OCR Text |
Show The work of the Indian school service extends over a large area of country, andmnst be modified by widely differing conditions of climate and local environment. Climatic conditions naturally modi$ the char-acter of buildings to be erected, and in all recently wnstructed plants such conditions have been closely observed. Modern systems of venti-lation, heating, sewerage, and lighting have beeu introduced. In preparing plans for buildings economy of expenditure and adapta-bility to the use intended have beeu carefully considered without dis-regarding arohitectnral symmetry. An Indian school plant differs materially .from the usual public school for white pupils. It must combine not only the essentials of a school building, but also the concomitants of a home. While literary branches are being taught, instruction must also be carried on in the mechanical and industrial arts. Boys are taught trades and agriculturalpursuits, and the girls are trained to be cooks, housekeepers, and seamstressee. At Albuquerque and Phcenix notably a special course of instruction is given for the purpose of fitting Indian girls to take the positions of cooks and seamstresses in small families of white persons. The adap-tation of school plants for these special arrangements demands a high grade of technical skill in the planning and construction of buildings so radically different from the usual type of school building. In the colder climates steam-heatingplants have been introduced, and with them properly-arranged systems of ventilation. "Herding" a num-ber of Indian pupils into rooms inadequate in size and insuflioiently heated and lighted has, of course, proved disastrous to their health and served to develop consumption andscrofula-diseases which seem always to be lurking in Indian constitntions. The new methods provide for the introduction of adequate quantities of fresh air into schoolrooms and dormitories and for the constant expnlsion of the germ-laden air. As adjuncts to veutilation a good water supply and adequate sewer-age are necessary. The disposition of the waste matters from a large Indian school of several hundred people is often as difficult as it is important. The plants reeently established are upon sites where an abundance of good, potable water can be obtained, and its utilization has been provided for by adequate plumbing and machinery. However, at many of the older plants the question of water and sewerage has become semous, bnt the office endeavors, as funds permit, to remedy such defects. The Government has between three and four million dollars invested in Indian school plants. While a number are old and inadequate and the majority have frame buildings, yet some are substantial, extensive, and well arranged. Many buildings, owing to their combnstible nature, require cronstant attention for fear of fire, and a conservative estimate places the loss by this means, running back through a series of years, at $30,000 or more annually. The danger of fire is greater than it would |