The Washington herald., 1907-12-23


hibiting every chimney from smoking.
then a law requiring that every stoker
be given scientific training IN order that
the law could be effective, and law re-
quiring that schools for scientific stOking
be established, and a law making educa-
ton compulsory. 1t all sounds ike the
House that Jack Built" and the realiza-
ton Of such a plan seems about as myth
ical as Jack and his house. With soft
coal so abundant and financial returns
still paramount 20 civic beauty in the
minds of the many. lawmakers viii have
come and gone and their children VIII
have succeeded them before smoke fight
ing becomes a vital issue with more than
a few.
Time and again inventors have come
forward with mechanical devices for abat-
ing the smoke nuisance. and time and
again these devices have been discarded
as impracticable for some reason or
other. An Italian inventor. however. ex-
poets to bring 10 Chicago shortly his de
vice for driving away the smoke and fog
from the city. a device that II il should
succeed win allow Chicago TO use as
much smoking coal as it wishes. The
success there viii determine It's use on
this side Of the water. Il IS not beautiful
TO look upon. and makers Of the city
beautiful Of the future would deliberate
a long while before permanently adopting
il. The inventor is Demetrio Maggiora.
whose giant cannons OF this same pat
tern have rid Italy Of hailstorms. The
cannon is set upright with It's great
mouth, many times the circumference Of
the breech. pointing skyward A suffi-
cient number Of these placed In any one
city loaded with acetylene gas, and fired
simultaneously, VIII drive. so the in
ventOr claims, all SCOT, smoke, and fog
from the air. and leave il clear, pure, and
sweet. Each cannon would cost $. 5.0oe.
each discharge Is cents. Chicago waits
10 hear the result OF Maggiora's work IN
London.
The ideal city Of to-day must be noise
less-and naturally there is yet no noise
less city. BY nOiseless is meant the ab-
sence Of useless disturbances. and IN
necessary tumult. One woman, Mrs
Isaac L. Rice, Of New York has given
much time and great effort to the found
ing Of societies for the suppression Of
useless noise. and more time in investi-
eating the reasons for these noises. Many
nights Mrs. Rice spent in counting the
distinctive noises in New York At least
two nights in her count showed that the
number OF blasts from steam whistles
exceeded 200. The tugs and other craft
in the harbor created the most noise.
Mrs. Rice looked into the matter AMI
found that while the United States gov
| ernmeut has control over the navigaDle
waters OF the country. Il has not col
troll over the whistles on the vessels that
navigate these wate-s. She referred her
| New York cases 10 the police department,
who said II was a matter for the boar
Of health, and the board OF health ex-
planned that il had other uses Tor ITS
money than in making steam whistles
! keep still
The tugboat, tiny though It be. usually
| has a steam whistle 0f two huadrei
pounds precSure and uses this whistle not
only 10 call its crew IN the dead hours Of
| the night, or 10 give the prescribed : -sua s
on the wa-s-. hut being 4 sOciable III .
fellow II viii whistle I'll mancor OF
F., friendly greetings and daring persifase
( az SIS neighbors as It bustles about the
I harbors
/ City living is conducive 10 the develop
ment Of nerves anyway. and the lively
\ lilt OF the garbage mans horn. the shriH
whistle or the postman in small cities.
the ringing Of the bells on the scissors
! grinders or old-clothes mans wagons. 10
\ say nothing Of the incessant clang Of troll
/ icy bells and blare Of whistles helps 10
rapidly undermine even the strongest
! nervous system
/ The physicians OF Bellevue Hospital
/ have more than once borne testimony
10 the fact that the city's useless noises
have retarded the recovery Of a patient.
1 Too often the disturbing noise has pene-
/ trated the loom where a patient lay only
70 rob him Of the hours sleep SO vitally
necessary. The societies for the suppress
sion OF useless noises, recently formed
look TO securing legislation that viii
| specify the exact amount Of noise that
any Locomotive. boat. factory, vendor. OF
p..bHc disturber may make. When this
/ has bet n accomplished, and when smoke
has beer eliminated from the atmosphere
the modern city VIII have achieved labOrs
as great Us any two Of those of Hercules
bU1 the reward viii be greater and more
lasting
TO-mOrrow-An Invasion OF South
| America.