m-M M' ■''''■ J'i *^ji;i;;i„-;,;:5' : ^;;..., ;;'/,'l, ;vf'|;|-.-''' Book Li 3 C < S ^ 55th Congress, ) SEI^ATE. ( Document 3d Session. j ( No. 65. PUBLIC SCHOOLS * OF THE f DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA REPORTS RELATIVE TO THEIR SANITARY CONDITION. January 17, 1899.— Presented by Mr. McMillan, and ordered to be printed. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 1899. JUN 13 1910 WASHiNaxoN, D. C, January 14, 1899. Sir : I am directed by tlie Civic Center to transmit to you the fol- lowing memorial, adopted November 7, 1898 : Whereas the results of a joint iuvestigatiou coDclucted by the committee on edu- cation of the Civic Center and the Collegiate Alumnje reveal many serious defects in the sanitary condition of the public schools in the city of Washington : Therefore, be it liesolved, That we, the Civic Center, respectfully pray the Senate and House of Rep- resentatives in Congress assembled for a careful consideration of the appropriations for the support of our public schools, so that the efforts of those in authority to improve the sanitary conditions and to lessen the dangers in the spread of diphtheria, scarlet fever, and other infectious diseases may not be frustrated by insufticient appropriations. I also transmit herewith a report on the sanitary condition of the public schools in the city of Washington, embodying the results of a joint investigation conducted by the committee on education of the Civic Center and the Collegiate Alumnae, together with reports on the influence of school life upon the health of children by Drs. William W. Johnston, S. Nor dhoff- Jung, Samuel S. Adams, and George M. Kober. Very respectfully, Katharine P. Hosmer, Corresponding Secretary. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman Committee on the District of Columbia, U. S. Senate. 3 EEPOET OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION OF THE CIVIC CENTER AND THE COLLE- GIATE ALUMNA ON THE SANITARY CONDITION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, AND THE DISCUSSION THEREON NOVEMBER 7. 1898. 1. lutrodnction. By Dr. Murray Gait Hotter. 2. The sanitary condition of the public schools. By Mrs. Alia B. Foster. 3. The influence of school life upon the health of children. By William W. John- ston, M. D. 4. The influence of school life upon the teacher. By Sofie A. Nordhofl^'-Jung, M. D. 5. Some of the causes of so-called school diseases found in the home. By Samuel S. Adams, M. D. 6. Many of the causes of so-called school diseases found in the school. By George M. Kober, M. D. REMARKS OF DR. MURRAY GALT MOTTER, CHAIRMAN, IN OPEN- ING THE ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING OF THE CIVIC CENTER, HELD IN THE CHAPEL OF THE CHURCH OF THE COVENANT, WASHINGTON, D. C, MONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 7, 1898. The Civic Center, believing it to be the duty of citizens to inform themselves of their city's condition and needs and to take action there- upon, is designed to serve as a civic club for the centralization of all such effort, bringing together and cooperating with those who are will- ing to devote some portion of their time to the solution of modern municipal problems. The organization does not seek to displace, an- tagonize, duplicate, or rival any other organization, large or small, which aims at the welfare of the city. It will have as its object the attain- ment of the highest municipal standards and will study problems to which sufficient attention and consideration have not been given. It may not be out of place to state just here that the annual mem- bership fee is but $1, and all interested are eligible to membership. Our expenses are by no means so large as they are necessary. The jjurely disinterested character of the work, the earnestness and enthu- siasm of the workers, and the generosity of some who, while not of us are yet with us in spirit, have enabled us to keep the expense account. loAV. Postage, stationery, and sometimes printers' ink, are essentials, while occasionally we must employ skilled labor, which hitherto our large aims and small means have secured at a cost merely nominal. 5 6 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Work such as we have in hand demands a large expenditure of time, energy, and thought. From the painstaking and careful exhibition to be made this evening you will, I am sure, be convinced that it is capa- ble of making' a large and profitable return. The broad and comprehensive aims of this organization may be under- stood through a brief review of the work of some of its departments. The municipal department has for its field the consideration of gen- eral numicipal affairs, taxation and expenditure, the exec^ition of exist- ing laws, and regulations and plans for needed legislation. One of the most imiDortaut undertakings here has been the abolishment of the slums existing in the alleys and the converting of the alleys in large blocks into minor streets, thereby changing the blocks into those of normal size. One needs but to refer to our local papers to find these alleys the hotbeds of murder and rape, arson and theft, assault and battery, drunkenness and debauchery, criminality and lawlessnes of all kinds and degrees in our very midst. The alley question has been the sub- ject of study for several years, and a large work yet remains to be done. Following a preliminary investigation in 1895, we had in 1896 ]\Iiss de Graft'eureids report on Typical Alley Houses, and in 1897 the small apartment houses erected by the Sanitary Improvement Company. The first census of the alley population has been taken, but up to this time it has been well-nigh impossible to get accurate and reliable data of the gruesome details of alley life. It is one thing to say, in general terms, that the criminal class lives and moves and has its being amid these wretched surroundings; it is quite another to show from court or police records that there have been murders in Chester court and Madison alley: a fight resulting in a frac- tured skull in Logan court; a policeman assaulted in Dingmau alley, and his assailant caught in Jackson alley; a resident of Fighting alley convicted of keeping a "speak easy;" the keeper of a similar ranch in Glick alley failing of conviction — to the astonishment and indignation of the judge, be it said — because of the utter distortion of testimony before the jury. These, with two exceptions, are all recent cases, but we need far more such definite data before we can ask that this or that alley be purged. The sanitary department has for its field, among other subjects, the improvement of the sanitary laws, pure food and water sujiply, garbage and sewage disposal, etc. In spite of all our knowledge of water-borne diseases, many of us are still drinking the foul, unfiltered Potomac water. At the recent session in this city of the Society for Municipal Improvement, the advocates of our present system of sewage disposal were placed rather on the defensive. That our national capital should discharge its sewage into an oi>en stream is a travesty of modern sani- tary methods and a menace to all its neighborhood. It Mas said that at the present rate of progress the system would probably be completed in 1925. Let us hope rather that the completion of this system be even more indefinitely posti)oned and, meantime, let us work for a more decent, orderly, and healthful disposal of these products. The charities department has for its field the modern treatment of charity matters and pauperism. The spectacle of our numerous amor- phous institutions, supported in large part by public funds but con- trolled wholly by private interest, is such as no business man would tolerate in the administration of his own affairs. Imagine the condi- tions reversed — the funds supplied from private sources entirely and the Government demanding control. What a howl of protest would arise, and yet, this would be no more unjust than the present arrange- PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 7 ment. What a curious conditiou of aifairs it is, wlieu a number of would-be charitable individuals may band themselves together for the purpose of appealing to Congress to give alms in their name and to their glory. The reports of our District superintendents of charities aftbrd such food for reflection as might well give the whole civic center an attack of mental dyspepsia. The sincerity of men who, from the exigencies of the situation, are impelled to urge their own official decapitation, in order to the appointment of a board of charities, is hardly to be doubted. Have we nothing to offer in their support*? The enactment of a law providing for the compulsory support of children by parents would relieve the city of an item of expense by no means small, and the way of charity organization workers would be made clear and smooth. The educational department has for its field the promotion of school work in those branches which are not sufiiciently developed. It is to the work of this department that your attention is more especially invited this evening. The sanitary conditions of our scliools and the effect of school life upon the health of scholars are subjects of vital importance; this phase of the subject will now be presented to you. