The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 14, 1915, Page 5

) . Y ~ ~ed that their school had cost them $110,000 or more thnn three: txmes_ ; THE NONPARTISAN LEADER e PAGE FIVE Startltng Charges About a New Public School S How far, just now, will political influence go in this state? Will it go, for instance, so far as to- protect the faulty construction of -a public school building? Supposa such a building to be built so that it endangers the lives of the child- ren in it would political influence go so far as to protect that? About three years ago the city of Fargo found itself obliged to enlarge its school facilities. Fargo was grow- ing. More room was needed for its school childrén. - A new 'school house | that would shelter 00 would not .be teo large. = The city school board was . ihe au: thority in such matters. The board decided and the citizens paid tbe bilh The chairman of the board and the most active member was Mr. C. O. Smith, a gentleman wel knowu and not inconspicuous in politics. The board decided to.build ‘the new school- house and selected its architect. He was Mr. Samuel Crabbe of Fargo. The Press Comes In : "Singularly encugh, Mr. Crabbe is not an architect at all. He is an en- gineer. For twenty years he was by the sole grace of politics, the city engineer of Fargo, His work in that office was very severely criticized, It was said that in his administra~ tion the work of his office was so badly done that the records have ney- er been straightened out and prob- ably never can be. But he is strong with the politicians, When the people of Fargo heard of Mr. Crabbz’s selection as the ar- , chitect of the new scheol, many of thqm protested. But the press’ of Fargo, or fart of it, immediately be- gan a fervent support of the project and the architect. It told how splen- did would be the building and how able was the ‘designer. It praised the board and jollied the .people, and fin- ally, boosting so many things, it bes gan to boost the rprice. The original estimate had been $35, 000. - ‘When the foundations were in the press began to talk casual’ly about $50,000 as the proper figure, Then it hinted that the cost would probably run to $4§000 and be worth it. Toen it deftly and ‘gently raised’ *that limit. ‘Finally the people of Fa'go learn: the’ ‘otignal limit. - “With the qompjetmp of the workl ‘the press raised ‘a final din of jubi- ~“lation and the public was supposed| “to. be satisfied and the: in The recently completed Agassiz Sch:):)l house at Fargo and Architect O’Shea, who declares that the building, because of political influ- ence, was unsafely constructed. His assertions may become a state issue Disturbing Reports The public did ‘not seem to be un- animous on that subject. There were distressing stories about the naturs; and quality of the work done. Some citizens that took an interest in such things expressed the opinion that there were grave faults both in the plans and their execution. Mr. A. .J. O'Shea a Fargo architect of standing and a citzen of approved probity, had about this time a school house of the same capacity to erect in anotker city. It cost only $50,- 000. This set him to thinking about Fargo’s new school (which had been named the Agassiz) and he and oth- er! began to investigate it. Here are some of the things they said they found. There was an allegation that the roof of the building was unsafe and might collapse. There were floors over the child- ren’s heads that “were alleged to be in the nature of an experiment. Con- crete panels in these floors, 34 feet square were said to have no support except at the edges. As to Supports The edges rested upon walls. The walls rested upon the ooze, silt and quicksand that compose the under- strata of the Red River valley, and the grave question was whethe: such an arrangement was safe. The panels were 17 inches thick and in one of the class rooms thes weighed 60 tons each. Supposing there to be but ona chance in a million of these floors giving way, the question was wheth- er the School Board of Fargo should tolerate even that chance. It -was el:io alleged that the ‘con- crete floor and the walls had already begun to crack and that these cracks were an indication of danger. 4 " Other things were alleged. The heating rlant proved defective. Tre charge was made that in the coursy of construction a change was made in the heating plans that saved the contractor several hundred dollars. It was charged that for a tank us- ed in the heating: ‘apparatus $1008 was charged whereas a similar tank in another school cost only $8. It was charged that the wvacuum cleaner “bought for the school wore| out in a year, It cost $1100. A Min- inea olis firm had- ofi'ered to supply a vacuum' cleaner for $360 and guar- ariee its service. It was asserted Ihat this offer was never made known to the public.. ; For the lmrdware in the Agassnz ident to be|school the charge was $1601.81. Tha other school has more doorsiand its {%ion. . . At the meeting -of - the- Boud at : which the report-was read Mr. Frame. hardware cost $400. No Fender Supplies The mechanical equipment in the Agissiz school cost $25,600 and is al- leged to have been a failure. The mechanical equipment in the other school cost $10,000 and was a success. Radiator fender were specified for all radiators