The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 17, 1900, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CALL. CRREFUL AND TRAINING TRAT WORK AR5 NOT BEEN The = g the arill compulsor : | law exists Mow in ne v city, and it has fought its nd in from over- nent has died ill cease alto- ; cons in the thought of 0 were brought out i have happened. about within the past de- WYTHOUT REWRRD- When won't in all tne the rame well worn gong that has called people in to school day after day, appears to break loose. It clangs and clanks as if imps were tampering with it, and what it screems to the little children and the big children is “Fire.” Not onc pupil, or teacher perhaps, in the whole building knows whether this means real fire or merely @ drill, but that makes no dif- ference. The building is to be emptied in the shortest time possible. At the first sound of the alarm every READY Fom THE SIGNAL. .'1%' chfld from top to bottom of tne building rises to face in the direction of exit, and at the teacher's immediate signal they start to reach the vard. They move as rapidly as is possible short of running, and’ vet the lines are never broken; the order of three abreast or four abreast, or whatever it may be, is ‘as regular as at any recess or end-of-school hour. Nobody thinks of whispering; there is too much hurry about getting outside. And when it is all over and several hundred chil- ] y(yr,.’ f Jd / 1 d 1y dren are safe and sound In e street out side, the principal iooks at her watch and proudly says, “One minute and a half.” Or one and t s, or whatever the time may b over 2!% minutes does the drill average nowadays in any of the schools, and some of them have as many as sixteen rooms. 12 you look about with eyes that are canny you will see that a gentle little rivalry exists between principals in re- gard to this 'Of course this 1is a large building,” deprecates the school mistress, or “the stairs wind a good deal, but still—well, we rather pride ourselves on our fire dr: and she glows a bit with past reco and present assurance. The Hancock School has emptied itself of 600 pupfls In 1 minute and 40 secon: The Horace Mann has taken only 10 sec- onds more to turn out %0. These are es- pecially fine records, but 2% minutes is quite enough time for elther of them to take under the slowest of circumstances to clear either of the bulldings. Each principal Is given free cholce as to the giving of fire signals. The usual way is by the gong, but in a few schools the small hand bell is used, and there are those who have a system of electric bells, Three schools—the Hancock, the Agassiz and the Longfellow—give the cry of “fire.” t is claimed by the teachers who or- zanized this method that it i® the natural one. Almost all the schools have four exits, so it Is a quick matter to pour a stream of children into the street before they can be injured by a fire. It must needs be a rapid one that can get under dan- gerous headway before everybody is in a place of safety. There are drills in which shifts are ctice. EVERYBOD» 1 Time! VU T LiNiNG ue To RETURN ... A SYSTEM TRAT UNDOURTEDRY SAVED THE LIVES OF MANY TWhen a re: e ' occurs no amotat of discipline ¢ though it c when no pupils know that the fire is real. Then “fire drill” is all that the little think of and they are fearle At tb time that the Clement School on Geary street was partly burned a few a little girl from a lower grade f sheer fright and.lay in the line of exit. away with fri n control PUPILS- n case amount s | basement to and came — e Those who were there re: ber hu s . e T Tt et a Bost Géme fon Doys. re. in a moment more, been trampled under They remember, too, ng. “an upstairs boy,” ran to he 1 carried her down the long t of schoolhouse stairs. He was un- then, but he showed the stuff that the man is made of. There is talk these day principals to teach fin larger than is fow required. Perhaps there is this in- looked lying w she w man how Ma uld no stronger argument made, so that if one exit be cut off the crease of their responsibilities than arises line of march can be instantly changed. from the thought of fire. All this sounds simple and easy perhaps. No one in the world but a teacher knows to the drill. Parents have complained anything of what it means to bring sev- that Jennie caught co'd going outdoors eral hundred children to that state of dis- without her hat and that Willle’s studies cipline where they shall start instantly were interrupted. Then, too, there is the at an unexpected signal from whatever danger.of falling in the hurried march- they may be doing and go to the street ing. But the arguments for seem so much in perfect order and without panic. There have been many objections raised greater. No serious falls have ever oc- has e the worla n t this time—fust at “The best t st the best place N United h where & ‘America I sober, y—were “Now. to t with somethin that anybody ¢ these two ser Go to collegel” a boy. & ey the best advice is summed up In nces: Keep yourself clean!