"I am also of the opinion that perforated water pipes over the stage, into which water can be turned at a moment's notice so as to drench the whole stage if necessary, would add greatly to the safety of life and property. "An automatic sprinkler system would probably have been less effective in the case of the Iroquois fire, as great damage to life would have probably been done before such sprinklers would have been put into action." OPINION OF A FIREPROOF EXPERT. William Clendennin, editor of the _Fireproof Magazine_, condemned the Iroquois Theater building as long ago as last August. Here is his opinion, which he asserts is based on a personal investigation: "The Iroquois theater was a firetrap. The whole thing was a rush construction. It was beautiful but it was cheap. Everything but the structural members was of wood; the roller on the asbestos curtain, the pulleys, all of a cheap compromise. "I made an investigation of the theater last August and condemned it on four different points. My condemnation was published in the August number of the _Fireproof_. The points are: "1. The absence of an intake, or stage draft shaft. "2. The exposed re-enforcement of the concrete arch. "3. The presence of wood trim on everything. "4. The inadequate provision of exits. "A theater has two parts--the stage and the house or audience part. There should be a roll shutter between the two and the best sort of a curtain is a compromise. The poor stuff in the curtain at the Iroquois theater made it doubly a compromise; a great danger, a terrible trap. "The stage may be compared to a closet. When you open a closet door the draft is outward, not inward. So when the fire started on the stage the draft pulled it toward the audience. It was a quick flame puff. "The arch, or ceiling, was covered with a cheap concrete. The first puff of flame destroyed this. It crumbled away, exposing the twisted mass of steel re-enforcement and girders, and fell on the audience. This killed many. Looking from below, the bewildered, choking and maddened crowd thought it was the result of a panic above. They believed the galleries were falling and in the rush resulting many more were killed. "The Iroquois theater was the most-talked-of construction in the country at the time of its building. It was believed to be the expression of the most modern ideas in regard to theater building; to be about as near fireproof as one could be. My investigation satisfied me that it was one of the worst firetraps in the city. There was so much wood and so much plush and inflammable trimming about everything. The insufficient exits tell the rest of the story." ILLUMINATED EXIT SIGNS. On this point T. B. Badt, a consulting electrical engineer of Chicago, writes: