SCHOOL; TEACHER'S COTTAGE IN CENTER. /;. COTTAGE FOR TEACHER; RURAL SCHOOL IN WASHINGTON STATE. Courtesy of Mrs. Josephine Preston, State Superintendent. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 40 A. MODEL RURAL SCHOOL. J, H. FELT & CO., ARCHITECTS, KANSAS CITY, MO. B. CLIMAX HIGH SCHOOL, PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, VA. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 5ULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 42 A SCHOOL PRIVY IN A WESTERN STATE. The only provision for the young woman teacher and pupils of both sexes. BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 19U, NO. 12 PLATE 43 DRINKING FOUNTAIN ATTACHED TO PUMP. BUREAU OF EDUCATION 5ULLETIN, 1914, NO. 12 PLATE 44 HOW WELL WATER MAY BE CONTAMINATED. BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION. [Note. — With the exceptions iixJicated, the dociinicnts issued below will l^e sent free of charge upon application to the Commissioner of Education, \\ a-shin^ton, D. C. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are no longer availaMo for free distribution, but may lie lia