purpose than repairing the same or repairing the school room, shall be guilty meeting, or at a special meeting called for that purpose.' SEC. 2. Chap. 165, Feb. 23, 1909. 459 South Dakota: Authorizing county commissioners or township supervisors to locate and establish public highways upon or across any common school, endowment, or other state lands. Chap. 32, Feb. 17, 1909. 460 * South Dakota: Permitting certain public schoolhouses to be used for public meetings. "SEC. 1. That the public school houses in the state of South Dakota, outside of cities and towns, may hereafter be used for public meetings, including singing, literary societies, political and other meetings of moral purposes; provided, such use shall be entirely without expense to the school district having control of such school house for heat and light and care of same; and provided further, that any person or persons or public body so using any such school house shall be responsible to such school district for any and all damage that may be caused to such school house or any fixture or furniture therein by reason of such use or occupancy as aforesaid. "SEC. 2. If any person residing within the district wishes to secure the school house for any meeting or meetings, such as are enumerated above, and makes application to the chairman of the school board or other school officer having custody of the school house in said district, it shall be the duty of said chairman or school officer having custody to grant permission for such meeting or meetings; provided, such meeting or meetings shall in no way interfere with the school that may be in session at the time. Provided, further, such chairman or other school officer having custody of such school house may refuse such applicant if the school house has been previously engaged for any similar meeting covering the same period of time.' SEC. 3. * * * Chap. 114, Feb. 27, 1909. D. 461 Texas (1909): A lodge and citizens of a community, desiring to erect a building, contributed money to build a lodge and schoolhouse; the upper story to be used for lodge purposes and the lower room for school purposes, and the building to be erected on the land of the lodge under the direction of a joint committee. A free school district when formed began and continued to use the lower story of the building as a schoolhouse with the knowledge and acquiescence of the school committee. Held, That the school district should not be deprived of the use of the lower story, while the community had the right to such use. Judgment (Civ. App., 1908), 112 S. W., 433, affirmed.-Rhodes v. Maret, 119 S. W., 1139. 462 West Virginia: Accepting the donation from the schools for the purchase of the mound at Moundsville, and appropriating an additional sum for the purchase thereof. Chap. 75, Mar. 3, 1909. D. 463 Wisconsin (1908): Stat., 1898, sec. 430, authorizes the officers of a school district to rent or build a schoolhouse in which the district is required to maintain a common school by section 423, and also authorizes the district to vote a tax to hire a schoolhouse. Held, That where a schoolhouse owned by a district was inadequate the district had power to rent a part of a parochial school building within the district in which to maintain a common school.-Dorner v. School District No. 5, 118 N. W., 353. 464 Wisconsin: Amending sec. 477, Statutes, relative to the location of schoolhouse sites. Chap. 171, May 20, 1909. 465 Wisconsin: Creating sec. 1275m, Statutes, relative to the laying out of a highway to a schoolhouse site for a public school. Chap. 318, June 9, 1909. 466 Wisconsin: Creating sec. 496p-1, Statutes, providing for the erection of school buildings and maintenance of schools in certain cases. Chap. 498, June 16, 1909. (b) Buildings and Sites: State Aid; Approval of Plans. The measures of Maine (468) and Utah (470) are of great importance and indicative of the tendency, noted during previous years, toward an increased amount of state supervision over buildings constructed and used for public-school purposes. The creation of the schoolhouse commission in Utah would appear to contain possibilities of much hygienic reform and the means for the prevention of much of existing health danger in schools. D. 467 Alabama (1908): Loc. Acts, 1898-99, p. 30, confers on the board of revenue of Lawrence County such powers and jurisdiction as county commissioners have. Code, 1907, sec. 133, authorizes the county commissioners to erect court-houses, jails, hospitals, and other necessary county buildings; sections 134, 138 relate to the levy and collection of special taxes for purposes therein named; and section 158 authorizes the county commissioners to order elections to determine whether the bonds of the county shall be issued to construct public buildings, including schoolhouses. Act of Aug. 7, 1907 (Gen. Acts, 1907, p. 728), sec. 3, provides that when the "citizens" of a county shall secure a suitable site and erect a high-school building, and convey the same to the State, the State will then make an annual appropriation to maintain such high school. Held, that Code, 1907, secs. 133, 134, 138, 158, relate only to those schoolhouses owned by the county, and do not relate to a high-school building erected pursuant to act of Aug. 7, 1907 (Gen. Acts, 1907, p. 728), and that the board of revenue is without power to appropriate county funds to aid in the construction of such high-school building.-Kumpe v. Bynum, 48 So., 55. 468* Maine: Relating to school buildings. * * * "SEC. 1. It shall be the duty of the state superintendent of public schools to procure architects' plans and specifications for not to exceed four room school buildings, and full detail working plans therefor. Said plans and specifications shall be loaned to any superintending school committee or school building committee desiring to erect a new school building. For the use of the state superintendent of public schools in procuring such plans and specifications the sum of two hundred dollars is hereby appropriated for the year nineteen hundred and nine and a like sum for the year nineteen hundred and ten. "SEC. 2. Where the plans and specifications prepared by the state superintendent are not used, all superintending school committees of towns in which new schoolhouses are to be erected, shall make suitable provision for the heating, lighting and ventilating and hygienic conditions of such buildings, and all plans and specifications for any such proposed school building shall be submitted to and approved by the state superintendent of public schools and the state board of health before the same shall be accepted by the superintending school committee or school building committee of the town in which it is proposed to erect such building. "SEC. 3. In case no special building committee has been chosen by the town, the superintending school committee shall have charge of the erection or re-construction of any school building, provided that said superintending school committee may, if they see fit, delegate said power and duty to the superintendent of schools." Chap. 88, Mar. 16, 1909. 