PLANS AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PUTNAM FREE SCHOOL-HOUSE, NEWBURYPORT, Mass.

We are indebted to W. H. Wells, Esq., the gentleman who has been selected as Principal of the Putnam Free School, and to whom the work of organizing this important institution has been committed, for the following plans and description.

The Putnam Free School was founded by Mr. Oliver Putnam, a native of Newbury. It has a permanent fund of fifty thousand dollars, besides the amount invested in the school-house and its appur

tenances.

The number of pupils to be admitted at the opening of the school (April, 1848,) is limited by the Trustees to 80. No pupil can be received under twelve years of age, nor for less time than one year.

The object of the Institution is to lead pupils through an extended course of English studv. It is open to students from any portion of the country, who are prepared to meet the requirements for admission. No charge is made for tuition.

This building is situated on High street, directly opposite the Common or Mall. It is constructed of brick, with corners, door-sills, underpinning, steps, etc., of freestone. It is two stories in height, exclusive of a basement story, 85 feet in length, and 52 in breadth.

The upper story is divided into two principal school-rooms, each 49 feet by 40. There is also a small room in this story for the use of the Principal. The lower story contains a hall for lectures and other general exercises, and four recitation rooms. The hall is 44 feet by 48. Two of the recitation rooms are 14 feet by 17, and two are 11 by 20.

Each of the principal school-rooms is furnished with 64 single seats and desks, besides recitation chairs, settees, etc. The desks are made of cherry; and both the desks and the chairs are supported by iron castings, screwed firmly to the floor. In form and construction, they are similar to Kimball's "Improved School Chairs and Desks."

The central aisles are two feet and eight inches in width; the side aisles, four feet and four inches; and the remaining aisles, two feet.

The building is warmed by two furnaces. It is ventilated by six flues from the hall on the lower floor, six from each of the school-rooms on the second floor, and one from each of the recitation rooms. Each of these flues has two

registers; one near the floor, and the other near the ceiling. The two principal school-rooms are furnished with double windows.

The institution is provided with ample play-grounds and garden plots, back of the building and at the ends. It has also a bell weighing 340 lbs.

The first appropriation of the Trustees for the purchase of apparatus, is one thousand dollars. Other appropriations will probably be made, as the wants of the school may require. In addition to the apparatus procured by the Trustees, the institution is to have the use of an achromatic telescope, which will cost between three and four hundred dollars.

The cost of the building and ground, with the various appurtenances, exclusive of apparatus, has amounted to twenty-six thousand dollars.

The accompanying plans give a correct representation of the arrangements on the two principal floors.

The building was erected after designs and specifications by Mr. Bryant, Architect, Boston.

H-Hall for lectures and other general exercises, 44 feet by 48. A-Raised platform for desk. D-Front door. (The portico in front does not appear in the plate.) B, B-Recitation rooms, 11 feet by 20. R, R-Recitation rooms, 14 feet by 17. E, E, E, E-Entries. C, C-Wash closets, under the stairs. a, a-Doors leading to the basement story. d, d, d, d, d, d, d, d, d, d-Doors. v, V, V, V, v, v.-Ventilating flues.

E

E

M, D-Room for Male Department. F, D-Room for Female Department. L-Principal's room. A, A-Raised platforms for teachers' desks. Closets. p, p-Raised platforms under the black-boards. s, 8, 8, 9, 5, 5— d, d, d, d, d, d—Doors. v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v, v-Ventilating flues

-Settees

PLANS AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL-HOUSE,

HARTFORD, CONN.

The Public High School-House of Hartford was built after more than ordinary search for the best plan, (a committee having visited Boston, Lowell, Salem, Newburyport, Worcester, Providence, and Middletown, for this purpose,) under the constant oversight of a prudent, practical and intelligent building committee, and with due regard to a wise economy. The committee were limited in their expenditure for lot, building, and fixtures, to $12,000; and when it was ascertained that a suitable building could not be constructed for that sum, individuals on the committee immediately contributed $2,400 out of their own pockets to complete the house with the latest improvements. The committee have now the satisfaction of knowing that their contributions and personal oversight have been mainly instrumental in erecting and furnishing the most complete structure of the kind in New England, when the aggregate cost is taken into consideration.

The High School is designed for both males and females, and the arrangements of the buildings, and the grounds, are made with reference to the separation of the sexes, so far as this is desirable in the same school.

The lot on which the building stands is at the corner of Asylum and Anr. streets, and is at once central, and large enough for the appropriate yards. The yards are separated by a close and substantial board fence, and the grounds are well laid out and properly inclosed; they will also soon be planted with trees and shrubbery. The building is of brick, three stories high, upon a firm stone basement. Its dimensions are 50 by 75 feet. The basement is 13 feet in the clear, six feet of which are above the level of the yard. This part of the building is occupied by furnaces, coal bins, sinks, pumps, entrance rooms, &c. At one end, and on two opposite sides of the building, a stair case eleven feet in width extends from each of the two entrance rooms, to the upper story, with spacious landings on the first and second floors. Two rooms, each 11 by 14 feet, are between the stair cases, the one on the first floor being used for a front entry to the building, and the one on the second floor being appropriated to the Library and Apparatus. Two closets, eleven by four feet on the first floor, and immediately beneath the stair cases, receive the outer garments, umbrellas, &c., of the teachers.

