Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SCHOOL HYGIENE THE SCHOOLHOUSE 1. General Planning and Erection The problem of schoolhouse planning differs from the ordinary house planning in this respect that almost every condition is altered. In a dwelling house the place where one sits to read is near the window; in a schoolroom even the corners far removed from the windows must be used for this purpose. The very moment the threshold of the schoolhouse is crossed, the difference is apparent; many feet passing over a threshold bring in an unusual amount of dust. The school stairways, too, must at times bear the weight of crowds, and rooms which must accommodate many individuals make proper ventilation a serious matter. In fact, the characteristics of the schoolhouse serve to emphasize the difference between it and the dwelling. Planning.—In order to avoid mistakes which cannot be remedied later, when the schoolhouse is being planned close attention must be given to the hygienic aspects. This requires careful study at the outset, a fact which has unfortunately been learned by experience in those communities where it has been found that an attractive appearance does not always mean go'od "plan'nmg'tor .sifitable situation. Schoolhouse planning demands experts. In rural communities good model plans might be edited by the municipal authorities. In this way, even a small community could erect a satisfactory schoolhouse and be stimulated to undertake the work because those immediately interested, as, for instance, business men, could superintend the matters of planning and erection. It is, of course, of material help toward the securing of good schoolhouses if the state is able to assist by subscribing loans without interest. Small and average-sized cities may succeed in securing good plans by initiating a building con...