The National Register. — London, England, 1819-11-08 00:00:00

Vt No. f2:7.—Vot.. XII.] THE PAiIIPHLETEER. Tim Twenty-Ninth Number of this most useful publication ha: just appeared, and from it we extract the followin: inquiry " is it imporsible to free the Atmosphere of London in a very con siderable degree, from the smoke and deleterious -tpo'irs with which it is hourly impregnated? By IV. Friend,Actuary of the Rock Insurance' It is peculiarly opportnne at this moment, as we doubt not but Mr. Michael Au.relo Taylor will in.we fir the revival of the Committee which was appointed last session to inquire as to the possibi lity of achieving so desirable a purpose. -• " The smoke of London, first viewed from a dist .ince, affords a sight which strikes a fitreign;:r with astonishment. The inhabitants are so accustomed to it, that they cease to regard it as a matter of much inconvenience, though a box of clothes sent from the metropolis sensibly affects their country friends. In fart, the Londoner is in the situation of a man, who lives in a smoky home : he is used to it : but every one, who conies to visit him, perceives the ditferenco between his sooty chambers and a well ventilated mansion. There are people, who, from long habit, are not disgusted with dirt and nastiness The Hottentot returns to his grease ; but I believe, that, if the smoky atmosphere of this great city were exchanged for a purer atmosphere, none of the inhabitants, nor the occasional visitors of the metropolis, would lament the loss of their black f0;,.7. All talk of the smoky town ; but they it contented under their dense vapours, from au opinion, that the ovil is incurable. This is thecase with every improvement that is vuggcsted. A few years hat k, the visitors of Bedlam, were assured, that it was impossible to ke'p the un happy patients but by such immense locks, bolts, and chains as shocked humanity. The very people who were thus 73diateltAl usid fettered, are now walking about at their ease is thu new Bedlam, and are mire tractable in consequence of the removal of these restraints. I went over this excellent insti tution the other day, and, on contrasting it with •what 'I had seen in the former mansion could not Lett congratulate human nature on the modern im provements in the treatment of the greatest calamity to which it is liable. The application of the same Naimoli sense would produce similar improvements in a variety ofinstancr.s. To limn a judgment of the smoke of London, a person should take a turn on Illackfriars' Bridge in the midst of the day, and notice the effect of the vit. mitories of smoke that surround him. A similar walk, at night, will point out more strongly the defect in their construction, when he perceives. from many of them volumes of flame issuing forth, as from so many volcanoes. If he takes his morning walk in the middle of Summer, the contrast between the smoke from the furnaces, and from the ordinary fires, will be particularly striking. I conjecture, that the smoke occasioned by a vast variety of ma imfactories, forges, glass &c., is at least three times as great us that proceeding from all the chimneys for family use : mid it is to be recollected, that from some of these furnaces issue forth matter of most deleterious mature. Oa the inisehiefarising from noxious vapours, the medical men are the best judges.; but it is some what remarkable, that so little attention is paid to this subj:ct by the Leglslature. IVithin these few years, un instance occurred, which brought it forr;bly within my notice. There was a small green lane near nw, which I used to frequent as a betbre bicaktitst. Soon atter I had discovered this little wAls, preparations were made our and in a short tune two fliacions buildings appeared, both furnished with furnaces, the chimneys of which were not carried ten feet above the root' One of which was anphed in the smelting of lead, the other to the nwit:no , , I think, of iron. In a short thne proceeded the usual appearance of such works, and the air was proportionably infected. A atroad, which promisLs to be one of the most cousiderable thoroughfares in London, has lately been made near this place ; and when the wind is favourable, the pale whitish smoke from the lead in:maw:tory is sensibly felt by those, whom busi ness or pleasure carries that way. On the erection •-)1* these buildings I could not help poillting out to ationali littitittr+ Our ritina, Cotsultittition anti alma. MONDAY, NOVEIII3F,It 8, 1819. the