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION OF THE CIVIC CENTER AND THE COLLEGIATE ALUMNiE ON THE SANITARY CONDITION OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. \ By Mrs. Alia B. Fo-ster, ch.iirman of the joint committee. Members of the joint committee of the Washington Branch of the Association of Collegiate Alumn;e and the Civic Center: Mrs. Alia B. Foster (chairman), Mrs. Tlieo. L. Cole (vice chairman). Dr. Emilie Y. O'Brien, Mrs. Charles C. Darwin, Mrs. Robert B. Warder, Mrs. George E. Patrick, Mrs. Sara Smith, Miss Ellen Hedrick, Miss Francis Chick- eriug, and Miss Ellen A. Vinton. About a year ago a joint committee, composed of members of the public school committee of the Civic Center and the Collegiate Alumnse, turned their attention toward the sanitary condition of the public schools. As mothers, liousekeepers, or educators, they had long felt dis- satisfied with many existing conditions, particularly in the older build- ings. They felt sure that both school and District officials were doing the best they could, but that they were sadly hampered by lack of funds. The committee thought that an exhaustive examination of the condi- tion of the school buildings and grounds and a careful tabulation of the facts gleaned would call the attention of Congress and the public to the most pressing needs of the schools, and possibly help the authori- ties in securing the appropriations so much needed for repairs and new buildings. In this helpful and friendly spirit the committee set about securing the necessary permission, and everywhere were met most kindly and courteously. All District and school officials whom it was found necessary to consult aided the cominittee in every way possible, and we feel very grateful for the kindliness and courtesy shown. The questions were modeled after those used three years ago by the Boston Collegiate Alumna', and consist of two sets, the one for the building as a whole, comprising 150 questions as to site and surround- ings, condition of building, basement, sauitaries, heating, ventilation, 8 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF ( OLUMBIA. eleaniug, and 10 questions on health. The other set relates to each room in each building, treating of the cubic air space, light, temper- ature, ventilation, position of tlues and blackboards, condition of room as to cleanliness, presence or absence of odors, position of windows, etc. These last questions were kindly sent out by the superintendents and answered by the teachers, and were tabulated by Mr. Weber, of the bureau of labor. The committee has visited everyone of the S3 buildings named in the report, has inspected carefully every part of them, jotting down the answers to the questions as they received them, by observation generally and otherwise through the principal or Janitor. The work has taken somewhat over a year, was most carefully done, and the statements made in the report are without doubt exhaustive and accurate. BUILDING SITES OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Fifty-five of the buildings are reported as being built on ground higher than the surrounding land, 12 on a slope, 23 on a level, and 13 on lower ground. Forty-eight report the soil as dry and porous, 33 that the soil retains moisture; 55 report the drainage good; 27 as poor. SURROUNDINGS. Fifty-one have good surroundings; 31 report objectionable surround ings, such as filthy yards adjoining or drainage from adjoining yards. These conditions should be bettered and the objections removed as soon as possible. Others report odors from gas house; street or steam railways too near; a noisy steam saw near the Phillips makes much disturbance; red-clay streets in front of the Maury and the Payne keep the buildings dirty. Five report standing water near by ; 5 report stables near — there are 12 stables within one block of the Thomson ; 4 report adjoining vacant lots used as dumps, one near the Threlkeld having garbage deposited on it. The Bell is on a street paved with cobblestones, and the noise of passing wagons often interferes with the hearing of recitations. The Potomac is particularly unfortunate in being near several stables, the railroad, and fish wharves. Four of the buildings, the Potomac, Addison, Phillips, and (larnet, are only 10 feet from 2-story buildings; the Force is 10 feet from a 1^-story building ; the Thomson Joins a 3-story building on one side, and is 12 feet from a 2-story building on another side; the Patterson adjoins a 3-story school building; the Mott annex materially darkens the carijenter shop and the third-grade school above it. Twenty-three of the buildings are near unpaved streets, which are never watered and infrequently cleaned. It would be well if the proper authorities would see that streets adjacent to school buildings are paved as soon as practicable. PLAYGROUNDS. Eight buildings are reported as having no playgrounds, and for 14 they are too small, a most unfortunate condition of affairs in both instances. For 28 schools the i)laygrounds are of medium size, and in only 28 were they reported as ample. It is to be hoped that in future the purchase of schoolhouse sites may include sufficient ground to admit of large and well-planned playgrounds, which are so essential. Forty-seven of the playgrounds are reported as sunny and dry, PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 9 and 17 as simuy, not dry. Yonr committee think it would be wise if in future all playgrounds could be properly drained and paved with, concrete. PENNY SHOPS. Penny shops were found near 48 buildings; 35 were reported as hav- ing none near by. The Central and Eastern High, the Blake, Threlkeld, Towers, Banneker, Briggs, Douglass, Jones, and Slater have from 4 to 6 penny shops in tbe same square. The articles sold are enumerated as "doughnuts, confectionery, bakery goods, cakes, pie, buns, oranges, l)op corn, fruit, biscuit, bread, pickles, candy, gum." Pickles are sold in 25 shops, candy in 42, gum in 12. At time of inspection cigarettes were found in penny shops near the John F. Cook, Loveioy, McCormick, Slater, Threlkeld, Towers, Tyler, Wallach, Crancli, and Giddings, and cigarettes were given away in one shop near the Ciales to those who bought cakes. There was a barroom reported near the Briggs, into which school children sometimes went. One examiner designated articles sokl as "wholesome and unwhole- some," another as "regulation stuff." It is to be hoped that the Com- missioners may see tit to restrict these objectionable j)euny shops, 128 of them in all. AGE AND CONDITION OF BUILDINGS. The Threlkeld has been built 50 years; the Wallach, 34 years; the Stevens and John F. Cook, 30 years; the McCormick and Franklin, 29 years; the Potomac, 28 years; the Seaton, Sumner, Lincoln, and a part of the Mott, 27 years; the Cranch and Randall, 26 years. Fourteen schools were built in 1889, the Smead dry closet being placed in all but one of them. Since then 24 schools have been built, 5 of them this year. While 4() show an attendance less than built for, 33 of the buildings are reported as housing more j)upils than they were intended to accommo- date. The Pierce, built in 1894, has been using for two years as an annex a small room in a church, accommodating 2 schools daily, heated by stoves, with no ventilation except by windows, with small closet in yard in poor condition. The yard is reported as smelling foul, and a receptacle for ash dumj)s. The three hall rooms in the Peabody, used last year as schoolrooms, are occupied again this year for sewing school and kindergarten. These rooms are very deficient in air space, giving only 188 cubic feet for each pupil, instead of the 250 cubic feet considered necessary. Two of them are lighted by two windows at one side only, the other by three win- dows at one side. Two of them are reported as having no sunlight in the rooms, yet these rooms are being used in spite of the addition of the new 8-roomed annex near by. The authorities have been trying for some time to secure sufiicient appropriation so that the Potomac, High Street, Thomson, Threlkeld, Lovejoy, and McCormick might be either abandoned or rebuilt, but without avail so far, and these buildings are still in use in all their unsightly and unsanitary condition. The age of the High Street school is unknown. It is heated by stoves, ventilated by windows; its basement lioors are of broken and cracked asphalt and ijartly covered with old desks, barrels, stoves, etc. Outside clothes are hung on hooks in the schoolrooms. The inside staircase and halls are of wood, as is the rest of the building, and on 10 • PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. the south side the only staircase is an outside wooden one. Tbe pupils for that side must go over a wooden bridge to reach the tirst-tloor land- ing. Those on the second Hoor of that side go still farther and uj) the staircase. In case of tire this building would be a veritable death trap. The closets are in the rear of the yard, of the old trough pattern. Tlie boys' closet is reported as foul suielliug and the girls' closet as having no water in it. The girls' closet is immediately adjacent to a