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Show The Model School House for Cities. The committee of award who have just adjudged the prizes for the best plans for a public schoolhouse in New York city give their opinion, that a public school building to be erected in a large and densely populated city should possess the following qualification, viz. I. At least two adjoining sides of the building should be freely exposed to light and air, for which purpose they should be not less than sixty feet distant from any opposite building. II. Not more than three of the floors should be occupied for class rooms. III. In each class-room not less that ? square feet of floorspace should be allotted each pupil. IV. In each class-room the window space should not be less than one fourth of the floor space, and the distance of the desk most remote from the window should not be more than one and one-half times the height of the top of the window from the door. V. The height of the class-room should never exceed fourteen feet. VI. The provisions for ventilation should be such as to provide for each person in a class-room not less than thirty cubit feet of fresh air per minute, which amount must be introduced and thoroughly distributed without creating unpleasant draughts, or causing any two parts of the room to differ in temperature more than two deg. F, or the maximum temperature to exceed seventy deg. F. This means that for a class-room to contain fifty-six pupils, twenty eight cubic-feet of air per second should be continuously furnished, distributed, and removed during school sessions. The velocity of the incoming air should not exceed two feet per second at any point where it is liable to strike on the person. VII. The heating of the fresh air should be ? either by hot water or by low-pressure steam. VIII. The fresh air should be introduced near the windows; the foul should be removed by flues in the opposite walls. IX. Water-closet accommodations for the pupils should be provided for on each floor. X. The building should not occupy more than half the lot. |