The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-12-24

fore or upon any fire escape. It shall be the duty of every fireman and policeman who sRall discover any fire escape, balcony or ladder ot any hre-escape iuoumbered in any way to forthwith report the same to the commanding officer of his company or precinct, and such commanding officer shall forthwith cause the occupant Of the premises or apartment to which said iire-esoape balcony or ladder is at 1 taohed, or for whose use the, same is provided, | to be notified either verbally or in wIitlng to remove such lncumbrance and keep the same | clear, If such notice shall not be compiled with by the removal forthwith, of such inoum- branee, and keeping said fire escape balcony or | ladder free from tneumbranoe then it shall be | the duty or said commanding officer to apply to the nearest magistrate for a warrant for the arrest or the occupant or occupants Of the said premises or apartment of which the hrc-escape 1 forms part, and the said parties shall be | brought before the said magistrate, as for a |, ,misdemeanor; and on conviction, tho oeeu- i pant or occupants of said premises or apart ment shall be fined not more than ten dollars | for each oiense, or may be imprisoned not 10 1 exceed ten days, or both, in the discretion of the court. In constructing all balcony fire | escapes, the manufacturer thereof shall se- | curely fasten thereto in conspicuous place, a oast,iron plate having suitable raised let 1 ters on the same, to read as follows: Notice! | Any person placing any incumbranee on this | balcony is liable to penalty of ten dollars | and imprisonment for ten days. The owner, l proprietor or manager of every hotel and | lodging house, and of every boarding house | having more than fifteen sleeping rooms above | the ground floor, and the person or persons | having charge or management of every public 1 or private hospital or asylum building, as may be deemed necessary by the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department of said City, shall with l in three months after the passage of this act place or cause to be placed in every room used as lodging or sleeping room in such building, except the rooms on the ground floor, and also | excepting rooms one or more windows of which open upon fire escape having direct | to the ground manila Otl9r l better appliance to be approved by the said ! Chief of Fire Department, to be used as an l auxiliary means of escape. Said rope or other appliance shall be securely fastened on one l end to @ suitable iron hook or eye to be se curely driven into or fastened to the wall or | stud next adjoining the frame of the window or one of the windows, of such room, and at all times to be coiled up and exposed to the i view of the occupant of the room, the coil | to be fastened in such slight manner as to be easily and quickly loosened. Said rope shall not be less than one inch in diameter and shall be of sufficient length to reach the ground, and the rope and fastenings shall be of sufficient | strength to sustain a weight of not less than one thousand pounds. The Chief of said De- partment shall cause any building to which | the requirement. of rope-e escape applies to be ! periodically inspected to ascertain whether 1 the provisions of this section as to ropes have been compiled with and to report any omis- | sion or neglect thereof to the City Attorney. | The provisions of this section in regard to
 
 flre-proof buildings. All buildings requiring fire-escapes shall have stationary iron lad ders leading to the scutte opening in the roof thereof and all scuttles and ladders shall be kept so as to be ready for use at all times. If bulkhead is used in place of souttle, it ] shall have stairs with sufficient guard or hand d-rail leading to the roof. In case the building shall be a tenement house, the door l in the bulkhead or any scuttle shall at no | time be locked, but may be fastened on the inside by movable bolts or hooks. Every l dwelling house arranged for or occupied by two or more families above the first story, hereafter erected shall be provided with an entrance to the basement thereof from the out side of such building.
 Sec. 54.-No dwelling house whether called a tenement house. apartment house, flats, ho- tel or other building to be used for residence purposes shall be built In the rear of build ing occupying the front of the same lot or plot of ground and no building whatsoever shall be erected or placed In front of any such building except special permit be obtained for either case from both the Board of Fire Commissioners and the Board of Health.
 Sec 55. In all buildings of public charac- ter, such as hotels, churches, theaters, restau- rants, railroad depots, public halls and other buildings used or intended to be used for pur- poses of public assembly, amusement or in struction, the halls, doors, stairways seats, passageways and aisles and all lighting and heating appliances and apparatus shall be arranged as the Inspector of Buildings shall 
 accident and to afford the requisite and proper accommodation for the public protection in such cases, All aisles and passageways in said buildings shall be kept free from camp stools, chairs, sofas and other obstructions, and no person shall be allowed to stand in or occupy any of said aisles or passageways dur ing any performance service. exhibition. lec- ture, concert, ball or any public assembage. fhe Inspector of Buildings, with the concur renee of the Chief Engineer of the Fire De- partu,Rnt, may, at any time, serve written or printed notice upon the owner, lessee or managerof any ofsaid buildings directingany act or thing to be done or provided in Or about the said buildings and the several appliances herewith lconnected, such as halls doors, stairs windows, seats, aisles, fire-was and fre-escapes, so as to afford such security to the public in the uses to which they may be seyerally applied as they may deem necessary. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to authorize or require any other alterations to existing theaters than are specified in this section. Upon report to the Mayor of the City by the Inspector of Buildings that any order or requirement. of this title in regard to theaters or places of public amusement has been violated ar not complied with in any such building, the said Mayor may, in his discre- tion, revoke the license of such theater or place of public amusement, and cause the same to be closed.
 Sec. 56. Every theater or opera house, or other building intended to be used for thea trical or operatc purposes, or for public en-
 
 and apparatus are employed, hereafter erected. shall be built to comply with the requirements of this section. No building which, at the time of the passage of this act, is not in actual use for theatrical or operatic purposes, and no building hereafter erected not in conformity with the requirements of this section, shall be used for theatrical or operatic purposes or for public entertainments of any kind where stage scenery and apparatus are employed un- til the same shall have been made to conform to the requirements of this section. And no building hereinbefore described shall be opened to the public for theatrical or operatic purposes, Or for public entertainments of any kind where stage scenery or apparatus are employed, until the Inspector of Buildings shall have approved the same fn writing as conforming to the requirements of this sectoin and the Mayor of the City shall refuse to s- sue any license for any such building and shall close the same, and prevent it's opening until certificate in writing of such approval shall have been given by the Inspector of Buildings. Every such building shall have at least one front on the street. and in such front there shall be suitable means of entrance and exit for the audience. In addition to the aforesaid entrances and exits on the street there shall be reserved for service in case of an emergency, an open court or space on the side not bordering on the street, where said building is located on corner lot; and on both sides of said building, where there Is but one frontage on the street. The width of such open court or courts shall be not less than seven feet where the seating capacity is not over one thousand people, above one thousand and not more than eighteen hundred people eight feet in width and above eighteen hundred people ten feet in width Said open court or courts shall begin on a line with or near the proscen- inn wall and shall extend the length af the