From the standpoint of the interior of the building, a few miscellaneous provisions relate to exits to escapes.1 In Florida the State superintendent has decided that all doors and windows leading to fire escapes shall be labeled accordingly; and Vermont and Pennsylvania have a similar regulation. According to the Iowa and Oklahoma statutes, signs at all landings and in all rooms shall signify the location of escapes. Massachusetts fixes 5 inches as the minimum height of the letters that shall be used to mark each exit; Ohio compels the use of letters 6 inches high. In Indiana the lower sash of windows must open outward or upward. Window exits in Ohio are indirectly prohibited. They may lead only to a type of fire escape that is not to be used on schools.

Landings for escapes.-Another point closely connected with accessibility of escapes is the custom of placing landings or balconies opposite exits. Platforms of some sort must connect with exits in Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. In Ohio there must even be landings between stories if necessary to keep flights from exceeding 18 risers. Massachusetts regulations say not exceeding 15 nor less than 3 risers in stairs. No winders are permitted. Balconies must be provided with railings in Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin. The railing is to be 3 feet high in Indiana, Missouri, and Pennsylvania. Vermont demands 2 feet 10 inches; Wisconsin 2 feet 9 inches. Ohio varies the standard from 2 feet 6 inches to 4 feet, according to circumstances. In Vermont and Nebraska the space below the railing must be filled in with some sort of netting. Commonly the rail is specified to be of the same incombustible material as the fire escape itself. The floor of the landings has not been overlooked. In Nebraska it must be on a level with the story, and in Vermont not more than 9 inches below the sills of communicating windows. In Ohio this is reduced to 7 inches. The size of platforms is mentioned in the statutes of at least four States; in Vermont they must be 4 feet wide; in Wisconsin, 3 feet 4 inches; in Nebraska, as wide as the windows and 2 feet deep; in Ohio, not less than 3 feet square in any case, and under some circumstances larger still. The load capable of being borne per square foot of landings brings out some difference of opinion. The Nebraska law calls for strength sufficient to bear a load of 300 pounds per square foot, but 75 and 80 pounds is the average regulation as shown by the laws of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

The materials of escapes.-It seems scarcely necessary to enter into a review of the material to be used in the construction of escapes,

1 References bearing on this paragraph are given under "Exits" in Table 3.

since the very term "fire escape" implies incombustible material. Most of the laws are carefully framed; such expressions are found as "fireproof," "incombustible," "iron," "wrought iron," "steel," etc. The type of the escapes is very important and does not show so great uniformity. Aside from the discretion vested in certain executive authorities, the statutes and published regulations of administrative bodies make possible the following summary of permissible structures for fire escapes:

Ladders-Idaho, Iowa.

Ladders or stairs-Illinois, New Hampshire, Oklahoma.

Stairs-Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin (not retroactive).

Stairs, chutes, or toboggans-Nebraska.

How made secure.-Safety of escapes is contemplated by several provisions that have to do with the method of fastening to the building. Indiana requires that the fastenings extend clear through the wall. Wisconsin calls for the support of the stairs by the balcony, and of the balcony by brackets. Ohio provides for three different forms or types of escape. One is supported by brackets from the wall of the building. Another may run parallel with or at right angles to the wall of the building, and is independently supported by columns at a distance of at least 2 feet from the building. The third is a tower 8 feet from the building, with the stairs between any two adjacent stories broken into two flights running in opposite directions. Bridges connect this type of escape to the building at each story.

Extent of escapes.-When the extent of escapes is mentioned, aside from accessibility at different stories, it is principally to insure that the inmates shall be able to reach the ground without delay or danger. Missouri, for instance, provides that the escapes shall extend to the ground. Indiana requires a drop ladder 16 inches wide from the lower platform to the ground. Wisconsin substitutes for the drop ladder a permanent balance stairway. Ohio interdicts the use of any outside stairway or fire escape unless it comes within 8 feet of the grade line.

Slant. Slant is regulated in two ways. The maximum degree of slant is set down as 45° in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, and as 55° in Missouri. The matter is settled in other States by the regulation of treads. The maximum height and width of tread in New Jersey are 7 and 10 inches, respectively. This tends toward a slant of less than 45°. Vermont fixes the angle satisfactorily with a minimum tread of 9 inches and a maximum rise of 8 inches. Ohio does likewise with a fixed tread of 10 inches and a riser of 7 inches.

Railings.-Handrails on escapes, apart from platforms, are required on both sides in some States even when the escape does not diverge from the building. Vermont fixes a minimum of 2 feet 10

inches, North Dakota one of 2 feet 6 inches, Wisconsin one of 3 feet. New Jersey leads all with a screen 5 feet high on the outside. Ohio has a varying requirement of from 2 feet 7 inches to 3 feet 7 inches, the distance to be measured perpendicularly from the nosing of the step.

Miscellaneous.-The width of escapes varies widely, as can be seen from the following:

Inches.

20.-Nebraska.

22.-Wisconsin.
24.-Pennsylvania.

