New-York tribune., 1920-11-16
Owners of the House
and Employee Held IA
$4,000 Bail Each
as Investigations Begin
Crime Cases Hang
Upon Locked Door
Crusade to Stop Practice
of Children Attending
Pictures Alone Gains

Offlclal Investigations OF the motion
picture theater panic at rs Catharne
Street, in which six children lost their
lives and twelve were seriously injured
Sunday afternoon, were in progress
ye esterday.
1t was said that the owners Of the
theatcr would be prosecuted for al
legged violation of the law regarding
the admittance Of small children unac-
companied by parents or guardians. It
was also said that criminal action
would be started against the proprie-
tors if it was proved that the out
side door leading to the gallery stairs
was locked.
There was no intimation, however,
that there would be reform Of condi-
tions said to exist at many of the
smaller motion picture houses, where
children, according TO wholesale testi-
nony, have been admitted without
guardians. At the District Attorneys
office is was said that many such
cases had been and are still being
brought before magistrates.
Owners Had No License
1t was conclusivcly established yes
tcrday that the owners, who acquired
possession of the house last Friday,
had not obtained a license to conduct
theater there.
Commenting on the practice of ad-
mitting children in defiance Of the law
with regard to rdianship, Miss S. l..
Wilson, assistant principal of Public
School No. 1, Catharine and Henry
streets, said that children under six
teen have been admitted to theaters in
the Catharine Street section during
school hours.
She named four motion picture the
aters that have made a practice, she
alleged, Of selling tickets to small chill
tren unaccompanicd by guardians.
Teachers, she said, who investigated re-
Torted to her that their pupils were
admitted to those theaters.
According to William J. Kelleher,
agent of the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Children, many com
paints have been made against thea
ters in the district where the panic
took place, and ticket sellers and pro-
prietors have several times been sent
t. jail for thirty days.
Fire Commissioner Thomas J. Dren-
nan said yesterday that al inspection
Of the New Catharine motion picture
thcater, where the tragedy occurred,
was made Saturday, and that the door
leading to the gallery stairs had been
found open and no evidence of a pad
lock was seen. The Commissioner said
that he had examined the theator since
the panic and found no violation Of the
law in evidence, so far as his depart
ment was concerned.
James Geraghty, deputy commissioner
Of licenses, said that the only thing
with which his department was con-
cerned were questions Of ventilation and
sanitation. He found these conditions
in the theatcr we'll within the require
ments of the law.
Mr. Gcraghty, who pointed to the
absence of license, said the owners
would have to make application and
have their place examined before a per
nit would be issued. Licenses are not
transferable between or among indi-
viduals. The person who sold the the
ater would have the right to use the
license for some other business until
expired. but tie purchasers Of the
place were required to apply for a
license, which apparently had not been
done
Building Altered in 1918
at the Office of Rudolph p. Miller.
superintendent of Buildings for the
Borough Of Manhattan. Mr.. Miller said
Continued on page thres)