75 



either by a steam locomotive using coke or anthracite coal for its fuel, or 

 by an electric locomotive which will serve to carry the train on to the city, 

 and afterward out of the station and across the city to another terminal 

 where it will stop, its place at the head of the train being taken by another 

 road locomotive having its usual supplj' of soft coal. Such a plan has 

 been put into effect in New York City, and has been settled upon for Wash- 

 ington, D. C, where the coinmissioners of the District of Columbia, on No- 

 vember 17th, took final action on an order to prohibit the use of any ex- 

 cept electric locojnotives in drawing trains into the new Union Station. 

 Excepting in very large cities, ho\Aever, the cost of electric transmission 

 will be prohibitive. It will be far cheaper for railway companies, and 

 quite as satisfactory to the urban communities, to admit steam locomotives, 

 provided they are supplied with a fuel which prevents smoke. 



It is evident that procedure under this outline with reference to loco- 

 motive flres must necessarily in^'olve plans extending through a series of 

 years. An equitable scheme of co-operation between the railroads and 

 the citj' must be devised, plans must be made and adopted, and time must 

 be given for financing and executing them. 



In the working out of the general plan described by this brief outline 

 for the elimination of smoke, many difficulties are to be met and antag- 

 onistic interests to be harmonized, but there is nothing which, from an en- 

 gineering point of view, is impracticable, or which can not, as a business 

 matter, be reduced to a satisfactory procedure. A city, to be made smoke- 

 less by the measures suggested, would first seek to fix limits defining the 

 area to be controlled. Within this area would be developed a series of 

 power and heating plants which would be spaced upon a system of squares 

 in the business portions, at intervals of a mile or a mile and a half, and in 

 the residence portion at intervals of two miles. From these several stations 

 would go out currents of electricity for all power and light needed by the 

 city. From certain of them steam at high pressure for industrial purposes 

 would be distributed over the limited areas and from all of them would go 

 out steam or hot water for heating. By a suitable grouping of equipment 

 within these stations, those in the residence portions would be made to 

 serve as heating plants alone and hence would be out of service during a 

 considerable portion of the year. Because of their size and the perfection 

 of equipment, all would be operated by smokeless fires. All small fires, 

 which at the present time serve for heating and power in individual build- 

 ings, would cease to exist, and large fires under boilers of great iadustries 



