the pupils of air space and hence make the problem of ventilation more difficult. At first thought this objection seems valid; but it is fully answered when it is stated that children need the same amount of fresh air per minute whether they are in a large room or a small one, and consequently after the initial supply is vitiated the same amount must be introduced in either case.

Where any system of forced ventilation is used, the only difference there would be between supplying a room 12 feet high and one a foot higher would grow out of the fact that it would take a fraction of a minute longer for the children to vitiate the air in the room with the higher ceiling when the fan was not running at sufficient speed to supply an adequate amount. This difference is so small as to be negligible.

In rooms where the ceilings are 13 feet high, and where the windows run to within 6 inches of the ceiling, there is a slight advantage if ventilation is to be provided by means of the windows alone. For, since warm air is lighter than cold air, there will be a little more pressure exerted to drive out the warm air where the windows are higher above the floor. This would create a slightly more rapid circulation, especially when outside air is much colder than that demanded in the classroom. But this difference in circulation will depend very largely on the management of the windows, and since teachers can not be depended on to keep the windows at all times properly adjusted this advantage may not be realized in a practical

way.

In planning buildings for high-school purposes, the size of classrooms may vary a great deal, as suggested previously, in order to meet the requirements for different-sized classes. Some subjects attract a relatively small number of students, and it would be not only uselessly expensive to construct large rooms for such classes but would entail needless expense in maintenance.

3. HALLS.

From the teacher's point of view, there are some requirements in the construction of halls in school buildings that deserve more consideration than architects are at times inclined to give.

The units of the school building are the classrooms, which, of course, deserve prime consideration. But it is a mistake to sacrifice too much in the form, size, and lighting of halls in order that any specific scheme of classrooms may be carried out. I wish, therefore, to emphasize some essentials in the construction of halls and to urge teachers to see that these are called to the attention of architects and the members of boards of education.

They must be wide enough to prevent congestion while students are gathering in the morning or passing between classes and during

It is not possible to

intermissions, and especially at dismissals. specify definitely what the width of any hall should be without first calculating how many students are likely to use it at any one time, but there are certain ideals which ought to be considered. In large high-school buildings the main hall should be at least 14 feet wide; 16 feet is better. A hall 12 feet wide is more spacious for grammar grades than one 14 feet wide for high schools accommodating the same number of pupils. This is true because of the size of the pupils, and because it is rarely necessary for pupils in the grammar grades to pass from their room in a body save at intermissions. In high schools the rule is for a complete change of rooms for all students at the close of each recitation period. This at once makes it clear that the hallways of high-school buildings are used much oftener than those in buildings designed for the grammar grades. Besides, greater precautions are necessary at this stage of life in mixed schools to avoid all excuses for that familiarity which crowded halls would suggest. But aside from these reasonable and just claims for wide halls, it is always expedient to keep in mind dangers from a blockade in case of fire. Fire drills will lessen the danger; still, nothing but plenty of room will prevent trouble when a lot of people, old or young, lose their wits and stampede. A deficiency at such a time is too serious to call for further emphasis.

Another imperative need for wide halls is this: Spacious halls offer perhaps the best opportunity afforded in any part of a school building for the location of pictures, for mural paintings, and those touches of art which exert such a powerful, though silent and unconscious, influence upon the lives of young people. A cramped narrow hall will not admit of effective decoration.

Some of the illustrations presented in this bulletin will emphasize what has been said in the foregoing, and will doubtless suggest to school boards that it is not a waste of money to provide spacious halls.

Halls are more effective and less objectionable when there are no projections to obstruct and no constrictions to hinder. A long spacious hall, terminating at each end in a tasteful stairway with good light, is suggestive of a dignity and a decorum to which students will unconsciously respond.

The method of putting lockers all along hallways has some advantages, notably in their management and general care, but they are unsightly; they restrict hallways, invite congestion, are hard to ventilate and difficult to keep free from dust. The hallways of schoolrooms, when they are properly constructed and lighted, offer one of the best opportunities which the building affords for artistic treatment and æsthetic influence. A wide hallway, with good floors, neat panelings, artistic tinting, good light, and a few well-chosen pictures

selected and framed to suit, will exert a greater influence on young people than "practical" Americans are prepared to estimate.

It is the general professional opinion that hallways should never be restricted or despoiled with rows of hat pegs or even closed lockers-open ones are an abomination.

Another essential is plenty of light. In this country it is almost universal to flank the two sides of a hall with classrooms, and depend on doors at the entrance and windows at the ends of the hall for light. In Germany it is the prevailing custom to have classrooms on but one side of a hall, and as a result they have better light in the halls in their newer school buildings than we do. The American plan of construction gives a more thoroughly centralized building, and for the same number of rooms a less expensive building, but it demands wider halls, and introduces a great deal more difficulty in supplying them with sufficient light. The German type of building introduces difficulties in heating and ventilation which the American type readily overcomes. One of the weakest points about our types of school buildings is that the halls are not generally attractive and are rarely well lighted.

