IMPROVEMENTS IN THEATER SANITATION. 85 



located in the midst or rear of other buildings, the nature of the 

 site precludes a good arrangement of the main fresh-air ducts for 

 the auditorium. 



Absence of fresh air is not the only sanitary defect of theater 

 buildings; there are many other defects and sources of air pollu- 

 tion. In the parts devoted to the audience, the carpeted floors 

 become saturated with dirt and dust carried in by the playgoers, 

 and with expectorations from careless or untidy persons which in a 

 mixed theater audience are ever present. The dust likewise ad- 

 lieres to furniture, plush seats, hangings, and decorations, and in- 

 termingled with it are numerous minute floating organisms, and 

 doubtless some germs of disease. 



Behind the curtain a general lack of cleanliness exists — untidy 

 actors' toilet rooms, ill-drained cellars, defective sewerage, leaky 

 drains, foul water closets, and overcrowded and poorly located 

 dressing rooms into which no fresh air ever enters. The stage floor 

 is covered with dust; this is stirred up by the frequent scene shift- 

 ing or by the dancing of performers, and much of it is absorbed 

 and retained by the canvas scenery. 



Under such conditions the state of health of both theater goers 

 and performers is bound to suffer. Many persons can testify from 

 personal experience to the ill effects incurred by spending a few 

 hours in a crowded and unventilated theater; yet the very fact 

 that the stay in such buildings is a brief one seems to render most 

 people indifferent, and complaints are seldom uttered. It really 

 rests with the theater-going public to enforce the much-needed im- 

 jDrovements. As long as they will flock to a theater on account 

 of some attractive play or " star actor," disregarding entirely the 

 unsanitary condition of the building, so long will the present no- 

 toriously bad conditions remain. When the public does not call 

 for reforms, theater managers and owners of playhouses will not, 

 as a rule, trouble themselves about the matter. We have a 

 right to demand theater buildings with less outward and inside 

 gorgeousness, but in which the paramount subjects of comfort, 

 safety, and health are diligently studied and generously provided 

 for. Let the general public but once show a determined preference 

 for sanitary conditions and surroundings in theaters and abandon 

 visits to ill-kept theaters, and I venture to predict that the necessary 

 reforms in sanitation will soon be introduced, at least in the better 

 class of playhouses. In the cheaper theaters, concert and amuse- 

 ment halls, houses with " continuous " shows, variety theaters, etc., 

 sanitation is even more urgently required, and may be readily en- 

 forced by a few visits and peremptory orders from the Health 

 Board. 



