SMOKE ABATEMENT 333 



whereas, in the absence of this proof, he will remain (as in the 

 past) an indifferent witness, or energetic opposer, of all your 

 schemes of improvement. 



The aim of those actively working for the creation of a 

 cleaner and purer atmosphere must therefore be directed 

 towards the securing and presentation of positive proof that it 

 pays to suppress black smoke. The more varied the experience 

 and facts upon which this proof rests, and the more clearly 

 these can be driven home into the minds of the fuel-consumer, 

 the more certain and real will be the progress made towards 

 the day when smoke will be banished from our towns ; and our 

 great centres of population and industry will no longer be 

 distinguishable, miles away, by the canopy of haze and smoke 

 that screens them from the sun. 



It is the purpose of the writer in the present article to 

 present a few brief notes on the latest phases of the smoke- 

 abatement movement in the United Kingdom, Germany, and 

 America. No details will be given of smoke-abatement appli- 

 ances, since these merely apply in different ways the well-known 

 scientific principles of combustion. 



The United Kingdom 



The introduction of a new Smoke Abatement Bill into the 

 House of Lords early in the present year, and the fact that the 

 Government only secured its withdrawal by appointing a 

 Departmental Commission to inquire into the whole subject, 

 is proof that the public authorities in England are awakening 

 to the great importance of preventing any further pollution of 

 the air-supply of their towns and cities. If other proof were 

 required, it would be found in the efforts which are now being 

 made by the health authorities of twenty-two of the most 

 important towns and cities of the United Kingdom to obtain 

 reliable and systematic records of the amount of soot and dust 

 suspended in the atmosphere. 



I. Details of the New Smoke Bill. — The Smoke Abatement 

 Bill which was introduced into the House of Commons on 

 April 30, 1913, and into the House of Lords early in the present 

 year, was backed by a group of independent members, and had 

 for its object the extension of the powers of the local authorities 

 and of the Local Government Board, in relation to the nuisances 

 caused by the improper emission of smoke. 



