The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-12-04
COMPLAIN OF The
SMOKE AND SCOT
Salt LakerS Grow Tired OF
BelChing Chimneys.
APPEAL TO HEALTH BOARD
EXPERT SUGGESTS THREE REM
EDIEs FOR NUISANCE.


.himneys in the business session of
salt Lake which daily belch out SCOT
md smoke in great volumes. Persons
awe complained that il is impossible,
low that the season of winter heating
las come, TO walk on Main street with
nut having their faces and clothes
blackened by specks of SCOT which ed
" their way down from above and,
( they are not stopped by landing IN
he Countenance of some pedestrian,
Ian 10 the sidewalk 10 be picked up
ana carried about By every passing
breeze.
An investigation into the causes of
his nuisance discloSes the fact that
here are scarcely a dozen buildings IN
he city equipped with efficient smoke
consumers or preventers, namely, the
2. G.. NJ. l., Walker Bros dry goods
store the Auerbach building, the
Progress building, the Atlas block, the
Kest side station of the Utah Light
E Railway company, the J.. DIS col
eye. the City and County building, the
Emery Holmes apartment houses anu
he Troy laundry. With the compile
lion Of the Dooly Annex and the y.
n. c. A. building the number of prop
4rly equipped buildings VIII be in
creased by two, making an even doz-
IN.
AdHSt VI sSOOb ft4AN A7aAAN@~N-
The cause of escaping SCOT and
moke according to am expert must
De looked TO either in lack of an au-
iomatic stoker or of smoke .consum-
Ar or lack of ability in the fireman
According TO him, an expert or expert
enced man can. with an efficient Stoh-
IT. absolutely eliminate SCOT, and prac-
lcally do away with smoke.
Again a good fireman may WITH
neither of these modern devices, do
much 10 remedy the smoke evil by
exercising care in firing up. ON the
man behind the shovel, as it were,
depends much. 1t is a well known fact
hat an experienced fireman can eyap-
Drate nearly twice as much water TO
the pound of coal as an inexperienced
Dr. careless one.
BY using automatic stokers of the
pattern employed by several of the
larger buildings first mentioned, per
lect combustion. -sO-called, IS obtained
There is no SCOT or unburned carbon
left TO escape up the chimney. There
IS practically no smoke because the
gases have been thoroughly consumed
by means of the underfeed method.
How Consumers Operate.
This burning of gases is effected par
tally by allowing steam TO be sprayed
air from the ashpit to pass up over
the top Of the fire. IN the first smoke
consumers produced the difficulty en-
,ountered was TO overcome the ten
iency of the steam and air to cool
The fire after the first rush of gases
from the fresh coal had been con-
sumed This has been overcome IN
later devices. The H. g NJ. l., nav
ing four eighty-horsepOwer steam en-
zines. uses an automatic stOker much
I'M vogue in the east. These perform
an immense ammOunt of work, fur
aishing lighting and shop power for the
establishment. and heating the entire
store. Notwithstanding this, there
fingers but the faintest suggestion of
smoke above the chimneys.
Yet. with in many cases but one
fourth the horsepower, every improp-
erly equipped building in the city has
thimueys giving out more SCOT in ten
minutes than a ''stOkered' plant could
In a year.
Objects to Contract System.
In. speaking Of meficiency of fire.
men as one of the conducting causes of
the smoke nuisance, the expert engt-
aeer before quoted said:
1T is a fact that here in Salt Lake
there are men who if judged by their
works are incapable, going about each
day from building to building, tend
ing in the course of a few hours three
or four engines. This is what is known
as the farming out system, the pTac-
tice of letting theecontTact for running
he heat furnishing plant TO the cheap
est bidder. Often. in this way. one
man gets a string of boilers TO attend
to none OF which are given proper at
tentiou. There is not only temporary
Inconvenience in the way Of smoke anc
SCOT resulting from this, but there Is
an ever-present danger that something
may so wrong at building No. 1 while
the fireman is at building No. f. Their
there would be ont one thing to do
provefan aIibi at the corOner's jury"
As presented by this fireman, the
problem of preventing smoke and SCOT
or at least preventing them to such 9
degree that they are 10 longer nui-
a3nceS. seems easy Of solution. Either
g modern automatic smoke stOker must
be installed. or the plant equipped with
an efficient smoke consumer, or a com
potent fireman obtained.
Law on the Subject.
The complaints received 1T the boarl
Of health and at fire and police head
quarters would Indicate that neither o.
these three things are being done b!
the principal offenders. While the or
dinauces of Salt Lake City are not a.
specific in regard to the abatement o
smoke as might be desired, still Their
is enough in section 465 to warrant
demand that the nuisance be remedies
either partially or wholly. This sectiol
relates 10 smoke omitted from chin
neys," and reads as follows:
1t shall be unlawful Tor the proprie
tor agent, lessee, occupant, enginee
or fireman Of any building i'm which
boiler is or may be used for generating
steam or electricity, or for any othe
purpose, 70 permit or allow smoke L
issue from or be emitted from IN
chimney or chimneys Of such buildins
used IN connection with such boiler
within tho corporate limits OF salt LAX
City. Any proprietor, lessee, occupant
engineer or fireman who shall viOlat
any of the provisions Of this sectiO
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemean
or. and. upon conviction thereof, sha
be punished BY fine of not less tina
50 nor more than $50; provided, how
ever that the penalty shall not appl
in any case where the fireman, engi
ncer. owner, lessee or occupant has sup
piled such building with and shall hav
ia use a sufficient device for the pre-
vention Of smoke; and, provided fur
Their, that this section shall be held [
apply TO such buildings in which ma
be used or operated a boiler or boiler
which either singly or in batteries ar
of the capacity of ten horsepower o
over. and provided further, that il sha
not be held 10 apply 10 ten horse-powe
boilers used only Tor heating pun
poses"
How East Enforces Law.
Any one using Main. First. Secon
or Third South streets in the mornin
or afternoon when the firemen ar
'shoveling 'cr in" knows about ho-
well salt Lake enforces her smoke Law
In st. Louis and Cleveland a conviC
&C., 100 a.. oH+ofs,aI f,rTa,s Tho e-,,,ls