36.-New Jersey, North Dakota.
40-44.-Ohio.

So also is there variation in standards for strength of escapes Pennsylvania places 400 pounds as the load per tread; Vermont places only 200. Vermont figures throughout on a safety factor of 4. Vermont, too, requires a strength of 100 pounds per step for the flight as a whole; Wisconsin insists on 150 pounds; Ohio has several provisions of a like character. Escapes are not to pass a window unless unavoidably (Missouri); if they pass a window, the window is to be glazed with wire glass (New Jersey). All surfaces of platforms and stairs shall be of "rough diamond" to prevent slipping (Nebraska). Besides the stair escapes there shall be in each room above the second story a rope 1 inch in diameter securely attached to a chain over a window. This rope shall be long enough to reach the ground (Pennsylvania). Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Vermont, and Wisconsin, especially warn that all escapes shall be kept free from various obstructions, such as snow, ice, etc. The doors to escapes must not be bolted or locked during school hours (New York).

Penalties.-Penalties are more consistently announced by the various States for violation of the laws on fire protection than for the violation of any other provision in the whole code of school hygiene. Not all of these have been noted in the examination of statutes, but some samples have been collected. Michigan is one of the most severe, with a fine of from $100 to $1,000 and imprisonment of from three months to a year. Imprisonment is not a rare penalty, however.

Alarms and fire-fighting apparatus. In five States schools of certain sizes must have a fire-alarm system. Schools of over three rooms come under the law in Minnesota. In Connecticut and Ohio (except one-story buildings without a basement) there must be gongs located in the halls and operated from each story; but in Connecticut a bell in each room, similarly operated, may replace the gong. In Montana there must in all schools of over 30 pupils be a fire gong operated from each room and from the basement. In Florida special gongs to be

used for fire signals only must be capable of operation from both the basement and the office floor, and a fire-alarm box must be located in the principal's office.

One chemical fire extinguisher on each floor is required in Florida, Kansas, and Minnesota; one for each 2,000 square feet of floor area or less on each story above the basement in Ohio; one on each story above the first in Minnesota (if there be over two stories). Massachusetts requires that there be in readiness on each story above the second pails of water or other portable apparatus, or a hose attached to suitable water supply and capable of reaching any part of the story. Maine demands that each story above the first shall be equipped with some portable fire apparatus or a hose attached to a suitable water supply. In Ohio a standpipe and a hose in the basement are sufficient, unless a 75-foot hose will not reach all parts of the building, in which event other standpipes must be constructed. In Minnesota, buildings over two stories used for educational purposes shall, "when practicable," be provided with a 12-inch inside standpipe with sufficient 11-inch hose connected therewith on each floor and sufficient pressure either constantly maintained or available through pumps at a moment's notice, or a 24-inch metallic standpipe on the outside with accessible connections at each story. In cities and villages where there is a water supply, Wisconsin requires that there shall be attached to fire escapes a 3-inch standpipe, but no connection must be maintained. except on the roof.

Drills. The importance of fire drills has appealed to several States. Florida specifies drills for public schools only; Michigan and Iowa, for public and private schools. It is probable that most of the other States contemplate only the public schools in prescribing drills. The drills must occur as often as once a month in 9 of the 11 States maintaining them; in Washington, semimonthly; in Montana, weekly. The size of schools that must practice the drills varies in the following manner for the different States:

Schools subject to law on escapes, exits, and fire-fighting appliances-Pennsylvania. Schools of over

100 pupils and over 1 story high-New York. Schoolhouses over 1 story high-Iowa.

Florida and Michigan do not state any exceptions to the liability to keep up the drills. Very little other direction is given for this exercise. The drills in Florida are to include movement with unobstructed exits and the diversion of the lines to exits not regularly used, as well as the use of fire escapes. In Pennsylvania the drill is to include the use of the escapes and other appliances.

VII. LIGHTING.

Though the lighting of schools has not received the stress in regulations and statutes that hygienists claim it deserves, the aspects of the matter regarded in different States have been to a considerable extent the same, thus making a tabular presentation of some value.

Light ratio. Students of school hygiene have, as a rule, decided on 1 to 5 as the proper ratio of window area to floor area, and legislative enactments and administrative rules have usually followed this minimum. The standards in different States, so far as established, are exhibited below:

1 to 4 Virginia.

1 to 5-Indiana (if light is from the north), Minnesota, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio (study, class, and recitation rooms, and laboratories), Pennsylvania, Vermont (1 to 4 recommended).

1 to 6-Indiana, Texas.

1 to 7-Louisiana, Montana (all schools).

1 to 10-Ohio (play, toilet, and recreation rooms).

It is not infrequent to find "actual glass area" mentioned instead of "window area." "" North Dakota permits the use of reflecting lenses to offset a deficiency in actual lighting area; New Jersey will allow a 10 per cent deficiency to be corrected by the use of prism glass in the upper sash.

Direction of light.-Under the head of "Direction of light" a number of possible rules may be taken up. Children must not sit facing a