New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-12-17

| marshes. and up the Thames. Surveys have. e
| Is true. been made for extensive draining Of the
Essex marshes. and this it is believed, will have
some effect on the fogs 1t will make them
trihe less dense. less chilly, less persistent But
! It will not altogether Danish them, nor even re-
duce them to any considerable degree. simple
| sea fog, however, is not very serious infection.
Damp and disagreeabe 1t may be- perhaps bad
| for rheumatic and pulmonary patents But y
is no worse than that which prevails on all the
northern sea coasts ard it is at worst gray and
dim. not black and sightless. The third element.
sewer gas. can be got rid Of by proper sanitary
arrangements. 1t puts poison in the air. but not
blackness.
But the second element u.s. after all, the serious
one, and 1t is to its abatement that London
folk are now turning their minds with desperate
| eagerness. The evil comes from the use OF
soft coal. That Is the coal people persist In
using IL, and 1t seems imp-acticable to forbid
them by legislation to do Sir Henry Tyler,
with a fine appreciation Of the commercial
spirit Of the race, has suggested that they
might be induced, If not compelled by leg1sla-
tion to use hard coal His plan is simple
one. 1t is merely to abolish the customs tax
on hard coal and impose heavier tax on soft
coal But no Treasury Minister has yet been
willing to put such a scheme into his Budget.
Then the question arises, Is IL not possible even
while using soft COAL TO secure more perfect
combustion and to consume the smoke? That
is old question. Lord Pamerston deter
mined many years ago that it should be |
answered in the affirmative. so far as factories
went. He would not or could not. interfere
with dwelling houses but he would and could
with factories So he passed law compelling
all such establishments to consume their own
smoke. For some reason or other the Police
Department dead set against this law, as
1t is against any such legislation to-day It
did not and does not want the trouble Of COM ,
peIling its enforcement So the whole Home
told him II was impossible to consume the
smoke.
ut cannot be DONE" they said.
"Od PANS answer characteristic.
Il don't know whether it can be done or not:
and don't care. / say 1t must be DONE and It
shall be done"
And so long as Palmerston was alive II was
done pretty thoroughly, despite the reluctance
and opposition of the police. But now II IL
largely a dead letter among the factories while
OF course ii has never been applied to private
houses at all. And even were 1t practicable to
extend the law to all the six million chimney
stacks, 50 that the sixty tons of unconsumed
coal should not escape to load the atmosphere
with blackness and suffocation. even then the
acrid sulphur and ammonia fumes would be
They have just been trying at Birmingham,
which is exceedingly smoky but not foggy, an
invention for washing the smoke and making
II clean before IL is turned loose into the air.
The idea is not a new one but in this applica-
cation Of II there are some novel features. As
the smoke proceeds from the furnace TO the
chimney shaft II is drawn away near the point
of connection with the stack by means OF q
powerful fan revolving at n great speed. 1t Is
Il
luions a minute into tank filled with water.
The water is agttated by perforated beaters. and
this process has the effect Of washing the smoke,
which is then allowed to escape perfectly puri-
fled into the atmosphere direct, or Is conducted
back to the chimney. The carbon is precipi-
tated to the bottom of the tank. and is brought
out in thick. bubbling black froth, forming a
deposit. the worth of which is put at about $50
a ton along with other by-products of an ex-
tremel valuable character This device may
steamboat engines and, in fact, TO all large
furnaces. A company has been formed to work
It. and there is a loud call for its trial In
London ~ b.
There is one other plan. however. which is be-
Ing even more strongly urged. and which is
meeting with much favor It is to stop burning
coal altogether in the city, and to burn gas
instead. Like many other modern Improvements
this is n lesson learned from America. John Bull
has heard about the marvellous use OF natural
gas. He has heard how 1t has TRANSFORMER
manufacturing cities from dngy, smoky, sooty
places into realms of physical sweetness and
light. And so he has taken to asking the ques-
ton Why rot try in London? Natural gas.
of course is not available, or is not now known
to be. The plan is, therefore. TO manufacture
gas right at the coal mines and send 1t to the
city through pipelines like those used In Amer
lea For all purposes of heating. cooking. power.
air Of London would be freed from the worst
feature of its fogs Other advantages OF cheap
ness, convenience. labor-saving, etc. would also
be enjoyed DR.. Siemens proposed to give smoky
Birmingham such service some thirty years
ago. But he was ahead OF his age The Amerf:
feasibility Of the scheme. And. moreover. Biz.
mingham was not London. and its fogs We're not
London fOgs. But now London itself is aroused,
and is determined II possible. TO abate the nui-
sance from which 1t has SO long and 80 greatly
suffered. The plan Is 10 construct in the heart
of the richest coal fields vast duplicate gas
works and to connect them with London by
double lines Of pipes One set OF works ana
pipes would make and convey gas for heating.
the other gas for lighting. the two being differ
ent in character. double system OF mains and
tubings would be necessary all through the city.
The magnitude OF this pipe-laying project may
be realized when II is known that there are now
more than 1000 miles Of mains in London.
Against all this however are to be set many
large items OF advantage. The new system Will
save the cost of transporting coal to the city
and distributing 1t there 1t will save the vast
waste that inevitably occurs in the use OF coal
I'm millions Of separate stoves and CRATES. It
will save the cost OF screening and preparing the
coal for market. IT will. moreover, save the
value OF the large tracts OF land In London now
occupied by gas works and coal yards since
those establishments would be closed out ana
the ground used for other purposes. There
would be many other items of saving and OF
profit. which would make the venture a directly
paying one. But intellectually the greatest adj
vantage Of all would be the saving OF business
and property and life that are now the victims
Of the fog.