Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-18
THE sMokE pIsCUssIoN


The discussion of the smoke question at
the Engineers Society the other night will
be of great use not only in attracting pub
lie attention to the agitation, but in defin-
ing the issue and indicating the lines on
which relief from smoke must be sought
While there was decided divergence of
opinion, the actual result is to show that
so far as present measures are concerned
there is ground for practical agreement.
Mr.. William Metcalf, who appears some
what in the light of an opponent of the
anti-smoke movement, comedies that the
smoke may be lessened by the use of de-
vices in certain respects. But he holds
that hard and fast prohibitory law
would simply drive away some of Pitts
burg'S important industries, the pudding
of iron being the principal process in
which Mr.. Metcalf thinks that the produc-
ton of smoke is an absolute necessity.
On the other hand, the leaders of the
movement against the smoke do not
propose to drive industry away from Pitts
burg. They hold that the smoke may be
lessened by various devices, the value of
which has been demonstrated in actual
practice; that to whatever degree the
smoke is lessened by these devices is so
much of gain to the public; and they
hope that, while the abolition of the pre-
ventable smoke is going on, science will
demonstrate that the same great advance
can be made in iron manufacture.
In this position there is nothing
seriously conflicting with Mr.. Metcalf's
views The departments in which
smoke can be lessened are important
enough to give plenty of occupation for the
present. In this respect, namely, the re-
duction of smoke produced by steam boil
erS to tithe, there is ample proof of its
practicabiity. Within ten minutes walk
of The DISPATCH can be found smoke
appliances, which are working well and
successfully. There are appliances which
fail to meet the purpose; but any man who
will take the trouble to investigate long
enough to find successful one, and then
watch the chimneys from that plantin COM
parison with others, in which there are no
such appliances, will go away convinced that
the smoke from steam boilers can be re-
duced to one-tenth its present volume. If
this was done for the downtown districts
of Pittsburg and Allegheny the gain in
cleanliness and light would be vast one,
and the present damage from the smoke to
goods, clothing and architecture would be
very much reduced. Garry the same re-
form to the residence quarters remote from
the iron mills, and the public gain would
be proportionately enhanced.
While this work is going on there is GER
tainly no reason to abandon the hope that
scientific progress will advance toward the
diminution of smoke from iron manu-
facture. If the gas process can be ap-
piled successfully to steel manufacture, as
we gather, under correction, from Mr..
Metcalf S paper, there is another immense
cause of smoke removed. Coke is smoke
less fuel, and Mr.. Metcalf IS objection to
the damage to rural districts from the pro-
cess of manufacturing coke there evokes
the pertinent answer that it is better to
have the smoke where it is an inconven-
fence to scores of people than where it is
a drawback to thousands. But the manu-
facture of Connellsville coke wastes
millions of feet of gas, and it is to be hoped
that Science in search of smokeless fuel
will evolve process by which gas shall be
extracted from coal, as one fuel, and
second-grade of coke, as 'by-product,
shall be left for another.
With the Importance of the object to be
there is no reason why work in |
the direction of smoke abolition should not |
be earnestly prosecuted No one expects |
to see smoke entirely disappear; but with |
the effort directed toward abolishing what I
is how preventable. and the search for |
further inventions in that line, we will |
make steady progress toward the ultimate |
realization Of smokeless manufacturing |
city. /