Evening star., 1902-02-15
ALDERMEN IN A HUFF
Wanted More Seats to Prince
Henry Opera.
D !!
WERE ONLY GIVEN 200
i I
THEY THOUGHT THEY SHOULD
HAVE RECEIVED 1000.
Consider They Have Been ''slurred"
and May Refuse to Take
Any at All.
WERE ONLY GIVEN 200
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

been IN a state Of seethe over the fact that
they are not to have the distribution or
about 1000 seats for the gala operatic per-
formance to be given at the Grand opera
House in honor of Prince Henry. Most or
the aldermen wear exceedingly heavy "atch
chains and huge diamond studs, and some OF
them possess the knack of croWdlng three
or four double negatives within the space
of single short sentence. They are max
ing all sorts of wrathful demonstrations
over the fact that paltry 2oo seats Tor the
big show have been set aside for them.
Just exactly why the aldermen should De
entitled to free seats at ALL when ordi-
nary citizens are asked as high as $50 for
them, and, particularly, why the aldermen
imagine themselves to be entitled to about
one-half the seating capacity OF the opera
House-here Is a problem too deep Ior eln-
cidation even by penetrative minds. me
city Of New York isn't going to pay for
that great operate performance. Inc
money for that purpose is to come out OF
the pockets of a number OF New YORK
rich men The performance isn't going 70
be essentially a municipal affair, even IL
the mayor and few OF the city o1nclals
are to be present. Nevertheless, the alder
men are in such a fume over the way
they've been "surred," as one Of them ex-
presses 1t, that it now looks as II they're
going to haughtily decline the 200 seats pro-
Vided for them and remain away lioM lic
gala performance altogether.
Theaters Defy Fire Commissioner.
The efforts of the new fire commissioner
to enforce the law with reference to the
standing room space in theaters are likely
to prove abortive. The commissioner Is
clearly right but he has been openly de-
fled by number of managers OF theaters'
and there are already indications that ne
l1Nn nd an
and in every way commendable stand he
took as to the blocking of the a1sies ana
passages in theaters. Most OF the tneatecs
reluctantly started in to obey the order
and stopped selling standing room tickets
but when they found out that the defiant
managers who utterly dAsregarded the Ia"
were not being punished they naturally
enough failed to perceive why tney shouiu
be compelled to lose money in the obsefV-
ance of an ordinance that other managers
refused to pay any heed to. fireman
still! strolls around the rear or each
New York theater but one nreman
against several hundreds Of standees
cannot do much. The public Is not
showing any evidence Of an inclination to
back the fire commissioner up in the stlnd
he has taken. Rarely night passes that
the firemen stationed In the theaters are
not compelled to stand for the abuse ana
vilification of men who insist upon clog
R1ng the aisles and rear passages, ana sew
eral of the firemen have been Jumped upon
low out their instructions. The feud that
has been going on for so many years be
tween the New York police and fire de-
partment causes the cops In and around
theaters to scrupulously refrain from help
ing the firemen out when they find them
selves in tight places. Nor do the city
magistrates seem to care to mete out any
punishment whatever to d1sorderly roughs
who are arrested by the flremen Tor ue-
clining to obey the law. In issuing his or
der the fire commissioner called attention
to the notorious fact that there are many
theaters in New York that, under the pest
conditions and with all Of the exits IN USE
cannot possibly discharge their audiences
In less than twenty minutes
Nothing Learned From Experience.
New York probably learns less by expert
ence than any other great city in the world.
When one of the packed theaters takes fire
and scores of people are trampled to death
in their frenzied efforts to save their lives,
this recent order Of the fire commissioner
will be remembered and enforced, but it is
highly improbable that 1t will be enforced
until some such calamity occurs
It is odd to observe how ephemeral the
New York hue and cry against dangerous
evils is. The hubbub made by virtually the
entire population over the New York Cen
trail tunnel disaster subsided inside OF
something less than a week. When the ac-
cident happened the uproar was such that
1t actually seemed as IL INC OIllCldlS VI lLe
railroad were going to be all but clapped
into cells, and the yell for vengeance upon
the responsible parties was nothing short of
hysterical-for perhaps three days. Now
that disaster has been all but forgotten,
and the suburbanites who swore that
they'd never ride through the tunnel again
as long as they had breath in their bodies
are purchasing their communication tickets In
the same old way.
When the big explosion in the subway
that wrecked the Murray Hill and a num-
ber Of other hotels occurred the New York
populace did everything but hold mass
meetings to protest against the careless
ness exhibited by contractors in blasting
operations, but the excitement soon disap-
peared and although there have been sew
eral severe blasting accidents since that big
Que, scarcely any allusiOn Is made to them.
The New York papers have now standing
captions yesterdays Blasting Accidents"
and under this heading there is list on
nearly every week day of more or less seri-
Gus occurrences due to Slovenly and GRIM
inally careless handling or storing of dyna-
mite
Not long ago, when one Of the old fifty
year-old death-trap ferryboats narrowly es-
capped going down with 600 100 passen-
g.rs. the cry for the removal of the de-
crepit and worn-out ferryboats was some
thing ferocious for all of two days. Since
then there have been quite number of Sc
rious ferrybOat accidents, involving the loss
Of several lives, and yet the same old rick
city boats still ply the waters and the pilots
still go on taking their desperate chances
Smallpox Scare
There was a smallpox scarce Of large
dimensions here about month ago, and
the public demand for universal vaccination
throughout Greater New York was noisy
and fnsistent for several days When the
officials Of the health department came out
with the statement that in several of the
low quarters of New York the people of the
tenements would never submit to yaccina-
ton without the employment of force, the
instant demand was that force should be
employed. IThe young medical men of the
health department started through the tene-
mentS accompanied by policemen. and
when some pig. headed, ignorant Italian or
Hungarian or Greek showed a determine
ton to resist vaccination, the policeman
proceeded to give the fellow a sufficient
number of raps and prods with his locust
to quiet him down during the performance
of the operation. 1t was the only way
whereby the ignorant male element of the
foul tenements could be rendered immune
from smallpox, and yet the very individuals
who made the greatest noise over the un-
vaccinated condition of the occupants of
the tenements were the first to protest
against the "high-handed brutality of fore
ing defenseless foreigners to submit to
yaccina tfon against their will