Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-24
TWO SMOKE CEN[ERS
Walls of Union Station Now Dis
C0lOred.
RESULTS OF SMOKE BLIGHT
Effect of Railroad Locomotives Enter
ing the District.
ALSO ON OTHER BUILDINGS
Senate and House Offices Will Get the
Same Dinginess il Soft
Coal is Used
ALSO ON OTHER BUILDINGS

IAN Illustration OF the potency OF the
argument against the smoke nuisance in =
this city may be found the very walls
of the union station itself" said local
sanitary engineer to a Star reporter.
The exterior walls of this fine struc-
ture are now In place. The west side of
the main portion which fronts the plaza
presents a broad white surface to view,
close to the base of which run the tracks
of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad lead
ing into the station at New Jersey avenue
and c street. All through the day and
night there is practically a continuous pro-
cesson of locomotives passing within a
few yards of this west frontage
These locomotives burn, of course, soft
coal. and the thick volume of heavy
black smoke ascending from their fun
neIs is blown over against the white west
surface of the station. The result is that
although the walls have been up only a
Few weeks the entire west surface of the
union station is blackened by the cling
ing smoke particles and SCOT atoms so
much so that, the west front already
stands out in sharp contrast with the as
yet UNAFFECTED south and east fronts
II such a conspicuous and visible dis
celebration of this west surface now ex-
posed results from but few weeks of
smoke contact 1T requires no expert tl
compute the time when the entire struc-
ture will be discolored and blackened
once the station is fully utilized to its
full locomotive capacity as will be the
case when 1t becomes the center of all
the roads coming into the capital
Results of the Smoke Blight.
1.-The contention of The Star that the rail-
road locomotives entering the District and
in use therein as switch engines should
come under the provisions of the smoke
law, since 1t appears that inter-city electri-
tication is not a matter of immediate ac-
complishment, is the fairest solution to the
question which has as yet been presented.
The arguments for the accomplishment OF
this much demanded reform have been SO
lucidly and fairly presented that 1t is quite
remarkable that the railroads hold out with
such contumacy against popular sentiment
The discoloration of the union station,
however, is open to the inspection of any
body who may be interested, and the ulti~
mate result is one which does not admit of
argument, for the results are certain and
beyond gainsaying; in time, and In very
short time, the entire structure will be of a
dark, dingy hue unless coke or hard coal be
burned in the locomotives entering therein.
Indeed, there Is more or less smoke vapor
arising from either of these two combusti
bles at all times, though the quantity is SO
appreciably less than that derived from soft
coal as to cause the casual observer to sup
pose that they are practically smokeless.
AS cOmbustibles for the purpose intended,
however, they are the best obtanable. and.
when once in general use. the atmosphere
in the sections of the city in which the rail-
road tracks and yards are situated will be
vastly different from what ii is at present.
The Effect Upon Other Buildings.
During the spring and the summer
months the prevailing direction of the wind
in this city is from the south and the
southwest. The new marble Office building
of the House of Representatives, when
completed, will extend to street south
rI,n Of . Ca,,i-
tol Hill, the new vaduct and the freight
and switch yards of the Pennsylvania rail-
road are but few hundred yards south
west of This particular square. There are
scores of sidetracks in the yard i'm ques-
ton, upon which switch engines all
day and night operated, while freight and
passenger trains are passing on the main
tracks every few minutes. Over this sec
ton there hangs at all times a vapor OF
smoke of greater or lesser density, which,
during the seasons named. is bound to be
blown by the wind directly upon the walls
of the House of Representatives building
and into the windows thereof.
There is no escape from this conclu-
sion, and unless the members of the
House desire their office structure discol-
ored and blackened, as the west walls of
the union station are now becoming, it
will be up to them to put n stop to the
railroad smoke nuisance While it is true
that the short session of Congress ends
on the 4th of March, it is also true that
the long session has been known to con-
tinue until August, and, in the event Of
the continuance of the smoke blight III
the District, it is inevitable that the leg
islative occupants of this building will be
subjected to the full force of the south
ern and southwest winds. laden with
smoke particles, which will deposit them
selves in the rooms, on the desks and
among the papers and documents of the
members of the House using the rooms
the south and west sides of the
structure, though the entire building will
come in for its equitable share of smoke
dscoloration.
Between the Two Smoke Centers.
Indeed, IL any of the representatives,
have any doubt upon the proximity of the
tracks in question, some of the more ath-
letic and strong armed may make trip to
the tracks in question, and it will be found,
if they can throw a stone with the same
precision as in their younger days, that
they can stand on the tracks and shy a
stone close up to the walls OF the building
which is their pride, so close is this smoke
center situated to their Office quarters II
will be found to be a silent but convincing
argument in favor of the proposed smoke
legislation.
ION the other hand, the prevailing direc-
ton of the wind in this city during the
colder months is from the northwest. While
the new Senate Office building is farther in
point of actual distance from the smoke
center OF the northeast section than the
House of Representatives building is from
that in the southeast section, II Is never
theless sufficiently near to be in the imme-
date and direct smoke-contact line from
this section.
Both the Senate and the House office
therefore not only In the
immediate radius of the southeast and the
northeast smoke centers, but one or the
other is IN the direct line of the prevailing
wind directions during the entire twelve
months of the year. While the Congress
sional Library and the Capitol are farther
froom direct contamination from
the smoke blight, they are now. neverthe-
less, with the recent and contemplated
change of tracks, sufficiently to re-
ceive deposits of smoke particles and SCOT
atoms. 1t is consequently an accurate state
ment to make that the four largest and
finest buildings in the city stu
ated directly between and in the radius
Of the two principal smoke centers of the
capital, and that all of these fine structures
are destined to become more or less dis
colored by smoke unless remedial legisla-
ton is had without unnecessary delay"
Estates Are Fictitious
The consul general at Hamburg. Ger
H. IL.