public sidewalk on three of its sides. The Potomac is equally as bad, except for the danger from fire, heated by stoves, ventilated by windows, and badly out of repair. "When i)upils on the upper floor are going through the health exercise the whole building vibrates in a shocking manner." The building has no modern improvements and has twice been condemned. The examiner for the Thomson reports: This is an old piivate house, entirely unsuitable lor school purposes. Fhiors will not hold nails, and are so old they could never look clean. The Threlkeld and Lovejoy are heated by stoves, ventilated by win- dows only, and have old, rusty, foul trough closets and urinal. The McCormick was built twenty-nine years ago, has antiquated Smead dry clo.sets, practically no ventilation. The double doors swing- inward. One corner of the basement is always damp. There are no playgrounds, and the boys play in their closet room in bad weather. The boys' urinal is adjacent to the sink from which drinking water is drawn. MATERIAL OF BUILDINGS. The material of all buildings is of brick, except for the High Street and i^art of the Mott, which are of wood. NUMBER OF STORIES HIGH. Forty-seven of the buildings are --story, 45 having basements; 35 are 3-story, 32 having basements. Fifty buildings are reported as having stone and iron stairways; 33 have not. FIRE DRILLS. Thirty-two buildings have tire drill; 51 do not; of the colored schools have tire drill on(;e a week; 23 buildings having wooden stairs and halls have no fire drill. Eleven of the 3-story buildings have no fire escape. They are the Central High, Eastern High, Colored High, Berret, Cranch, Lovejoy, Seaton, Stevens, Wallach, Eandall, and John F. Cook. The Eastern High and John F. Cook have wooden stairs, but have fire drill. The Cranch and Kandall have wooden stairs and have no tire drill. Some of the teachers say that the daily orderly marching out (which is done beautifully, by the way,) is an elfectual tire drill, it may be true, as one of the officials remarked, that the stone stairs are better fire escapes than the swinging ladders outside, upon which the pupils are never allowed to step; but it would seem wiser to equip each 3story building with an adequate tire escape, and then have an occasional fire drill in every building, allowing the pupils in the 3-story buildings to use the fire escai)es, so that they may become familiar with them. PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 11 ARRANGEMENT OF DOOES. The ordiuary wooden storm door, such avS is found at the Lenox, Blake, Brent, Morse, Seaton, and Twining, seems very objectionable. The doors are in the ends, at right angles to the doors of the building proper. One of them is generally kept locked, and there would be great danger from overcrowding in time of jjanic or fire. The broad stone porticoes, deej) enough to be a shelter and open enough to be safe, found on the Buchanan and the Bruce are nuich to be preferred, and are much more ornamenta]. CLOAKROOMS. Most of the schoolrooms have cloakrooms adjacent, ventilated and Avarmed in the same way as the rooms. Sixty-three buildings are reported as having ample cloakrooms; 17 buildings have crowded cloakrooms. Those in the Cranch, Lovejoy, and Lincoln are especially undesirable, being dark, crowded, and with no means of ventilation. In the Jackson, the Mott, and the Grant the hooks are reported as too close together, a defect which might be easily remedied by the janitor. 1^0 adequate provision is made for drying clothes in rainy weather. No attempt is made to keep wraps from coming in too close contact. An experiment is being put in at the Toner, one of the new buildings. The chairman of the committee visited this building, and it is her opinion that the cloakrooms or closets are so narrow and the hooks so close together that in order to make the register at the top of the closet and the foul-air flue at the bottom effective there would be too much of a draft in the schoolroom, making the system practically useless. The individual boxed lockers at the new Western High seem much to be preferred. They cost more, of course, but ought not the grade schools to be treated as well in the matter of sanitation and ventilation as the high schools 1 BASEMENTS. All but 4 of the 83 buildings are built with basements, and in 75 of these basements play rooms are provided for use in cold or stormy weather. The necessity for airy, well-lighted, well-ventilated base- ments, free from dampness, is apparent. The height of the basement walls, with height above ground, varies with the age and location of the building. The basements of the Brent, Lincoln, Abbot, and McCormick are each 8 feet, with 4 feet above. The basements of the Amidon, Force, Banneker, Grant, Webster, Thomson, and Peabody are each feet, with from 2 to 7 feet above. Thirty six buildings have basements 10 feet high, with from 4 to 6 feet above; 7 are 11 feet; 17 are 12 feet. The Blake, Douglass, Miner, Slater, and Towers have basements 14 feet high. The Adams and Johnson have 15-foot basements. The two schools built last year — the Bowen and Hayes — have each 12-foot basements, with G feet above. Almost without exception these basements have windows on two sides that are accessible and can be opened daily. Many of them are not opened, however. The windows vary in size from 2 by 2i feet in the Webster, giving only 5 square feet to each window, to 4 by 8 feet in the Franklin, giving 32 sciuare feet to each window. The most of the win- dows are 3 by 4 feet or 4 by 4 feet, ample for the proper ventilation of basement and halls if used properly, i. e., opened at least once each day. 12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. CONDITION OF WALLS AND FLOORS. Fifty basements Lave walls always dry; 1*9 have walls damp. In several of the bnildings, notably tbe JJrookland and Hayes, the Hoors are always damj) because of an underlying- bed of clay. The remedy for this would be adequate outside drainage and cement tloors. The Johnson, which was built on a clay bank, was lurnished with an out- side layer of waterproof cement on the basement walls, but unfortu- nately the brick wall was built just a little lower than the cement was spread, and the result is floors always damp. The replacement of wooden tloors, rotted out by continued dami>ness, by other wooden lioors, without the concrete underneath, seems to be a waste of time and money; yet this has been done in several instances. In a hutried examination of the five new buildings (which are not included in our report, our insjtectiou having closed last ^lay) the com- mittee was i^leased to note the absence of brick lioors in the basements, the clean- looking and much more sanitary concrete taking its place, PLAY KOOMS. In 5S of the buildings the jday rooms are reported as dry and suunj', properly floored and ventilated; 4 are reported as dark; 11 as sunny, but not dry. The play rooms in the Banneker are neither dry nor sunny, and are poorly ventilated. In 50 buildings the closets are also in the basenumt, and are often used as play rooms in cold weather, particularly when the Smead dry closet is the type used, as the stack fires partially heat the closet rooms and the play rooms proper are unheated. SANITARIES, Four of the 8;> buildings examined have the modern water-closets; 7 have the Mott autonuitic fiushing tank; 31 have the long trough, flushed by the Janitor and trapped at one end; o7 have the Smead dry closets, and 4 the iSmead water-closet. The trough closets are very objectionable, being generally found rusty, ill smelling, and with a large amount of fouling surface impossible to be kept clean. We are glad to report that $2."'),000 of the $42,()()() asked for last year for plumbing repairs, and which this committee helped to secure bj' letters and i)ersonal appeals to the proper authorities, was granted, and is being used partially in substituting modern water-closets for the trough system in the Cranch, Force, Franklin, Jefferson, John F, Cook, Sumner, Lincoln, and Banneker, It is to be regretted that the Morse, Twining, and several others were not included in this list. SMEAD DRY CLOSET, The Smead dry closets, in use in 37 of the buildings, are located in two of the basement rooms of the building. The seats are on a raised platform, protected by a low partition. These closets have side parti- tions, with no doors, and long undivided urinal troughs, giving very little chance for privacy or the cultivation of modesty. The closet vaults are adjacent to and communicate with the foul-air chamber, where the foul heated air from the schoolrooms is supposed to be col- lected by devious and twisted channels, passed over the vault to aid in drying up the excreta, and out through the foul-air opening, which is heated by the stack fire. The excreta is removed but once a year. PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 13 during vacation. The danger from back drafts is not only possible, bnt probable, and, as the District chemist has so well said in his report on the heating and ventilation of schools, page 68 of Volume III, year of 1897 : The most serious defect seems to liave been the attempt to comhine at all this system with that of heating and