478 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE, 
Of these 52 were fined, 16 took change of venue, and 43 were dismissed. 
Number of cases in quasi-criminal court 7 
Amount of fines imposed in pohce court . . .$2,045 °° 
Of that $35 were on change of venue cases. 
Amount of fine in quasi-criminal court ... 5 00 
Considerable trouble has been gone to in order to persuade the various rail- 
road companies to obey the ordinance, and I am glad to be able to report that 
some have made endeavors to do so. 
With regard to the steam tugs, I have to report that some of the owners — 
for the benefit of all the owners — have tried various experiments in order to 
comply with the law. They are at present corresponding with boiler-setters, 
furnace-builders and patentees of smoke-preventing devices. The number of 
steam tugs mentioned above represents those of which definite data are pre- 
served. 
With regard to the trials for refusal to comply with the smoke ordinance, they 
represent much more work than might at first be imagined. In the first place 
dense smoke must be observed coming from a certain chimney stack; the officer 
then serves a notice, verbal or written, on the owner, occupant or proprietor of 
the building, preferably the latter. If, within a given space of time, say ten 
days or two weeks, he finds that no attempt has been made toward abating the 
nuisance, he must apply to a justice of the peace for a summons against the 
offender, and see that it is properly served and returned. Then the inspector 
must procure witnesses who will testify that the smoke from that particular chim- 
ney stack is to them a nuisance. This in many instances is an exceedingly diffi- 
cult task. It is, however, very easy if the officer commences work at the instiga- 
tion of a written complaint from some of the neighbors. When the day of trial 
arrives it is necessary to see that all the witnesses, attorney, etc., are in place, 
prepared. If the defendant requests a continuance, or a change of venue, or, 
being fined, takes an appeal, this whole matter, except in regard to the summons, 
has to be repeated. As it was very rarely that the case was concluded on the 
first call, the appearances in court may be calculated as not less than about 
three hundred and fifty (350). 
The only case which was tried in the quasi-criminal court was that of the 
City of Chicago vs. James S. Kirk & Co., soap manufacturers, which, I am 
happy to report, ended, after a severe fight, in favor of the plaintiff". 
Upon the whole I have to report that the citizens as a rule have shown a 
very commendable desire to abate the smoke nuisance, and a very considerable 
amount of work has to be done in that direction. The extent to which this effort 
has been carried cannot readily be determined, but the condition of the atmos- 
phere in the central business portion of the Southern Division of the city at the 
present day speaks for itself when compared with that of eighteen months ago. 
Chemically speaking, smoke is composed of carbon, carbon monoxide (com- 
monly called carbonic oxide), carbon dioxide (generally named carbonic acid), 
