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

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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, -