The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-12-11
CHICAGO ABATING
SMOKE NUISANCE.
city's Long Campaign Is Bearing
Fruit eatures Of the
Work. Sd
BY Martha Anderson Wyman.

Commercial club, brought out such
thoroly well authenticated claims for
good results that the occasion was one
Of iubilation for the, men who have
worked for years to down the pail OF
dense smoke for which the city was
its breezes. Franklin MacVeagh, speak
ing from the standpoint of the private
citizen, said: - The movement against
smoke in this city is no longer on trial.
1t is not now in the sunder-dog stage
Of q few years ago. It is on its feet
Mr.. Macveagh lauded the smoke or
distance as one of the most ln 4 |
gent and most advanced pieces of our
City legislation,,' but added that there
are a few deficiencies which promise
to be remedied by action of the coun-
Gil. He Landed the members of the bu-
reau as men who 3"believe in their
work, and he said the continued in
crease of efficiency in the department
is but an intimation of what may be
expected Of all departments when they
While Mr.. MacVeagh admitted that
it will be some time yet before dense
smoke will be wholly a thing Of the
past, he expected to see the improve
demonstrated that bituminous coal can
be burned economically without the
former cloud of black smoke. Property
owners are learning that it does not
cost money to prevent smoke, altho.
initia! outlay to rectify mistakes made
in building, when Ignorance of the cor.
rect principles Of heating led to the
providing of plants which are made
quate and cannot be made to furnish
the amount of heat or power required
without being run beyond their nor
NAL capacity. In this forced firing
dense smoke results from imperfect
combustion. Mr.. acVeaagh pointed
in power from these reconstructed
plants will pay tthe cost of the changes
| in a reasonably short time
| Compulsory Education.
? John c. Schubert, chief smoke I'M
spctor, also spoke, giving special at
| tentlon to the changes of the past few
years, brought about by educating the
commercial public in the economics of
heating. Much Of this education has
been forced upon business men by
prosecutions for violating the smoke or
dlnance, but many Of the strongest ad-
vocates OF smoke abatement now are
the very men who fought it in the first
place and only adopted improved meth
| ods and equipment when compelled to
by the persistency Of the smoke depart
| ment. ;. 80 4, ~
AS. Minneapolis has not arrived at
! the stage. where any considerable pro-
| portion of the property owners have a
working faith in the efficacy of smoke
! abatement, the means by which Chicago
has brought about this changed condi7
tion and sentiment may be Of interest.
r. talked with Mr.. Schubert on the
methods Of enforcing the ordinance and
| on the provisions Of the ordinance and
with Mrs. Condo Ham1in, director Of the
| Municipal Museum, and Secretary Rout-
zahn, of the museum, on the general
I sentiment of the citizens.
l Nine Years. Effort.
| Mr.. Schubert has been working
against smoke in Chicago for nine years
Eand the work was undertaken by the
| city authorities even before his time,
/ sudden. The ordinance under which
! the inspectors worked for years was
rather slow in it's method Of dealing
/ out punishment, but as the policy has
! been a conservative one this was not
q serious handicap. However, a change
t in the ordinance nearly three years ago
1 set in motion a scheme for prevention
i
4 valuable feature Of the work Of the
/! smoke department.. BY this change the
inspection was removed from the health
i department and united with the de-
i partmeht for the inspection of steam
boilers and plants. At the same time
! It was provided that no new heating or
power plant could be installed and no
old one could be reconstructed without
/ a permit from the department and this
] was issued on the advice of competent
]! mechanical engineer.
/ The result of this plan is that only
1 one plant of the j, 400 installed under
/ smoke department trouble. The plants
must either be such as viii burn soft
local without dense smoke or else the
property owner must agree to burn
1 smokeless coal. This gives the depart
ment additional control over the situa-
| ton, for, if there is trouble from smoke,
j owners can be compelled to make
changes. whereas the owners of old
plants can simply be prosecuted for
4 their failure to comply with the re-
strlct1on on smoke.
4 In the compiling Of the municipal
code last spring some alterations were
! made with view to making prosecu-
lions easier and some of the changes
& made were inadvertent and not in the
s. best interests of the work The ordi-
nance is now in process Of amendment
and it is expected that all Of the best
features of the old measure will be re-
tanned with changes suggested by ex.
s perience. ID 81
d Special Glass Demonstrations.
!. An important phase of the work is
IL the way in which IT, cnnUincas tho viz.