Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-21
THE SMOKE MUST 60.
Only Ten Days Remain Until Con-
sumers Will Be Used.
MANY AUTOMATIC STOKERS IN USE.
Indications That the Ordinance Will Be-
Popular.
THE DISTRICT AFFECTED BY THE LAW

ordinance goes into effect Manufacturers
in the prohibitive district are actively pre-
pairing to observe its regulations and there
are good indications that it will be sue
cess Already some of the establishments
which formerly emitted the greatest volume
of smoke have been equipped with smoke
consumers and automatic stokers At
others devices are now being put in and
there are q few at which nothing has yet
been done, but the owners will comply with
the law at once.
The smoke ordinance was approved by
Mayor Gourley on the 31st of last March.
1t goes into effect on September 1, and ap-
plies to the district bounded by Milten-
berger Dinwiddie, Devilliers and Thirty
third streets on the west and the city line
on the east Its northern and southern
boundaries are irregular, being arranged SO
as not to affect number of iron works,
steel works, oil refneries and other indus
tries for which no successful smoke-con-
suming devices have yet been produced.
From the eastern city line the north line
runs down the Allegheny Valley Railroad
to the Sharpsburg bridge, thus leaving the
city waterworks outside the limit. From
the bridge the line runs to Butler street,
along Butler to Penn avenue, to Thirty-third
street. The south boundary runs along
Second avenue from the city line to Mil
tenberger street
Ten Stationary Boilers Used.
In this district there are comparatively
few establishments using stationary boilers,
to which the ordinance especially applies.
It provides q fine of from $40 to $50 for
each day after September upon which any
firm or individual allows 'smoke from btu
minous coal to escape from any stack or
chimney used in connection with stationary
boilers" One section Of the bill prohibits
determination against any device that will
accomplish smokelessness It was inserted
to prevent any one firm from securing q
monopoly in the business.
The establishments in the prohibitory dis
trict which were the most offensive in the
emission of smoke were the Pittsburg,
Citizens and Duquesne Traction companies
power plants, the East End Electric Light
Company's plant, the asphalt pavement
works of Booth & Flinn and the Heron
Hill water works station. In all of these
but the Heron Hill station the nuisance
has been practically abated The con-
tractor who is putting in the automatic
stoker at the Heron Hill station expects to
have it completed and ready for operation
during the present week. The city has a
guarantee that this devise will reduce the
emission Of smoke to a minimum. It is
the Roney stoker, about which there was so
much talk wnen the contract was awarded.
How tho Railways Are Fixed.
The Pittsburg Traction Company is burn
ing natural gas at.the power house in Oak
land, but in event of a return to coal will
equip the boilers with stokers. The Du-
quesne Traction Company's power house at
Ben Venue has been equipped with device
known as the Walker smoke consumer,
which it is claimed is doing satisfactory
work. The Citizens company is burning
natural gas at its plant on Penn avenue.
The East End Electric Light Company is
using Roney stokers under two batteries of
boilers at the plant on Hoeveler street and :
natural gas under the balance. Booth &
Finn have introduced both the Roney and
the Brightman stokers at their asphalt
works and at their brickyard on Ruch's
Hill.
Murphy & Diebold and VIM. Anderson
& Co, planning mill owners in the prohib-
itory district, are preparing to have stokers
put in, and the few other establishments
affected are understood to be making simi-
lar arrangements.
When the ordinance is fully enforced, the
East End will be comparatively free from
smoke, except that produced by the half
dozen or more of brickyards within its
outside the smoke line. But be-
fore long the smoke ordinance is likely to
be amended so as to include even the brick
A Smokeless Brick Kiln.
Booth & Finn are now having erected at
their brick plant, on Ruch's Hill, the
by which, 1t is claimed, brick can be burned
absolutely without smoke, and with saving
of 75 per cent in fuel over the old method.
Kilns built on the new plan have been in
operation at Sioux City, Ia, and
the inventor is now experimenting the
erection of one here. He claims that brick
can be made by 1t cheaper than the old way
and continuously. Under the present
system of burning brick kiln is filled with
the freshly nodded clay and then fired up
for several davs, until the bricks are
burned hard enough for use.
By the new plan the kiln is divided into
IA compartments, each with capacity of
20. 900 bricks. The compartments can be
worked separately, and thus the plant yields
without stopping to burn the
product At present Booth & Finn are
running their old-fashioned plant night and
lay, but the new one is being erected along
,ide, ana will soon be completed. Mr.
Booth said yesterday that nothing but slack
will be used in the new kiln, only one man
will be needed to keep it fired up and IS per
,ent less coal will be used to do the work |
han with the old kilns.