The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-10-24
AN ODD WARFARE.
ChiCasO'S Fight Against the Nuisance
Of Smoke.

It is Possible to Keep the Air Clear,
But it Costs Money-Besides a
Special Furnaoe the Fireman Must
Know His Business Opposition
From Steam Users.
From the Courier Journal.
Chicago, Oct 13.-Of late years no
problem in municipal reform has 50 thor
oughly perplexed the cities in this coun-
try, whore soft, or bituminous. coal is
burned, as the problem Of how to burn
the coal and at the same time do away
with the smoke nuisance. During the
last years Chicago has been making a
stubborn fight TO rid the city of smoke
through the city health department and
through the Society for the Prevention Of
Smoke, an organization supported
entirely by subscription from public
spirited citizens. After two years war
fare the society has gone out of existence,
the city health department has fallen into
lcthargy as far as preventing smoke is
concerned, and Chicago is as smoky as at
any period in her history. Apparently
smoke prevention in the largest city in
the west has been given up as Impractical
Bile Other cities which have the prob
lem to confront will be interested to know
why the efforts TO prevent smoke in Chi
cago have failed, and from what has been
done in Chicago they may possibly be en-
abled to judge whether the condition of
any city in regard to smoke can be mate
rally bettered
ChiCago's smoke ordinance was passed
in 1881. Without citing it in full it will
perhaps be enough to say that in sub
stance it makes the emission of dense
cr1nlya from tho cfaplr # 1apnrDnfiva
boat or building a nuisance, punishable
by fine of not less than -, nor more
than $50. Private dwellings are exempt
ed. The enforcement Of the ordinance is
made the duty Of the chief of police and
the commissioner of health. Up to Janu-
airy of 1892 all that was done in the way
of preventing smoke was done by the city
health department. For eleven years
after the passage of the ordinance it
worked, and at the end of the eleventh
year Chicago was just as smoky as it was
on the day upon which the ordinance was
passed. A variety of reasons combined
to produce this result. One was that
politics was allowed to enter into the
situation. Somehow the chimney of a
man who had contributed heavily to the
campaign fund of the ruling administra-
ton was allowed TO make all
the smoke it pleased. Another was
that from the nature Of the case the
health inspectors, being appointed for
political reasons, were not efficient men
always, and in some cases were not above
being privately influenced so that they
failed to report certain offenders against
the ordinance. Again, there was very
general ignorance upon the subject of
smoke prevention. The market was
flooded with cheap but worthless smoke
preventing devices of one kind and an
other. A business man would buy one
and it would prove worthless He would
buy another and that would prove worth
less BY the time he had been cheated a
few times he would consgn all smoke
consuming devices to the lower regions
and pronounce smOkepreventing an i'm
possibility. Moreover, the personnel of
the city health department changed every
two years. No sooner would one force of
inspectors be educated so that it knew
something about smoke-prevention than
it would be thrown out for another force.
These are some of the reasons why for
eleven years no progress in smokepre-
ventiOn was made in Chicago.
In December of 1891 the newspapers
took up the question vigorously and a
meeting was held at the Union League
Club of representatives of all the clu bs in
Chicago. From this meeting sprung the
Society for the Prevention Of Smoke. 1t
had five directors, who were leading
wealthy citizens of Chicago and men of
known probity. They organized an active
force of nine men. There was the secre-
tary, who was also general manager,
consulting engineer, four assistant engi-
neers, solicitor OF funds, a stenographer
and an attorney This force went actively
to work in February, 1892. For six
months it worked upon the principle that
the offenders against the smoke ordinance
were making smoke not because they
wanted to- but because they did not
know how to avoid it. So for six months
between four and five hundred examina-
tons were made by the engineers of the
society of steam plants in Chicago's bust
ness district that made smoke. A like
number of reports were made to the own
ers of these plants by the consulting
engineer, telling them how they could
most effectively and most cheaply stop
the smoke. In each report the number
of remedies was made as large as possible
so that the offenders need not be mar
rowed down to one choice At the end of
six months it was found that about 10
per cent of the men to whom reports had
been sent had done some one of the things
advised to prevent smoke. A few more
made a slight attempt and had brought
about some Insignificant change. About
MEDICAL