The Washington times., 1901-11-10
THE FoGs OF LONDON.
Their Cause and Possible Remedies
for the EVIL.

Their Cause and Possible Remedies
for the EVIL.
1t will be good news to the millions o.
London. whose awful patience" anC
resignation have extorted the admiration
of philosophers. that something is at las
to bee done to seriously grapple with th'
farfamed London fog. We may expec
to hear that the London county council is
as usual. interfering with matters beyond
its powers and control, and 2 may also
be told that it is little short of bias
phemous to try to rid ourselves of what
is direct visitation from Providence for
our sins, although we In our blindness dc
not see it. These gloomy vaticinations
notwithstanding. the county council win
earn the heartfelt gratitude of the COM
munity If it will rid us of this intolerable
nuisance-the London fog.
| Consider for a monment the tremendous
pecuniary loss imposed on the population
OF London by a seven days fog. There is
the dislocation of traffic and commerce.
Each day the gas and electric lighting
bill amounts to over e10,0o0 for the light
ing or our streets, Offices and houses
There is an immediate increase OF Illness
and death. with the consequent doctors
ana undertakers' expenses. There is the
damage to buildings. decorations. house
furnishings. and fittings. the injury to
Vehcumr traffic and horsefesh. The
ieaNes ana blossoms of our plants fall off
some that do not fall off are crimpled
others are black. Added to these MAJ, ba
The personal inconvenience and annov-
ahce caused to the man in the street. the
spoiled clothes. loss of time and temnar
uhpunctuality. and so forth. all of which
may be reekoned in terms of money.
feople ask why 1t is that London. alone
among the cities of the world. is singled
out Tor this unholy visitatian-the pea-
soup fog. The causes are many. Let a
beam of sunlight, or shaft of light from
an oxyhydrogen or electric lantern pene-
trate through a small hole into a dark
room. Immediately there is seen float
ing in the silver streak cloud of parti-
cles, large and small. gyrating in all d.
rections, carried by chance currents Of
| light air In one cubic inch of the Lon
don atmosphere there are. roughly sneak
ing, 100000 of these particles. while at
Lucerne (where the experiment of test
ing for particles has also been tried).
there were but 31.000. These particles are
the great fog producers. The air of Lon
don is loaded with them, and the supply
is constant and never-ceasing Ordinary
earth dust, SCOT dust, bits of hair, skin
iron, coal, pavement, worn by million
feet, all the minute wear and tear result
ing from the endless activity of London's
millions, rise into the air to descend
again in retribution upon us in the shape
of an eye-watering, nese-irritating fog.
The particles of dust, become ''spatch-
cooked between particles of water va
por. which by themselves, and without
the involuntary aid of the dust particles.
could not form the visible or cloudy va
por We know to our cost as fog. Added
to the more common varieties of dust is,
of course, the enormous quantities of
SCOT given of from the innumerabfe
chimneys Of London, both Industrial and
domestic. Father Thames too, cannot
be acquitted from a share in the blame
His tidal waters, whatever other ameni-
ties they lack. are appreciably warmer in
the night air. particularly in the early
winter, than the air lying over his banks.
Condensation is the result, and the for
nation of a beautiful and picturesque
mist which, however grateful to poets
and others of that ilk. is, when in combi-
nation with the sooty and other particles
aforementioned, a terror to evil-dcers
and weil-doeTs alike
If the evils wrought by these ever-re-
curing fOgs were more widely known the
nuisance would not have been tolerated
for so long without some effort being
made at ameliorgtion. Everybody knows
the value of light as a germicide. How
then must the microbes fatten and thrive
during a Ions continued fog? The air dur
ing a fog IS surfeited with pollution. We
breathe particles Of carbon and the fumes
of sulphur, with the utmost equanimity,
tempered in some melancholy instances
by the presence of still worse intliction-
the reSpirator. Weak-cheSted people I'm
derstand to the full the trying character
of "a fog. Carbonic acid gas. which in our
school days we cOndescendIngly described
as COZ. is present in greatly increased
proportions, doing its devilish work. The
drowsiness headache, and oppression we
feel during a fog are symptoms of partial
asphyxiation by this deleteriOus COM
pound. The death-rate Increases. The
old and infirm fall like ripe wheat before
the scythe. The best and nnest effects
Of our architecture are rrstrieVdbIy lost
What can be done to drive out the fog.
or at least to mitigate its evils? The use
of smolSelCss coal and proper CRATES
would have a tremendous effect in reduc
ing the quantity of SCOT. Such law, al
though imperfectly administered, already
applies to factories but Il egislation would
also De required for the private dwelling
house 1t is here the problem assumes its
magnitude. The crates at present in use
are most primitive and unscientiiic in
construction. All they do is to hold fire
regardless Of economy of fuel. heating "a
pacity and reduction of smoke and scot
Crates should be made, as far as possible,
of firebrick which retains, stores. and ac-
cumulates heat. 1t radiates the heat
hack into the room and keeps the fuel
hot. Discharges of high-pressure cleo
tricity in the air from balloons and the
construction of long. wide thoroushfares
to give room for the movement of the air
are more or less practicable schemes
which have won the favor of scientists.
Much will undoubtedly be done by means
of electricity. Through II we shall have
heat without combustion. and a clear
healthy atmosphere. For the present the
averaes Londoner will have to wipe his
eyes and blow his nose in patience, or say
with his self complacent" shrug, What
was good enough for my ancestors is
good enough for me. london Globe.
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