Daily Kennebec journal., 1914-02-13
SMOKE, CIVILIZATIONS CURSE.
A Demonstration of What Fresh Air
Could Do, But Is Not Permitted to.

! by careleSSneSS, apathy ana SeilSh-
ness. This view, needless to say, is
not shared by the majority of manu-
facturers, especially in Lancashire;
they regard the poisonous smoke of
the towns as the outward and visible
sign of commercial prosperity Dirt
is their darling
They preen themselves on their bus
| mess shrewdness "A penny saved is
penny gained is motto they are
fond of quoting And yet they con-
tinue to waste valuable fuel with sin
ful prodigality, to poison his majestys
humbled Heges, TO murder the trees,
wither the grass, and make holo-
caust of all plant life-the confounded
-er-economists!
AS to their economy, Sir William
Bennett asserts that 100000 tons of
coal, valued nominally at as many
pounds, are wasted in England every
year.
Furthermore, Sir William Bennett
adds This does not represent the
whole cost of the present wasteful
methods it is also represented by dirt
and damage to interior decorations:
the destruction of buildings by action
of fog and sulphur fumes; the loss
from the deterioration OF vegetation
within the smoke area; and the IN
creased cost of medical attendance en-
tailed by illnesses resulting from fog.
"As to the effect upon health and
the extent of the mischief, this can be
imagined when it is remembered that
something like 100000 tons of sulphur
are poured out over London in the
course of a single year.
Is there a remedy? Sir William
Richardson recommends tax on
smoke. In his opinion, if manutac-
turers were taxed a pound day un-
I'll all smoke had disappeared from
their shafts. lin a years time there
would be no smoke from factories in
England" Here is a chance for Lloyd
George to swell his budget receipts.
The more drastic plan (Which l have
myself the honor to advocated of cur
ing the offending manufacturers by
banking them in their own chlmneys
need not be tried until Sir William :,
has been given a thorough test. Let
us be quite reasonable.
In the meantime. the question may
be legitlmately asked: Can the as
phyxiated citizens do anything to
fight the smoke fiend through their
civic representatives?
James Hersfau of Manchester, who
is practical idealist Che was formerly
chief engineer en- the Chanaral rail-
way. Chill and chief craftsman, cana
dian Pacific railway, MontreaD, has
scheme to make the atmosphere or
our cities purer. 1t is simple PLAN
! the" marvel is, our Gradgrinds and
! Bounderbys have never thought IL out
for themselves.
Mr. Horsfau would substitute fresh
air for foul air.
| "Whv not?" he inquired as l sat be-
fore him wondering at the ineptitude
of our commercial jobber-knowls. we
should remember that outside the
cloud of smoke which surrounds US
there is boundless reservoir of pure
/ air under pressure of one ton TO the
square foot. 1t is always ready TO
rush to cur rescue, if only allowed TO
do so. The remedy is: Town ventiia-
| ton.
Meaning"
.rTown Ventilation. Efficient venti-
! lation is principally question OF en-
gineering, and may be divided into
1 tbroo distinct steps. First we may re-
move certain quantity of vitiated
air. Second. we must replace it with
an eoual volume of perfectly pure,
fresh air This second step nature
will take for us if we do but study
| her laws, instead of setting them at
| defiance as we are doing, with such
! disa strous results Hitherto the miss
ing link. and most important one, Is
tho third step. which is to utterly
destroy the Injurious qualities of the
oir removed. In the course of long
and wide experience as an engineer
7 have surveyed mankind from Paris
n porn from Terra del Fuego to Lab
rador. have seen many spieiioiu anu :,
lovely towns. and have often iohgeo
to behold our own city OIL Mahches-
ter arrayed like one of these.
He paused And so did l. LOT the
prospect of making the city OF my
birth fit to live in overwhelmed me oy
reason of its astonishing novelty. NO
bodv in Manchester ever conceived
such revolutionary, nay, mpioas
and sacrilegious, notion before. 10
cleanse HuIme and Ancoats, is 1t not
to Law profane. 'hygienic hands on the
altar of laissez-faire? What Wouio
| the Messrs. Beiial, estate agents. say
And the Borgia Bros?
The smoke-destroyer continued:
.srhe secret of successful town ven
tilation is to create a partiai vacuum
in the drains and subways, anu ara"
the smoke. dust, fumes and micrones
70 several stations outside the city
limits. and there deal with them. In
a word, to convert the entire city into
one gigantic vacuum cleaner. We can
very easily create an invisible, impon-
derable barrier; impelled against TINS
impossible screen, smoke, a hunorea
| times more dense than Manchester
air will vanish entirely"
"And what exactly is this magic
screen?"
II will tell you: Heat!
And then while sat. my wonder grow
ing that one practical idealist could Of
fer a solution to problem which
burked by all the solid, hard-heaoed
I,ron-iawed. pudding-brained. coal-waster'
in Lancashire, Mr.. Horsfal went on tt
expound his doctrine of town ventha
tiou.