Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-07
SMOKE CAN BE CONSUMED.

During the past three days Pittsburg
had ample demonstration that its smoke
nuisance will return with greater vIgor
than ever unless adequate and special
means are taken to abate it. The damage
to goods, to buildings, to clothing, and
above all, to eyesight, health and spirits,
by the artificial darkness of Monday and
Tuesday, constitutes waste nothing short
of criminal from the day that, the practical
bility of abolishing it is manifested.
Mr.. Andrew Carnegie expressed him
self, in the letter published in yesterdays
DISPATCH, as believing in nothing less
radical than the entire abolition of smoke
by the compulsory use of coke or fuel gas.
If that drastic measure could be enforced
it would be a great reform; but much
more attainable object is the use of de-
vices by which bituminous coal can be
burned with the abolition of nine-tenths
the present smoke.
Demonstration has already been made
of the ability to reduce the smoke null
Sance to an unnoticeable minimum. 1t IS
true that the reform is burdened and de-
layed by the presence of So-called smoke
consumers that are worse than useless; by
carelessness in the use of devices that
are efficient if properly managed, and
by the stupidity of stokers who will
save themselves labor by heaping
coal into the furnaces rather than use the
devices to secure perfect combustion.
These things are pointed to as failures OF
smoke consumption, when they are only
illustrations of the obstacles placed in its
way by conservatism, ignorance and
stupidity. Against them can be placed
the conclusive and convincing examples
furnished by the use right in the commu-
nifty of devices which abolish nine-tenths
of the smoke in actual practice. And the
significance of the facts established by eX-
perience, in these cases, is that the people
who insist on encouraging the public loss
from dirt and darkness do so for the pur-
pose of inflicting on themselves the pri-
vate loss of waste of 25 to 80 per cent
in their fuel.
Two prominent instances suffice to illus
trate this fact One is that of a leading
mercantile house in the city. The appar-
atus applied to its boilers has abolished "a
per cent of the smoke in actual practice.
1t is stated by the firm that it has
saved them fully so per cent in
fuel Another case is that of one of the
traction lines. 1t has had patent stoking
apparatus in operation about year, dur
ing which time all observers agree that its
smoke is practically abolished, and its
saving in fuel for the same period has
nearly equaled the cost of the apparatus.
These are instances which any man can
investigate for himself. When they are
fairly investigated, the ability to reduce
the smoke nuisance to one-tenth its pres
ent magnitude-which is practical aboli-
tion-is unquestionably established.
When such facts as these are properly
placed before the public the days of the
smoke are numbered People cannot af-
ford to infiict nuisance on the people at
arge, when they can save one-fourth to
one-half their fuel bills without it. All
that is needed to make that saving is
little intelligent investigation as to the
actual operation of devices for combustion,
and little expenditure which will be re-
paid in a comparatively short time by the
saving in fuel