The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-11 00:00:00

FPIFS AT THEATRES.

The Lord Chamberlain has received a letter from the
Coroner of Middlesex, conveying the recommendation of
the jury at the inquest held on Miss Thorne, so unfortu-
nately burnt to death at the Pavilion Theatre, to the follow-
ing effect :
" That in future the dresses of ballet dancers should be
rendered uninfiammable, and that all ground lights should
be protected."
In this recommendation the coroner concurs.

At the meeting of managers held this (Feb. 5) day, their
opinion was so strongly expressed as to the difficulties which
would attend an order for the compulsory use of uninflam-
mable muslin, &c., that the Lord Chamberlain cannot at
present undertake to give a general order for its adoption.
He would wish, however, that managers should employ it
whenever possible, and should generally impress upon the
ladies engaged by them the dangers to which they expose
themselves by refusing to avail themselves of this simple

precaution.
The Lord Chamberlain is glad to find that in most of the
theatres under his control guards to the ground and other
fixed lights have already been adopted. He has thought it
necessary to issue a general order on this important point.
The Lord Chamberlain begs to impress upon the mana-
gers that the public is becoming more and more disposed to
hold them responsible for accidents by fire occurring in the
houses under their control, and would suggest that speedy
and certain punishment should be inflicted by them upon
all persons in their service guilty of carelessness in this re-
spect.
The Lord Chamberlain would also urge upon the mana-
gers the importance of facilitating by every means in their
power the egress of all classes of their audiences from their
theatres. He acknowledges with pleasure, that much has
of late years been effected; but much room for improve-
ment still exists, and he hopes to find that his caution in
this respect has been attended to when the next annual in-
spection takes place.
the Lord Chamberlain encloses herewith a copy of regu-

lations to be posted in a conspicuous position in the theatres,
To these regulations, which in substance have already been
conveyed to the managers, ho desires again to call their
special attention, and begs that the receipt of them may be
acknowledged. SYDNEY, Lord Chamberlain.
Lord Chamberlain's-office, Feb, 5.

REGULATIONS FOR TIID BETTER PROTECTION A OAINST
ACCIDENTS BY FIRE AT THEATRES LICENSED BY TUE

LORD CHAMBERLAIN.
1. All fixed and ordinary gas burners to be furnished with
efficient guards. Movable and occasional lights to be, when
possible, protected in the same manner, or put under charge
of persons responsible for lighting, watching, and extin-
guishing them.
2. The floats to be protected by a wire guard, The first
ground-line to be always without gas, and unconnected with
gas, whether at the wings or elsewhere, Sufficient space
to be left between each ground-line, so as to lessen risk
from accident to all persons standing or moving among
such lines. . .

3. The rows or lines of gas. burners at wings to commence
four feet at least from the level of the stage.
4. Wet blankets or rugs, with buckets or water-pots, to
be always kept in the wings ; and attention to be directed
to them by placards legibly printed or painted, and fixed
immediately above them. As in rule 1, some person to be
responsible for keeping the blankets, buckets, &e., ready for
immediate use.
5. These regulations to be always posted In some conspi-
cuous place, so that all persons belonging to the theatre
may be acquainted with their contents ; every breach or
neglect of them, or any act of carelessness as regards fire, to
be punished by fines or dismissal by the managers.
SYDNEY, Lord Chamberlain,
Lord Chamberlain's-office, St. James's Palace, Feb. 5,

