Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-09
FIRES IN THEATERS
Views of Various Correspond
ents on the Subject.
BAD STAGE DISCIPLINE
PROPER AUTHORITY.
Asbestos Curtains Generally Delusions
Citizens and the Fire Alarm
Boxes.
BAD STAGE DISCIPLINE

cal business in the furnishing and managing
of lights back of the curtain, | have read
with interest. and some amusement the
mans and schemes of many people of vary
ing degrees of real and imagined theatre
cal KNOWLEDGE for the safeguarding of the
people and building from fire and panic. A
Chicago official wants all the exit doors TO
be opened from one point by single lever.
This method was thoroughly tested at the
Academy of Music in Biltimore years ago,
and proved failure, not through any 1ault
of the system or its application but simply
on account of the doors and windows STICK
ing. due principally to changes of tempera-
ture affecting the paint and WOODWORK.
Also like all other automatic devices, IT
would work perfectly for months, and five
minutes after a most satisfactory triai'
would fall in part or whole. In this city
tests are now being made to determine II
the curtains. are really asbestos. What
difference will 1t make il the curtain Is as
bestos or steel or anything else. II 1t Is not
rugged and hung properly, and is not so
readily accessible that any one may bring
1t down. without having to signal a man
many feet from it. who is probably play
ing cards or sleeping?
One of your correspondents describes an
ideal plan of having the, curtain travel in
brick groove, an excellent idea, but difficult
to put in practice after the theater is
built. -
An inspection of the stage of any theater
today might show obstruction to the
curtain. and an hour after. or next week.
by change Of scenery, the way will be
blocked, perhaps only for one act but that
would be just the time when something
would happen. The lack of competent
permanent stage manager is the cause of
practically all the violations of rules of
safety in most theaters. There are three
departments on the stage, the scenery, con-
trOlle0 by the CARPENTER. the lighting
paratus. in charge of the electrician, and
the properties, that is. the furniture
property man. Each looks after his
own end of the show. advised by the COM
panies attaches. In case of an argument,
which frequently occurs, they fuss and
fight it out between themselves. the car
penter by virtue of the fact that he en-
ploys the most men, and is usually bigger,
older and grouchier than the other fellows,
frequently carries his point, right or wrong
But there is no real head The manager
comes back and looks wise, but neither he
nor the fire marchal, nor the electrical in
spector nor the fireman, possesses any ex-
pert mechanical theatrical knowledge of the
exigences of the business that would tell
them II curtain was 80 rugged as to get
into trouble or that an arc lamp should be
pushed further on. stage to throw the light
10 suit the company's stage manager. Even
the fireman, after spending many evenings
on the stage docking at the show, does
not feel competent to do more than stop
the people smoking If he sees them: )
But the proposition Is not so hard If
rightly handled. Given a theater with the
exits and doors according to law, have the
hreman every evening when the house
opens inspect every exit and then return to
the stage, place in control of that stage a
stage manager, make him solely RESPONSE
BILE to the manager and the authorities for
the condition of all the apparatus, let him
have no duties except executive, and pay
him such salary as to engage all his time,
and If he is a competent. reliable man, he
will insure the safety of the audience and
building as far as it Is possible in place
of amusement. In addition. he will save
his salary many times over in season by
compelling the regular employees of the
theater to put in the proper amount of time
in the repair and general betterment of the
appliances in the theater. and also in saw
ing of superhuous labor. For the extra en-
ployes are paid by the hour, and many OF
the heads of departments are in direct
sympathy with their SubOrdinateS and
don't like to rush the putting on of the
show or lay a man off after Monday night
IL he Is not needed. The proper man would.
if backed by the management and held to
strict account by the authorities, be OF
greater value than a hundred safety devices
with no responsible and competent person
to look after them. AS 1t stands now, the
stage manager of the company, with only a
fleeting interest in the house. Is in control,
and what he says goes. for 1t is a tradition
in the business that the company owns the
house while it is in 1t. AS the men on the
stage are all working and workingmep,
they carry no weight and must do as the
travelling autocrat dictates.
All the foregoing applies to the majority
of theaters. In some of the larger cities
the house stage manager has been a fixture
for years, but even then he, in many cases,
has no practical knowledge and relies on
his assistants, just as the ma jority of man.
ayers are doing today, and in that case he
Is a hgurehead and Of small value, as far as
the safety of the public and building is at.
fected. T. c. RINGGOLD.