The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-01-03

- HTCAGO, Jan. 2.-Tonight every
theatre in the city of Chicago is
dark and its doors are locked.
Not one of them viii be open to the
public until their managers have com
piled in the fullest manner with every
section of the ordinances regulating
playhOuses.
The order compelling the theatres to
I close was issued this afternoon by
; Mayor Harrison after a conference
with Corporation Counsel TOlman,
who assured the mayor that ample
legal ground existed for his action.
None Of Them Safe.
Seventeen theatres and museums
were closed last night and the sweep
ms order of the mayor today shut the
doors OF sixteen more. These lasc are
the leading theaters in the business sec
tion of the city, and include the Stude-
baker, Grand opera house, McVicker's S,
La sale, GaTrick, Illinois and Powers
The last two are owned and controlled
by MeseTs. Powers and Davis, the man
ayers of the Inflated lrOqUOis. The
Gsrrick theatre closed today is not
10 be COMPOUNDED with the Garrick
closed yesterday. it being one of the
largest piayhOuses in the city while
the one concerning which action was
taken yesterday is a much smaller
house in the northwestern portion Of
the city.
The seventeen places Of amusement
which were shut last night were
closed for the one reason that they
we're not provided with an asbestos cur
tain The further action taken today
Is in consequence of violations of
other sections of the ordinance regu-
lating theatres.
Mayor Inexorable.
There was a hasty rush Of theatri-
cal managers to the Office of Mayor
Harrison in the effort to secure the
withdrawal, or at least d postpone
ment, Of the order, but their TeceD-
ton was OF an exceedingly frosty ma
ture. They were informed by the may
or that the inspectors had reported in
the case that every one of them had
violated the law, and he was deter
mined that il should not be sad here
after that the city had neglected any
thing which could prevent a repeti-
ton Of the horror Of last Wednesday
afternoon.
The fact that the asbestos curtain
wrecked BY the fire that charred por-
lions Of it have been carried away by
the various investigating committees
caused the committee to decide that
ASBESTOS curtains could not be relied
upon to afford the most complete pro-
lection. II was announced that every
theatre in the city must hereafter com
ply with the following provisions before
they viii be allowed TO open:
Steel Curtains Hereafter.
Steel roll curtains, wide exits. no
cOmbustibles of any kind in the house
furnishings. fire PROCEED scenery. no cal
cium or spot" lights to be used on the
stage, skylights above the stage pro
Vided with automatic lids to permit
the egress Of smoke fire and gas. sep
arate stairways-each exit having its
own stairs leading to the street.
After issuing this sweeping order
Mayor Harrison said:
i do not wish to assume responsible
ity for these theatres. The order was
issued to make it certain that no pre-
caution TO insure the safety of audien-
ces had been neglected.
1t quite probable that the owners
OF the theatres may sustain serious fin
ancial losses, but in view of the coudi-
tion of the playhouses we cannot take
any risk and if the law had been fully
complied with in the first place there
would have been ne question Of closing
them now. The auditorium. which is
the only theatre left open in Chicago.
has steel roll curtain and as ta:s