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

PosT.—Now that the greater portion of Schleswig
as well as Holstein are in possession of the German
Powers, it is probable that no very long interval
will elapse before Europe is informed what will be
done with them. the strong positions still held by
the Danes on the eastern coast will probably supply
the aggressive Powers with a pretext for alleging
that they do not yet possess that " material guaran-
tee" which they made a condition precedent to
acknowledging the rights of the Danish Sovereign
and making restitution of his sequestrated posses-
sions. If such a pretext should be advanced, the
least that can be said of it is that it will be of a
piece with the reasons assigned in the first instance
for invading the Danish territory. The German
Powers intend to retain possession of Schleswig, and
so long as a single Danish soldier remains in the
Duchy the object of the invasion will not be secured.
Already the work of appropriation has commenced.
That the guns with which the Dannewirke was
mounted should be seized by the invaders as tro-
phies of war was what might have been expected ;
but what excuse can be given for rezing that line
of fortifications to the ground ? It' all that Austria
and Prussia require be the revocation of the Con-
stitution of November, cannot they put the neces-
sary degree of pressure upon Denmark by the occu-
pation of Schleswig, without wantonly destroying
the defences of that Duchy ? Is it not, however,
but too apparent that the Dannewirke will be razed
to the ground because it is never to be of any fur-
ther use? If Schleswig be annexed to Germany,
there will be no more need of a line of fortifications
across that Duchy than there would be of one
across that of Saxe-Coburg. But, in the presence
of the events which are daily occurring, it is fettle
less than puerile to assume that the German
Powers intend at no distant period to restore to
Denmark her lost possessions. An opportunity
like the present is what Germany has been long
waiting, and it is absurd to suppose that she will
not now turn it to account. Neither the Emperor
of Austria nor the King of Prussia are supporters
of the popular party which at the present moment
clamours so noisily for the spoliation of Denmark.
But the Prussian King has interests which, though
they clash with those of the minor German Powers,
Equally conflict with the vested rights of the Danish
Crown, and Austria is content to aid in the accom-
plishment of the designs of her powerful neighbour.
The result to Denmark is in either case the same.
She must at any rate be despoiled, and the Duchies
which heretofore constituted a portion of her domi-
nions must be absorbed in that singular agglomera-
tion of States which is popularly described as Ger-
many. Whatever other effect their recent reverses
may have had, they certainly have not caused dis-
couragement to the _littlish people. The resolution
passed by the Rigsdag in favour of the energetic
prosecution of the war cannot be considered as the
simple prompting of despair. The Danes have been
worsted at their weakest point, and they not unrea-
sonably conclude that they have now suffered at
the hands of the Germans the greatest evils in the
power of the latter to inflict. Events have followed
an almost similar course to those of the campaign
of 1848. And as that year saw Denmark stripped
of the Duchies, only to be restored at a subsequent
period, so the Danes fondly hope that in all respects
the parallel now afforded may be complete. It may
be rash, and doubtless is rash, for them to suppose
so, but the supposition is so natural that one cannot
be surprised at its being entertained. The Danes,
as we pointed out a few days since, are in a posi-
tion to carry on a defensive war in Schleswig with
comparative ease for many months to come. They
occupy the Island of Alsen on the eastern coast of
the Duchy, together with the strongly fortified po-
sition of Duppel on the adjoining mainland. From
the island it will be next to impossible for the Ger-
mans to dislodge them ; and yet, so long as the
Danish forces are concentrated there, the allied
Powers will be compelled to maintain a large army
of occupation in Schleswig. Meanwhile, however,
the Danes with their fleet may blockade the Ger-
man ports, and though at present only at war with
Austria and Prussia, may find it convenient for the
purposes of blockade to declare -war against the
entire Confederation. By such a proceeding they
would only nominally increase the numbers of their
enemies, since the German Powers are without a
fleet. Meanwhile, however, the Danes may not
unreasonably expect that events may spring up to
divert the attention of their enemies, If the state of
Europe was settled, and if nothing disturbed the
universal tranquillity but the Dano-German quarrel,
then indeed it might be a matter of consideration
for the Danes whether it would not be expedient to
withdraw from an unavailing contest. But casting
our eyes over the map of Europe, and more espe-
cially over the territories of her present foes, Den-
mark may possibly discover a door of escape from
her present difficulties. Deserted though she has
been in her extremity by every State in Europe, she
may still detect a gleam of sunshine piercing the
heavy clouds which are now accumulating over the
heads of her enemies. If the Danish Government
should fancy that we are on the eve of a great Euro-
pean war they might possibly be mistaken, but they
certainly would not be singular in entertaining that
idea. If they should suppose that a few months
hence will witness an Italian armyentering Venetia,
and a French army marching on the Rhine, they
might prove to be in error, but they would at least
have the excuse that their error was shared by
many observant and impartial persons. But surely,
it there was a general European war, does any one
pretend to say that in such an event Denmark
would not stand a feir chance either of reconquering
her Duchies, or having them reassigned to her by
the Congress which would remap Europe at the
conclusion of hostilities ? It is very well for those
who are interested in the maintenance of European
peace, and who lose nothing by the spoliation of
Denmark, to advise her to lay down her arms, and
accept what they are pleased to consider accom•
plished facts. But Denmark may well hesitate
before accepting counsel dictated by such palpably
selfish considerations. Blot out England from the
map of Europe, and still the Danes might find in
the probable dissensions of the other continental