owner the high chimney of the great manufac tory near the Asylum, vwl kith what advantage, both to himself and to the public, the very me ritorious engineer, the ovuer of them, had con structed his %%nks. But how could it be expected, that itueli an expense should be incurred, since the public did not rcquire it ? and all that was wanted. in this instance, was a common blast furnace, whose smcke, when it reached the top of the wurks was of no father concern to the owner. C o mmon sense on„, , ht to have instructed us, that an individual who makes a fortune by his works, ought to take care, that it should be done at the least inconvenience to his neighbours But, in the case of the great works in and about London, this principle is almost entirely neglected. A man, firr example, erects a brewhome upon a small scale: hi, businers extends, and with it all his works gra dually iacrease, so that what was at first scarcely felt now becomes a nuisance to a great extent, and a volume of smoke is emitted, which is felt in mag,ni.. limit houses, at a very considerable distance from his brewery. It will be caul, how can this be •remedied? To this may be replied, let a man on Blackfriars bridge look around him, and observe the state of the different manufactories He will see from one a large column of smoke, driving before the wind, scarcely impaired, to a great distance ; and from another a much smaller column, much sootier dissipated, and yet perhaps the coals consumed in the latter are tea times as flinch as in the former. Whence, then, is this difference? It is in the height of the chimneys ; and common sense, there •fore, points out, that the height of the chimneys should bear some proportion to the quantity of coia, consumed in the furnaces beneath them. ;-- lt is possible to contrive it eo, that the column of smoke proceeding from the greatest vomitory in the metropolis, shall not exceed that from a common kitchen chimney. To do this, it is necessary only to have a proportionate length of chimney. Sup pose a Urewhouse to be constructed in a square, the sides being 100 feet in length, and the height of the building 70 fiat. Let the furnace be near one of the sides, communicating its smoke to a chimney inclosed at top, 12 feet square at the bottom, and dee' easing in dimensions to half the height of the building. At half the height of this chimney let there be two apertures, one on each cid; and a flue from each to run round the buikling -till •it comes to the top. Supposing each to make a com plete turn, i s smoke must pass through above 400 feet, and let thee puss through the vent ut the top, SO feet high. Thus the column, which now bursts forth in such a torrent, will be diminished more than one halt' at the lower aperture -of the flues, and each separate column thus , tormed will be diminished in a very great proportion by the quantit ., of space it has to ,go over. This quantity will be greatly diminished by chambers being formed at each: cor ner of the building. similar to that of the chim ney first erected ; and, besides, instead of coming out at the top at one hole, the upper chimney may be so contrived, that there shall be several aper tures, and the smoke at lust will be speedily di luted with the common air. This it will be said is all very good in theory. but it will not do in practice. I went over, a few years. ago, the works of some celebrated mines in the North. They give support to aconsiderable population in the neighbouring village The populatim has been subjected to much disease frotn the effluvia of the had in its processes of smelting. The proprietors made an alteration in their works. Their vast fur naces were now so constructed, that the smoke from them was conveyed to a common chimney, and this chimney was constructed under ground in the rising hill, the vent being at a considerable distance from the works. The consequence was, that a vast quan tity of deleterious matter was retained in the chint ney, and afforded an annual rent to the proprietors: and what came out at last was at such a distance from th e workmen, that it could not produce any in jurious effects to their le.alth. •Fhe vilhge now pet flint's its dizily task with alacrity ; and I believe that that which used formerly to he so dangerous an occupation, is now more innocent than a vast variety o f employments in the metropolis. I lay it down, then, as a position, that the smoke, emitted by the vomitories, may grcat:y ri:daced [PRICE 9id. • If it is desirable