, 1877-01-07
THE THEATRES.
Inspection by the Superintendent
OF Buildings.
General Suggestions for the Benefit Of
Managers and Theare-Goers.
Providing for the Occupants Of the GAL
leries.--Preparing to Meet Fire.
Detailed Statement Of the Condition and
Defects Of Each Of the Theatres.


Cleavcland, yesterday submitted to the Mayor
the following, which viii be seen to be report
OF the theatres as they were found in the recent
| inspection made By 3lr. Cleavcland and his as-
sistant, Mr.. Wllett:
CIaicdgo-Stn: In accordance with your request
| to employ such assistance as was required, aud
| make a survey Of the theatres, public halls'
churches schools, etc, Of the city, engaged Mr..
james R. Wi1leit as a special assistant for that
purpose, and proceeded to comply with your de-
S @ b Fsn5 e
reference. upon which are marked such changes as
thought necessary for the safety and protection
complete the survey and examination of all tho
buildings it is thought best to report on each class
Of buildings as soon a. the survey ts made. l
herewith fnclose my report on theatEcs:
The means OF egrcss from the main floor Of some
Of the theatres are sufficient. but that is not the
their exits exclusively in the front parts Of the
buildings, and dre there would endanger the safe,
ty Of the OCCUPANTS Of the galleries. There should
Placed and they should BE- q sufficient size. The
e The main aai nc ioor should Be- provided With exits
that an audience there could readily escape without
| meeting the stream of people from the galleries.
The most dangcr, being farther from the ground,
| and they should not be delayed BY meeting other
streams OF people from, the main floor land rails
should be placed on both sides Of al balls, stair
| something to hold on to to enable them
resst pressure wn1sa tends ds;a to eyer
should be steps In a1slcs aud passages. II the
rise DOES not exceed one foot In ten feet, It would
There should be- no long flights Of straight stairs,
I but the stairs should have many landings and
change direction At each landing, and in no case
should circular stairs be used. The object Of this
IN IN 7ra which
where the stairs arc long and straight. Some OF the
present flights Of stairs are longer than is desira~
open outwards and be so fastened to be readily
opened from the inside. and not so strong as TO
sist pressure from the inside Ovcr. all places OF
frances, the word - Exit - should be painted in
large letters. The mory scpsrate and distinct that
the exits from the building are, the more security
Of fire. People in panic, whether from
real or imaginary cause, have no Judgment, and
should be provided with ample safeguards, protec-
tion, and exits when such occurrences happen.
The theatre that can show the greatest amount OF
security will tother things being equa) meet with
the most liberal for 1t lsaat months ont and
brooklyn. No place should be tolerated for large
assemblies that has but one means Of exit, no mat
likely to occur there as in any other part Of the
building and thus cut of all means Of escape.
This will apply to halls churches, schools, ETC.. as
we'll ID to theatres
partitions in theatres yet to be erected should be
brick wall running through and above the roof.
In those now erected, which are all of wood, it
would be sufficient if they be covered on the stage
rsde with thick coat Of plaster or iron lath. sheet
iron. in some other suitable way acceptable to
the Superintendent OF Bni1dings), made less liable
titon should mp through the attic to the roof,
and also down to the floor under the stage, and all
openings except the stage should have iron doors.
Tue ceiling under tho auditorium should also re-
ceiyc coat Of plaster iron similar to that spoken
OF for the proscenium partitions The use Of wood,
rest!cted than it is a. It Is often ascl Tor The par
ttions Of drcssin.-gooms and other permanent
partitions. Such partitions should be at least
epace over the auditorium should not be used for
carpenter shop, nor for the storage OF combus-
tbls materials. AZ is now the ,,sssa case IN IN
plastered on both SIDES that the wood work MAJ
be entirely covered. In the construction Of new
does. wood should not be aoTea t, in any pos.!ea
usually hang there. This hcst should not be al.
lowed to escape into the attic hut should be taken
out through the roof by ue constructed similarly
Us d0mcs.
THE nRop-cuRrA1ss
Of all theatres could and should be made Of wire
would keep back fire and smoke from the auaitori-
] nm for considerable timc-probaby long enough
before fire originating on the stage conld COM
| municate with the auditorium. All lights or
tho a1g nsuns S 1es III sGl;s
burner. Border or hanging lights should be cover
aronnd them. There should be = large yenti!atos
ovcr, the r,sgins-loft. with valves that c~uld be
readily thrown open BY person on the stage or In
the hy-gglery, tn case OF 4 fire on OF about the
stage This wonld form an exit for smoke, and
tend to create current Of air from the auditorium
| to the back OF the building, In place Of draft
q ia hA q q
| tain is mp. AL useless and iu.lamnabl material
| saoud be removed entirely from the building, in
place, nook, and corner; as ia now the case in
some of the theatres: The theatres should be pro:
yided with stand-pipe and hose, and these should
or covered up in any way. There should also be an
ample supply Of fire extinguishers, all in full view
indeed, it would be we'll 1t least about the stage,
always kept full OF water ready to throw the fire
nt its commencement. The bucket Of water has
ths ono knows how s use it. ana
stand pines Is that they require pump. or some
] means Of forcing the. water through them: and
could not bo used until the fre-engiues arrived,
which In ali probao oi]itJ would be some time after
the fire Ind broken out 1t is therefore necessary
to have sufficient number Of
FINE-ExTIEGUIsHERS
| and buckets OF wntcr on the stage There should
be at least two c1tinguishels on each side Of the
stage oae on each side of the hy-ealle1y, and two
and reabe men to
charge Of ill appliances for the extinguishing OF
fires. They should he assigned to this as their
especial duty, and held responsible for the efti
cheney Of the fire apparatus. Theatres should be
| and no more should be admitted. The passages
should never be blocked up by chairs stools,
even by persons standing ns the passages are cal
culated to give egreFs to the numbers Of persons
that can be packed standing In the passages.
Although come Of the passages are not Us wide as
they should be- they will be sufficient II the addi
! tional exits proposed ara made. There arc no
objections to allowing theatres to have in them
greater number Of persons than can be seated, pro-
] yidcd the exits calculated for all TINT are
allowed to enter; but generally all the scats
that can be gotten In put in, and the exits arc
often fus sufiicent forthat number From statistics
from the theatres Of New York; it appeaEs that ont
mitted over the number that could be seated varied
from 25 to 93 per cent above the seating capacity.
the average excess being 58 per cent From this it
is evident that provision for the safety Of this
o1l-lamps candles should be put mp and lighted
every evening, so that II the gas was turned
off or went out the building would not be left in
total darkness The heating-Rpparatus should be
ii should be separated thcrefrom by brick plas
ter, iron lath- In some Of the thcatrea the pro-
lection is not whit 1t should be. The hearth,
for a distsnce OF five feet at least should
!. be on brick or stone. Mctal smoke -fues, it
they within three feet Of wood should be sep
mentioned, by metal covering two feet broader
than the pipe aud si1 inches from It and from the
wood work It would be we'll, though not per-
haps necessary II each theatre was furnished with
Department, and having sufficient number Of sta
tions or bulbs through the building. This would
give an early and prompt alarm when anT part of
the building became dangerously hot even before