ventilating, systems which are diametrically opposed to each other and have no connection between them. For why should we constantly be running the danger of a backward draft; and why should the teachers and pupils be constantly blockaded behind closed doors and windows when there is no neces- sity; and why should the atmosphere be poisoned and the soil polluted merely for the sake of retaining excreta upou the premises? With this part of the system removed back drafts lose part of their terror. The District chemist examined 23 of the school buildings, 10 of these containing the Smead dry closets, and in G of these 10 negative cur- rents were found passing from room to room. We would urge the speedy replacement of these dry closets, which are unsanitary and unsafe, with luodern water-closets. Only seven of the closets have slat doors, three have no partitions whatever, and several of them have slight side partitions. We were glad to note that all closets in the new buildings erected this year are furnished with slat doors and 18 inch partitioned urinals, and are of an approved type of water-closet. URINALS. The Business High and Brookland schools have broad slate urinals, well washed, not partitioned. The Seaton has an enameled iron, and the Webster a porcelain, well washed. The Payne, Douglass, and Green- leaf have broad slate urinals, well washed, with 10-inch partitions, which would seem to be too narrow for privacy. The plumbing inspector examined all of the closets and plumbing in the public schools during the fall of 189G and the spring of 1897. He reported 2, schools, the Potomac and Sumner, as defective; 32 poor, 11 of them requiring minor repairs; 30 in fair condition; 18 as good, and 1, the Eastern High, as in excellent condition. His .opinion was based partially on the kind of sewers found, there being thirty-three terra- cotta sewers. Twelve of these are shortly to be replaced by the regula- tion iron sewer. New slate urinals with 2 1 -inch partitions and an automatic flush are to be put in 13 of the buildings. This leaves 02 buildings still with the old objectionable type of urinals, undivided, rusty, uncleanly. Twenty-seven of the buildings have no teacher's closets. The Twin- ing and Morse are particularly wanting in conveniences, having not even a small room or a lounge for the use of a sick teacher or pupil. There is too great a contrast between the old and the new buildings in the matter of teachers' accommodations and lack of privacy in the pupils' closets. This could be remedied with a comparatively small outlay, and ought to be done as speedily as possible. Most of the sinks and water-closets are properly trapped and vented, the vent pipe extending above the the roof; but the plumbing in the Cranch, Garnet, Miner, and Potomac is nntrapped; the vent pipes in the Brent, Gales, Morse, and Webster are probably inoperative, and the vent pipe of the Weightman stops in the attic. The majority of the schools have insufficient closet facilities. In the Potomac school there are 9 pupils for each closet seat; in the Phelps and High street, 10; in the Berret, 11. Twenty-three schools have from 12 to 20 pupils to a closet; 36 schools have from 20 to 30; 14 14 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THF. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. scliools have from 30 to 40, while the Seaton has 40, the Brent 43, and the Tyler 46 pupils to each closet seat. When pui)ils receive permis- sion to go to the closet during- school hours they are generally kept after school. This seems to be an unwise and unjust rule, especially in schools having inadequate closet room. Toilet paper is furnished in two of the high schools. The commit- tee are of the opinion that the furnishing of toilet paper to all schools would assist in the formation of habits of cleanliness and would possi- bly' save considerable outlay now expended in clearing the pipes from unsuitable material thrown into them. HEATING. Fifty-five of the buildings are heated by Smead furnaces, 23 by steam, and 5 by stoves. The air for the furnaces is generally drawn from out of the door, near the ground, into clean, whitewaslied air chambers sit- uated back of the furnaces. In buildings having Smead dry closets in the basements, ventilated by stacks, the foul air from the stacks sometimes falls to the ground in muggj' weather and is drawn into the cold-air chambers in i)lace of the pure air. Two Janitors rejxtrted that on damp days they could smell the foul odors from the stack when standing in front of the windows to the air chambers. The rooms are generally furnished with thermometers, which the teachers consult frequently. In a very few of the rooms thermometers were found suspeny far the greater number of rooms have from 5 to 7 windows each. Following is a summary of the positions of the windows as reported by the teachers : Side, front, and rear, 4 rooms; side and rear. 057 rooms; side and front, 9 rooms ; rear and front, 1 room ; side, 00 rooms. Light was reported insufficient on bright days in 3 cases, in Mott, Gavnet, and Lincoln schools, and in 1 case, in Crancli school, as barely suflticient. The rooms in the Lincoln school are .su})plied with enough windows, but the walls are covered with a dark-blue kalsomine, which probablj' accounts for the insufticient light. In 27 cases the light was reported insufticient on cloudy days. In 3 cases " scarcely sufljcient,"' and in 1 case " very poor." In all other cases teachers either reported " sufficient light on bright and cloudy days'' or failed to answer the question. In only S cases was gas or electricity used on account of insutticient light. One teacher in Garnet school reported that artificial light was needed all day, and one in Central High "on every dark day during entire session.'' EYE TROUBLES. Trouble with children's eyes was reported in 28 cases, but in some of these teachers state that they do not know the cause. In 1 case it was removed when curtains were api)lied, and in 1 case it was due to excessive light. In 1 case it was attributed to cross light, and in others when children faced blackboards between or near windows. In only 57 out of 747 rooms teachers report no blackboards between windows or on the same wall with them. Of the other schoolrooms, 12() cases were reported where children were re(juired to look at such blackboards, r)S where they were occasion- ally required to do so, 148 where such boards were rarely used, 7 where they were used when blinds were properly adjusted, and 15 cases where children were not required to look at them long. It seems to the committee that light could be better regulated if all windows were supplied with double curtains instead of the inside blinds now used. The curtains would be mn<'h cheaper, and many teachers have ex])ressed the desire that they might be snbstituted for the blinds. It \^ould seem that blackboards between windows should be used very rarely, and then only when the adjacent windows are well shaded. Teachers in some schools do not permit short-sighted children to change i)osition in order to correctly copy work to be taken home. The child probably copies the problems inaccurately, brings wrong answers, and is blamed for it, when the teacher is the only one at fault. In 32 out of 747 cases teachers re])orted that there was no sunlight in the rooms during the day. In the other cases the responses to the question, " What part and how long?" varied greatly, from "ahalf horn- in the morning" to "nearly all day." CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. Forty of the ^li buildings reported 1 or more cases of contagious diseases last year, diphtheria or scarlet fever, or both, being in 32 build- ings and measles in 10 of them. Of these 40 buildings 28 are heated PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 17 arid ventilated by the Sraead system, 9 by steam, and 3 by stoves. Twenty of these buildings have the Smead dry o-loset in the basement, 17 have the old trough, 2 are the Smead water-closets, and only 1 is an automatic flushing tank system. This seems to be an additional argu- ment for getting rid of the Smead dry closets. DEATHS IN SCHOOLS. Statistics of deaths are not complete, because after a pupil has been absent three days he forfeits his seat and is no louger a member of the school. Forty-six of the schools either reported no deaths or the teachers did not know. Of the other 36, 17 reported 1 death, 9 reported 2 deaths, 7 reported 3 deaths, the Douglass reported 0, the Mott 7, and the Towers 7 or 8. DRINKING WATER. The water is generally drawn from sinks in the basement, being city water. Pour schools report using wells; 10 are furnished with filters; 5 of the schools report their pui)ils as furnishing their own drinkiug cups. In 9 schools there are 5 to 25 pupils to each cup; in 17 schools 25 to 50 pupils to each cup; in 24 schools 50 to 100 pupils to each cup; in 13 schools 100 to 200 pupils to a cup; in the Colored High School there is 1 cup for each 225 pupils; in the Garnet 250 pupils to a cup, and in the Mott 273 i^upils to a cup. This great difference in the supply of drinking cups would seem to be partly the result of carelessness on the part of teachers or janitors. One