New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-12-11
THEATRES In NETWORK.
THE BUILDINGS SAID TO BE SAFE.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR ESCAPE IN CASE or fnSh'

e. n.nartment. Friday in speaking
a., hur,ipe of the Ring Inc
go :, Vienna. "sbould start to run I'D
The same direction in ten-aere lou, some Vi 'D0
voud probably be killed. And that Is the reason
why there is danger in attending theatre Ia TINS
CITY In case of panic it wouldn't make any uiiior
ence how many exits there were, OF now nany
diagrams were printed on the programmes; 'hofe
xronld be somebody killed or hurt. IL hre occuis
in theatre even q brave man may cause panic
because ne feels bound to save his immediate
f-;e,ds first. and he will do at any cost The
theatres are well constructed and are about
os cafe az thew can be made. We have had exits
mt in them wherever it is possible. The theatres
with large Hobbies are the safest If people get INTO
n lobby they feel safe and grow calm. harrigsu
and Harris new theatre is a splendid one III 'hS'
respect Niblo's Garden also can DO empteu III
very few minutes. patent seat was snVeh YOU "
while ago which folded up completely thus iur nA
ing more aisle room, which is very essehtial lol
safety. suppose it was not practicapie' because
do not know of its being used In any theatre lou
rec when theatre burns up and there Is a great
loss Of life much of this is due to aisle or STAIR
case becoming blocked. The ushers ougnt 10 20
trained 40 that. if a fire occurs they would go TO
rao,,ar naoes An aisle should be assigned to each
of them. and if woman faints they should imine-
a;a,elv drag her out of it and thus prevent any
hlock Unless theatre, however, is almost open
there is danger every night"
The laws of 1871 provide that all lights at places
of amusement shall be properly protected oy gouo'
90 o,o,o coverincs or in such manner as the FIRE
Commissioners shall prescribe. They also give the
commissioners power to determine what means ~,
communicating alarms and extinguishng nre shaei
be provided, and they allow them 10 de'aii Vwo
ssarsn IN every place where machinery and scenery
last wan
that Teutonic statesman, Jacob Seebacher provides
,bat the diagram of each theatre, with the exits,
sbould be printed on the programmes used in that
houss The rule Of the Fire Department is that the
tremen whom il details to The theatres shall be
there half an hour before the curtain goes up, ana
shall stay until some time aiter Tue 10
closed. - ,;,.. sro y said Mr. Mamie.
son Friday is in eternal yigsnce od IN a. IN tbs
ritv and where some of the theatres are regular
Ere traps they have two fireman stationed IN the
wings on each side of the stage They are provided
With force pumps capable of throwing stream OF
water an inch in diameter to the top OF the lies A
fire occurred one night, remember at the top OF
was was singing felt, the drops ling upon
md kent on with her part There is squad of
iremen on the stage at Paris with buckets pumps
and wet blankets. The blankets are provided 50
that if a singers dress catch g fire she can be
wrapped in them If you throw water on burning
nerson II drives the fire into him and Injuries him
more severely. The danger always comes when not
expected there is no danger from mimic fires, rs
in Mignon,' because they are carefully watched.
There is no danger of panic occurring In the
Academy of Music, as the exits are numerous ana
The Academy of Music is generally regarded as
one of the safest theatres in the city, 1t is situated
nm a corner the best place for a theatre. and is
arranged apparently that the audience could not
possibly be cut off by fire in any one place. its
exits are ygrY Was and II ooRcr MI pa
lieutenant at Daly's heatre, as regards the safety
of an au Hence in panic is the fact that it has no
doors In the stead there curtains which could
not possibly block up the way. Moreover the front
entrance is very large and broad. nearly half the
width of the theatre Then there is an exit Leading
from the stage to Sixth-ave. by which the audience
could escape IN an. emergency. There are very
broad stairs leaSing from the balcony. while in adj
dticn TO the stairs ordinarily used leading to the
gallery there is an opening on TO the roofs Of the
houses around the theatre. The whole building
could be empted in two minutes if necessary"
Appleton, the treasurer of the Madison Square
Tbeatrs who was burned sever ly when Days
Theatre was destroyed on the same site some years
ago, " so absolutely sac from fire as this. There
ar only 1856 seats in the parquette and 194 in
the balcony. and there are four large doors for
the people in to 80 out. There is another staircase
leading to the gallery, which has only 104 seats.
There four iremen here all the time, and there
is enough hose to go around each seat in the house
aud then reach the roof. In the collar there
are two powerful Blake fire pumps always ready
for Use to say nothing of eighteen or twenty Bah
tirely distinct from the stage and the wall between
tine lobby and the theatre Is about foot and half
thick Then the theatre 10 nearly all Of stone and
I'VE are very fortunate" said Augustus A. Pitou,
MI Stetson's business manager at Booths, IN hay
ing our theatre corner instead OF In the middle
Ola block Besides our large entrances, which we
use ordinarily, there are three safety exits into
Twentythlrd-st. There are two pairs of stairs lead
that il one was blocked up the people
could get out. of the other =, The dress
which by the way there an enormous door lead
ing into Twenty-third-st. The building is so con-
structed that it would be hard to burn up more OF 1t
than the stage Mr. Booth thought it was safe, GER
tainly for he never carried any insurance on it,
Our fire apparatus is complete, and comprises
buckets of water extinguishers and wet blankets
The latter we always have ready in scenes that are
dangerous The theatre could be cleared in min
ute and half, If nece sary"
bert Hayman, MIR. Haveriy's manager az the Fifth
Avenue Theatre "that has such facilities case OF
ire as do both Haverlys Fourteenth-st. Theatre
and this. You see that here there are seven doors
from the lobby TO the sidewalk and three entrances
To the parquette There is stage entrance in
that wsy. There are three exit doors from tine bal.
cony the largest being sixteen feet broad There are
windows on the east side of the balcony by which
the peope could escape to the neighboring buildings
Our dressing rooms are separated from the stage
We always take the time it requires for the audience
to get out of the theatre and although can seat
Zoo persons it averages between three and
four minutes. There is no city i'll the world
where the theatres are as safe as they are here.
have been in London, and i was surprised to see
how dangerous they were there. BY the way, had
the good luck to see Mrs. Langtry there"
What did you think of her
"She is q beautiful woman after pause). but
not a great actress. Ii she comes to America she
may draw, but it will be because of the play
Youth (which it is said she will appear in"
At the Park Theatre, w. w. Iillotson, the bust
ness manager said
"Mr Abbey remodelled the theatre year ago,
and the OF escape In case of danger have been
considerably improved. The box Office has been
moved and the main entrance broadened. The exits
10 Twenty -second-sf. are large and roOmy. and a
large number of people get out of them very
RAPIDLY. We have complete fire apparatus, which
hos heeu tested and approved by the Fire Depart