and none were put in. These were some of the allegations made concerning a building that was to have cost $35,000, and really cost $110,000. " Pressure was brought to bear on the Board to compel an- investiga- tigation. The board decided to call in an expert. Dr. Paul Sorknecss is a member of the Board. He is a physician of the Northern Pacific. The expert, when he arrived proved to be. an employee of the Northern Pacific. The most serious charge against the building was about the rcof, al- leged to be dangerous. The usual method in such cases is first to ex- amine the plans and make calcula- tions of the strains. This expert did not follow thin course. He carried pig iron up to the roof, nearly 12 tons of it. This provided a pressure of about twenty pounds to the sguare fcot. It is alleged that for this climate a roof of this type should sustain a weight of one hundred and sixty pounds to the square fcot before breaking. A roof built with thi; strength is figured capable of sup- porting a snow load of 40 peunds to the square foot with a factor of caf- ety of four. ; When the expert had piled on the twenty pounds to .the square foot e —————————— e e e T v R D 1 | the roof began to sag. The mails, it | is asserted, began to come the trugses. Said to Be Safe "The test now stopred dnd some .of the Fargo newspapers: triumphantly proclaimed that the 'buildihg, was perfectly safe. - The written report of the expert did not say ‘the roof was safe. It told how the roof was. falling down under the. light load: placed on, it, that the nails were pulling: out and ‘{the joints slipping so that he -had to stop loading and hurriedly unload- it. One of the members. of the Board|. is ‘Mr. John Frame, the -law " partner. of Judge Engerud, the man the Min- neapolis Chamber - of ‘Commerce re- cently engaged -in- some rather..con- Spicuous and much crltmsed Iihga- moved, in the face of all these ‘chnrg- out of es, that the roof of the Agassiz bg declared safe. The motion was opposed only by one member, E. S. Eliott,-a printer; who has never been satisfied by the work done on the building. In spite of his protests, the white wash went through. A short time after the report was read the ‘Board caused hundreds of heavy bolts to be used in strengthen- ing the roof. Mr. Tempje, seleeted by, the Board its:lf declares that the | roof. is still unsafe. In the face of these conditions, when it lately became necessary or advisable for Fargo to bnild .another school house, the. Board again en- gaged Mr. Crabbe and has aprarently proceeded upon the same plan as be- fore. Already the reported cost of the new school has Been boosted from $100,000 to $125,000, and the roof, was. dcarcely in place before it was condemned. More Trouble Ahead Meantime; the trouble sbout the Agassiz school is far from being set« tled.- A highly ‘recommended archi+ teet from Davenport, Jowa, came and inspected 'both buildings. He pro+ nounced them still unsafe. Mr. O’Shea took the ‘plans of the Agassiz school to ‘Chicago 'and submitted them ta four: architects of -national repute. All declared in writing that the Agas- siz school was. covered with a roof that ' was ‘both “ridiculous and dan- gerous.” The astounding situation - then seems to be that the most serious charges: can be made against the safety of a great public school build+ ing 'in Fargo und: although, if the cherges are ‘true, the: livess of hund- reds of “children.'are hourly in dan- ger, the Board will make no:adequate investigation - of - them, and will do nething at all about the accusationa of. skimped work’ and- misused funds. Meantime, ' afld this dis the most startling fact of -all,- that there is substance in at least 'some of ‘the charges seems to be -establistied by the fact that in eight of the class rooms' in-the building -posts have been installed ‘to hold up the eeilings. On the other four class rooms the authorities seem to ‘be ready to take their chances. Except for some ‘fierce attacks on Mr.-O’Shea and others, this seems to be the net vesuit to date. What is. the explanation of this most ~extraordinary state of aflairs? Perhaps it ‘may be well to ask ° again. “How far can political power go. in this state? WOMEN CAN PAY DEBTS ; — . hondon, Sept. 29, (by mail).— The women of - Englard by their efforts can: finance: this war and it would be good if ‘they would ‘band themselves .together-and sign an economy pledge. -“That is but ene of .the cenclusions : arrived at by th: parliamentary war savings ‘cormittes, which thas so- Jicited' the helr, of experts to advise ‘the "housewife and the civil -popula- - tien the vital need of wartime thrift, Other general suggestions are: :+No -person- should " build a«house‘“t’ xezide in hinsslf. «Any- presents given ‘should be war ioan vouchers -or bonds. <‘Enterlaining at. restaurents should be entirely. abandoned. + Changes’ in’ . fashion'’ “of “clcthes | should: be. ignored or suppressed. = :« Funerals .should' be - conducted al- - ways with rigid economy, » Every. possible' cervant ' should” be - .given up. +No motor -cars should: be. used ex- cept for: charitable ‘or official pur- noses. < All “treating”. should be aband-ned until ‘we: can toast a final and com- pIete victory. Hnulmg grain to our local rark t wouldn’t be a half bad job—if our X market was ‘only ours, A [