janitor said he was supplied with new drinking cups whenever he made requisition for them. Other janitors could probably secure them in the same way. The problem of supplying drinkiug water to a school in the most expeditious and cleanly way has been a troublesome one and much puzzled over by various interested people; but it seems to have been at least partially solved in the new Peabody annex, built this year, where a small drinking fountain has been placed in each cloak room, and the committee could not help wondering why this was not done in all of the new buildings. PROMOTION BASED ON HEALTH. Only eight principals of buildings report that promotion is based somewhat on the iDupils' physical condition. MALARIA IN SCHOOLS. The Eastern High, Bnchanan, Cranch, McOormick, and Potomac report a prevalence of malaria. The examiner states that there was hardly a pupil from the southeast attending the Eastern High that had not been excused during the year on account of malaria. The principal of the McCormick school reports 100 cases of malaria in that school last year. BOOKS. All pupils of high schools buy their own books, but all books are furnished in the grade schools. But few parents care to buy books for their children. Eight of the 79 grade schools report that a very few of their pupils furnish their own books. A pupil is given a set of books at the beginning of the year, which S. Doc. 65 2 18 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. are his for tbat year. The next year, if lie be so fortunate as to pass on to the next grade, some other pupil falls heir to his last year's books, he in turn receiving some other i)upil's cast-ott' set. Some sets of books, such as music readers, nature and health primers, are used indiscriminately by several schools in the building. This is an unsatisfactoiy and uncleanly method of using books and often pro- ductive of contagion. All pupils who are able to do so should be required to fnrnish their own books, the District providing books for those who are not able to buy for themselves. If this most desirable arrangement can not be brought about, the books should at least be thoroughly disinfected from year to year. This might be accomplished by inclosing books in a case into which fumes of formalin are forced so rapidly as to completely separate and disinfect each leaf of each book. VISITING PHYSICIANS. The committee would strongly urge the appointment of visiting phy- sicians, who would inspect the pupils of each building every day. By this means ailing children would be more i)romptly cared for and the danger from spreading contagious diseases would be reduced to a minimum. THE INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL LIFE UPON THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN.- By WilliaiJi W. Johustoii, M. D. In 1890-07 there were 10, 258,000 children in the schools of the United States. Of these 14,724,(J00 were in public and 1,513,000 in private schools. This was an increase of 257,806 over the previous year, the added number being wholly in the public schools, attendance in the private schools being actually less. In support of this vast scheme of education there was an annual i)er capita expenditure of $2.50 and the estimated value of school ])roperty was .$400,000,000. In the District of Columbia there were in attendance on the public schools in 1870-71, 15,157 children, and in 189G-07, 42,995. HEALTH AND EDUCATION. It might be assumed that school life, with its restraints and other conditions, w^ould have some intiuence upon the normal bodily develop- ment of the child. What this intiuence is has been detinitely studied in live investigations in Europe. These Ave, arranged according to date, were: (1) Hertel's investigations in Denmark, 1881; (2) Danish com- mission (Hertel), 1882; (3) Swedish commission (Axel -Key), 1883; (4) British [)arliamentary commission (Crichton-Browne), report i)ublished in 1884; (5) Warner's investigation in England, reported in 1892. The facts collected in these live investigations give information as to *I am indebted to Ur. (ieorge \V. Johnston for the preparation of the aceonipany- iiig charts and fur the collection of the fi<;ures from the original .sources upon which they are based. The lirat part of this i)aper, dealing with observations as to the health of children in the schools of this country and Europe, was in great ])art pre- pared by him; and I wish to exjiress my obligations to him for the great care and intelligence shown in translation and tabulation and in the conclusions drawn from the statistics of ditferent countries. PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 19 the health of 104,629 school children (62,332 boys and 42,297 girls) of different ages, of all social conditions, rich and poor, from city and country. Additional important inquiries were published by Combe in Lausanne in 1892, 3,650 children in all being studied; by Nesteroff in Moscow in 1890, 216 children; by Zahor in Prague, 1888, 1889, 1890, 4,892 children; and by Hakonsen-Hansen in the preliminary report of the Norwegian commission under Faye and Held in 1894. METHODS OF INQUIRY. The methods pursued in these different investigations varied in different countries. In England scholars were subjected to inspection while at work and play, and both they and their teacbers were ques- tioned. This plan is open to criticism, and the unfavorable comments of the chief inspector of schools, who accompanied Crichton-Browne, seem to be not without justice. In Denmark and Sweden the plans were essentially the same and were very detailed and complete. Printed blanks containing questions as to each child's health, the amount of study at home, the character and duration of sleep, etc., were sent to the parents to be answered. The information thus obtained was submitted first to the family physi- cian and then to the child's teacher for criticisms, corrections, and additions, and afterwards the child's eyesight was tested and the weight was ascertained. These studies were made in November and December in Denmark and in February and March in Sweden. The periods chosen were neither at the beginning of the school year, when the pupils were refreshed by their summer holidays (of ten weeks' duration in Denmark and sixteen weeks in Sweden), nor at the end of the session, after the fatigue of the year's work. In a doubtful case the child was called well, and no incidental acute illness was included. INVESTIGATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. Interest in the health of the school children of the United States was awakened when the subject began to be accurately and scientific- ally investigated in Europe. For a short time considerable enthusi- asm was shown in different localities, particularly in Michigan, Wis- consin, Maryland, and Massachusetts, but it soon died out with the exception of a few spasmodic revivals. Numerous articles bearing on the question have appeared from time to time in medical journals, reports of school boards, of boards of health, in text-books of medicine and hygiene, pedagogical journals, and in the reports of the United States Commissioner of Education. These articles, with few exceptions, have been of a general character, and do not include observations on any extended scale. The school children of this country, in some localities, have been weighed and measured, and several investigations into eye conditions and a very few inquiries of a more general character have been under- taken; but, as far as I know, no thorough examination of the state of health of pupils in American i^ublic schools has been made. In a few instances circular letters have been sent out by individuals to physicians, superintendents of schools, members of school boards, and the clergy, and from the replies received an effort has been made to reach some exact conclusions. The answers were, however, simply expressions of indi- 20 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DLSTRICT OF COLUMBIA. vidual opiuion, aud the method hicked comprehensiveness and thor- oughness. The number of schohirs studied was small, and the answers to the questions were vague and lacking in scientitic precision. The accumulated data and conclusions were therefore of no great value. FACTS ASCERTAINED BY INQUIRIES IN EUROIE AND THE UNITED STATES. The European investigiitions showed very clearly that there was a surprising amount of ill health among children, that the percentage of morbidity varied only slightly in ditferent countries, and that girls sutfered more than boySi . Thus in boys' schools in England there was found a morbidity of '20.7 per cent (Warner); in Denmark, 29 ])er cent (Danish Commission); in Copenhagen, 31.1 per cent (Hertel), and in Sweden, o7.2 percent (Swed- ish Commission). In girls' schools there was discovered a morbidity in England of 15.6 per cent (Warner); in Copenhagen, 39 per cent (Hertel); in Denmark, 41 per cent (Danish Commission); in Lausanne, 42.9 per cent (Combe), and in Stockholm, (il.T per cent (Swedish Commission). In arriving at these figures accidental or acute illness and short sight were excluded. As a rule morbidity was greatest among the children of the bettei' social class. The i)upils in