Jan. 27, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NE\Ar^. 



'11 



IRON CURTAIN FOR THEATRES. 



AS a rule the stage and the auditorium of theatres are 

 practically two distinct buildings, the only 

 communication between them being the large open- 

 ing through which the performance is observed. As 

 fires usually break out upon the stage, a prompt and 

 effectual method of hermetically closing this aperture is 

 required. Curtains made of asbestos cloth or of wire 

 gauae would permit the passage of the products of 

 combustion into the auditorium and cause death by 



The curtain is made of strong sheet iron attached to a 

 cast-iron frame. It is made in two pieces ; one is fixed 

 above the top of the proscenium, while the other, which 

 forms the true curtain, slides behind it. This portion is 

 raised or lowered at will by means of two hydraulic 

 presses, one of which is drawn on the left of the illus- 

 tration. 



In order to take some of the strain off the hydraulic 

 pumps, the screen is nearly balanced by means of 

 counterpoise weights. A shaft should, howevsr, be 

 made for these weights to travel in, as otherwise 



Iron Curtain for Theatre. 



suffocation. Sheet-iron curtains have been suggested 

 for this purpose, but their weight, about 20 tons, is very 

 considerable, and although it would be comparatively 

 easy to suspend a curtain so that it should fall the 

 instant a catch was removed, yet there would always be 

 doubt as to whether the screen would be in working 

 order at the moment it was needed. What, therefore, is 

 required is a curtain which can be used with certainty, 

 and at all times required. M. Edoux, a French engineer, 

 has overcome the various difficulties, and has fitted easily 

 movable iron screens to some of the theatres in Paris. 



Our illustration, taken from La Nature, shows the 

 way in which he has solved the problem. 



serious accidents might occur should a chain by any 

 chance happen to break. 



The water supply for working the presses may either 

 be supplied direct from the main, from a cistern on the 

 roof, or from a hand-pump placed below the stage. 



The taps for emptying them can be placed below the 

 stage and may be controlled electrically from any part of 

 the house, or, if thought preferable, electric wires may 

 be arranged in the " flies," in such a way that as 

 soon as a fire occurred their insulation should be de- 

 stroyed, and they should automatically complete the cir- 

 cuit, and so turn on the discharge tap. At the Theatre- 

 Fran9ais the iron screen is lowered at the end of each 



