The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1913-03-02
Following the Smoke Trails
Weather Bureau Expert Says Smelter Smoke Costs
Salt Lake More Than 100000 Year.
BY j. CECIL ALTER IN MINES AND METHODS FEBRUARY

the other oxygen molecule from the air)
the air containing the water and dust
and smoke particles as distractions will
bo rendered at least two times as
Opaque, making objects visible at only
one-half the distance and obstructlng
one half the former amount Of sunshine,
by the mere manufacture of the sui.
ened to about one sixth its original
length in clear air.
Now We have seen how the moisture
will be a milestone about the neck of
every smoke particle, weigbting them
down into the ground layers of air, and
binding them together in q continuous
but conglomerate mass in our breath.
ing mir. Yet this imprisonment of filth
that would otherwise float away or set
tie in a relatively harmless way, is tho
mere beginning Of the troubles; we not
only have the smoke CRIME waited
against US and against our clothing and
books, but we have it rubbed in, so to
speak, for while loose, free, dry dust is
difficult to confine on any surface, the
moist dirt, OF fog-dust has q peculiar
affinity for material objects and it very
readily attaches its load to every sur
face, and, once attached it riquircs the
services of an expert TO induce it to
loosen its clutches.
why SMOKE RulnS ClOCnes,
The moist, fog filed dirt clings like
paint to everything from our draperles
to our memories. The expert who re-
moves the dirt, removes also portion
of the fabric in the laundry, the moist
dirt is that tenacious; clothing, furnish
ings, tapestries and so forth wear out
much quicker against a washing ma
chine than against our backs and in use,
and they get 1t about four times as
often as they would without the moist
smoke
But the mere moisture alone is not
the greatest problem by any means, for
laundries and Industrious housewives,
with care, can safely chase away great
deal of dirt of even this kind; it is the
depredations of the sulphuric acid that
are irreParable and unpIeventable.. A
little atom of dust gathered little
atom OF water as a cloak, and this mole
cule attracted molecule Of sulphur
dloxlde, and this sulphur trio1ide at"
tracted chemically an additional mole
cule OF oxygen and pure poisonous, pen
etratlng sulphuric acid was formed, and
this sulphuric acid, carried about by
tho original dust carrier, or in many
cases travelling alone (perhaps incognito
to be transformed to sulphuric acid by
moisture from the receiving surface),
ahghts on every surface, seeking whom
and what it may devour.
II. NJ. Wilson, an engineer in the
United States bureau OF mines, writing
recently in the Iron Age Magazine, says
that In addition to the mortality in
creases where the sulphurous content Of
the smoke is great, and in addition TO
the losses from dry goods of all kinds,
library books and office records, from
the mere dirt, "the vast amount of
painting and renovation rendered nee
essaIy by the caustic action Of the
sui phuric acid in the smoke upon all
paint, iron and brass work. is consid-
erable; and Mr.. Wilson was writing
only of cities which have to contend
with the sulphuric acid from the coal
smoke, whereas we, in Salt Lake City.
have from FIVE to twenty times as much
sulphurous matter in our air, as q rule,
to blight and poison and devour.
Ii the air were SO dry that tho smoke
particles IN cooling would not overreach
the dew point, practically mono Of the
disastrous results would occur; yet with
humidities Of about 70 per cent on
winter mornings as a rule. and dew
point temperatures OF from 20 to 25 de.
grees, the moisture units on the cooling
smoke particles are quite sure to occur
to more or less extent, and forthwith,
the heavy charge Of sulphur dioxide
gas, always. in. the air, bel gins the coal.
escing. and the manufacture Of sui
phuric acid, the deadly poison, upon the
dust particles, And as has been previ.
ously pointed out, some physicists have
claimed that the sulphur dioxide viii
combine with the invisible vapor, not
yet condensed, just as our garments will
take up moisture from the invisible va.
por on moist day, thus forming the
sulphuric acid independent of the fog
unit.
sulphuric Acids Insidious Ways.
But omitting this last theory, plaus-
ible as it is. we find the sulphur to be
responsible for very large percentage
greater percentage of the final destruc.
tion Of property.
A great deal more washing Of fabrics
Is needed, as well as more cleansing of
al cleanable articles; and as tho tiny
bite of cotton or wool fiber from the
fabric break off, and the garments. or
bedding, or carpets, or upholstery, or
drapery or tapestries begins to fwear
out we realize that the life Of the ar.
tlele is mysteriously shortened by what
appears to be the laundering or the un.
usually vigorous methods necessary for
cleaning; or by fading OF actual decav
~ s"S 'Si ti's&S iuSI Is ever Dc1Oro
us; the goods is being partially eaten
by the. yer-present sui lphuric acid!
The laundry rubbing, even in the dry
processes on the more precions
garments and fabrics, does produce
much wearing, but it does not wear SOW
eral threads off at the same place 70.
sulting ultimately in a hole; nor does
1T cause a garment or a fabric To nnJI
apart, or go in holes under very SLIGHT
stress, after having been laid away an
parently clean from the clothes line
but in reality splotched with sulphurie
acid deposits. ~
Much evidence has been introduced
In courts and elsewhere SHOWING thar
the galvanized coating Of wire fenc;ng
has not only been corroded and removeS |
by sulphuric acid deposits from the at.
mosphere, but that the wires have been /
SO seriously acid eaten that thew have !
fallen apart. And if these things no |
true, we cannot blame the SALESMAN
shopkeeper, or even tho laundry for ~
short life of a shirtwaist that has has
waved and beckoned from a clothesI;ne !
10 every passing particle of sulnbnric !
acid on a smoky, foggy day; or for the !
snort life OF an expensive window, o,,