The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-10-30

What good would it do to clear the air of
San Francisco of fogs and its impurities
Yesterday DR.. Albert Abrams, member
of the faculty of Cooper Medical College
and a specialist in lung diseases. said that
it would remove at once the most preva-
lent and troublesome diseases here.
"If such a change in the atmosphere of
San Francisco were produced" said DR..
Abrams, sit would remove at once the
potent cause of tuberculosis, or consump-
local conditions surrounding the disease
that carries away two-sevenths of the
human race. The effect of breathing air
full of smoke and dust is well known and
Is demonstrated by people whose occupa-
tions make them breath much dust, as in
coal mines, certain kinds of mills and So
on. When the air holds in suspension
dust and smoke the particles for one thing
lodge IN the mucuOuS mem brane OF the
lungs and make little openings favorable
to the lodgment Of the tuberce bacillus
which causes consumption. The main
feature OF the most advanced treatment of
consumption is pure air. Then various
germs of disease do not float IN pure air.
If the air here could be Kept clean and
pure potent cause OF consumption
sources of other diseases would be re-
moved.
1.-The absence of fogs would make great
difference, too. All my asthmatic patients
can anticipate moisture as q rheumatic
can. Nasal catarrh, which is so prevalent
in San francisco, has two causes-irrta-
ton by the dust particles inhaled and
moisture which causes the mucous mem
brane to swell like sponge. In fact, COM
paratively few people here have normal
mucous membranes. Not only would
purifying the air have an immense bene-
fetal effect in these and other ways, but
electrifying the air in the manner you
suggest would destroy germs of many
diseases.
How wild is a dream that some day in
the twentieth century there will be an air
departmental the City Government, which
will become responsible for so much of the
health, life and comfort of a great city full
of people and for SO much of the delightful
passing OF the days that bless San Fran
cisco above most other cities of the earth,
but vet little less than others that nestle
under projecting hills and see the fog
banks melt into nothingness before reach
ing them?
Why, yes; and an air inspector too who
will go about taking samples from the top
of THE CALL building and from the streets,
the hills and the bay, and finding the per-
centage of sooty carbon and so on and
searching samples for little disease germs,
TO see if the air department is giving the
people the air they are taxed for.
Mr.. Meade does not, OF course, project
his fancy into the future in any such ways
He IS man of science, who is careful of
his ground and who sticks to exaetitude of
statement while eagerly but slowly push
ing what little way he can into the limit
less scientific unknown. However, he be-
ieves the thing described possible, and if
any millionaire would kindly give him a
few hundred thousand for the purpose he
would take great Delight in finding out
Just what could be done in the way of
iai T1it in LOT, ~ DIV
according to the ideas of man.
at is undoubtedly within the power of
man to control meteorological conditions
SAID the.young meteorologist. That fog
out there can be dissipated, if given money
and time for successful experiment 1t is
simply now a scientific possibility and is
interesting as such. 1t can be done now
as with plaything, and il may some day
be done actually.
Fog, smoke and haze can be dissipatad
and a dusty air clarified by electrical dis
charges, as has been shown by the expert
ments OF Lodse, Clark, Bidwell, Van Helm
hoist and others. Thunder-storms clear
the air, ana that is natures way, on large
SCALE of doing what man can yet do on
only very small scale. 1t is simply a
question OF generating and properly hand
ling sufficient electricity to do the work.
The ordinary current must be transformed
into a high potential and then made to
II have cleared perfectly glass jar full
OF smoke with one discharge. The ex-
PLANTATION is this: The electrified particles
coalesce, forming larger and heavier parti-
Giles, which fall to the bottom, and other
particles are driven with great force in all
directions to the sides of the jar. They
are even driven into the glass.
"Tne same operation resulted when DIR.
Oliver Lodge, professor of physics in Uni
versity College, Liverpool, cleared smoky
cellar with two or three discharges. l have
no doubt that smoke consumers might be
constructed on that principle, and it may
be done.
eff there were electric storms here as in
the East the fogs would often be seen to be
dissipated by them. Now fogs depend for
their nature largely on the particles of
solid matter, even of salt from the ocean,
floating in the air. The moisture collects
around these particles. A half dozen good
lightning flashes would dissipate any Jog.
But as | say the thing is merely an inter-
estlng scientific possibility, and | would
venture no prediction as to what will or
will not be done practically in the future in
the way of dissipating fogs and cleansing
the air"
Mr.. McAide is not making or expecting
to make any experiments in this line but
he calmly believes in the interesting pos
sibility, and for the present it is aban-
doned to the fancies of those who may
like to imagine the future.
San Francisco will probably want and
get clean sewers, better and cheaper water,
cleaner streets, and a few other things
OF present day practiGability before it
tries to clean and wiring out it's
air; but the day may come when
logs and sooty air laden with i'm
purltles and disease germs will be thought
as worthy OF guarding against as bad
water, tainted meat and adulterated milk.
and who knows but that people may some
day be willing to be taxed for clean air to
breathe?
FOR BETTER DRIVEWAYs.