The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1858-10-14

is cause not only for local but national
regret. lnaugurated five years since with
pomps and ceremOnials, at which the repre-
sentatives Of foreign lands, the President Of
the United States, and others in authority
assisted, it assumed rank and q promise as
an institution without parallel in the his
tory Of the country. II was the first edifce
here which invited and received such special
sanction and honor rom abroad it was
the only one in which the highest officer n
the land did homage to the spirit Of person
al liberality and enterprise on q scale Of
cosmopolitan Importance worthy the age
and the country. The Crystal Palace was
as beautiful as fairy dream; a. light a.
fancy could make il as original a. age OF
iron could devise as perishable, alas as
the grass Of the prairie. ltappears to have
dissolved at once under the flames to have
gone into nOthingness like substance sub.
mittd to the fiercest solvents OF the chem
st No sooner had the fire begun than it
Jumped 10 q conclusion. So ierocious was
its action, that nothing but the numerous
wide vomitories could have saved the lives
OF many, for at the time Of the confagration
thre were some two thousand persons in the
building. The loss is estimated at consid
erably above million Of dollars. The null
titudinous objects on exhibition at the time
by the American Institute, all Of which
were destroyed, are an immense loss in mo
ney and industrial value. To these must be
added such admirable works Of art as Thor.
walsden't Twelve Apostles, X ISIS Amazon,
and kindred works, which had worth be.
yond the estimates Of dollars and cents
All gone The devastation utter and rem.
ediless
1t is useless for the Press ever to commit
itself to homily on abstract grounds. The
most the editorial guardians can do to
waken attention to wrongs and stimulate
reform, must be done Immediately on the
occurrence Of loss and disaster. If change
for the better in whatever public matter is
to be secured, it will be under such circum
stances. Sydney Smith said that when q
bishop was crushed in the railway cars,
Parliament would look after the reforms in
their management necessary to the better
preservation OF life and limb. We question
il any such slight corrective to that particu-
lar evil would avail here and we sometimes
ask ourselves whether any stimules whatever
will rouse our public TO the dangers Of fire,
whether on land or watcr-and the lnsti-
tuition OF such preventive code "a will beft
civilized people. The Crystal Palace. at
the time Of the fire. IA we have seen, had
many people in it, II there had been twenty
thousand instead of two thousand, what
might not have been the extent Of the de.
struction! Consider the rushing, crushing,
terror, inconsequental and desperate action
OF such scene,
We have often called the attention of our
readers to the murderous condition Of the
steamboats, which ply about our city, none
Of which are duly provided against fire, or
the chances which eDdanger the safety Of
the passengers under such an event Let US
now look, apropos of the Crystal Palace
to our theatres, where thousands congregate
every night. What provision have they
against fire, and the attendant probability
Of loss Of life On the continent of Eu-
rope-in Paris for example-where thea
tres abound, they never burn down. Look
at them here, however. The Bowery has
burnt down three times certainly, and il We
mistake not, four. The Park burnt down
once, and WAS once on fire besides. Nblo's
has burnt down once To this must be
added the Metropolitan Hall, which was
great oss--a loss to the public and to art
AS it will never be replaced. The same
reckless waste by fire Of public buildings
characterizes other American cities. In
any of these theatres we would like to know
what security there is against fire and muir
derous havoc In Paris there is regularly
detailed for every such place Of public
amusement squad Of the Fire Brigade.
At the Paris Academy OF Music there are
forty Of this brigade constantly on duty,
Sundays not excepted
Under such system, It is hardly neccs
sary to say that fires never occur, nor are
lives lost Here however, no, only are the
public crowded into the theatres without
such precaution but, by way Of laying a
premium on deaths in case OF fire the aisles,
Il the crowd pour in, are filed up with
chairs ard stools, so that escape becomes
impossible for multitude. In Boston there
is a law on the subject which should be im
mcdiately copied here it forbds the intro
duc,ion OF chairs cr stools into such passages
at theatres concert rooms, and all public
places. 1t is precisely the neglect OF such
provisions that causes irightiul los of lie.
The destruction OF the Richmond theatre,
with the burning OF seventy persons, grew,
the one out OF the want Of fire brigade
watching the premises, and the other mainly
because the doors opened inside 80 that the
crowd pressing against them, they could no,
be opeped. A judicious expenditure 10 the
guardianship Of public buildings would save
millions Of property annually.
The ordinary mcgee, Of public edifccs
agains, the chances of these ravages. was
heightened TO the very las, degree by thu
tact that good portion ol the Crysia
Palace was used lumb room, where odd;
aud ends Of lumber, machiDery, canvas ant
80 forth. were aggregated, presenting mate
rial for ignition, only second 10 gunpowder
Added 20 this the tenant Of the city had q
cooking apparatus. a capital contrivance Il
save probably sloo year and burn up 4