Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-23
TRAINED MEN ARE ON DUTY
INSPECTION Made Before Every Per-
Torrance.
NOTHING TAKEN FOR GRANTED
Apparently the Only Danger Is From
Panic. Which the Audience
Can Readily Avoid.

..yyitI the opening of the theatrical sea-
son in this city" said Chief Belt to star
reDorter THE patrons OF our playhouses
may attend these places of amusement Win
the certainty that those VINO are chai SOU
with The duty Of their protection nave
taken every precautlon which long eNpeii
ence and knowledge of a specific subject
gives.
I'VE have made many improvements Ill
our system Of safeguarding our play houses
Thav are OF course. known only In detah
IN the officials and others interested IN
their maintenance but 1 have often Deeh
asked by theater patrons what TINS protec-
ton really was, as they are known puoilcly
only in general way.
Here is a report in writing, continued
Chief Belt picking up a piece OF paper
from his desk. which is one of the several
one from the regular department man
stationed on the stage of each playhouse
In the city when they are open-l receive
every morning. At glance. therefore,
am informed whether each man was at MS
most the night before and whether the
rules and regulations of the department APP
plving "a our theatrical houses were COM
piled with both by our own representa-
tives and by the respective managers OIL the
the9terS go
II have often been asked by citizens to
describe our method o. fire protection In
the local theaters, and. as l conster IL one
country. l viii be glad TO reply with the
request through the columns of The Star,
that the general public may know and that
feeling % security may prevail.
All Precautions Taken.
.Former!v there were different methods
existing in the various theaters. but now
the system IS uniform. First and most
important is the water supply and the
rapidly Of its handling. From the street
water main there is a six-inch main leading
tharcfroyn INFO the building. connecting
with a faur-iach pipe running under the
stage This IN turn supplies two stand
pipes which extend on each side of the
stage from hollow the flooring to SIX feet
above the stage fiygallery.
These staud-p.pes are three inches In
diameter and ;hey have from four to SIX.
depending on tn" size of the house, outlets
two and cHe-Ialf inches in diameter To
each of these outlet connections is attached
"A ffty-foct line of two and one-half-inch
standard tir, de9artment hose capable OF
throwing a regulation stream over 100 feet.
These stand-U!ues also feed the perforated
pipe or the water curtain. which is situated
over the proscenum arch of the stage, and
which is hung lust in front of the fire
proof asbestos fire curtain.
In addition to these water facilities we
have on each stage regulation chemical
fire cNtnguishers, as well as axes, saws,
r.-hooks etc. There instantaneous
lever valves on the Stand-pipeS, which work
by simply pulling them down. and so per
fectly and rapidly may this water system
I've operated that in less time than 1t takes
to tell about II we can have all of the
water appliances in operation and the stage
flooded We have tried ii eXperimentally
many times with a stop notch. and it can
he done in fractions of second with each
man at his post. and in any event even
under the excitement of fire. the actual
time consumed would be inconsequential-
II is practically instantaneous.
'Of course all of these elaborate pre-
cautions would be worth but little in an
emergency without the cast-iron system
and the trained men behind them-a sys-
tenn which means something and to
whom fire and possible death mean nothing
hut devotion TO duty.
Perfectly Working System
The stage hands and the one man be-
longing TO the theater who is delegated to
act as assistant to the regular department
fireman are regularly trained and drilled.
and each man has his position and work
to do in tn" event Of a fire Possible con-
fusion and the contingency of two or three
men attempting to do the same thing In
the event of IRE. instead of separate and
necessary acts. is avoided. There is also
regu.ati"n fire alarm call box on the
stage Of each thoater.
In this way operate simultane-
OVsly and iustautaneOuSly the entire fire
fighting apparatus on the stage. In the
event of fire while all of these appliances
would be ulaCri into instant use. the order
would he something like this: The asbestos
curtain man would drop lt-S shield between
the public ana The stage. The men whose
duty il is 70 man the chemical eXtinguishers
would seize t5om. The hosemen would
pun Tho Instantaneous lever valves, which
would also RELEASE. the water curtain. The
regulation fire alarm calling out the depart
mont would ~ turned in, and the man who
is charged with the important duty of
managing the automatic skylght-of which
I will speak later-would pull the slip
knot ana release il. There would not be
a lot OF men falling over one another but
each would b" at his post in a jiffy and
working overtime without asking questions.
1T was proved by the terrible Iroquos
Eoloc8us. ia Chicago several years ago
That MANY of the dead in the audience We're
sgffocated 10y TIE gases which rushed out
into the auditorium because the automatic
skyiight was not open-that cannot hap
rru here. The automatic skylights in the
theaters IN Washington are set upon in
C!ines and run upon rollers. They cover
one-tentH Of the stage area In the event
OF fire tie gases. the flames and the
smoke would shoot upward and be drawn
roofward IS planned. and the audience
ana the house would be saved. for l wish II