353 
On the Construction of Theatres . 
iron ; and likewise to make the elliptical part capable of 
being completely cut off from any lire in the other part of 
the building, by a jointed sheet iron curtain, to close up 
the stage every night after performance, or in case of lire, 
during the play hours. The name of this would be very 
attractive. 
To prevent the bad effect of squeezing from sudden 
alarms, no door about a theatre should open inwards , and 
the outlets should be as large as possible, and some extra 
ones easily opened if necessary : a good reservoir of wa- 
ter, and an engine or two on the spot, are precautions too 
obvious to need an observation. I am, &c. 
GIeorge Cayley* 
To John Kemble, Esquire. 
NO. 69. 
On the Construction of Theatres . By Mi chard Lovell 
Edgeworth, Esquire, F. R . S. 
Edgeworthstoim , March 6, 1809, 
Sir— The public, by the loss of two theatres in one 
winter, must be anxious about the plans on which those 
edifices are to be rebuilt; they will not be satisfied with 
the opinion of a single architect, they will require an open 
discussion of the principles, and plans upon which a new 
theatre is to be constructed ; this they have a just right to 
demand, for their lives and properties are at stake. Eve- 
ry family in London might have mourned the loss of some 
relative, had the play-houses been filled at the time of 
the accident; and the whole city might have been burned 
to ashes by either of the conflagrations. 
We are to consider not only the loss of lives by the im- 
mediate disaster, but also the apprehensions, which the 
audience must feel for some time to come; and the anxie- 
Vol. IT, 
Nicholson, vol. 23, p. 129. 
X X 
