The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1919-04-03
NEAR STAMPEDE
At FOLLY
Part OF Thcda BuUa Burns While
Crowd ~CImpCr~ for the
Outside.
~aIct, Appliances work to PCriCc-
lion. Many Frightened
None Hurt.

The patrons OF the Folly Theatre
were given their h.st real scare
Saturday night. when the last reel
of the Theda Bara film exploded in
the operating booth, causing big
lareup light which at once put the
big audience in a terrible stampede
for safety
The cause of the trouble was an
accident that happens in every moving
picture theatre throughout the cOun-
Try. The film became lodged and the
heat from the light ignited the film
which burned suddenly with big
flare and caused all the excitement.
Mr.. p 0. CaferO. the manager of
the theatre, happened TO be in the
projecting booth at the time of the
accident, and OF course, his presence
OF mind in Immediately closing all the
windows Of this fire-prOof enclosure
soon put ont the fire. But had moth
Ing been done the safety appliances
alone in the booth would have been
sufficient to cXtinguish the names, as
each reel is enclosed separately in
metallic case which is both tire-prOOf
and Waterproof The booth is con-
structed of fire-prOof material, being
made almost entirely of asbestos and
steel. and, besides. the automatic
sprinklers gave Mr.. CafierO an UNI
expected bath, which he will not for
get for long time The sprinkler
system was so effective that it flooded
that portion of the theatre consider
he Il off n
/ the valve.
/ Mr. Tansey was upstairs also, at
the head of the stairs, and he had
his hands full in trying to keep the
people from rushing down the stair
way and injuring hundreds. Mr..
Tansey. like several others, yelled
to the top of his voice to sit down,
that there was no danger. Mr.. Philip
Foto was also in the house, and saw
to it that every one of the exits were
unlocked and ready to allow the exit
of all those who desired to leave the
theatre.
In the excitement that prevailed in
f cident to this little blaze several
n women tainted, children screamed
! and several men. who should have
!. had cooler heads, used the top of the
seats in order to make their way to
, the exits of the theatre. One man
, is said to have left his wife in his
a hurry to get out, but on returning
g said that he wanted to see how things
% were, outside.
20 The automatic doors worked well.
n The stampede Saturday night offered
a the first real test for the automatic
doors which Mr. Foto had installed
n more than a year ago. These doors
"A are so arranged with cross bars that
anyone leaning against them releases
the doors and they Immediately swing
out. On account of Saturday night
e, being cool, all of the exits were
IS closed, and just the minute the eX-
e, plosion occurred every exit in the
Y. theatre was at once opened by the
r crowd, and the theatre could have
r been emptied in less than minute
II time. but many of the cool heads, who
stopped just few seconds to take
7, in the situation, remained in their
l. seats in subsection to the commands
r. of those who stood up and asked the
z audience to be seated.
a HLACE VT oar
N This incident of Saturday night
proves most conclusively that the
y Folly Theatre is absolutely safe in
r case of fire Even though the entire
roof were ablaze, or should there be
ID fire next door, or even the rear OF
the building afire, there would be
n plenty of time for every person who
NJ had standing room in the theatre tC
get out safely or the theatre emptieC
v three times before there could be any
lie danger from the fire. But like al
IN. other stampedes of this kind, tn
danger does not lie from the effect
of the fire. but usually from the COW
n ards or those of an eXcitable nature
on who do not stop to think and rus
an along to safety without considerable
for their fellow-men.
IN The damage done TO the tn
in atre was absolutely nothing. Eve
nm. the water from the sprinkling systel
did such little damage that no claii
oil will be made from the insurance cor
pany. The only loss was the destru
tion Of a part of the Theda Bara fir
which, if it is never replaced, WI
use be credit to her future production
10 Mr.. Foto and his assistants are
no congratulated for the admiral
leT' manner in which the situation WI
uIh handled Saturday night. Ihey we
complimented from every standpoii
hei' and if the incident had been ]
son hearsal it could not have been ca
ried on any better.