Evening star., 1938-02-13
BY NELSON M. SHEPARD.

Smoke in your eye! F1y-ash on
your windowsill!
Yes. Washington has its smoke
problem, too. Its not so sooty a
problem as neighbor Baltimore's,
perhaps, but its here, there and all
around you.
The man who says so, r. K. Kugel,
ought to know. He IS none ether
than the Districts official smoke
sniffer and boiler inspector. It takes
2 worn-out boiler, it seems, to aggra-
vate the smoke nuisance. For that
reason the two jobs are combined.
To hear Mr.. Kugel tell it, you
would think he spends the better
part Of each day answering telephone
complaints about smoke and i!y-ash
from irate housewives. The phone
calls and letters come pretty thick
and fast. Result: His four inspectors,
aside from other duties. had to run
down TIA smoke complaints last year.
Some of them take days aud weeks
to correct.
Strictest Regulations in Country.
Its safe to say that Washington
has the strictest smoke regulations
IN the United States," Mr.. Kugel ex-
planned. But we have plenty of
trouble with smoking chimneys and
stacks. We're doing better all the
time, but smoke nuisances aren't
things that can be checked overnight.
It takes education, public co-opera-
tion and lots and lots of lew equip
ment installation"
About this fly-ash. It comes from
mechanical stokers, chiefly. Its
causing us d lot of trouble" Mr.. Kugel
admitted. He took a jar from his
desk 1t was filled with ash as fine
as gunpowder.
This fy-ash is the cause of nu-
merous complaints right now. 1t set
ties on the window sills in the resi-
dental districts. In the spring and
summer, when windows are open, it
floats into bedrooms and living rooms.
In other words, Mr.. Kugel believes it's
rapidly becoming a common nuisance.
So do many of the housewives who
persist in calling him up about it.
Mr.. Kugel halls from Cleveland,
which is almost as smoky as Pitts
burgh. Compared to such industrial
cities, of course, Washington's smoke
problem is mild. So mild, in fact, that
tourists like to comment on how free
the National Capital is from coal soot
Keep Chin Up"
Mr.. Kugel said he used to feel that
way about Washington, too, before
he took over his present job.
Smoke in a city like Washington
isn't always noticed. but it is here,
he said. and in annoying quantities.
Keep your chin and eyes up and see
what a difference it makes" he ad-
vised
Most people don't notice smoke
when they are on the streets, he said
nor are they smoke-conscious. They're
too busy watching out for traffic.
why, I can take you up to the
roof of high building any day and
show you so much smoke on all sides
that you'll get dizzy looking around"
Mr.. kugel volunteered. That is, on
quiet, muggy day, for brisk wind is
the smoke regulators best friend.
It does make a difference when you
keep your chin and eyes up" its
surprising the amount of smoke one
sees that he never noticed before.
So this reported tried it out the next
morning at 1910 am. on Pennsyl-
vania avenue. Sure enough, there
were tunnels of smoke drifting sky
ward and could it be true? That
white cloud in particular was coming,
of all places, from the roof of the
District Building.
U. S. Buildings No Trouble.
He called Mr. Kugel. That's Just
steam from the boilers" the official
explained.
All of which brings up the point
that the Federal buildings in Wash
tngton. despite the size and number,
give very little trouble in the way of
smoke.
An inter-departmental committee,
Mr.. Kugel explained, co-operates with
the District inspectors with very ex-
cellent results"
Years ago the job of regulating
smoke in the District was saddled upon
Health Department inspectors.
Recognizing the need for more
stringent supervision, Congress created
q new Division of Smoke Regulation
= little over a year ago as separate
division under the District govern
ment. Later boiler inspection was in
cluded. Mr.. Kugel heads the division