located in the rear of the yard, and are approached by a covered and screened passage from the rear entrance of the building.

All the standing wood work is of a beautiful brown ash wood. The wood is gummed to fill the grain and then oiled.

The building is heated by a low pressure steam heating apparatus. There are two tubular wrought-iron steam boilers in the basement, which may be worked conjointly or separately. One is supposed to be sufficient for all ordinary winter weather. There are in the basement connected with these boilers, twenty-six stacks of steam radiators, each in a separate air-chamber. Each school-room is connected with two of these hot air-chambers by means of tin pipes and registers located on its two weather sides. The hall is also connected with two of a large size. Cold out-door air is conveyed by means of ventiducts to each hot air-chamber where it is moderately warmed by being strained through the stack of radiators [see accompanying cut] and thence passed to the school-rooms. The radiators are of cast-iron; the whole number of them is four hundred, with aggregate of four thousand feet of radiating surface.

The pressure of steam on the boilers sufficient for heating purposes varies from three to five pounds to the square inch. As fast as the steam is condensed, it is returned to the boilers in the form of warm water, and hence, it is only at intervals of two or three weeks. that it is necessary to replenish the boilers with cold water. The plan of ventilation is in some respects different from that in any other school building in the city. Each school-room is provided with a separate ventiduct 16 by 16 inches in the clear, constructed of smoothly planed boards, with two valves opening into it, one near the floor and the other near the ceiling. These valves are about 16 by 24 inches. The lower one is to be kept open for ordinary ventilation; the upper one is designed to be opened when there is surplus heat to be expelled. The ventiducts, although connected to the rooms by the valves just described, are located in the several clothesrooms, and are extended up into the roof; from thence the foul air escapes through one large ejector placed at the highest point of the roof. To further assist in the ventilation of the school-rooms, cloakrooms and halls, swivel blinds are placed over all the doors, and movable glazed sashes are inserted in the partitions on the hall side of the cloak-rooms, so that a full and free discharge of air from the school-rooms may be effectual without a draught, the air passing out of the school-rooms rises up through the well-rooms of the staircases, and through openings in the attic ceiling to the ejector on the roof.

All of the walls and partitions are constructed with bricks, the exterior walls are faced with pressed bricks. The trimmings of the doors and windows, the basement up to the level of the first floor, the belt course at the height of the second floor, and the tablet over the front entrance, on which is the name of the school and the date of erection in bold raised letters and figures, are all of white Con

cord granite. The cornice is of wood, with copper gutters. The roofs are covered with slates and tin, the Mansard roof is covered with an ornamental cast-iron snow guard. The yard is enclosed by a handsome iron fence on the D and Fifth street sides, and by a brick wall eight fect high on the other two sides.

The accompanying perspective view shows the external appearance of the edifice. It is compact in form, and is solid and substantial in character, rather than pretentious and showy. The excellence of the materials used in its construction, and the thoroughness of the work in every particular from "turret to foundation stone," may be appreciated to some extent by reference to the specifications in detail which follow this description.

William Sayward was the contractor for the mason work, Messrs. Morrison & Shaw were the contractors for the carpenter work, Messrs. Geo. W. Walker & Co. for the heating apparatus, and the furniture was made by Joseph L. Ross. All these contractors have reason to point with pride, as skilful and honest mechanics, to their work on this building. In material and workmanship it is probably unsurpassed by any other school edifice in this country. The whole cost, exclusive of the lot, but including furniture, is about $85,000.

The honorable ex-mayor (Otis Norcross) whose name the school is hereafter to bear, has given to it, besides a large clock for the hall, and a library of reference books costing $100, the sum of $500, the interest of which is to be expended annually for the purchase of such library and reference books as the Chairman of its Committee, and the Master may deem most desirable.

STATISTICS &C., OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF BOSTON.

PLANS OF SCHOOL-HOUSES IN NORWICH.

NORWICH FREE ACADEMY.

THE NORWICH FREE ACADEMY represented on pages

OC

cupies one of the most eligible sites in the world,—a lot of over six acres perfectly level in front, and rising into a beautifully wooded hill in the rear, commanding a fine view of the city and surrounding country.

The building was erected after plans by Mr. Evan Burdick, Architect, Norwich, at a cost of $30,000 exclusive of the land.

The building is 87 feet with a front projection of 24 feet by 12, surmounted by an Observatory.

In the Basement, besides the furnaces and the coal-bins, there is a working laboratory, connected by stairs with the philosophical lecture room on the first floor.

On the first floor, besides separate clothes room, one for boys, and the other for girls, there is a Lecture room, and a Library, for the supply of which, Gen. Williams and wife have given a fund of $5,000.

The Second and Third floors are now left, each in a single hall with two class rooms attached, but are capable of being subdivided into two rooms, if the organization of the Academy should require it.

For convenience of access, for spaciousness of halls and class rooms, for light, warmth, ventilation, and seating, for the accommodation and use of apparatus, and library, this edifice is not surpassed by any other erected for educational purposes within our knowledge.

CENTRAL DISTRICT SCHOOL.

This building represented on pages

was erected by the

Central District of Norwich to accommodate a graded system of schoois; there being six rooms, thereby accommodating as many classes or departments. The architect was Mr. Evan Burdick.

The building is 76 feet by 58 feet, with a front projection of 14 ft. by 14 ft. The lot is in 150 feet by 280, well graded and drained and enclosed with an iron fence. The rooms are well lighted, warmed and ventilated, and furnished with desks and chairs manufactured by Joseph L. Ross of Boston. The cost of grounds and building was $37,500.

PRIMARY SCHOOL.

In the organization of the public schools of Norwich, the committee contemplate the establishment from time to time of a sufficient number of Primary Schools, to accommodate all the young children in the immediate neighborhood of their homes. The diagram on page 700, represents one of the houses erected for a school of this grade, capable of accommodating 112 pupils divided into two classes or departments. Each room is furnished with Ross's school-furniture.

The material is wood, and the cost independent of the site was $3,000 Mr. E. Burdick Architect.