, 1881-12-11

Il
men shriekinr: cursing, PRAYING, and scream
ing for help to the impotent crowd without;
the sounds Of human agony growing fa'nter,
and the flames sllrging more heHeiy stl'u
drowning them III their roar and crackle
then no other sound but that OF tho hre as IL
swept over its prey: nothing left but a deorl'
of ruin and death; nothing untouched by the
flames save giidcd angel blowing its trumpet
as if it were the angel Of death loudly fauh'"
In. its holocaust. ::
The testimony shows that the Ring The"
atro was perhaps rs we'll equipped with the
ordinary securities against 1lreas the average
theatres in this country OF III Europe, anu II
shows also that they were ot us littse ac-
count It ll;id tire-plugs iii the auditorium
! ready for use, bit they were not used. Ii
had oil-lanps i'll the lobbies t" be used i'll
case of the failure Of gus, but wl1tn the :sas
exploded it was found they were not ready.
| for use. It had an iron curtain to shut OF
the stage from the auditorium, and there WAS
fine to lower it, but it was not lowered.
! Nothing that should llaSc becll dome was
done, fur there WAS no one to .to it; or, II
there were any who shon1d have done
it, they were too terrified. This might
| and probably would happen in any other
theatre Besides this, the Ring Theatre, like
| many another theatre, had harrow exits,
| crooked l.assagcways, do0rs opening tile
| wrons way sitc exits wl,icl, Of course were
| kept locked. and III general was such laby-
J rintll that only those thoroughly acquainted
| with 1t could tnd their way out III haste.
| The lesson of this disaster Is cle:r enough.
1t was very cmph*ticaIiy taught III Brooklyn
1t was repeated in Nice. 1t has been taught
| over and over again, but who learns the
lesson? Not the managers, for these calani-
| tiles continue to happen. Not the audiences,
! for if they demanded that managers should
| secure their safety against fire it would
| be done. This is all the more 10 tic
wondered at since the natural destiny
| of every theatre, sooner or later, under
| present conditions, is to be destroyed by
| fire, and because 4 theatre, however well
| kept it inay be, is Il tiEdcr-boS. Its stage is
| 4 mass Of highly con'bustiblc material
| light wood, painted scenes, fllnsy borders,
| old scenes, lumber and properties stored
away, oils, and oil paints, Fire is constantly
! used upon the stage, and careless hantl any
| moment may play the lnccndiary. Burnin:;
the danger Of gas explosions. Long rows Of
lights separate waving borders i'll close con-
tiguity. And yet there is not the same pre-
caution that owners of public buildings use
when the danger is much less. Is it not
time that the owners of theatres should be
compelled TO make them fiTe-proof, or. as
nearly 50 as they c;ll' That they should be
compelled to use non-i1lilammable paints
upon woodwork and scenery? And that
they shall so construct their exits that even
a panic-stricken crowd can cscapc3
-. :-.---.-:-.------.-..
HOW JUSTICE Is KILLED AND TIE GUILTY
ESCAPE.
For several days during thu past week eac]l
of the two branches of the Criminal Court Of
this county WAS occupied i'll hearing Il trial
for murder. The cases sweresubmitted to tile
juries on Friday afternoon, and Yesterday
morning yerdicts Of guilty were rendered.
One Of the accused was awarded twenty
years aud tie other fourteen years in the
States Prison. The usual motions for new
trial were entered, and there the cascs will
rest.
TIE TRIBUNE has pointed out certain bad
defects in the criminal law Of this State, and
conspicuous are those which delay and final
ly defeat the conviction alld punishment of
criplinals. The law Of this State offers
peculiar facilities to criminals who have
money to fee attorneys to avoid and escape
conviction. These have been notorious for
years. They hare Included long delars, re-
peated contilluanceS, packed and corrupt
juries, changes Of venuc, new trials, super
scdeases, reyersals by tie Supreme Court
upon strained technicalitics, and puerle
quibb1es, and then repctitio1s OF all these
over anil over again, year after year, until 1T
last the Ielons and nurt(eTers are turned out
of Jail despite their notorious guilt.
This has been the tlisgraceful history of
criminal procedure in this county for years,
and this, too, despite whatever Influence and
efforts the Judges Of our local courts have
under the wretcled laws Of this State,
which render tho Judge the most pOwcrless
person i'll court.
This practice has been somewhat improved
i'll one or two particulars Of late. Tile pack
ing IF j1rles with bribed and perjnrcd mis-
crcanfs, and by the associates Of the prison.
crs, has ceased to be the rule, and is daily
becoming more exceptional. The successful
change of venue has been stripped Of some
Of its abuses by the changes III the law.
Selections Of more Intelligent jurors render
convictions more certain.
The first step lit all thesc<cases after co11-
yictlon is the inevitable motion fur new
trial. During the trial Of I: case the criminal
lakes exceptions to all the rulings upon
which all appeal can be tlkel', and then,
when convicted, moves for a new trial. and
when this is refused takes an appeal OH all
excepted rulings, and also OIL the refusal of 4
new trial. The case goes ND OH a number of
alleged errors, and then on all these con-
solilatctI in the mutton for a new trial As
the motion for Il new trial is Of necessity
based upon the "crrors: y made by the Court
during the trial, and as the Court believes his
decisions were free IRON error, tile over
ruling OF motions for new trials ought to
follow, just as certainly as the motion fol-
lows n conviction.
This, however. is not the case. These
1nOticns for new trials are ofre,i allowed to
remain tlnactct OIL mouth after month, time
being killed, delay obtained, evidence lost,
witnesses run off or dying, anu the case for
trr4f1 ,,..f that.