the Moscow schools were found to suffer from general disturbances of the nervous system, cliietiy neurasthenic in character. There was headache (especially at the end of the day's lessons), with sleeplessness, gastralgia, peripheral neuralgias, mostly intercostal, neu- rosis of the heart (palpitation), rapidly induced phj^sical and mental weariness, accoun)anied by irritability and excitement, and in older pupils neuroses of the sexual organs. Warner has investigated the same subject in England. In about 11 per cent of the children examined he noted certain abnormal "nerve signs." These consisted in instability in posture, in balance of hand, head and back, loss of tone in the orbicular muscle of the eye, finger twitching, stammering, numerous movements occurring without appar- ent stimulation, and muscular eccentricity closely bordering on chorea. Among the public-school children of New York City, Hamilton, in answer to inquiries, ascertained that 20 per cent of the pupils in the primary schools (average age, 7 years) and 2 per cent of those in the grammar schools (average age, 12 yeais) twitched their hands, faces, or one side of the body. His observations show that, contrary to the conclusions of others, there is a lower percentage of nerve disorders in the higher grades. l>incoln, Folsom, and others describe the familiar nerve-sick school child, but add nothing to our knowledge of the prevalence of nerve dis- ease among the pnpils in our schools. Examinations into the morbidity of the school children of the United States have been so few and so fruitless that the superintendent of physical training in Boston public schools was able to say without fear of contradi(;tion as late as 1894 that we have no knowledge whether school life is beneficial or prejudicial to health, since no one has taken the pains or been paid to find out. He continues: It is scarcely too niucL to say that it would be easiiT under the present couditions to estimate tlie losses eutailed by liog cb<>ler;i or cattle ]iliigue throughout the Union than to determine the number of children who sucdimb annually to school diseases in the United States. (Ilartwell.) Whenever investigations have been made in this country the condi- tions found have been similar to those in Europe. DIAGRAM I. Increase of Morbidity with age. Boy's Schools. Denmark and Sweden (Hertel.) A^e 6 7 8 9 10 // 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 66 64 62 60 58 56 54 52 50 48 46 44 42 ^40 s; :> 38 ^ 37 ^ 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 ?7 / \ t 1 / \ 1 1 4 / \ * * / \ / • / / / K ; A^ • — / — A . ■■'^N "A / / / / \ \ "A. / ' / • 1 / \ ^ / / / / \ • w / \ ,y \ / \ / \ / \ / \ I \ / •^, ^25. 3% 1 ^ //.3 1 /2.3 '/4.3 /5.4 /6.S 17.4 /8.3 19.4 "14.6 15.7 \ /6.6 17.6 18.7 19.6 i DIAGRAM JV. /NCfiEASE IN Nervous Disturbances. Moscow Schools (Nesteroee.J 75 70 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 J5 10 5 By Classes. By Ages. P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 !l 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2/ K w y ! X 1 1 / \ j 1 I V I h i i j 1 1 1 r I \ 1 1 I V / 1 1 1 y I I DIAGRAM V. Increase of Nearsight with progress through classes. Munich INTERMEDIATE Schools.(Seg6el.) Classes. I n III IV V VI vn \1U 55 50 ^ 45 % S 40 V 1 30 ?5 20 15 ^ ■^ X /^ / / / y y / / / DIAGRAM VI. Increase of Nearsight with age. Girls Schools. Sweden (Key.) A^e 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 16 19 20 21 22 and Over. 55 50 45 40 :^35 <.30 20 15 10 5 \ J / / / A I _^ ^ J h V l\ / V \ K J f V -^ y^ 570 7.1 4.0 2.8 4.8 5.4 6.3 12.4 14.9 16.3 14.0 21.4 151 28.0 36.3 Jl DIAGRAM VII INCREASE IN OHORTS/G/IT mTH PROGRESS THROUGH CLASSES. London Elementary Schools. CCrichton-Browne.) DIAGRAM VIU. increase of fvears/ght with classes and age. Boys Schools, Sweden. (Key) Full Class Schools. 5 Class Schools\3 Class Sc//col\ c/asses. 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 4$ 16 ^ 15 ^ 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 I n m IV V n VI. vn, m I II m rv^ V I n m 32.5%^ -^. ?7.5 5 / j 1 / ' \ / ' \ I 1 / \ 1 / 1 • 1 • 1 1 1 1 { \ 1 ' 1 \ I \ 1 / / • / ' / / 1 i / / / 1 1 ; '/ / / / i / / r i I s f s/ I 1 1 J / / / J / / / / 11. a 12.3 13.4 L 14.3 15.4 16.5 17.4 /8.3 /a^ //..5- 72.6 13.4 i /■^.j /5".5 //.^ 12.3 13.7 R 146 15.7 16.6 17.6 18.7 19.5 14. S /5.6 /i_^ -„ f / „^.„ c^t.^^/^ L/On Rsc rirriL lis III c cho UIU o/s. i-ai III V ^c// iJUIk >. PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 23 in the highest classes of certaiu boys' schools, and this increase wa& fonud to bear a direct relation to the length and amonnt of stndy. In girls' schools the same investigators found a gain in nearsightedness from 7.1 i)er cent at 8 years of age to 57.1 per cent in the twenty-second year or over. Seggel noted an increase of near sight from 16.5 per cent in the first to 54 per cent in the eighth class of the Munich intermediate schools. (See Diagram V.) Cohn, of Breslau, whose name is familiar to all opthalmologists, maintains: 1. That myopia increases with the demands made upon the eyes. "2. That the number of shortsighted scholars increases regularly from the lower to the higher classes in educational institutions. 3. That myopia not only becomes more common, but worse in degree, with advance from class to class. In an examination of 10,000 children of all grades he found: (1) In country schools, 1 per cent of short sight; (2) In elementary schools^ 5.11 percent; (3) In grammar schools, 20.10 per cent; (4) In colleges,, 30.35 per cent; (5) In University of Tubingen, 70 per cent. In 1896 Carter, among 8,125 children in the London schools, discov- ered that but 39.15 per cent enjoyed normal vision. Numerous other autliorities could be quoted if necessary to prove that near sight exists^ in European schools and that it increases in frequency and degree as pupils advance from the lower to the higher grades. The following chart, based upon the examination of the eyes of girls in Swedish schools, illustrates the great increase in short sight between the ages of 7 and 22 years. At the earlier age 54 per cent and at 22 years and beyond between 50 and 60 per cent of the scholars are near- sighted. (See Diagram VI.) In Diagram VII the diiference in the rate ot increase in short sight in boys and girls is demonstrated. The eyes of girls deteriorate more rapidly than those of boys, and there are a larger number of girls than boys who suffer in this way. The increase in near sight in the prog- ress from class to class is also exhibited in the children of the London elementary schools. In the first class 2.5 per cent of the scholars were found to be nearsighted and 9.2 per cent in the sixth chiss. In the next diagram (VIII) the differences in the prevalence of near sight in the schools in which the pupil passes through three, five, and seven classes is illustrated. The longer the period of study the larger is the number of pupils who suffer from defective eyesight at the end of school instruction. Thus at the end of the seventh year in the seven-year course of study over 30 per cent of the pupils are near- sighted; at the end of the fifth year in the five-year course less than 24 per cent are thus affected. In the three-year class schools, which are in the country districts and designed for the peasants' children, less than 8 ]ier cent of the children have short sight at the end of the instruction. The conclusion is inevi- table that tlie longer the period of study the greater is the injury to the eye and the greater is the number of myopic graduates from the schools. Another interesting fact is shown also in this curve, namely, that in the "Eeal" schools the amount of induced short sight is much less than in the classical schools. In the United States many ophthalmologists have examined the eyes of many thousands of school children, and there is an abundant litera- ture upon this subject. The results obtained by different investiga- tors agree with each other and are, in many respects, similar to those 24 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. observed in Europe. According: to D. 1>. Smith, in children under 6 myopia is rare. From 7 to 1-J years it increases 1 per cent a year; from 12 to li years, 4i per cent; from 14 to 18 years of age the per- centage of increase is greater. Examinations made in the Cincinnati schools sho\yed an increase in near sight from 10 per cent in the intermediate to 14 per cent in the high and 16 per cent in the normal schools. In Memphis short sight was found to increase from almost nothing in the lowest to 15 per cent in the highest classes. In Columbus the increase was from almost nothing to ll.