469 North Carolina: Amending sec. 4829, Revisal, 1905, relative to the protection of state property from destruction by fire. Plans for buildings to be submitted and approved by insurance commissioner. Chap. 880, Mar. 9, 1909. 470* Utah: Amending sec. 1823, Compiled Laws, 1907, providing for school sites and buildings; that plans and specifications for school buildings be submitted to a commission herein provided. "Provided, That no schoolhouse shall hereafter be erected in any school district of this State not included in cities of the first and second class, and no addition to a school building in any such place the cost of which schoolhouse or addition thereto shall exceed $1000 shall hereafter be erected until the plans and specifications for the same shall have been submitted to a commission consisting of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Secretary of the State Board of Health, and an architect to be appointed by the Governor, and their approval endorsed thereon. Such plans and specifications shall show in detail the ventilation, heating, and lighting of such buildings. The commission herein provided shall not approve any plans for the erection of any school building or addition thereto unless the same shall provide at least fifteen square feet of floor space and two hundred cubic feet of air space for each pupil to be accommodated in each study or recitation room therein, and no such plans shall be approved by them unless provision is made therein for assuring at least thirty feet of pure air every minute for each pupil and the facilities for exhausting the foul or vitiated air therein shall be positive and independent of atmospheric changes. No tax voted by a district meeting or other competent authority in any such school district shall be levied by the trustees until the commission shall certify that the plans and specifications for the same comply with the provisions of this Act. All schoolhouses for which plans and detailed statements shall be filed and approved, as required by this Act, shall have all halls, doors, stairways, seats, passageways, and aisles, all lighting and heating appliances and apparatus arranged to facilitate egress in cases of fire or accident, and to afford the requisite and proper accommodations for public protection in such cases. "No schoolhouse shall hereafter be built with the furnace or heating apparatus in the basement or immediately under such school building. "SEC. 2. Compensation. Expenses. The Commission herein provided shall serve without compensation, but shall receive their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties, except the architect, who shall receive as above provided and four dollars per day while attending meetings of the Commission, the account for which shall be verified on oath and be paid from the State School Fund." Chap. 32, Mar. 9, 1909. (c) Buildings and Sites: Decoration, Care, Sanitation, Inspection. Within this group of measures concerning the sanitation and inspection of school buildings, those relating to fire protection are of most importance and more numerous than during any legislative period of recent years. Were one to speculate, it would be that recent disasters, real and narrowly averted, have been the cause of arousing public sentiment to the necessities of the situation as found in the majority of American public-school buildings. The measures enacted in Connecticut (471), Kansas (477), Maine (478), and Missouri (481) are thought important enough for the presentation of the complete text. All in all, the Wisconsin measure (496) providing for the inspection of public-school buildings is a notable bit of legislation for the improvement of the sanitary environment of the school. 471 Connecticut: Relating to the construction and fireproofing of public schoolhouses. "SEC. 1. All public schoolhouses, the construction of which was not begun before the passage of this act, shall be constructed in accordance with the provisions hereof. "SEC. 2. No schoolhouse for the accommodation of pupils of grammar school grade, or of a lower grade, shall be constructed so as to contain more than two stories above the basement. No schoolhouse for the accommodation of pupils of a higher grade than grammar school grade shall be constructed so as to contain more than two stories above the basement, unless such schoolhouse is of fireproof construction throughout, and in that event shall not exceed three stories above the basement. "SEC. 3. All schoolhouses of eight or more class rooms not of fireproof construction throughout shall be built as follows: (a) The outer walls shall be of brick, natural or artificial stone, terra cotta blocks, re-enforced concrete, or other fire-proof material. (b) The walls separating the schoolrooms from the halls or corridors shall be of masonry or other fireproof material. (c) There shall be a stairway constructed in at least two opposite sides of the building leading to the ground floor from the floor or floors above, and no such schoolhouse hereafter built shall contain circular stairs. (d) There shall be one exit constructed in at least each of two opposite sides of the building upon the first floor leading to the ground, which may be the same as the exits from the floor or floors above the first. (e) The stairs and stairways shall be of fireproof construction. (f) All doors leading from rooms into halls or corridors shall be hung so as to swing into the hall or corridor, and all doors leading from the corridors out of the building shall be so hung as to swing outward. (g) There shall be a door of fireproof material at the head of each stairway leading from the first floor to the basement. (h) All