系统和钻头的价值。
The danger to which the pupils of public schools in large cities and towns are constantly exposed, on account of the crowded condition of such buildings and the liability of a panic occurring in the event of an alarm of fire being raised, has, in only exceptional cases, been fully appreciated, and even when the danger has been recognized, little or nothing has been done to provide for or counteract the same. This State of affairs may, perhaps, be accounted for by the fact that members of school boards, as a general thing, know a great deal more about the contents of ancient histories than they do about the practicalities of life in the nineteenth century. School-houses are now seldom built as they should be built, and, as a consequence, danger continually menaces their inmates. A fire is liable to break out at any moment, and owing to the presence of innumerable flues for hot and cold air, which are almost always made of wood, flames are apt to seize upon such a structure in a very short time. Wooden staircases, which make an angle every few feet, and long halls or passages, lead to the various rooms, and it is a mystery that more lives of school children than are lost by fire are not sacrificed. Few boys or girls have passed through the public schools without having been more than once disturbed by an alarm of fire, usually false, we will admit, but none the less dangerous. Boys like excitement, and, glad of any excuse to vary the wearisome monotony of school life, accept the slightest intimation of a fire, and try to induce a panic. A puff of smoke from a register is enough to send them rushing pell-mell down stairs. Some school buildings are naturally less likely to burn than others, although none are any too well constructed; but there is no reason why lives should be lost when a fire does break out. By employing some system in the management of the inmates, nearly all danger from this source can be obviated, and there is sufficient cause to employ system of this kind. The fire hazard in school buildings is very great, and few last many years belore they are swept away by flames.
纽约教育委员会已经提出了一项决议，在校长的指导下，几个学校和部门的校长应负责培训学生，以便他们能够在建筑物中离开建筑物紧急情况，在最短的时间内，没有混乱或恐慌。自从多年前，这是在该市最大的一所学校之一引起的可悲恐慌以来，这是由于火灾的警报，许多孩子丧生，老师们或多或少地做了有责任在常规行进中钻取学者，以防止混乱。提到的恐慌是不必要的，没有火。但是它的结果极为灾难性。我们认为，在路易斯维尔的学校中，存在着令人钦佩的火灾系统。同样的做法在几个地方的其他地方都获得了，实际上，我们几个月前描述了灭火旅，该旅是在一所大型西方学校的老学者中组织的。在通常的官员的控制下，在教师的授权下，在每个楼层都维持了一家常规的消防公司。该军团已经组织起来，如果爆发了，就扑灭了大火。 The idea was, of course, well intended, but its value is to be doubted. The most that can be expected of the pupils is to so conduct themselves that their safety may be assured. It would be a very simple matter for the teacher of a school to make his or her pupils adopt some method of marching to and from classes and from the building after the work of the day has been done. Then, should a fire break out, if instead of raising a general alarm, announcement of the fact was conveyed to the superintendent, every teacher might speedily be informed, and by some ruse the scholars dismissed without a suspicion of what was occurring. The first knowledge the majority of them would obtain of the fact that the building was on fire, would be after they had reached the ground and were beyond all danger. Should a school of three thousand pupils be dismissed without order, the weak would inevitably be trampled upon by the strong.