-j per cent in seventeen years. A similar condition of affairs was found in Kansas City and else- where. , In Circular of Information No. 6 of the United States lUireau of Education (1881), Callioun says that the report of the examination of 45,000 school children in the United States, irrespective of age, sex, color, in city and country, show that near sight increases from nothing in the lowest to 00 to 70 per cent in the highest classes. Tlie grade or •degree of near sight increases as well as its fre(|uency. Many more facts could be brought forward in proof, but those quoted are sufficient to show that school life has a deleterious eflect upon the eyes ot children. HEADACHE. Headaclie is met with in school children and school life increases its frequency and severity. Inquiry by Guillame in Paris and Becker in Darmstadt, by Faye and Hald in Germany, and others, have shown that Iron) 40 to 50 per cent of the scholars in ])ublic schools suller Irom habitual headache due to brain exhaustion from school work. Of 6,580 pupils in tlie London elementary schools 46.1 per cent were found to be affected with habitual lieadaclie by Crichton-Browne. These headaches were of an atia-mic or neurasthenic type, the latter i)redom- inating, and were usually frontal. Girls were more often affected than boys. (See Diagram IX.) It was fouiid that there was an increase in habitual headache in rela- tion to classes from 40.5 ])er cent boys and 46.2 per cent girls in the first chiss, to 42.0 boys and 70.6 j)er cent girls in the sixtli class. The same thing was observed by Key in the prc[)aratory scliools of Stockholm, where there was an increase from 2.2 percent in the first to 11 per cent in the fourth class, and from 4 per cent at 8 years of age to 44 per cent at the age of 13. (See Diagram X.) According to Crichton-Browne, the headache of high scliool girls begins with the school term, grows more fre(iuent and intense as it progresses, and disapi)ears in the holidays to reap]tear with the begin- ning of school life. The same effect of alternate work and rest was note per cent of the boys were in bad health while at school, and 33 \)er cent of those who withdrew were compelled to do so by reason of physical disability. Winsor saj^s that out of a class of 17 i)upils at Waltham High School in Massachusetts 9 were removed in their graduating year on account of ill health. THE SCHOOL AS A CAUSE OF DISEASE. Having shown that disease exists among school children and bears a relation to the conditions of school life, can we go further than this and assert that the influences of school life originate the diseases in question ? DIAGRAM XII. Common and Lat/n Schools. Sweden (Key.) WeeKly 39.0 41.5 43.3 47.2 5J.0 57.6 58.8 59.3 58.9 WorK time in Hours. Ddily. 6.30 6.55 7.13 7.52 8.30 9.36 9.48 9.59 9.49 76 14 72 70 68 66 64 62 60 58 J6 54 52 50 48 46 44 42 40 38 56 34 32 \ n H / i \\ / / / 1 \ h \ 1 1 l\ / \ \ T / \ \ / \ J / / / *s / / r \ ^v, X / Av 1 1 « \ J / '*-.' V / • •.^ -^- Those f 'ho yvor '(oyer / 'te a^er, ige fitn ?. Those n ho won '(/ess ft an the < r,-^,rage time. PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 27 Three dittereut opinions may be held : (1) That children enter the school already affected with disease; (2) that they become ill from influences entirely outside of the school; (3) or that school life and its incidents give origin to these maladies of childhood. 1. In regard to the first of these propositions, it must be admitted that heredity has a marked influence in causing the neuroses of school children, and that defective development from improper feeding in infancy and early childhood, as well as injurious mental and physical hygiene have much to do with causing illness in or out of school. A certain percentage of children under any system of education will be feeble and will suffer from ])erversions of health. What this percent- age is can not be determined with any accuracy as there are no statistics as to general morbidity in childhood that can be relied upon. 2. It must also be admitted that much of the ill health in early life is due to causes outside of the school, such as unhealthy homes, improper feeding, etc, but, knowing the beneflt of outdoor life and freedom from brain work in childhood, we must conclude that, as a rule, the surroundings outside of the school are in the main antagonistic to disease. Irregular hours of eating, liurried meals, indoor study, and late hours would not exist without the demands of school, and there- fore may be classed with the other influences that are necessary inci- dents of school life. 3. In the i^resent state of our knowledge it would not be just to assert that the class of diseases mentioned are always the direct result of school life and that they would not exist without them, but certain considerations go far to show that the actual disturbances of the nerv- ous system found in school children are just those that would result from excessive demaiids made upon the child mind. Tliatis, the head- ache, insomnia, nervousness, etc., are "fatigue symptoms" and might be induced in any child if the brain and nervous system were taxed beyond their capacity. The effect of fatigue in the nervous system has been carefully studied by Mosso, of Turin, and his former pupils and assistants, Maggiora, Aduccoand Patrizi, and by Hodge in this country. Their conclusions, from their various studies, are that fatigue induces anatomical altera- tions in nerve structure, chiefly in the cells of the ganglia and central nervous system. The fatigue point varies with age, being reached much sooner in a young child than in an older one, but when reached deteri- oration of nerve structure follows. Best restores lost energy and the exhausted cell resumes its normal ai^pearance, but constant overstrain prevents proper repair and there is a progressive loss of energy, and sometimes permanent anatomical injury and permanent enfeeblement of the whole nervous apparatus. SCHOOL INSTRUCTION IS BEGUN AT TOO EARLY AN AGE. In seeking reasons for the evil effects of school life upon children, the first inquiry is as to what age is the proper one for the beginning of formal school instruction. Anatomical and physiological considerations show conclusively that the fatigue point is reached earlier in immature organs and that if the child enters school when the body and brain are unfit for the work put upon them there is a reasonable certainty that abnormal conditions will be brought about. At birth the childs' brain is an undeveloped organ; during its first four years the growth is rapid, although its relative increase in size is less than that of other organs. By the seventh or eighth year the brain has nearly reached its full weight, the subsequent increase being small. 28 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. The following chart shows the variatious in brain weight between 1 and 24 years. It will be seen how rapid is the gain in weight between the ages of 1 and 8 J years. From the age of 8i the brain weight is almost stationary. {(() The weight of the male child's brain at birth is 372 grams, that of the adult male's is 1,360 grams; there is an absolute increase, there- fore, of 98S grams the greater part of which is gained during the first seven or eight years. It may be added that at birth the brain of the male child is relatively heavier than that of the female. The greater part of the growth of the brain takes place before formal education is begun, very little growth coming after this, being of sta- tionary weight during the years of seliool education between 10 and 25 years. {b) The great enlargement of the brain during these first years is shown by estimates of the volume of the central nervous system, made by Professors Mall and Donaldson. At birth the volume of the encepha- lon and cord is 370 cubic centimeters. In the adult it is 1,340 cubic centimeters oi an increase of 004 cubic centimeters, the greater part of which gain occurs during the first seven years of life. (e) Another fact of importance is that the brain of the child has relatively a large amount of water and a small amount of nerve tissue as compared with the adult brain. At birth the brain peicentage of water is about 89. In the adult it is about 70i. The infant brain has about 19 per cent more water than the adult brain. {(1) The differences in the amount (»f nerve tissue are even more strik- ing. In the child at birth the i)ereentage of the solid matter of the corpus callosum was found to be 3.S.">; in the adult, 15.41 — that is, there is nearly 12 per cent more solid matter in the adult than in the child brain. The change, therefore, going on in the child's brain dur- ing the first eight years, as indicated by these figures, is very great, and the first eight years may be said to be the most important of a child's life, as judged by these changes. {(') The growth of the brain is a growth of its constituent elements, and es])ecially the nerve elements. The nerve elements begin as small neuroblasts* and grow larger by increase of all parts of the cell. There is an increase in the mass of the cell body and cell outgrowths, espe- cially of the axis cylinder, which before becoming functional requires a medullary sheath. Increase in the size of the cell is first rapid, then slow; as a rule, it grows as long as the general growth of the body continues. The growth of the cell is shown by the following figures: His meas- ured the germinal cells of man and found their diameter to be 11 microns and their volume 097 cubic microns. The diameter of the adult cells was 50 microns and their volume 05,312 cubic microns (0.3937 inch = 1 mm. = 1,000 microns, and 1 cubic millimeter = 1,000,000,000 cubic microns). In the infant brain the nerve elements bear the i)roportion of 1 to 100 in the adult brain. It is estimated by Donaldson that for the necessary growth of the brain from birth to adult life each nerve element in the central system must have an average increase in volume of 447 times. The largest elements do increase 10,000 times in volume. * Neuroblast is the nucleus with surroundinji,' cytoplasm, and that portion of the cytoplasm which forms the neuron or axis cylinder process. DIAGRAM XIII Var/at/ons /n Bra/n We/ght at D/FFERENT A6ES(I^/ER0RDT) gfrms. 