Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-02
ONT. OF UNCLE S-ArIS
FURNACES AT THE PITTS
BUR GIL EXPERIMENTAL
STATION. NOTE PROPULSION
OF SCIENTIFIC APPARATUS
IN FRONT Or FIRE bOx

breathe this poisonous stuffJz and. when
he suffers the doctor prescribes what it is
Impossible for him TO get in any large
tOWn-pure air.
y generation ago the tall stack. Vomit-
ing clouds of black smoke. was Il symbol
of prosperity. Today it is a badge of
ignorance. waste and inefficiency. y gen
GRAFTON ago the business man and. in
deed, every inhabitant OF the prosperous
city. took his smoke much as the farmer
takes his lightning accompanying the
shower, welcome to his parched crops-as
a necessary and inevitable evil. True. as
far back as the year 1850 Edward | of
England issued a proclamation against
the citizens burning soft coal under the
noses of parliament, and in 10, James
Watt made some desultory experiments
in so-called oke-consumption." being
doubtless bothered by it himself about
his cOlliery engines.
But it was not until the last generation.
when mills and factories began to bulk
large, that folks began to look at the sub
ject seriously and make any united ef-
fort to shake off this sooty odd Man of
the Sea- that had bestrode the neck Of
every large city i'll the country.
In the early eighties several cities.
urged on by citizens tender-lunged or
cleanly, passed, here and there. anti
smoke ordinances: but they Were for the
most-indeed, for every part-a dead lei
ter. Public sentiment was against irri-
tating the big manufacturer whose CHIN
neys vomited smoke lest growing unduly
peeved. he hetake himself. his smoke
and essentially his several hundred or
several thousand well paid workmen-
elsewhere. Merchants and professional
men said i'll effect: Let well cnouG.
alone. What the doctors of that day
thought about it, it is UNNECESSARY to
record.
1t was not until 1s99 that the vital or
i.anization of a great city. backed by
The sentiment of the community. serious
~ took hold of the smoke problem, and
therby hangs this tale, worthy mo-
ment's aggression:
Chicago had Snatched the great worlds
fair of 1899 from the waiting jaws of
New York city. All recall that exposition
wonderful success. despite the fact
that the worst panic of a generation was
raging. Now Chicago had adopted, as her
emblem, sort of heroic Minerva-shaped
figure. across whose corseleted breast
were blaZoned the words: Il VIII" Chi
cagO mighty proud of her.
AS the summer wore on and millions of
visitors poured into the fair. bringing
cash. the papers of the country began to
tWit New York on tie fact that while
her banks We're paying checks in clearing
house certificates, all Chicago banks paid
even in gold, if asked. Whereupon. New
York city arose in the person of one of
her great CartOOnistS and published a
double-page, colored cartoon in a then
Well known weekly, representing this
Minerva as standing over a very Gehen-
Ma of smoky chimneyS and houses, smut
across her classic nose and heroic brow
"a most Disguised bedraggled-looking
Minerva
That was ALL but ii was enough. The
arrow quivered full in the bull s-eye of
Chicago vanity. 1t was like bucket of
cold water in her face as she sat in
SNUG self-satsfacton. Those visiting
millions had laughed in their sleeves at
Chicago smoke and that selfsame month
the councils of Chicago. as well as the
citiZens-and that last is the important
fact-beSan at once to cast about in Seri-
BUSINESS to check the smoke nuisance.
Since that date she has fought it as no
other city has, and, considering her ire
mendous handicap in being the largest
user of soft coal i'm the world, she has
done nobly and is still fighting.
Following Chicagos lead, other cities
took up the crusade in earnest during
the decade following. notably Cleveland,
proud of her residence streets. Washing
ton city. the pride of the nation, in her
beautiful marble buildings and parks.
shrieked Historically every time a Chin
she is still shrelling if any one dare even
mint smoke.
In all perhaps a score or imore of
cities took up the question seriously, but
as they all We're living under different
conditions of fuel and furnaces and eli
mates there was no organization or CO.
nerenCY in their efforts No sen eral Ie-
Inf 4 -f4g