Los Angeles herald., 1892-11-20
He DOES NOT FANCY LEAD FUMES
So the Mayor Vetoes the Smelt-
ing Works Franchise.
He Cites q Number Of Scientific Au-
thorities in His Support.
smelters Shown to Be Most Dangerous
Affairs as Regards Public Health.
The Mayors Message in
Substance.

| 0uDBthnC0s
Mayor Hazard yesterday prepared the
following message, which will be sub
mitted to the council on Monday:
l return without my signature the
contract with the South California
Smelling and Refining works, whereby
they are permitted to erect within the
city limits smelling works, and for that
purpose to develop and use the waters
of the river below Hortella avenue. d.
These smelters emit great quanti-
ties of smoke and deadly fumes that
| float in dense volumes over the sur
rounding country. They are highly i'm
| pregnated with lead and other poisonous
| substances, deleterious alike to animal
and vegetable life. l am told by
DR.. K. D. Wise that in Butte, Mont,
there is not spear OF vegetation of any
kind in the city and for considerable
distance around, and it is almost as bad
on animal life. La Leadville, Colo, the
fumes of the emelters render it very un-
desirable for resident purposes, and
very unhealthy, and as near as can
learn the same condition of things exist
where they have smelters. find in
DIR. Ures' Dictionary of Arts, Manufac-
lures and Mines, vol. 3, page "a, the fol-
lowing: "As an example Of the great
extent to which sublination may take
place on the scale employed in large
smelling works we may mention the
lead works belonging to Mr.. Beaumont
of Northum berland. Formerly the
fumes or smoke arising from various
smelling operations escaped from ordi-
nary chimneys or galleries, and large
quantities of lead were thus carried off
in the state of vapor and deposited On
the surrounding land, where vegetation
was destroyed and the health of both
men and animals seriously affected.
ITO save the lead thus lost immense
galleries instead of chimneys have been
constructed, one on the Allen mill, in.
the vicinity of the one mentioned above
The gallery through which these fumes
pass is 1898 yards long, nearly five miles
III length"
Iquote the above to show to what ex-
tent chimneys must be made to inter
cept these deadly fumes, when we con-
slider that they have been made to this
extraordinary length to catch the lead
as matter of economy merely. They
catch it distance of five miles from the
smelter in paying quantities. !.
We find in the same work under the
title of Lead. that lead deposited in
water exposed to air becomes soluble,
water, and such waters when used often
produce serious consequences.
In the Popular Science Monthly, vol.
IA, p 254, under the title Noxious
Vapors and Health, l find it stated: "It
is admitted that besides the direct in
juries to the public health, noxious
factory gases are chargeable with doing
serious damage to agriculture cattle die
from grazing on poisoned berbage;
farms become parched up, yellow aud
cannot be tenanted; parks, woodlands
and hedges are slowly ami hill ated.''
In case in Pennsylvania, reported in
SO Pennsylvania state reports, page 116,
the court finds that the smelting works
in that case (employed exclusively in
refining ore containing gold, silver and
lead, such as the emelter to be built in
our city would be engaged in) "their fur
naces and other appliances are abreast
OF the times as to improvements, and
every precsution has been taken for the
prevention of the escape Of lead from
their f1ues known to the most expert in
the business" Notwithstanding all these
improvements and precautions. the
court finds that prior to the time de-
fendants' smelling operations began the
PLAINTIFF land was fertile and we'll
adapted to farming and grazing, that
the defendants works omit from the
chimneys and stacks thereof offensive
and poisonous fumes and vapors, which
are blown upon, descend and rest upon
the plaintiffs farm. That
these fumes have poisoned and are
poisoning the vegetation and products of
SAID farms, rendering the later unfit for
consumption that horses and cattle eat
ing the produ ts thereof have died
from lead poisoning, and that the
lead was communicated to them
through the herbage and fodder on
which they fed; that the fumes and va
pors from defendants works are often
sivs and nauseating" And an injunc
tion was obtained against the further
operation of the works in this manner,
and this judgment was affirmed by the
supreme court.
can appreciate that spirit which en-
courages the location in our city of
manufacturing industries, but we can
not be expected to ipjure our city as
place of residence by encouraging the
construction within our city limits of
smelling works, which would do more
than sll other causes combined to rem
der it undesirable for that purpose.
Efforts should be made to obtain q loca-
tion more remote from the city on
which to locate these works.