1600 1400 J200 WOO 800 600 400 200 A^e in Years. 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 J6 18 20 22 24 .Av J A / \^ s^/ Ss, / ^ j vV -V / ^ V \ / / \ / V \ / 1 1 > \ -• -V ^« i r \ / 1 / / I* Ma fes. Eemi les._^ * PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 29 (/) The increase in the number of nerve elements ft^ora birth to adult life is very great. As increase in the bulk of the brain is due to increase in the number of nerve elements as well as in their volume, an increase from 370 cubic centimeters of volume at birth to 1,340 cubic centime- ters in the adult represents an euormous increase in the number of structural elements. In the cortex of the hemispheres there are 1,200 millions of ganglion cells; in the central system there are 3,000 millions of cells. In the cervical enlargement there are at birth 104,270 nerve cells; at the age of 15 years, 211,800 ; and in the adult man, 221,200 — that is, between birth and 15 years there is an increase of 107,530 cells, and between 15 years and manhood an increase of only 9,400 cells; there- fore, the increase in cells is before 15 more than eleven times greater than it is after 15. As the greatest increase in volume and weight is before 8 years, we may conclude that this enormous increase in nerve elements occurs during the first eight years of life. {ff) It has been estimated that there is a relation between growth of the body and the increase in nerve elements. This conclusion is based upon investigation of the nervous system of frogs. In them the largest frogs have the largest number of nerve elements. A frog weighing 23 grams had 7,562 dorsal root fibers, and one of 63 grams 106,770 fibers. We may infer, therefore, that with greater body growth there is a rela- tively greater increase in the number of nerve elements. (/i) With the growth of the brain, and after increase in weight and volume has been completed, the chief change is in the folding of the surface and the production of the gyri. Thus there is a provision made for the increase in the nerve elements, and the cells must be physio- logically connected with each other. The area of the cortex is thus increased, and in the adult the cortical area is three times that of the infant, the larger brains having a greater area than the smaller. With increased size the cortex is also thickened. The growth of the brain is related to complexity of structure, and the larger the brain the greater is the structural basis for physiological activity. With increased growth there are larger nerve elements, a greater number of them a higher organization and a more perfect nutrition. The ultimate value of the mind is therefore closely related to the growth of the brain in the first eight years of life; for during this period there is (1) growth in the weight of the brain; (2) growth in its volume; (3) an increase in density and a diminution of the contained water; (4) an increase in the amount of nerve tissue; (5) a growth in the size of the nerve elements, especially the cells; (6) an increase in number of nerve elements; and (7) an increase in the thickness and area of the cortex. If it is true that during the first seven or eight years of life the brain is growing in weight and volume, that the cortex cells are increasing in size and forming associative relations with other cells, that this is the period of growth, development, and organization, is it right to begin formal education at this time ? Should memory be taxed or the intel- lectual faculties be stimulated when the nutritive activities alone can bring the brain to perfection ■? There is a law of nature that can not be broken with impunity: if you tax a growing organ to perform a too active function— a function beyond its ability to perform for any length of time without fatigue — you exhaust the organ and delay or destroy its promise of perfect development. The opinions expressed here are not in accord with the laws and % 30 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. customs fixing the age of the beginning of formal school instruction in the United States. The following resume gives the compulsory and voluutary ages in the diflerent States and Territories: Ages of compulxory attendance in schools of the United States. Six years. — District of Columbia, Wjoinin. Tlie Prevaleiu-e of Nervous Disease among School Chihlren, etc. Am. Tsvch. J., N. Y., 1876, N. S. iii, 112-119. (26) LiNcur.x, I). F. School Hygiene. Cyclopa'ilia of tlie Diseases of ( hihlren, etc. John M. Keat- ing, Phila., 1891, iv, :U3. (27) Faikkieli), M. W. High Pressure vs. Hygiene in our Public Schools. Kep. Bd. Health, Micli.. 1882, Lansing, 188:5, 198-20S. (28) Chancellok. C. W. The Sanit;iry Conditions and Necessi- ties of School Life. Bienn. i^ep. Bd. Health, Maryland, 1886-7, Annapolis, 1888, 478-.510. (29) Perky, W. S. The Hygiene of Study. Rep. Bd. Health, Mich., 1882, Lansing, 1883, 100- 108. (30) WixsoK, F. School Hygiene. Rep. Bd. Healtli, Mass., 1874, Boston, 1874, 391-448. (31) Seggel. Bericht liber die Augen Untersuchun- geu. In: Berichtd.v. iizst. Bezirksy. Miin- chen Z, Prufung d. ICinfl. d. Steil u. Sehriig cases occurred in boys. It has also been remarked that the majority of cases of lateral curvature are on the right side. This is probably due to the fact that most persons use the muscles of the right upper extremity more than those of the left, and in writing are very ai)t to lean the head to the left side. This deformity is never develojjed in i)ersons who are obliged to maintain the erect position and bring into simultaneous use the muscles of both sides. But the disease readily manifests itself in children of PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 43 weak muscular development, especially when they assume a careless or twisted position. This faulty position is assumed when the seat is too low or the desk too high. The reason why girls are more affected than boys, apart from a weaker muscular development, lies in the fact that their skirts are apt to be swept back in the form of a pad, upon which they sit generally with one buttock, and the greater elevation of one buttock throws the si)inal column out of the vertical line, which is compensated by a partial twisting of the trunk. This deformity is entirely preventable by adjustment of the clothing, j)roper seats, and position. However, there are scholars who, even if they have x)roper seats, will sit in a stooj^ed attitude, which tends to contract the chest, or lean too much on one side, especially in writing. These cases should be left to the teacher to deal with. All of these causes spoken of may of course operate at home, but I hope that suffi- cient evidence has been presented to show that the school is largely instrumental in the development of these disorders, and I am surprised that nonadjustable seats are still in use in 295 of our public school rooms. PREVENTION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES. I can not enter into details concerning the prevention of the spread of infectious diseases among school children and the measures recom- mended by our efficient health officer; but in view of the undue preva- lence of diphtheria and scarlet fever, desire to emphasize the necessity of medical inspectors whose duty it should be to visit the schools, examine the pupils, and give such directions as will reduce the dangers to a minimum; they should supervise the sanitary condition of the schools, and make such recommendations as are necessary in the interest of the health of both pupils and teachers; and as physicians were the first to recognize the fact that the system of education should be made to fit the child, not the child the system, the teachers may expect to receive from such visits much aid in the discharge of their ardu.ous and respon- sible duties. In conclusion I submit the following resolution: Whereas the results of a joint investigation conducted by the com- mittee on education of the Civic Center and the Collegiate Alumnae reveal many serious defects in the sanitary condition of the public schools in the city of Washington : Therefore, be it Resolved, That we, the Civic Center, respectfully pray the Senate and House of Eepresentatives in Congress assembled for a careful considera- tion of the appropriations for the support of our public schools, so that the efforts of those in authority to improve the sanitary conditions and to lessen the dangers in the spread of diphtheria, scarlet fever, and other infectious diseases may not be frustrated by insufficient appro- priations. O L£ N '1 ' »^»-v<.^^>"'*-y7?<^ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 407 470 7 m'--^'m «'!■:• P! II iiii lylw ;;(*-') );i's(3;-€;?if(J^'' :;i::;m ;■)!:; :«v. :iv-^i.