930 
Air  Pollution  by  Smoke. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(     December,  1920. 
essential  to  our  chemical  industries  and  motor  traffic,  must  amount 
to  many  millions  more. 
A  considerable  amount  of  expert  evidence  was  placed  before  this 
Committee  on  the  efficiency  of  kitchen  ranges,  and  on  that  of  coke 
and  coal  burnt  in  an  open  fire  by  Prof.  Barker  of  University  College, 
London,^  and  Mrs.  Fishenden,^  of  the  Manchester  College  of  Tech- 
nology. There  was  a  consensus  of  opinion  that  the  old  form  of 
open  kitchen  range  with  back  boiler  was  inefficient,  wasteful  in  fuel 
and  labor  and  productive  of  smoke. 
For  cooking,  warming  rooms,  and  providing  a  hot-water  supply, 
the  following  recommendations  were  made  by  the  Committee,  and, 
in  considering  these  they  were  guided  by  the  utility,  economy  and 
efficiency  of  the  proposals  as  regards  smoke  prevention.  They  do 
not  recommend  any  one  method,  but  make  the  following  sugges- 
tions: That  gas  cookers  and  gas  fires  are  thoroughly  hygienic  when 
properly  installed;  that  where  an  adequate  supply  of  gas  is  available, 
a  gas-cooker  should  be  substituted  for  the  ordinary  coal  range;  that 
for  intermittent  use  both  gas  cookers  and  gas  fires  are  often  more 
economical  than  coal  fires.  That  from  a  hygienic  and  labor-saving 
point  of  view  electric  cooking  and  heating  have  much  to  recommend 
them,  but  the  present  high  price  of  electricity  precludes  their  general 
adoption.  The  cheapest  and  most  efficient  method  of  producing  a 
supply  of  hot  water  is  a  coke-fired  boiler.  A  gas  boiler,  though  more 
expensive,  is  very  convenient  in  hot  weather.  The  warming  of  rooms 
may  be  effected  by  hot-water  radiators  or  gas  fires,  both  of  which 
are  quite  hygienic  if  the  rooms  are  adequately  ventilated.  In  this 
way  coal  may  be  dispensed  with,  and  this  system  has  been  success- 
fully established  at  the  Austin  Motor  Company's  village  at  North- 
field,  near  Birmingham,  where  the  warming  of  rooms  by  radiators 
and  the  hot-water  supply  were  provided  for  by  a  coke  stove  and 
the  cooking  was  done  by  gas.  No  coal  entered  the  village  and  no 
smoke  issued  from  it.  The  foliage  and  grass  retained  their  fresh 
and  clean  appearance,  and  there  was  no  discoloration  of  clothes  and 
fabrics  from  the  fall  of  soot.  There  is,  however,  a  difficulty  in  dis- 
pensing with  an  open  fire.  Custom  and  sentiment  are  not  easily 
eradicated,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  appearance  of  warmth 
^  Vide  Report  of  the  Fuel  Research  Board  for  1918-1919.  Appendix  B 
and  p.  26. 
2  Coal  Fires.  By  Dr.  Fishenden,  Air  Pollution  Advisory  Board,  Man- 
chester City  Council. 
