Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1904-01-05
The Lesson of the Chicago Disaster.

Within few days the world has been
startled and shocked by the worst diSaS-
ter of its kind in a century-the fire and
consequent panic in the Iroquois Thea
tire in Chicago, where, in the space of ten
minutes, nearly 900 people were killed
and others injured. A few of these were
burned 20 death, but most of them lost
their lives on account of the panic which
prevailed. The theatre was called fire.
proof, and the safest theatre in Chicago,
but the early newspaper reports at least
give good ground for the belief that
there were serious faults in its con-
struction. II is question whether the
panic might not have been prevented if
these faults had not existed; but the fact
still remains that it was the panic which
was responsible for most of the deaths,
and that if the people had not tried to
go out in that mad rush the larger part
OF them would have got out alive.
On the principle of locking the door
after one horse has been stolen, to save
the rest of the stable, it is probable that
there will be thorough examination of
the theatres and public halls in all the
cities, to ascertain whether they are as
safe as it is possible to make them
against the dangers of fire and panic.
Conditions in the country towns are
somewhat different from those in cities.
There are no theatres as in the cities,
with stages full or scenery and other
kinds of highly inhammable material.
Audiences are much smaller, and the
public halls generally have windows on all
sides, and even if the assembly room is on
the second floor, the drop from window
is in many cases not dangerous one for
man of common activity. Nor do our
buildings, usually of wood, seem to burn
with the fierce speed of the modern
''tireproOf" structure. Still, il is good
time, with this Chicago horror fresh in
mind, to consider whether our places OF
public assembly are as safe as prudence
would dictate, or whether there are not
some dangers in the way our halls are
built and used.
Certainly no country hall has any
more exits than are advisable. II the
hall is on second or third floor, all the
people must go down one stairway, and
with cOnyerging streams of people flow,
ing from the several aisles and perhaps q
gallery TO this outlet, it must be wide
stairway which would not become chok.
ed if such a mad rush was made for it as
in the Iroquois Theatre.
The possibility of panic, which must
always be reckOned with, was strikingly
illustrated year or two since, when the
public hall at South Paris was filled will
people at the afternoon exercises OF
Memorial Day. Some one shouted
Fire on the sidewalk under the oper
windows Within two seconds the en-.
tire audience was on its feet, and would
probably have started for the stairway
if man with commanding voice had
not made the announcement that the
fire was in the woods half mile away
There is one point, not regarding the
construction of assembly places, but re
garding their use, which is worthy Of
serious consideration. Whether it il
done in other places we do not know
but in South Paris it has been tn,
custom to place chairs in the aisles whei
the audience is larger than the seating
capacity. This has frequently beer
done in the largest church in the plac,
10 the extent of reducing the aisle to
passageway barely wide enough for on,
person; and in the public hall, which il
small for the audiences which occasion
ally gather, chairs haye on two or tire,
occasions been placed in all the aisle'
until the floor was literally packed full
of seated people, with no open way any
where.
Such blocking of the aisles would
not be permitted in many places, anC
does not common prudence forbid i
here?