New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-10-07

on land or vater-an1 the ln-uluno" w '"'"
preventive code At viii btht civilized people.
The Crystal Pslace. a. the time Of the hre - we
have seen. had many people IN H. " there nan o''"
10000 instead 2,cc0 what might not have been 'ae
extent Of the destruction Consider the ru'h'ne'
crushing. terror, inconsequ, ntal and desperate
seton of such scene
We have often called the sttention OF our resdeFs
10 The nurderous condition Of the steamboats, when
ply round about our city. none Of when are aui!
provided asains, FIRE or the chances which end,nger
tie safety Of the pss-er gels under such an event
Let IL now look. apropos Of the Crystal Paiace,
TO our theaters, where Thousands congresate every
nisht. What provision have they against fire, ard
the attendant probability Of loss Of life : On the
Continent Of Eurcpe-in Paris for eysmp'e-where
.h.sters abound, they never burn down. Look at
them here however The Bowery has burnt down
three times certainly. and, if we mistake not, four
The Park burnt down once and was once on fire
b. sides. Niblo'- has burnt down once. To this
must be added the Metropolitan Hall which was q
great loss loss to the public and to srt-ss it
will never be replaced. The same reckless waste
by fire Of public buildings ehsrac'erizes other
American cities. In any OF these theaters We
would ike 10 know what security there is against
FIRE and its murdrrous havoc. In Paris there ia
regularly detailed for every such place of public
amusement a squad of the Fire-Brgade. AT the
Paris Academy Of Music there are forty Of this brig
ade constantly 90 duty, Sundays not excepted
Under such system, it is hardly necessary to say
thst fires never occur. nor are lives lost Here,
however not only are the public crowded into the
theaters without such precaution; but, by way OF
laying premium on deaths in csse of hre, the
ai.les. if the crowd pour in, are filled up with
chairs and stools 50 that escape becomes impossi-
bic for multitude. In Boston, there is law on
the subject which should be immediately copied
here: il forbids the introduction of chairs or
stools into such passages at thesters, concert
rooms, and all public places. 1t IS precisely the
neglect Of such provisions that causes irghtu loss
Of LIE The destruction Of the Richmond theater
| with the burning Of seventy perscns, grew, the
one out of the want of fire brigade watching the
premises. and the other mairly because the doors
opened inside, 80 that, the crowd pressing against
them. they could not he opened. AjudiciOus eypen-
dure in the guardianship OF public buildings Would
save millions Of property annually.
The ordinary neglect of public edifces against
the chances of these rsysges, was heightened to
the last degree By the fact that good portion OF
the Crystal Pslace was used as lumber room
where odds and ends of lumber, machinery, can
vas and so forth were aggregated presenting ma
terislfor ignition, only second to gunPcwder Added
10 this the tenant Of the city had q cooking appa-
ratus, capital continuance to ave probably 800
q year and burn up a million or million and a
half. In any sense, the neglect, the contempt for
the ordinary sanctions of safety under such circum
stances, appears TO have been complete and exc.
cradle. The loss is manifold, general, national, ir.
reparable. We shall never have another Crystal
Palace. Its glorious dome, seeming as though
posing itself for flight to the Empyrean is no
more; It's galleries, its treasures, its magnificent
expanses indispensable to the mass.gatherlngs of
this great metropolis-its superb memories are sll
gone, and gone forever.