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.