The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-06-08
Smoke Not Progress

From Chicago Record-IIerald.
 Ir their campaign for the elimination of smoke and soot from the atmosphere of Chicago Franklin McVeagh and other officers of the Municipal Art League as well as all the other men who have given their active aid to the work, have uni- versallv met with one obstacle. This has been the persist tent idea, beaten into the minds of manufacturers for many years, that in some mysterious manner sn. ol1e Is an evidence of prosperity and the more dense and filthy the smoke the mere prosperous the man whose opera tons caused it.
 Tine notion las been strengthened Tn many VIEWS. Political managers seeking for posters in national campaigns that would express all they meant to convey 10 voters in the simplest possible manner have regularly displayed on dead walls anG billboards prosperity and adversity piotures, the one represented by facto- ries covered by a cloud of black smoke, the other by the same places giving out no sign of steam or any other activity
 With the rapidly cleaning up of many of the biggest establishments In Chicago however, 1t is becoming apparent that the issuance of smoke from the ch1mneys is no longer either an evidence or pros- neritv or even of activity. The two plants in this city with the greatest pro duction of power every day In the year. the power house of the Metropolitan El-
 IJOr rteDt1 efr tion of the Chicago Edison Company, thai nro6uce respectively 30000 and 2S,- GOO horse power, never make dense smoke and this notwit hstanding the fact that they are operated with tho cheapest grades of smoky Illinois coals
 Tine plf mt of the elevated road con sumes 150 tons of this product every tWenty-four hours, and the electric light company burns 100 tons in the same time.
 Tn yesterdays Record-Herald were pub lished the names of many plants that are continuous and filthy smoke makers, but none of them in the amount of horse power generated, approach anywhere nesr the record of the two establish roents mentioned, which are never gull ty of smoke violations. So much for the popular notion that smoke is an evil dence of business activity, end for that other claim that the fight against smoke will work injury to the soft coal inter- ests of this state.
 Among the places to which special att tention was called by the Record-1erald yesterday as being in the list or the worst smokers on the West Side were the two plants operated by the West Chicago Street Railway Company. one the electric power plant at Western av- enue and Washington boulevard ard the other the cable power house at Rock well sad Madison streets4 Both or these r'/~ee arc in excellent condition for per feet smoke combustion, having ample boiler capacity. and satisfactory appli- ances and everything necessary Tor the oleanest possible work. Nothing but the most dense ignorance or careiessness can be responsible for the present con ditions, and President Roach of the com Iany can remedy matters In an hour without the expenditure of a dollar. The filth from these places tspreads itself over fine residence neighborhods and is particularly offensive along Washington boulevard.
 The Western Electric Company's plant is another that is in excellent shape for the burning of coal witnou; smoke, and here too, only care and intelligence are needed to relieve thousands Of people from the filth that pours out of it's stack all the time.
 he following is tho completed text of the new smoke law that will be ratified at a spcial meeting of the judiciary com mittee of the city council tomorrow af- ternosn and made a special order of business for the meeting of the council on the following Monday night:
 The emission of dense smoke from the smokestack of any boat or locomotive, or from any chimney any where in the city shall be deemed and IS hereby de- clared a public nuisance.
 The owner or owners, lessee, agent or manager of any boat or locomotive, and the proprietor lessee, or agent of any building, who shall permit pr allow derse smoke to issue or to be emitted frcm the sniokestack of any such boat or locomotive, or the chimney of any huilding within the corporate limits, shall be deemed and held guilty of creating a nuisance, and shall for every such of-