Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-10
Make the Exits Safe.

Make the Exits SAFE.
Every time a panic occurs in a place
Of public assemblage and people are
killed. either from fire or the conse-
nuences of crowding and falling, the
cry arises for the adoption of meas
,res to prevent such disasters in the
future. The Montreal horror. in which
at latest accounts seventy-siX We're
killed. mostly children, is repeated
demonstration of the fact that this
lesson of public safety has not been
learned. At Montreal the fire itself
was of no moment, being quickly eX-
finguished. and if panic had not oc-
CURED, if the exit facilities had been
adequate. the entire audience would
have escaped without the least injury.
All the losses of life were due to sud
den congestion on one of the stair
WAYS within short distance of the
street.
AT the Iroquois Theater in Chicago,
DESTROYED by fire in December. 1908,
the heaviest loss of life out of total
of six hundred and two killed oc-
CURED within q few feet of the street
in consequence Of a step at the lobby
entrance. When the fearmaddened
people rushed for safety some of them
fell at that step, and others piling on
them scores were suffocated. Yester-
day at Montreal the same thing hap
pened in narrower space as the
members of the audience, mainly chill
dren, were moving downstairs from
the balcony. The scene beggars de-
scription. 1t is one of the most CHASTITY
chapters in the history of disasters
on this continent.
Precautions against fire have been
taken in practically all places of pub
lie assemblage. Here and there old
buildings transformed into theaters,
mostly for motion picture entertain
ments. still constitute a serious fire
risk Many. of these buildings We're
erected before the lessons taught by
repeated disasters were written into
statutes and regulations insuring
against the maintenance of death
traps Yet there are modern struc-
lures in which the first laws of safety
have been, if not ignored, at least
temporized with in order to increase
the auditorium space at the expense
of the exit facilities.
No exit passage. especially from an
upper story, should be permitted with
turns. The practice of establishing
exit aisles with steps and turns is a
deliberate invitation to disaster. Broad
ramps should be substituted, without
twists. Even though buildings have
been passed through official scrutiny
and have gone into use, the existence
Of such a condition should, in the light
of yesterdays catastrophe at Mont
real, lead to correction.
Panic starts from small causes. A
n spasmodic movement by few peo-
pie and the spirit of fear spreads
quickly. Sometimes it is possible to
stem such a tide, but the chances are
that there will be continuous move
ment for the doors. That fact compels
the adoption of methods of egress that
are smooth and continuous and
straight. 1t is impossible to drill a
theater audience as in the case of a
school. In this city the other day
several hundred children were marched
out of a building upon the alarm of
fire in perfect order in very short
period. The assemblage at place of
public entertainment, however, is be-
yond the range of discipline. The place
itself must be made safe. Let this
warning from Montreal be needed in
every city on this continent.