The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-11-22
Theatre Sta,ule Excluding Minors
 A Kno'ty Problem
Superintendent Birmingham Has Not Yet Received Copies
 Hartford Police Have Trouble

Superintendent Birmingham has not yet received copies of the new law excluding sbOyS and girls under IA from theatres and moving picture shows, ana consequently no special effort has been made toward enforcement here. AS soon as copies are received they will be distributed among the theatre proprietors and sthe police will attend to the enforcement.
 The law excludes children under IA from attending afternoon perfOrman- ,, ces, un ess accompanied by parents or guardian, and excludes boys under 14 and girls under 16 from attending ev- enlng performances, unless accompan- jed by parent or guardian.
 That the new law presents many ; knotty problems is shown by the foi- lowing from the Hartford Courant. where Chief Gum is attempting to enforce the new statute:
 The new moving picture show law which prohibits children under the age of IA years from entering a moving picture show house unless accompan- jed by a parent or guardian, although very stringent measure, will be en- forced by the police Of this city. Chief William F. Gum has sent out copies , of the law to the various houses af- fected by it, and the police and the managers of the houses are going to try to see that 1t is enforced The ! law is entitled "an act concerning the protection of children from improper amusements." It follows:
 Section 1860 of the General Statutes is hereby amended to read as fo lows: Any person owning, keeping, or man. aging, wholly Or in part, any dance l house, concert saloon, roller skating rink, theater, moving picture show, or photograph hall, or any museum hav- ing entertainments or variety shows connected herewith, who shall allow .s,f f,y, tiyr1o 11,i <I,4 of IA years or, after o'clock D. m., of any day, any boy under the age of 14 or any girl under the age of 16 years, to be admitted to or remain in such place, unless such child is ac-
 companied by it's parent or guardian or some adult person authorized by such parent or guardian to attend, such child, shall be fined not more than $50.
 The cumbrous language concerning the age of children sifts down to the
 plain English that chi dren under IA are hit by the law and that girls be-
 tween IA and 16, if they want to es-
 cape being hit by the law, should at-
 tend the shows in the afternoon rath-
 CT than the evening. Boys who are
 IA or over may go and come as they please. Girls Is or over may come
 and go as they please.
 There will be some perplexing prob
 lens for the police officers and for the
 moving picture managers to face. In the first place there is the difficulty of
 deciding whether a youngster is un-
 der IA. Some are much older who do not look it, and numerous younger
 ones will pass themselves off as IA,
 who are base deceivers. As an incen-
 tiveSto 'falsehood and deception, traits
 to which youngsters are naturally fn-
 clined, the law will be great educa-
 tor.
 Then there is the question, ''Who is
 your guardian?" It will be as hard
 to answer as the Biblical query con-
 corning the qualities that go up to make a nefghbOr., In Bridgeport,
 where the law has been enforced. chill dren prevailed upon any adults within
 their kin to take the part of guard
 fans and thus were successful in gain ing an entrance If the children scoDld
 not succeed with their deception, the
 older conspirators succeeded in theirs
 and thus brought happiness.
 Even if the child gets within the
 portals, is he safe? His guardian may
 desert him or he may desert his guar
 dian, and the question as to his sta-
 tus may be raised. Even his dear
 mamma, who wishes him we'll. may
 wish to go out shopping and leave
 him in a state of possible distress. The
 consequences upon parents who would
 thus be compelled to watch nov
 ing picture show and see the whole
 show through are worthy of considera-
 tion.
 If a parent or guardian desires to
 leave the show house, is it compu sory
 on the ma snager to detain the parent,
 unless he removes his offspring with
 him. How can it be ascertained that a person is a guardian duly authoriz-
 ed? Then, when the clock striPes 6, is t the duty of the manager to eject the
 15-year-old girls? f.r
 Time will tell how the law works out It is probable that the managers of
 the show houses will do their best to
 live up to the spirit of the law, but
 it is doubtful if the letter of the law.
 is possible of enforcement. Moving
 picture houses are not the only places
 hit. Roller skating rinks. and all va
 riety show p'aces are affected.