4. STAIRWAYS.

In two-story buildings designed for high schools there should be at least two stairways from the first floor to the second, and in large schools there should be more. These stairways ought to be situated as near the ends or outer walls of the building as the plan of construction will permit. For when so located there is a natural division of the students into groups, and, generally speaking, this, in case of panic, will prevent that congestion on stairs and landings which is dreaded by all teachers who take precaution against loss of life in case of fire. Besides, this location facilitates passing up and down stairs between recitations. One hundred students in double file can easily descend a broad, well-lighted stairway in 35 seconds, and with proper fire drills can reduce this time considerably and with all safety, so that they can emerge from the building in a minute to a minute and a half. Experience has shown that 1,000 children, in a two-story grammar-school building furnished with four stairways, can be trained to get out safely in a minute if the stairways are properly placed and wide enough. Another reason for placing the stairways leading to the second floor near the ends or opposite sides of the buildings is the fact that fires, as a rule, originate in the central part of the building, or if they do not originate there the smoke is likely to gather there and render a central stairway dark and forbidding. Besides, there is a better chance for light near the outside walls and less inflammable materials, especially in brick, stone, or cement construction,

5. CLOAKROOMS.

The problem of supplying cloakrooms and lockers for high-school pupils is a very different one from that of supplying comparable conveniences for the grammar grades. Generally speaking, highschool pupils are moving about from room to room throughout the day, and they rarely if ever finish a session with a recitation in the same room in which they began; they have no room which they can properly call their own, though they may have a "class teacher," or one to whom they are attached for a term for special help and advice; they must have lockers where books and materials can be kept during the hours of the day when not in use, and of necessity these rooms and lockers must be located where general convenience demands. It goes without saying that in high schools there ought to be separate cloakrooms for the boys and the girls, and that where possible these ought to be well separated from each other in order to prevent crowding in the halls and also to insure greater privacy for each. In a large school there ought to be at least four of these rooms, two upstairs and two on the lower floor, the girls of the third and fourth year classes using the one upstairs, while those of the first and second years would use the one below, or vice versa, according to arrangement of classes. A similar provision also should be made for the boys. In small schools one for each sex will suffice. These rooms ought to have abundance of light, be well ventilated and warmed, and should be located where they can be readily supervised and frequently inspected. It is a mistaken policy and poor economy to stint in the matter of cloakrooms and lockers, with reference either to space or to furniture. Make these rooms neat and attractive, and then it is the duty of those in authority to see that they are carefully kept and in no way abused by the pupils. It is sometimes more than distressing to see how such rooms are misused, especially by the boys. Locker doors are broken open for no other reason than that a lazy boy will not go home for his forgotten key. Walls are defaced, and an air of general carelessness is likely to prevail. The safe thing is to make the rooms attractive and deserving of good treatment, and then demand that they be kept so.

In general, it is both unhygienic and inconvenient to locate cloakrooms in basements, and especially so when lockers are needed. These rooms are rarely well ventilated and lighted, are too far from the teachers for inspection and supervision, and they invite pilfering. Bicycle stalls can be arranged in basements, but the demands for these will be limited, and they will need comparatively little care.

In taking the position that cloakrooms or lockers for high schools should not be situated in basements, the writer is conscious that he is opposing a more or less prevalent custom. The basement is the place

where architects frequently find it most convenient to locate them, and it is argued that there is little or no need for pupils to remain. long in such rooms and that it is useless waste of space to locate them above the basement. It is readily agreed that it is less expensive to put them in the basement, but it does not always happen that the least expensive is the best or even the most economical in the long run. Of course, if a basement floor is not more than 2 feet below the surface, and the lighting, heating, and ventilation of the basement rooms are looked after with as much care and made as effective as in rooms above, there can be little rational objection to using wellappointed space in basements for cloakrooms. But there are so many basements in small or medium sized buildings 4 feet or more below the surface of the ground, with small windows and dark rooms, that it is rarely advisable to suggest this as a place for cloakrooms. In large buildings, where the problem of securing proper proportion does not call for bringing the main floor close to the surface of the ground, basement floors can be put at or near a level with the surface of the ground, and of course such basements would offer a convenient and sanitary location for cloakrooms. But even in large public high schools it is not altogether wise to make the basement a gathering place. The license suggested by a basement when so used will certainly operate to make any school more difficult to manage, for proper supervision will be very much more difficult to maintain.

Care should be exercised in making cloakrooms as neat, attractive, and sanitary as any other rooms in the building. If you wish to forestall defilement and lax discipline in any public institution, especially in schools, it can not be done more effectively than through hygienic toilets guarded with zealous care, or through tasteful rooms where students congregate, such as locker rooms, cloakrooms, gymnasiums, or assembly halls. It is rarely possible to make a basement locker room a pleasant, attractive place, especially for girls. The form of lockers used will to some extent depend upon where they are placed; but for obvious reasons they should be well ventilated and at the same time strongly made, so as to offer no temptation to pilfering. When placed in the basement they are more exposed to meddlers and thieves than if placed on the floors above, and so must be more securely constructed and supervised more carefully.

In grammar schools each classroom must be provided with a welllighted and well-ventilated cloakroom. It is not necessary to make separate cloakrooms for the sexes if such rooms are correctly placed, sufficiently large, and properly equipped. In small buildings of not more than four rooms it is often easy to arrange separate cloak