The Sun.
London, England, 1853-10-12 00:00:00

THE GREAT CONSUMPTION OF SMOKE QUESTION.

Messrs. Paine and Company, of No. 102, Leadenball-
street, exhibited and explained a model and drawings of
their newly-invented furnace for the consumption of

smoke.

The CHAIRMAN, after thanking the inventors for their
explanation, advised them to see the parties who were
in the daily habit of committing the nuisance of sending
forth large bodies of smoke from their mills and facto-
ries in the city, which he thought might have a beneficial
effect. As the law at present stood, the court could
only interfere to punish those who committed nuisances.
The court would feel obliged by the inventors' letting
them know when they had one of their furnaces in

loperation.
Mr. H. L. TAILOR thought that the court ought to
go to all those who had offended against the law, for the
purpose of showing them that there was a mode of get-
ting rid of the smoke nuisance. (Hear.)
Mr. HAYwoon (the surveyor to the commission) pre-
sented his report, of which the following is a copy :
" Guildhall, Oct. 11, 1853.
" Gentlemen,—ln pursuance of your instructions I
have caused observations to be made of the issue of
opaque smoke from the chimney shafts belonging to the
brewery of Messrs. Calvert, in Upper Thames-street. The
chimney shafts were watched for a period of seven days,
from about 4 o'clock a.m., until 7 or 8 p.m., an obser-
vation being registered every 10 minutes. The total
number of observations registered was 671, of which 7
record no smoke visible, 85 the smoke scarcely visible,
135 perfectly visible, 193 rather dense, 251 exceedingly
dense. Thus about 37 per cent. of the whole number
of observations record the issue of exceedingly dense
smoke, and 66 per cent, of the whole as dense and ex-
ceedingly dense.
"The duration of the period of the issue of exceed.
ingly dense smoke was from one to seven minutes, the
average appearing to be about three or three-and-a-half
minutes ; and it may therefore be said to be issuing
from Messrs. Calvert's premises for more than two hours
daily, and smoke of the two highest degrees of tensity
must have been issuing for nearly half of the busy hours
of the day.
"The smoke from the chimney shaft of the City
Flour-mills, situate in Upper Thames-street, having
occupied the attention of your late Court, I also directed
similar observations to be made there. These observa-
tions were continued for six days, between 4 o'clock
a.m., and 8 o'clock p.m., and the observations were
likewise at intervals of 10 minutes noted. The total
number registered was 377, of which 21 record the
smoke as not visible, 204 scarcely visible, 73 visible, 37
rather dense, 42 exceedingly dense. The duration of
the periods of intense smoke was about 31 to 4 minutes.
" About 11 per cent., therefore, of the whole number
of observations record the issue of the smoke as exceed-
ingly dense, and 21 per cent. of the whole as of the two
highest degrees of density.
"The persons who took these observations made no
inquiry as to the time when the furnaces were lighted or
extinguished, nor was information conveyed to the own-
ers that the issue of smoke from the chimneys was being
watched.
"The general practicability of almost entirely pre-
venting the issue of opaque smoke from furnace shafts is
now so universally admitted, that I need scarcely here
re-assert that it can be accomplished ; yet as it appears
probable that before long it may be requisite for you to
enforce the abatement of the nuisance by the owners of
those furnaces within your jurisdiction who have not yet
complied with your notice, it may be useful to submit to
you a few points in connexion with the subject.
" From the earliest period of the usage of coal as a fuel
in the metropolis, the smoke caused by its imperfect
combustion appears to have been regarded as a great
evil ; and in 1819 a select committee of the House of
Commons, termed the ' Committee on Steam Engines
and Furnaces,' was appointed to inquire ' how far it may
be practicable to coin pel persons using steam-engines and
furnaces in their different works to erect them in a man-
ner less prejudicial to public health and public comfort.'
It was, in fact, to inquire into the practicability of pre-
venting the issue of opaque smoke ; and the committee,
having elicited the opinions of qualified judges, appear
to have arrived at the conclusion, that the nuisance
might at least be considerably diminished, if not alto-
gether avoided.
" In 1843 a select committee of the House, and, in
1845, another select committee, was appointed on smoke
prevention. From them the subject received the fullest
investigation ; a large amount of evidence being taken
from numbers of witnesses in every way competent,
from their scientific practical knowledge, to give informa-
tion, and it resulted in the most confident expression of
opinion from those committees on the practicability of
