According to Sir Algernon West, of London, since 1858 not a single life has been lost in a properly licensed theater building in that city, except of a fireman, who perished in the performance of duty at the Alhambra in 1882. During the few days following the Iroquois disaster, theater managers and the public praised the wisdom of the rules of the county council, whereas some of the former had been wont to find them rather irksome. In addition to the main rules about lowering the asbestos curtain once during the performance, doors opening outward, stairways and passages to be kept free, there are some other precautions which must be observed. All doors used for the purpose of exit must, if fastened during the time the public are in the building, be secured during such time only by automatic bolts only of a pattern and position approved by the council. The management must allow the public to leave by all exit doors. All gas burners within reach of the audience must be protected by glass or wire globes. All gas taps within reach of the public must be made secure. An additional means of lighting for use in the event of the principal system being extinguished must be provided in the auditorium, corridors, passages, exits and staircases. If oil or candle lamps are used for this purpose, they must be of a pattern approved by the council, and properly secured to a noninflammable base, out of reach of the public. Such lamps must be kept lighted during the whole time the public is in the premises. No mineral oil must be used in them. All hangings, curtains and draperies must be rendered noninflammable. Scenery is painted on canvas that has been first prepared with a solution recommended by the county council, to make it noninflammable. The paints used by the scenic artists contain no oils. WHAT THE CHICAGO CITY ENGINEER SAYS. John Ericson, the city engineer of Chicago, has this to offer: "A theater building should have an open space on all sides with exits and entrances leading directly out, and not, as now is mostly the case, be wedged in tight between other large buildings, with a number of exits all leading to one or two not too wide hallways which again, together with the stairways from the balconies and galleries, merge into one entrance. These halls and stairways are only too easily blocked by the frantic people in case of a panic. The aisles in most of our theaters are also too narrow and should be made considerably wider. "The excuse that space is too valuable for such extravagance cannot hold. If the return for the capital invested in such a case does not seem sufficiently large to the investor, then rather charge a little more for the entertainment or reduce the number of playhouses so as to insure full houses, but in the name of humanity construct those that are used in such a way that calamities such as have occurred will be an impossibility.