The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-01-04
DANGEROUS CR0WDIKG.

- kIlG l1lOuRu1U1 ll1c
La Theatre on Monday evening
wag painfully suggestive of horri-
EEse catastrophe. The more one
3np4ght of it the more terrible did
e4zfz&tnaight-happen appear to him.
ZsSa people were crowded and
Z xTSsSzed into the auditorium without
zesssaEd to comfort and as if there
s.z.5Cz3d be no such thing as danger.
- EIREough the parquette the ushers
.ssExna could not crowd themselves,
sixE5 only by vigorous efforts were
1sasey able to make progress through
esIe mass of Wedged humanity that
Knocked the broad passage back of
the parquette circle. Perhaps no
aggdy thought of the Ring Theatre
Ezarror, Vienna, the other evening.
81 anyone who happened to be a
.. sz9xen feet from a door did recall
1sIfE3t affair which sent thrill of
5agrror throughout the world, his
thoughts must have been anything
ylaszt pleasurable, as he realized how
.sEEficult it would be to reach door
ssaxet four PAGES distant. A cry Of
Gre uttered in thoughtless sport or
srszuel righteousness would have
been almost as bad as real flames
., }72zrsting forth, for in the struggle to
gain the doors scores must have
seen crowded down and trampled
sEnder foot. The HERALD does not
vEent to alarm anybody, but it does
v%ant to call for a reform
~ the manner of packing
%. PEOPLE into the Theatre: Last
- s4Hsmer the theater company wisely
increased the means for exit from
Ei5Ee building, cutting new doors and
1sSherwise lessening the danger in
.sGGse OF panic. Were the house full
&4 every part, the people beng
Varderly, they could all leave the
- suilding in less than five minutes
81sNt twice the number of doors
gEould not have prevented serious
- injury if not many deaths, in case
NJ aspanic on Monday evening, the
xBassages and aisles all being
aerowded full of people. What we
think the community has the right
80 protest against is the blocking of
the aisles with chairs and stools,
thereby greatly increasing the
difficulty of escape, if not cutting it
eft entirely. Extra doors would do
little good in such a case, as people
could not reach them. The aisles
Enould be kept open and free, not
only as a matter Of convenience but
as protection to the audience
These passages are none too broad
when maintained at their full
width, and when row OF
chairs is placed down them
or two rows, as in some OF
them on Monday-the idea Of
utilizing them for what they were
intended is out of the question. The
temptation to admit all who
~affer their money at the door is
great, bat it should be overcome
when for the sake Of a few dollars
the limbs and lives Of house full OF
persons are jeopardized. We believe
That New York has law which de-
aares it a criminal offense to put
chairs or other distractions in the
.aisles Of theatres and places of pub
&c assembly. The frequency Of fires
and panics in theatres and crowded
halls seems to demand the making
general Of someFsuch laws. Mean
slime the management of the thea.
55re viii not be performing its duty
70 the community if it permits the
repetition of Monday evenings
crush. The money gained from
oFercrowding is not sufficient to
warrant anybody in jeopardizing
Eife or limb.