19 
and in the Police Courts until they got a Magisterial Order 
against a firm to prevent the smoke nuisance on their works. 
They had tried the laissez faire system in Bolton and it would 
not do. Experiments had been tried to reduce the smoke by 
letting in air at the bridge, the sides, and the front, and he 
found that Mr. Cass, of Bolton, had made such apparatus for 
several firms, and that apparatus he (the lecturer) now used. 
He had three fires making no smoke, and they were being hand 
fired. The apparatus was suitable for internal fire boilers. He 
had used it for 10 years, and he asked people to go and see it for 
themselves, for it was a success. One practical means of smoke 
abatement could be found in the “ split bridge,’ a contrivance 
which admitted the air to the furnace at the bridge, but to com- 
plete the contrivance they needed a mechanical stoker. The 
general result of his own experience was that he was getting 
better firing now than he was when he had hand stoking, and 
he could use much inferior coal, and coal with which he could 
not keep steam up by hand-firing. He also used much less 
fuel. Mr. Fletcher quoted a section of the Public Health Act 
bearing on the smoke question, and said that the sole object of 
the Act was to protect the community ; they could not expect a 
public authority to take disagreeable action except they were 
pushed forward by public opinion or private claims; lhe advised 
the sending of a letter to the Sanitary Committee pointing out 
their failure to do their duty. They could not pretend to knock 
down the nuisance without someone sacrificing himself a bit. 
He did not think they ought to be hindered in their action by 
being told that it was not economical, and he did not think they 
ought to allow the many to suffer to save a few. If they did 
their duty by carrying out the law, they could have an atmos- 
phere every day as good as it was in the country town before 
manufactories came up. 
The discussion was opened by Councillor Lancaster, who said 
that one half the gentlemen present were owners of long 
chimneys, and were very much interested in the practical appli- 
cation of that question. Many of them had tried different means 
to prevent the smoke nuisance, and if Mr. Fletcher had enlight- 
ened them more distinctly as to the nature of his stoker and the 
means of doing away with the smoke it would have been of more 
advantage to them. Slow combustion would reduce the quantity 
of smoke, but many of their mills were situated in streets where 
land was valuable and to enlarge the boiler-house would be a 
serious and expensive process. The boiler accommodation 
throughout the town was too small and limited; in some in- 
stances an extra boiler or two would be of great advantage. 
There was no one more desirous of abating the nuisance, if the 
nuisance could be abated with economy, than the manufacturers 
