The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1907-08-17
sMoKELEss CITIES OF TODAY.


American cities of the first class
have been engaged in campaign
against the smoke nuisance for the
past five years, with a result that is
little short of marvellous. They have
achieved their point to degree that
makes the snlokeless city Of the near
future an assured fact Smoke is an
unnecessary curse of national prosperi-
ty Formerly it was considered badge
of great prosperity to have forests of
tall chimneys belching forth clouds of
sulphurous smoke, The factory which
did not thus proclaim its activity was
looked upon as losing investment.
Orders were slack and business tagging.
A strange revolution has been silently
worked through the activity Of those
engaged in suppressing the smoke NUS
ance. They have demonstrated their
earnestness in pushing the campaign,
and science has come to their aid.
The steam engineer has recognized the
hopelessness Of his case and has pro-
ceeded to devise methods to suppress
the smoke without limiting the capaci-
ty of the plants. The result is that
smoke is now considered poor economy.
II indicates imperfect combustion and
a waste of fuel which shouldSbe avoid
ed The snokeless factory town is the
most prosperous community
For decades our factories and manu-
featuring plants have been pouring up
their chimneys in the form of smoke
and unburnt coal dust about S. per
cent. of their fuel. This extravaganza
consumption Of coal told heavily on
the cost of manufacturing The soft
bituminous Goals filled the air with
clouds Of sulphurous smoke which ruin
ed clothes, furniture and valuable
stock, and clogged the delicate lungs
and nasal and throat passages Of all
who breathed it. Physicians in recent
years are agreed that the weakening
effect Of breathing an excess of SCOT
has been very great in the past, and
that the spread of pneumonia and
tuberculosis has been partly due to this
nuisance. In some cities the smoke fog
has been so dense that the average
health has been affected through the
clouding Of the heavens and the con-
sequent shutting out Of the bright sun
shine. Many factories engaged in MAX
ing delicate laces, curtains, linens, silks
II fnb
forced to find isolated locations away
from smoke-producin plants. The dis
agreeableness of having smoke and SCOT
distributed in the living-rooms of the
home Is so great that in many cities
windows had to be tightly closed dur
ing the greater part of the day, Alto
gether the smoke nuisance has cost
millions Of dollars and produced much
Iill-health and irritable nerves.
But great as this indirect loss to
property is, the direct loss through the
waste Of fuel heat carried up the
chimney with the belching smoke Is
even greater. Engineering economics
to-day declare that the loss is useless.
1t is simply a problem of burning
| smoke properly. The efficiency Of steam
plants has been increased from 10 to
20 per cent. through the proper burn
ing of coal. The number Of devices in
vented for preventing smoke loss Is so
great to-day that 1t is more problem
with manufacturers to make choice
out of many than to find any at all,
These devices are chiefly found in i'm
proved mechanical stokers, which give
automatic and uniform action, so that
sudden changes in the draft cannot
send up great clouds of smoke; in i'm
! proved furnaces with down drafts of
air which carry the distilled gases OF
the fuel down through the coal when
in an incandescent condition and not
up through the chimney in improved
air fiues, bridge walls, and grate-bars
new kinds Of corklng- arches, and dead
plates where the coal is warmed and
rarity cooked before being spread over
| the crate surface.
| Srnoke-preventing devices are being
used by the large plants voluntarily
The campaign against the smoke nui-
sance does not affect them. From an
economical point of view they are do.
Ing away with belching chimneys. They
know too we'll that great clouds OF
drifting smoke indicate poor economy
Of peratin thrugh imperfect combus.
ton. The smokeless stack is an indica.
ton of careful firing and perfect com.
bination.