wooden partitions, ceilings, floors, and woodwork about the heating apparatus or plant shall be covered with asbestos, tin, sheet iron, or other fireproof material so as to effectually overcome danger from fire. "SEC. 4. No door leading from a schoolroom into a hall or corridor, or from a hall or corridor out of the building shall, during school hours, be locked or bolted or secured in any other manner than by a spring which will readily yield to pressure from the inside. "SEC. 5. There shall be placed in a hall or corridor of every such school an alarm consisting of a bell or gong arranged or equipped so as to be sounded from at least one convenient station or place upon each floor and of sufficient size and volume of tone to be distinctly heard in every room when sounded. In the absence of such alarm there shall be placed in each room an alarm consisting of a bell or gong of sufficient volume to be heard throughout the room where placed, all of which alarms shall be arranged or equipped so as to be sounded simultaneously from the same station or place, at least one of which stations or places shall be conveniently located in a hall or corridor upon each floor. "SEC. 6. Any janitor, teacher, or other person who violates the provisions of the fourth section of this act shall be fined not more than three hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than three months, or both. Every member of a board of education, school board, board of school visitors, or building committee, or official who is charged with the duty of planning, contracting for, or building a public schoolhouse, who plans or contracts, or participates in contracting for, or votes to build, or builds such schoolhouse in violation of any of the provisions of this act shall be fined not more than three hundred dollars, or imprisoned not more than three months, or both." Chap. 81, June 10, 1909. 472 Connecticut: Relating to water-closets and privies in connection with school buildings. Providing for the maintenance and proper construction of water-closets in schools. Chap. 106, June 24, 1909. 473 Connecticut: Relating to exits in public buildings. Public buildings, excepting town halls and including school buildings, to be provided with one or more exits. Doors to swing outward. Penalties. Chap. 126, June 29, 1909. 474 Florida: Requiring proper fire protection for teachers and students of public schools, prescribing the means for such protection, and prescribing penalties for not constructing, introducing, and maintaining the means for such protection. Chap 5937 (No. 68), June 4, 1909. 475 Indiana: Repealing chap. 222, Acts, 1903, and enacting a substitute, providing for the protection of human life from fire; providing for its enforcement and for penalties. Chap. 118, Mar. 6, 1909. 476 Iowa: Amending sec. 4999-a9, supplement to the Code, 1907, relative to protection against fire. "The entrance and exit doors of all hotels, churches, lodge halls, court houses, assembly halls, theaters, opera houses, colleges and public school houses, and the entrance doors to all class and assembly rooms in all public school buildings, in all cities and incorporated towns, shall open outward.” Chap. 220, Mar. 12, 1909. 477 * Kansas: Protecting schoolhouses and school children from danger of fire; describing certain duties of public officers; prescribing penalties. "SECTION 1. That the doors of all public or private schoolhouses of more than one story shall open outwards, and all doors of schoolhouses shall remain unlocked while school is in session. "SEC. 2. That in every public or private schoolhouse of two or more stories every story above the first shall be provided with either two or more exits from the upper floor separate and distinct from the exits of the lower floor, or shall be provided with sufficient and suitable fire-escapes, which shall be built of iron or steel. "SEC. 3. That the tops of all furnaces in public and private schoolhouses shall be covered with asbestos covering or masonry, and the top of such furnace shall not be nearer than eighteen inches to the nearest woodwork above. The ceiling above said furnaces shall be covered with asbestos. "SEC. 4. That no contract shall be let for the erection of any school building, nor shall any public funds be paid out for the erection of schoolhouses of two or more stories, until the plans for such buildings shall have been submitted to the state architect and approved as to all the requirements of this act. "SEC. 5. That each county superintendent shall annually inspect each public school building, including the county high school building, in districts under his supervision; and the mayor or fire marshal shall annually inspect all public and private school buildings in cities of the second class; and the fire marshal shall annually inspect all public and private school buildings in cities of the first class. The examining officer under this section shall report to the respective school boards having jurisdiction any violation of this act, or any conditions which he may deem dangerous, or which will in any way prevent a speedy exit from the building, and it shall be the duty of said school board when thus notified immediately to make such changes as are required by this act, and such boards are hereby authorized to draw upon their general revenue funds, without further appropriation, to comply with all the requirements of this act. "SEC. 6. That in every public or private school having more than one hundred pupils (excepting colleges and universities) a fire-drill and summary dismissal from the building shall be practiced at least once each month at some time during school hours aside from the regular dismissal at the close of the day's session. "SEC. 7. That any officer or member of a school board who shall permit any provision of this act to be violated for sixty days may be removed from his office by a civil action. Independent of such civil action, any officer, member of a school board, city superintendent, principal or teacher violating any provision of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars or more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in jail not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment; provided, however, that this act shall not prevent the prosecution and punishment of an officer or other person under the ordinary provisions of the crimes |