Harrisburg, August 28 -- Capt. John C. Delaney, chief factory inspector, said yesterday when told of the Canonsburg horror:
"This is a terrible disaster. The state will take action if any of the laws have been violated, but from what I have in hand I cannot tell much about the horror except that the loss of life was apparently due to panic.
"There is no power on earth that can prevent panics and the probabilities are that if the people had not become terrified more of them would have used the fire escapes. As to the conditions of the interior of the theater and the fire exits, I must wait until I obtain a report from the deputy.
"This case is different from Boyertown. In that horror fire and gas added to fright and to make matters appallingly worse the doors were locked because a doorkeeper wanted to keep out a crowd of foreigners. There were four fire escapes in working order, but only one was used, the others being overlooked in the panic."
Capt. Delaney said that it was no violation to have a theater on the second floor of a building providing there were proper exits and fire escapes. Many theaters throughout the state are so situated. The great problem is to control crowds in the event of excitement as is caused by some accident.