The National Register. — London, England, 1819-11-07 00:00:00

91#‘-. 4-X4,7-ffr t7' ceev, Zrtt No. geM.—VoL. XII.] THE PAMPHLETEER. Tits Twenty-Ninth Number of this most useful publication has just appeared, and from it we estmet the followin; ialniry (is it impossible to free the Attnosuhere of London in a very con N iderable.degree, from the smoke and deleterious vapours-Avith which it is hourly impregnated ? By W. Triend, Actuary of the Hoek Insurance) : "The smoke of London, first viewed from a dist snce, afilyrds a sight which strikes a fimeigner with astonishment. The inhabitants are so accustomed to it, that they cease to regard it us a matter of much inconvenience, though a box of clothes sent from the metropolis sensibly affects their country friends. In fact, the Londoner is in the situation of a man, who lives in a smoky house : he is used to it : but every one, who comes to visit him, perceives the ►iifference 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 snwky atmosphere of this great city were exchanged tbr a purer atmosphere, stone of the inhabitants, nor the occasional visitors of the metrop►lis. would lament the loss of their black fog. All talk of the smoky town ; but they sit contented under their dense vapours, from an opinion, that the evil is incurable. This is the ease with every improvement that is suggested. A few years back, the visitors of I..xilam, were assured, that it was impossible .to Lep the un happy patients but by such immense lucks, bolts, and chains as shocked humanity. The very people who were thus manacled and fettesdi, are now walking *bout at their ease in the new liedlaut, end are more tractable iu consequence of the removal of these restraints. 71 went over this excellent insti tution the other day, .and, on contrasting it with what I had seen in the former mansion could not tut eongratulate•buruan suture on the modern im provements in the treatment of the greatest calamity to which it is liable. The application of the same ! ommen sense would produce similar improvements in a variety of instances. To ti,rm a judgment of the smoke of London, a person should take a turn on Blackfriars' Bridge in the midst of the day, and notice the effect of the vo 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 t:u many volcanoes. If he takes his morning walk in the middle of Summer, the contrast between the smoke from the furnaces, and fron► the ordinary fires, will be particularly striking. I conjecture, that the smoke occasioned by a vast variety of ma nnfactories, forges, glass houses, 80... is at least three times as great as that proceeding from all the chimneys for tinnily use : and it i 3 to be recollected, that from some of these furnaces issue forth matter of most deleterious nature. On the mischief arising from noxious vapours, the medical men are the best judges ; but it is some what remarkable, that so little attention is paid to this subject by the Legislature. Within these few years, an instance occurred, which 'brought it forcibly within my notice. There was a small green lane near me, which I used to .frequent as a walk before breakfast. Soon atter I had discovered this little walk, preparations were made for -building, and iu a short time two spacious buildingsappeared, both furnished ivith furnaces, the chimneys of which were not carried tan feet above the roof One of which was applied in the smelting of lead, the other to the melting, I think, of iron. In a short time proceeded the usual appearance of such works; and the air was proportionably infested. A great road. which promiscs to he ono of the most considerable .thoroughfares in London, has lately been made near this place ; and when the wind is favourable, the pale whitish smoke from the lead mappiastory is sensibly felt by those, whom busi .ness.or pleasure carries that way. On the erection .of these buildings I could not help pointing out to the owner the high chimney of the great manufac tory near the Asylum, dud with what advantage, .both to himself and to the public, the very me ritorious ettgintx:r,:the owner of them, had con. eructed his works. But how cou!.i it be expected a t Co 4LI° toititvr+ Our ink, Confititutten anb Hatul. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1819. that such an expense slmold he ineurred, since the public dud not require it? and all that was wanted. in this instance, was a common blast furnace, whose smoke, when it reached the top cf the works was of no farther concern to the owner. • Common sense ought to have instructed us, that an individual who makes a fortune by his works, ought to take care, the 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 mail, for example, erects a brewhouse upon a small scale: his business extends. and with it all his works gra dually increase, so that what was at first scarcely felt now becomes a nui►ance to a great extent, and a volume of smoke is emitted, which is felt in magni ficent houses, at a very considerable distance from his brewery. It will be asked, how sun this be remedied? To this may be replied, let a man on Illackfriars bridge look nround him, end observe the state of the different manufactories. Ile 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 sooner dissipated, and yet perhapa•the dash consumed in the latter are ten times as much 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 sonic proportion to the quantity of coals consumed in the furnaces beneath them. It is possible to contrive it so, that the column of smoke proceeding from the greatest vomitory in the metropolis, shall not cured that from a common kitchen chimney. To du this, it is necessary only to have a pooportionate length of chimney. Sup pose a brewhouse to be constructed in a square, the 'ides being 100 feet in length, and the height of the buildiug 70 feet. Let the furnace be near one of the sides, communicating its smoke to u chimney inclosed at top, 12 feet square at the bottom, and decreasing in dimensions to half the height of the building. At half the height of this chimney let there he two apertures, one no each side, and a flue from each to run round the Luilding till it comes to the top. Supposing each to make a com plete turn, its smoke must pass through above 400 feet, and let then pass through the vent at the top. 30 feet high. Thus the column, which now bursts forth in such a torrent, will be diminished more than one half at the lower aperture of