The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1849-07-31 00:00:00

CONSUMPTION OF SMOKE.

We have long contended that the dense volumes of
opaque smoke which taint and destroy the purity of our
atmosphere, might with a little attention and care be
greatly obviated ; but over and over again, both before the
magistrates and at public meetings, we have been assured
by respectable manufacturers that it was impossible to do
so. This excuse, however, will hold good no longer, for
during the course of the past week we had the satisfoction
of seeing an apparatus, the invention of Mr. Robertson
(the principal features of which we explained in a recent
number) put to the test. There were present on the oc-
casion, as will be seen from the names attached to the
anneved testimonial, a fair average of the medical talent of
Liverpool, and therefore we should say that the document
in question should have great weight with the authorities
in settling the question—" is it practicable to consume the
smoke of a furnace ?" That this can be done we now
have no doubt, neither have we any that it can be done
with profit and advantage to the consumer.
Mr. Robertson states that he can not only consume the
unignited particles of carbon which now escape from the
tops of factory chimnies, but that his apparatus increases
the heat of the furnace, and owing to the arrangement of
his flues, he can apply very nearly the whole of the heat
so generated to his boiler—consequently there is an evi-
dent saving of fuel. He is also enabled to dispense with a
considerable portion of his fire bars. Here is another item
of saving. By the perfect application of the action of
heat to this boiler, we have no doubt but that boilers
under which his invention is placed will be less exposed to
wear and tear, being as they are less exposed to the action
of the atmosphere.
We hope now soon to see the authorities alive to the
necessity of enforcing the provisions of the sanatory act,
with respect to smoke prevention: and to bring about
such a desideratum would strongly advise Mr. Robertson
to invite his worship the Mayor and that body to inspect
the workings of his invention. The following is the testi-
monial referred to :
The undersigned, after Mr. Robertson having submitted to
trial, this day, in their presence, his plan for the consumption
of smoke, are enabled to testify that, upon a careful investiga-
tion of the nature of his apparatus applied in the furnace under
a steam boiler, and also in a small furnace applicable to bakers'
ovens, stoves, and other similar purposes, and after having
witnessed the introduction repeatedly of the ordinary quanti-
ties' of common coal into the fires, the smoke was consumed,
as none issued from the chimneys ; whilst, at the same time,
there was apparently a full production of heat, which was in-
dicated by an ample generation of steam in the boiler, and the
temperature at the top of the smaller chimney being equal to
the combustion of wood shavings or chips.
RICHARD FORMBY, M.D., Cantab.

R. BICKERSTETH, Surgeon.
DAVID MACRORIE, M.D., Edin.
W. H. DUNCAN, M.D., Medical Officer of Health.
J. PETRIE, M.D., Edin.
WM. WRIGHT MANIFOLD, Surgeon.
KING ELLISON, Surgeon.
FRANCIS ARCIIER, Surgeon.
ALFRED HIGGINSON, Surgeon.
THOMAS INMAN, M.D., Lond.
T. S. MINSHULL, Surgeon.
JOSEPH ANDERSON, M.D.,'Edin.
JOHN MACNAUGHT, M.D.
A. M'LELLAN, Surgeon.
DAVID WALDIE, Chemist, Liverpool Apothecaries'
Company.
A. B. STEELE, M.R.C.S.
THOMAS DUNCAN, Engineer.
E. Du KE, Governor of the Borough Gaol.
T. FRESH, Inspector of Nuisances.
Liverpool, July 25, 1849.:

The Commissigns of Assize for the county of Northum-
berland and the town and county of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne have been opened by Mr. Justice Patteson and Mr.
Justice Wightman.

ZOOLOGI,CAL GARDENS.—The performances during this
week have gone off most successfully, Mdlle. Lucie
Duval's beautiful delineations of Statuary being still the
leading attraction. On Friday night this lady took her
benefit, on which occasion she produced a new programme,
consisting of groupes and individual impersonations,
entirely designed by herself. Amongst the most beauti-
ful of these were, in the first part, " Proserpine surprised
by Pluto while gathering flowers on the plains of Sicily ;"
" Manlius ordering the execution of his Son," (in three
tableaux); and the " Messenger Dove"—a most graceful
effort by Mdlle. L. Duval alone. In the second part we
were most struck with " Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis,
raising Giselle from the Tomb," in three tableaux)—all
most effective ; " Euridiee come back to the Infernal
Regions," (Madlle. Duval), a most striking performance;
and " Acis and Galatea." Owing to the enthusiastic ap-
plause with which the programme was received, it will be
repeated during the week, which, we may remind our
readers, is positively the last of the stay in Liverpool of
this unrivalled rrtiste. It will be seen that another Ju-
venile Performance is announced for Friday morning.

THE MISSISSIPI STEAMERS.-1 have beard much of
the dangers of the Mississippi, and even before I left New
England, some of my friends, partly in jest and partly for
the sake of inspiring me with due caution in the choice of
vessels and captains, had told me endless stories of the
risks we should run. One of them presented to me a
newspaper, containing a formidable array of last year's
casualties. Fifty vessels had been snagged, twenty-seven
sunk, sixteen had burst their boilers, fifteen had been run
into by other vessels, thirteen destroyed by fire, ten
wrecked, and seven cut through by ice. This enumeration
was followed by an account of the number of persons
drowned or injured. Another friend called my attention
to a form of advertisement, not uncommon in the St.
Louis papers, headed thus, "A fine opportunity of going
below." This, he explained, "does not mean going to
the bottom, as you might naturally conclude, (although
this is by no means an improbable result of your voyage,)
but it merely signifies going down the river.' " Another
offered this piece of advice: " when you are racing with
an opposition steam-boat, or chasing her, and the other
passengers are cheering the captain, who is sitting on the
safety-valve to keep it down with his weight, go as far as
you can from the engine, and lose no time, especially if
you hear the captain exclaim. Fire up, boys, put on the
resin !' Should a servant call out, Those gentlemen
who have not paid their passage will alease go to the
ladies' cabin,' obey the summons without a moment's
delay, for then an explosion may be apprehended."
" Why to the ladies' cabin ?" said I. " Because it is the
safe end of the boat, and they are anxious for the personal
security of those who have not yet paid their dollars,
being, of course, indifferent about the rest. Therefore,
never pay in advance, for should you fall overboard during
the race, and the watch cries out to the captain, " A
passenger overboard,' he will ask, ' Has he paid his pas-.
sage ?' and if he receives an answer in the affirmative, he
will call out, Go a-head "—Lyell's Visit to the United
States.