economically preventing the issue of opaque smoke from
furnaces and steam engines ; and the Health of Towns
Commission, in 1845, concurred in this opinion, and on
the propriety of an immediate legislative enactment
upon the subject.
" In the year 1846, Sir Henry de la Beche and Dr.
Lyon Playfair, who were officially charged by the Go-
vernment with inquiry into the question of smoke con-
sumption, reported its almost universal practicability,
appearing, indeed, to except only certain descriptions of
furnaces, where, from the nature of the manufactures,
combustion is effected under peculiar and special circum-
stances, hindering the application of those principles
upon which the effectual prevention of opaque smoke
depends.
" The whole of these commissions of inquiry may be
said then to have occurred in opinion as to the practica-
bility of smoke prevention, their opinions being formed
and matured after hearing evidence from the most com-
petent witnesses who could be found.
"The result of these various investigations has been,
that local acts for suppressing the issue of
Liverpool,
Derby, Birmingham, andque smoke
have been obtained by
Manchester, erovincial towns, at
some of which places the smoke has been protented to a
very large extent. The first act for the prevention of
the nuisance within the s metropo li was obtained, and
put into operation within the city of London, in 1 852,
and up to the present time notices have been served by
this commission upon the owners of about 120 furnaces,
and the issue of smoke has been from the majority of
these considerably abated, although in all cases the
abatement has not yet been so perfect as may be practi-
cable, or as the act appears to require. These 120 fur-
naces comprise the whole of those within the City,
the chimneys of which formerly vomited forth the densest
volumes of opaque smoke.
"The practicability of consuming smoke is, therefore,
no longer a matter of speculation, and within your own
jurisdiction various successful instances may be appealed
to, and in some of the provincial towns named they are
both numerous and remarkable. There is, however, one 1
metropolitan example worthy of special reference, and
if any doubts still exist upon the point, I think that a
visit to the brewery of Messrs. Truman, Hanbury,
Buxton, and Co., Brick-lane, Spitalfields, would be most
convincing. I have myself visited the establishment,
and can personally testify to the almost perfection of
combustion and freedom from smoke which are attained
there.
"There are are 14 furnaces connecting with 12 chim-
ney-shafts upon that establishment, which are fitted up
with smoke-consuming apparatus. The first furnace
was fitted experimentally early in the year 1848, and its
complete success caused the general introduction of the
principle to the remaining furnaces. There are generally
13 furnaces at work daily, and the consumption of coals
is about 6,000 tons per annum. The total cost of fitting
up the furnaces was about 3,0001,, and the annual ex-
pense of repairs about the same as it was to the furnaces
before their alteration. These details have been oblig-
ingly given to me by Mr. Frazer, the engineer to the
brewery.
"At the time of my visit (which no one could have
anticipated, as, until presenting myself at the office, and
requiring permission to inspect the furnaces, I had' not
signified my intention to any one), I found most of the
furnaces at work, but the smoke was scarcely visible from
any one of the chimney shafts, and from some so slight
was the issue that it was not easily ascertainable whether
the furnaces connected with them were at work or not,
although that such was the case I afterwards verified,
and when I looked up through two shafts, which are
al'out 70 feet high from the door by the furnace mouths,
so free were they from smoke, that although one furnace
was consuming at the rate of three tons of coal per day,
and the other at the rate of 10 cwt. per day, the sky
was perfectly visible, and birds,- had they been flying
over the tops, might have been distinctly seen.
" I was infoi reed that this freedom from opaque smoke
was maintained throughout the day, with the exception
of two or three occasions, of about four minutesutreeciuired
s
each,
when from processes in the brewing the fires
was
perfectly
temporarily suppressing, and the smoke
consumed within a quarter of an
hhionukr
Ia fcan
r the f
n urno tha es
were were lighted in the morning.
more in verification of the pt
opaque smoke, and the rarulaicttotincsabailnitdy
of
disinterested consuming
public communication recentlyg made
smokeadeb ti
by Messrs.
Hanbury, and Co., that this
has enabled them to effect a saving of about 2,0001. per
annum, must P
the economy of effecting a perfect
combustion beyond
doubt, and most certainly so in the
parallel in extent,andother
case of establishments at all
conditions.
it That there is no loss sustained by the adoption of