the flu" and each separate column thus formed will be diminished in a very great proportion by the quantity of space it has to go over. This quantity will be greatly diminished by chambers being formed at easel: cor ner of the building, similar to that of the chim ney first erected ; and, besides, instead of owning out at the top at one hole, the upper chimney way be so eontrived, that there shall he several aper ture', and the smoke at last will be speedily di luted with the common air. This it wiU 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 seine celebrated mines in the North. They give support to aconsiderable population in the neighbouring village The population has been subjected to enuch disease from the effluvia of the load 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, awl this chimney was constructed under ground in the rising bill, the vent being at a consideruble distance from the works. The coasequence was, that vast quan tity of deleterious matter wag retained in the chim ney, and afforded an annual rent w the proprietors: and what came out at last was at such a distance from the workmen, that it could not produce any in jurious effects to their health. The village now performs its daily task with alacrity ; and 1 believe that that which used tOrnicrly to be so diingertna an occupation, is now more innocent than a vast variety of employments in the metropolis. J lay it down, Mien, as a position, that the smoke, emitted by the vomitories, may L. greatly reduced in quantity ; that the expense of doing it is trifling in comparison of the profits of the works; and that the Legislature will not be ill employed in taking such measures as shall secure the public from its present nuisance, - [ . PRICE 90. If it is desirable that the trial should be made, the first thii , g eems to be, to enquire into the pre• sent state of the building employing furnaces, com paring each with the other, stwording to the quantity of coal consumed ; to examine into the expense that would be incurred Ly conducting the smoke in the tawnier above recommended, or something 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 indemnifia in part by the public; and lastly, to prevent any new works, unless on regulations adopted on the principle, that a furnace should nut be permitted to emit more smoke tient a common chimney. If the last princi ple is a.kyted, the mection of u very extensive ma nuflztory will not produce a hundredth part of the smoke that would be occasioned by ordinary basses, built on the saute extent of ground." It i► peculiarly opportune at this moment, as we doubt not but Air. M \ltel Angelo Taylor will move for the revival of %the Committee which was appointed last session to inquire us to the possibi lity of achieving so desirable u purpose. The outrages against the Jews have extended hthemselves to Dantsic, where the garrison wait compelled to remain during three whole days under The foreign exchanges were on Friday a trifling degree higher than on Thursday. The improve intuit was very small indeed, but the circumstance is important now, as the opinions of many mercan tile men, very freely e'ipressed, had led to the expectation of a continued depression. The i.,"•t once of the exchanges on the price of bullion, clauses their variations ut this moment to be watched with as much anxiety as those in the Funds. The Beni. anal Stuck Exchange were both shut on Frahm : a few private bargains in Consuls were transacted ma the Royal Exchanoe, at ti';. The long-expected meeting of Radicals tool plaice on Monday at Finsbury-market. It was attended by Alesars. ‘Vaddingtora, Thistlewood, It atson, :cc The Doctor presided, and the proceediags were as contemptible as might be expected. The beneficial efli;cts of Mr. Brougham's Bill, fix " Inquiring into the Abuses of Public Charities," are developing thewselvea pretty generally through out the country. Three Commissi,oLrs, acting under the authority of this Act, have lately visited Ripon ; and these Gentlemen have, we understand, collected such infinnrstion regarding the misapplica tion of certain charitable funds net that place, as will be highly advantageous both to the pour and to the public. On the plates of the new lama-. mates to prevent forgery, is a very small miniatin e portrait of his Royal highness the Prince Regent, mast ealteirably executed in the ,chalk manner; and front the plates being of the nosily discovered preptred steel, at least two hundred thousand impressions can be worked on' with scarcely any injury to the engrr wing. 'l'uesduy she examination of 1,000 children is the IVhiteebapel School Society, who receive the bench of education and divine worship on Sundays, took place in the presence of the Lord Bishop of London, and several other eminent Gentlemen, ut their school in Whitechapel-rual. A numerous and respectable company attended, and they afterwards digital at the Loudon Tavern, William Mellish, Esa. M. I'. in the Chair. Noilti, g seetus to ulcerate as a warning to prevent the very dangerous practi.-e of lock tug children into au apa ttttt cut where a lire is kept. At Glasgow, of a Wed nesday a gist, a fine girl, about five years old, was us shockingly burnt by tier clothes catching fitc, that she ,iiity survived the accident about tsl4J !,ours. 1iell:11 'I neighbours forced open the door, they fouhd stioriur child, DOI of the Wine faintly, but win) had also been lucked an wiih the above girl, clingin4 to the roof of a bed to avoid she flanges from her companion, . The foll,mitig shameful transaction took place: lately, • • .;•-• at Wetlitignorough, in Noithauiptinisiiire .--Thiee ' , '..., journeymen shoemakers in that town, for some trilling --•••• • ..,.**-- • offence, whic.a a boy nanwd Citanittetlaia, had con tlyili t I- ~, „ i r mined, act up a mock tribunal fur the purpose of tryst ' •' ' 4 , h i nt. o ne of algal "as 41 , 1)011Ited judge, 4us! after 01 : 4.7.. i ---• 1 mockery of trial had been game through, he pr oeica kti - - 7. ~ .• . 0 ,. ao pass sentence on the poor boy—" That he should t ifics ' a "..'"l. pan head-foremost into a sad., and kept there half '-i."A'i s a... `:st # i e..................., di' • mmr."—Proceealing to put the sentence into excentiel I :l.fiiija - ,e, 1 hey slashed the boy's against the ground, and em lusts .111 K 4.7 • dreadfully. Faiturtonastely the sack contained 1 gagy lily to huts, wluch caused adfaeatillu. .:~::.. ~~,.