that the ,trial should be made, the first thing seems to be, to enquire into the pre • sent state of the building employing furnaces, com paring eat h with the other, according to the quantity of coal consumed; to examine into the expense that would be incurred by conducting the smoke in the manner above recommended, or botnething similar to it, according to the nature of the works; to - ascertain, whether the proprietors of old works should be put wholly to this expense, or be indemnified in part by the public; and lastly, to prevent any new worse, nalcss on regulations adopted on the principle, that: a furnace shmld not be permitted to emit more smoke than a common chimney. If the last princi ple is adopted, the erection of a very extensive ma nufactory still not produce a - boodredth part of the smoke that would be occasioned by ordinary houses, built on the same extent of ground." in quantity ; that the expense of doing it is trifling m comparison of•the profits of the works; and that the Legislature will nut be ill employed in taking such measures as shall secure the public from its present nuisance. The outrages against the Jews have extende2t themselves to Dantsic, where the garrison was compelled to remain during three whole days under arms. The foreign exchanges were on Friday a trifling degree higher than un Thursday. The improve ment was very smell indeed, but the circumstance is important new, as the ()pinions of many mercan tile men, very freely expressed, had led to the expectation of a continued depression. The influ ence of the exchanges on the price of bullion, causes their variations et this mumout to be watched with us much anxiety as those in the Unals. The Bank and Seek Exchange were bolt shut on Friday : few private bargains iu Consols were traesacted on the Royal Exchange, at 67 The long-expected meeting of Radicals too'; place on Monday at Finsbury-market. It was attended by Messrs. Waddingtue, Thistlewood, ‘latson, :ec The Doctor presided, and the proceedings were as contemptible as might be expected. The beneficial effects of Mr. Broughani's Bill, for " Inquiring into the Abuses of Public Charities," arc developing themselves pretty generally through.. out the country. Three Commissioners, acting under the authority of this Act, have lately visited Ripon ; and these Gentlemen have, we understand, collected such information regarding the misapplica tion of certain charitable ftauls at -eft place, as will be highly advantageous both to the poor and to the public. On the plates of the new ban' notes to prevent forgery, is a very small miniature portrait of his Royal Ilighnies the Prince Regent, most admirably executed in the chalk manner; and from the plates being of the newly discovered prepared steel, least two hundred thousand impressions eau be worked oft' with scarcely any injury to the engteving. Tuesday the .examination of 1,000 children the Whitechapel School Society, who receive the benefit of education and divine worship on Sundays, took place in the presence of the Lord Bishop of London, and several other eminent Gentlemen, at their school in NV ltiteehapel-road. A numerous anti respectable company atteaded, and they afterward/ dined at the London Tavern, William Mellish, Esq. M. I'. in the Chair. Nothit g scuts to operate as a warning to prevent the very da:iecrous practice Of locking chiidren ti.to as apa . rinictit tire i kept. At Glasi4ow, nit IVeu nrsuay n , I , a li,le Earl, ;noon live years was V) shocktogif burnt Iff tier clothes eatchioir, lire, that she only surf iced the acchleitt about h.O 110111 q. ‘Viie,i the 1 1 14 . 1111011tS Upell tile t . ..mr, they lomat 311i , 111:t lilt of tile Sallie calmly, but who had beet Itt Wl;11 the above gill, clinging to the roof of a tied to .tvoid the flames fruit h companinn. 'l'lte transaction took pyre tan v at %Velbsigbvine,h, ut Not!oamptolibitre pturiwynien blinfinakf IS 111 tlYllt town, for smite (ran; . o th ut ee, %flitch a buy thbe.tfl (:hattilierk.m, lett,: corn wined, set tip 3 1110ek the pitr:.ose of trvim4 Mtn. One of them 0..15 UppOillted j,lt liLe , and after the alocktr‘ of trial had been Rune datillt,ll, lie proceeded n,.t.s sentence oil the poor bin—" That he shout() be tic.ul-foremost into a back, and kept there half an iiillar.”—Ptoceeding to put tiw seenetwe into exeention, ;hey dashed the boy's against the gtound, and cat 111/13 dreadfully. Eofortunately tic sack contained a Citat:l litV vt . bran, which caused suttucation.