﻿244 
  ANI^UAJj 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192*7 
  

  

  the 
  street 
  lights 
  would 
  frighten 
  horses 
  and 
  embolden 
  thieves; 
  

   (G) 
  economical, 
  great 
  sums 
  would 
  be 
  sent 
  to 
  foreign 
  countries. 
  

  

  The 
  use 
  of 
  coal 
  in 
  locomotives 
  and 
  steamships 
  was 
  likewise 
  con- 
  

   demned 
  and 
  ridiculed 
  on 
  the 
  start. 
  In 
  1804 
  the 
  British 
  Admiralty 
  

   declared 
  it 
  their 
  duty 
  " 
  to 
  discourage 
  the 
  employment 
  of 
  steam 
  

   vessels 
  as 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  steam 
  vessels 
  was 
  calculated 
  

   to 
  strike 
  a 
  fatal 
  blow 
  to 
  the 
  naval 
  supremacy 
  of 
  the 
  Empire." 
  Yet 
  

   in 
  spite 
  of 
  this 
  warning 
  from 
  the 
  highest 
  authority 
  the 
  British 
  

   Empire 
  has 
  somehow 
  managed 
  to 
  survive 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  steam 
  

   navigation. 
  

  

  We 
  laugh 
  at 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  600 
  years 
  ago 
  because 
  they 
  thought 
  that 
  

   coal 
  was 
  not 
  fit 
  to 
  burn. 
  But 
  will 
  not 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  600 
  years 
  hence 
  

   laugh 
  at 
  us 
  because 
  we 
  thought 
  that 
  coal 
  was 
  fit 
  for 
  nothing 
  but 
  to 
  

   burn 
  ? 
  We 
  look 
  back 
  with 
  scorn 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  when 
  efforts 
  were 
  made 
  

   to 
  prohibit 
  or 
  restrict 
  the 
  burning 
  of 
  coal 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  carried 
  on 
  to-day. 
  

   But 
  may 
  we 
  not 
  look 
  forward 
  to 
  the 
  time 
  when 
  efforts 
  will 
  again 
  

   be 
  made 
  to 
  prohibit 
  or 
  restrict 
  the 
  burning 
  of 
  coal 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  carried 
  

   on 
  to-day 
  ? 
  In 
  fact, 
  capital 
  punishment 
  has 
  already 
  been 
  advocated, 
  

   though 
  in 
  jest, 
  for 
  such 
  a 
  crime 
  of 
  wastefulness. 
  The 
  secretary 
  of 
  

   the 
  British 
  Royal 
  Commission 
  on 
  Oil 
  Fuel, 
  Admiral 
  Dumas, 
  said 
  

   not 
  long 
  ago 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  wouUl 
  like 
  to 
  see 
  a 
  government 
  official 
  hanged 
  at 
  every 
  lamp-post 
  where 
  

   gas 
  is 
  biirned, 
  because 
  benzol 
  goes 
  up 
  with 
  the 
  flame. 
  

  

  He 
  had 
  in 
  mind 
  the 
  impending 
  shortage 
  of 
  gasoline, 
  for 
  which 
  

   benzol, 
  otherwise 
  known 
  as 
  benzene, 
  is 
  a 
  suitable 
  substitute 
  as 
  motor 
  

   fuel. 
  

  

  President 
  Baker 
  is 
  more 
  sanguine, 
  although 
  less 
  sanguinary, 
  in 
  

   his 
  predictions, 
  when 
  he 
  said 
  in 
  his 
  opening 
  address 
  of 
  the 
  Inter- 
  

   national 
  Conference 
  on 
  Bituminous 
  Coal: 
  

  

  In 
  less 
  than 
  a 
  generation 
  the 
  present 
  methods 
  of 
  shipping 
  coal 
  to 
  be 
  burned 
  

   in 
  its 
  ravy^ 
  state 
  under 
  boilers 
  hundreds 
  of 
  miles 
  from 
  the 
  mines 
  will 
  appear 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  primitive 
  and 
  rudely 
  unscientific. 
  

  

  The 
  familiar 
  phrase 
  for 
  anything 
  particularly 
  expensive 
  or 
  extrav- 
  

   agant, 
  " 
  It 
  costs 
  like 
  smoke," 
  implies 
  doubtless 
  an 
  unconscious 
  reali- 
  

   zation 
  of 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  oxidation 
  is 
  the 
  reversal 
  of 
  the 
  synthetic 
  

   reaction, 
  the 
  undoing 
  of 
  the 
  constructive 
  activity 
  of 
  animate 
  nature. 
  

   The 
  plant 
  builds. 
  Man 
  utilizes. 
  Fire 
  destroys. 
  Now, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   most 
  wasteful 
  forms 
  of 
  smoke 
  was 
  that 
  which 
  poured 
  uninterruptedly 
  

   during 
  the 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  century 
  from 
  the 
  open 
  tops 
  of 
  the 
  

   beehive 
  coke 
  ovens. 
  In 
  fact, 
  one 
  can 
  yet 
  see 
  these 
  prodigal 
  flares 
  on 
  

   tlie 
  Pennsylvania 
  mountains 
  as 
  he 
  looks 
  out 
  of 
  his 
  Pullman 
  window 
  

   in 
  the 
  night. 
  Now, 
  this 
  is 
  not 
  merely 
  a 
  waste 
  of 
  fossil 
  fuel, 
  which 
  

   we 
  already 
  begin 
  to 
  realize 
  will 
  not 
  last 
  forever, 
  but 
  there 
  is 
  also 
  a 
  

   loss 
  of 
  a 
  variety 
  of 
  compounds 
  that 
  can 
  be 
  made 
  very 
  useful 
  if 
  

  

  