An aisle of four feet four inches in width extends between the desks and outer walls of the rooms, and between every two ranges of desks is an aisle of two feet four inches in width. An aisle of eight feet in width passes through the middle of the rooms, parallel to the narrower passages. A space of five feet in width is likewise reserved between the remote seats in the ranges and the partition wall of the rooms. Around the sides of the rooms, tastefully constructed settees are placed for occasional recitations, and for the accommodation of visiters, and in the upper room for the use of the pupils of the room below, during the opening and closing exercises of the school.

The pupils, when seated, face the teachers' desks and platforms, which occupy the space between the entrance doors of each room.

A blackboard, or black plaster surface, forty feet long, and five broad, extends between the doors leading to the recitation rooms, which are also lined with a continuous blackboard. There is also a blackboard extending the entire length of the teachers' platform in the lower room, and two of smaller dimensions in the room above, a part of the space being occupied by the folding doors leading to the library and apparatus room. Twenty chairs, of small dimensions and sixteen inches in height, are placed around each recitation room, thirteen inches apart and seven inches from the walls, and securely fastened to the floor. A clock, with a circular gilt frame and eighteen-inch dial plate, is

placed over the teachers' platform in each school room, in full view of the pupils. A small bell is also placed above the teachers' platform in the lower room, with a wire attached, passing to the desk of the Principal, in the room above, by which the time of recesses, change of recitation classes, &c., are signified to the members of the lower rooms.

The school-rooms in the first and second stories are 50 feet square, and 13 feet in height-to each of which, two recitation rooms 12 by 23 feet are attached. The large rooms are furnished with "Kimball's improved School Chairs and Desks," placed in six ranges, extending back from the teachers' platforms, ten esks forming a range, and two chairs attached to each desk, furnishing accomodations in each room for 120 pupils-60 of either sex. Ample room yet emains in front of these ranges to increase the number of desks when the wants of the school demand them. The desks are four feet in length and one foot four inches in breadth, constructed of cherry, oiled and varnished. The moderately inclined tops are fixed to the end supporters, and the openings for books are in front of the pupils. Glass inkstands are inserted in the tops of the desks, and the ink protected from dust and the action of the atmosphere by mahogany covers turning on pivots. The chairs are constructed with seats of basswood, hollowed, and backs of cherry, moulded both to add beauty to the form of the chair, and to afford support and comfort to the occupants. Al are neatly stained and varnished, and they, as well as the desks, rest on iron supporters, firmly screwed to the floor.

The entire upper story is converted into a hall, being twelve feet in height at the walls, rising thence in an arch to the height of seventeen feet. This is appropriated to reading, and declamation, and for the female department of the school, to daily recess, and calisthenic exercises. A moderately raised platform is located at one end, above which an extended blackboard is placed, and settees are ranged around the walls; these, properly arranged, together with the settees from the lower rooms, which are easily transported above, speedily convert the open Hall into a commodious Lecture room,—and also adapt it to the purposes of public examinations and exhibitions.

In each of the two entrance rooms are placed the means of cleanliness and comfort, a pump of the most approved construction, an ample sink, two wash basins with towels, glass drinking tumblers, and a looking-glass. Ranges of hooks for hats, coats, bonnets, cloaks, &c., extend around the rooms, and are numbered to correspond with the number of pupils, of each sex, which the capacity of the house will accommodate. In the girls' room, pairs of small iron hooks are placed directly beneath the bonnet hooks, and twelve inches from the floor, for holding the over-shoes. In the boys' room, boot-jacks are provided to facilitate the exchange of boots for slippers when they enter the building-an important article, and of which no one in this department of the school is destitute. A thin plank, moderately inclined by hollowing the upper side, is placed upon the floor, and extends around the walls of the room, to receive the boots and convey the melted ice and snow from them, by a pipe, beneath the floor. A large umbrella stand is furnished in each of the two entrance rooms, also with pipes for conveying away the water. Stools are secured to the floors for convenience in exchanging boots, shoes, &c. Directly under the stairs is an OMNIUM GATHERUM-an appropriate vessel, in which are carefully deposited shreds of paper, and whatever comes under the denomination of litter, subject, of course, to frequent removal. These rooms, in common with the others, are carefully warmed. The wainscoting of the entrance rooms, and the stair case, is formed of narrow boards, grooved and tongued, placed perpendicularly, and crowned with a simple moulding. The railing of the stair case is of black walnut. A paneled wainscoting reaching from the floor to the base of the windows, extends around the walls of the remaining rooms. All the wood work, including the library and apparatus cases, is neatly painted, oak-grained, and varnished. The teachers' tables are made of cherry, eight feet in length, and two feet four inches in breadth, with three drawers in each, and are supported on eight legs. A movable writing desk of the same material is placed on each. Immediately in front of the teachers' desk in the upper room, a piano is to be placed, for use during the opening and closing exercises of the school, and for the use of the young ladies during the recesses. Venetian window blinds with rolling slats, are placed inside the windows, and being of a slight buff color, they modify the light without imparting a sombre hue to the room.