The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1904-10-13
THE SMOKE NUISANCE.
Scientists Are Puzzled With This Greas
Modern Problem.

Modern Problem.
Since the coal strike in the anthra.
cite regions began and developed into
the proportions it eventually assumed;
jewellers i'll American cities, and espe-
cially in New York, have had a fore
taste Of what would happen it they
were dependent upon bituminous coal
for heating and lighting purposes. Not
only this, but the population OF large
towns in this country have recognized
that they must seriously consider such
an eyentuality and be prepared with
measures which will obyiate the dan.
ger to health and the Inconvenience
| that must assuredly follow the con.
| sumption Of soft coal on large scale.
In Great Britain the smoke nuisance
| has long been one Of the most promin.
ent questions confronting inhabitants
of cities, and the difficulties IN the way
of abolishing, or even Of iessening the
volumes of smoke which hang like a
| pail over London and Manchester and
other large centres of population may
be accurately gagged when the. fact is
| taken into account that little or moth.
! ing has yet been done to remedy the
evil.
| At the meeting Of the British SAM.
| tary Congress at Manchester. held Sep
TENDER last w. n. Shaw, SGD, FIR.
S., read paper on the treatment OF
smoke which was published in The
Journal of the Sanitary Institute. Mr..
10 ~
might be we'll not to attempt to pre-
vent smoke by penal legislation. but to
| encourage the interrogation Of smoke
and the removal of the sooty particles
| before the air containing them is a..
| lowed to escape. He does not put for.
ward this plan as the best mode CT
dealing with the question, but merely
wants to consider whether it is, prlnx
| facie. practicable enough to justify liz
Guiding inquiries with regard to it in
| the demands that sanitation may req
Sonably make upon science.
The idea which Mr.. Shaw hiss In
| mind is that proposed by Mr.. Peter
| Spence, Of Manchester, many years
| ago, namely, the erection OF municipal
| chimneys. whereby a single smoke
| stack should be provided for consid.
cradle number of independent fires.
1.-THE existence of this practice" says
| the writer, makes me regard the sep
| arate opening on each chimney Of the
domestic house into free air as rot alb.
solutely required by any physical laws
governing the removal of smoke. Tha
factory builder is not always successfx
in using his chimney for preventing
| smoke, but he is successful in Beading
the foul air Of many fues into one
channel which might afford an oppor-
tunity for depriving the smoke Of is
SCOT"
Moreover arrangements for propel-
ling air mechanically are becoming
every day more extended. Some Of
them, as employed in various systems
of ventilation, are quite as elaborate IS
| any that would be required to deal
with the smoke of an ordinary house.
or block of houses. Laboratories and
| other buildings Of a similar character
are provided with special means. ne
chanical or thermo mechanical, for re-
moving nOXiouS fumes. There Is SO
| sufficient distinction to be draw he.
| tween coal smoke and other forlIs O;
| refuse that foul the air to make It
| necessary to use one system for tine
! former and q different one for the otl.
ers. It thus seems almost certain lhat
| if the domestic architect had suftic lent
encoura cement to make the attempt he
would not find the plan Of dealing with
household smoke by the method Of the
| factory chimney, or by mechanical oro
pulsion beyond the range Of prac.icai
| physics.
| The plan suggested is, in short 20
| concentrate the output Of smoke ss
| much as possible, and then to drive il
away, by means Of electrical fans. 20
certain points for treatment on Il node
| somewhat similar to the treatmenI 81
sewage.
| AS to treatment Mr.. Shaw, after say.
ing that he does Tot suppose it to lie
possible to estab lish few main draira
for smoky air corresponding to TIE
main sewage drains, and to use one az
two cleansing stations for purifying
the air from smoke, goes on to site
his opinion that it might be possiole
to achieve d similar result by a Large
number of systems might be- some OK
them municipal and some private
Electricity, he also thinks, might be
used as means of purifying smol:e,
following the principle that sooty par.
ticies coagulate under mechanical sc.
ti0n, and in line with experiments
made scrle years ago by Sir Oliver
Lodge Oh the deposition OF smoke in
closed chamber by the action OF elee.
tricity.
The paper read by the British sciea.
list refers entirely to conditions III
soIoe Of the large cities of Great Bril-
tain, and would not apply to the smoke
question in any American towns. New.
crthcless, it is instructive in many re-
spects. It shows how difficult it mus:
be to deal successfully with the smoke
nuisance when man Of Mr.. Shawa