than one lock for an outside door. This should be on the front and most exposed door, and it alone should have a knob. Other outer doors are better double bolted inside. The mortice lock and latch will not stand School use. Inside roller blinds without boxes are preferable to outside, being more convenient and less exposed to the weather. Each fold should be cut in the centre except the one next to the frame, and be furnished with bronze or japanned fastenings, and so should be all fastenings and iron trimmings in the building, to be free from rust. Gilt and brass should be avoided. Wainscoting is only needed where there is incessant passing, as in halls and stairways, provided the walls have the third coat of plaster of sharp pure sand washed clear and floated down hard. And in fact so should all the plastering be done throughout the building, save the ceilings; the effect is pretty, the walls will not change color nor receive pencil marks, and may be readily whitewashed or painted if at any time needed. All outside walls should be stripped to prevent dampness before the plaster lath is put on. Yard hydrant should be fitted with screw nozzles for hose attachment. All glass should be well bedded and back-puttied; with bedding, all rattling of glass is avoided. Before proceeding to a detailed statement of the points which present themselves, it is well to present several general features, which appear to be most striking and worthy of special comment. 1. The distribution of space and excellent arrangement of halls and entrances. 2. The lighting of the building. 3. The ventilating and heating. It has been wisely concluded to avoid a fourth story building, and though a third story is added to the front, yet the rear has but two; so that the two first stories, containing eighteen rooms, will accommodate nine hundred children, and the third story front two hundred more-eleven hundred in all; and this is as many children as should be thrown together in one building. There are nine class-rooms on cach floor, so arranged that each has direct light from two sides, while they have also borrowed light from other sides through glass sash. This most desirable end can be obtained in the ordinary square buildings only in corner rooms-say in four rooms-while in the School in question, there is no one of the eighteen rooms without it. A glance at the plan will at once explain how by means of adding corners or projections, windows can be furnished for each room on two sides, no matter how many rooms in one story. Besides being a service in the matter of light, the plan also aids in the natural system of ventilation. The halls are cornered so as to form the letter T; at the bottom of the T is the main entrance, and at the other ends, the side entrances, and as arranged in the Hollingsworth School, there can be a direct circulation of air from North to South, and from East to West, most serviceable in Summer. The sliding sash before referred to are hung upon iron rails, securely fastened to the girders. Upon these rails the sash doors, fitted with pulleys, are easily glided into their respective casements, and are guided at the bottom by bolts which run along the floor grooves cut transversely over the flooring; they roll almost noiselessly. The whole arrangement is very simple, and durable. The heating by steam and the ventilation are under one contract. It requires every part of the building to be heated to 70° Fahrenheit, at the same time in the coldest weather, and also that the whole atmosphere of the building should be exhausted in twenty minutes, and renewed as often with the outer air, which in winter is to be warmed and thrown into the building. The following is a description of the means and appliances to secure these ends: The entire heating apparatus (except a few direct radiators in the halls) is placed in the basement or cellar. The boilers are subdivided, and form two distinct heaters, placed front and back, incased with brickwork, forming heat chambers, and external air introduced; the heat from the boiler surface is utilized, so that in mild weather the building can be tempered without any perceptible pressure of steam. The steam is conducted to groups of radiators placed in chambers under the flues leading to the different rooms, so arranged that all rooms are warmed by distinct heat chambers, and pure fresh air from outside the building conducted through air ducts under them; creating a constant influx of pure external air heated by contact with the radiators; maintaining a temperature of seventy degrees in winter, and entering in a natural condition at other times. The ventilation is natural, by what is known as the downward principle, produced by means of a double stack four feet in diameter, with an inner flue of cast-iron, heated by the smoke and escape heat from the boilers when in operation, and by a large cannon stove at other times; thus forming a vacuum and strong upward column. In the stack, at each floor, openings are left connected with air spaces between the ceilings and floors, forming a clear air space under the entire surface of the floors. Openings covered with iron gratings are placed in the floors through which the cool and impure air from the lower part of the rooms escapes to the heated stack, and induces the warm air to come down to the floor, passes under the children's feet, equalizes the temperature throughout the entire building, and changes it every half hour. Top ventilation is also secured by the same means when necessary to waste the heat. I must not close without reference to an appliance for filtering the water which is to be used by the children; and I am gratified to note that among all the appliances for health, the subject of pure water is not forgotten. The filters are buried eight feet under ground, and are thus described, viz.: It is made of glass cut into equal lengths, about three-fourths of an inch in width, and one-eighth of an inch in thickness. These pieces are placed together, so as to form a circle fixed upon a basin composed of metal, which is the receptacle for the material filtered from the water. The glass is so arranged as to be almost water-tight, and it is only the pressure of a head that forces the water through. The water is filtered into a reservoir composed of stone jars or iron tanks, as may be preferred, the stop-cock being made so that no pressure is upon the reservoirs except when the hydrant is in use. The filtered water is drawn from the reservoirs, and the hydrant is so constructed that by moving the nozzle to one side, you draw the filtered water, and by reversing it, the ordinary water is drawn, which at the same time cleanses the filter of the accumulation of sediment, it being a self-cleansing apparatus. PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 12, 1867. EDW. SHIPPEN. |