*r. . **t
University of Pittsburgh ***
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH.
Outline of the Smoke Investigation
BULLETIN No. 1. - AUGUST, 1912.

University of Pittsburgh
Samuel Black McCormick, D.D., LL.D. . . . . . . Chancellor.
Samuel Black Linhart, A.M., D.D. . . . . . . . . . . . Secretary.
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH
Robert Kennedy Duncan, Sc.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Director.
Raymond F. Bacon, Ph.D. . . . . . . . . . . . Associate Director.
STAFF IN CHARGE OF THE SMOKE
INVESTIGATION
Raymond C. Benner, Ph.D. . . . Chief Fellow and Chemist.
Joseph A. Beck, LL.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attorney.
A. B. Bellows, B.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Engineer.
W. W. Blair, M.D. . . . . . e º e s a e s e e s e e o e s e e s e e Physician.
J. E. Clevenger, M.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Botanist.
B. A. Cohoe, A.B., M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physician.
E. W. Day, A.M., M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physician.
S. R. Haythorn, M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c. e º O & © Physician.
W. L. Holman, A.B., M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physician.
Richard Hooker, B.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Architect.
C. T. Ingham. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Architect.
Richard Kiehnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Architect.
H. H. Kimball, Ph.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meteorologist.
Oskar Klotz, M.D., C.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physician.
E. B. Lee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Architect.
C. H. Marcy, A.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bacteriologist.
O. R. McBride, B.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Engineer.
E. H. McClelland, Ph.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bibliographer.
R. T. Miller, Jr., A.B., M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Surgeon.
A. F. Nesbit, B.S., A.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Engineer.
J. J. O’Conner, Jr., A.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Economist.
P. F. Shuey, B.S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Engineer.
K. K. Stevens, B.S.. . . . . . . . . . . . ... • * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chemist.
Carlton Strong. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Architect.
W. W. Strong, Ph.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physicist.
C. W. A. Veditz, Ph.D., LL.B. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Economist.
W. C. White, M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physician.
Ruth E. Gilchrist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Secretary.
INTRODUCTION
Industrial communities that consume large quanti-
ties of bituminous coal suffer more or less from what has
come to be called the “smoke nuisance,” and in many of
them steps have been taken by private or public agencies
to abate it. In the fall of 1911 Professor Robert Kennedy Dun-
can, Director of the Department of Industrial Research of the
University of Pittsburgh was provided by a Pittsburgh busi-
ness man with a fund for making an investigation into this sub-
ject with particular reference to Pittsburgh. Prominent citi-
zens had frequently expressed themselves to the effect
that the smoke problem is the greatest single civic prob-
lem confronting Pittsburgh. The donor of the fund was
actuated by the belief that a thorough investigation would
reveal not only the nature, extent, and precise causes of
the smoke nuisance, but also the remedies that would
make its abolition possible and practicable.
At the present time the investigation is being carried
on by a staff of twenty-five specialists, six of whom are
giving their entire attention to this work, while the re-
maining nineteen have been entrusted with the prepara-
tion of special reports concerning particular phases of
the subject.
The investigation as a whole may be divided roughly
into two parts, the analytical or diagnostic, and the
constructive or remedial part. Under the first head may
be grouped the Meteorological, the Botanical, the Chem-
ical, the Physical, the Architectural, the Hygienic and
Medical, and the Economic researches, as well as certain
sections of the Engineering and of the Legal and Adminis-
trative investigations. Under the second caption may be
grouped the Experimental and Educational activities of
the staff, as well as the more important phases of the
Engineering investigation and of the Legal Administra-
tive investigation.
Apart from these two main divisions of the work,
provision has also been made for a brief History of the
Smoke Nuisance in Europe and in the United States, and
for an exhaustive Bibliography of the subject surpassing
in scope and thoroughness anything hitherto attempted
in this line.
SMOKE AND THE WEATHER
Dr. H. H. Kimball, of the federal Weather Bureau
at Washington, D. C., has been entrusted with the task
of determining the effects of smoke and soot upon fogs,
winds, temperature, sunlight and weather conditions gen-
erally, with particular reference to soft-coal communities
like Pittsburgh. Inasmuch as similar investigations, both
official and unofficial, have been made in a number of
European countries, this investigation will, for purposes
of comparison, be based upon similar methods wherever
these methods are found to be scientifically satisfactory.
The main topics covered by this section of the investiga-
tion are:—atmospheric gases; suspended particles in the
atmosphere; dust layers of the atmosphere; the surface
dust layer; quantity of soot in the air of cities; limits of
visibility; meteorological effects of the smoke cloud; ef-
fects of smoke upon condensation; city and country fogs;
effect of smoke upon fog dissipation; duration of Sunshine
in cities; intensity of sunshine in cities; quantity of day-
light in cities; effect of smoke clouds upon city temper-
atures; effect of smoke clouds upon maximum and min-
mum temperatures; effect of smoke clouds upon the range
of temperature.
Data have been obtained from the records of the
Government Weather Bureaus at Pittsburgh, Harrisburg,
Philadelphia and Williamsport, regarding the reduced at-
mospheric transparency caused by soot. Observations are
being made at several stations in Pittsburgh and vicinity,
and will be continued for a year, to determine the intensity
of daylight, more especially, on cloudy days when the
sunshine recorder furnishes no information on this sub-
ject. These observations, made by chemical and photomet-
rical methods, in the clear country air, as well as in the
smoky atmosphere of the city itself, will not only be of
scientific significance in themselves, but will provide part
of the basis necessary for calculating the increased cost
of artificial illumination in Pittsburgh due to smoke in
the atmosphere, and will be of value to the physicians of
the staff in their study of eye-strain in smoky cities.
HOW IS VEGETATION AFFECTED BY SMOKE
AND SOOT P
The answer to this important question involves first
of all a botanical survey of the “Pittsburgh District,”
3
with a view of determining by observation what plants
thrive in Pittsburgh and what plants can be grown here
under the present difficulties. It includes, furthermore, a
study of the physiologic response of plants as a whole and
a determination of the reasons why plants that ought
to grow here cannot be cultivated successfully.
This work, which is in charge of J. F. Clevenger,
botanist of the Pennsylvania State College, will also com-
prise a series of laboratory experiments so arranged as
to determine the effect of definite quantities of soot, of
varying composition, upon the seedlings of plants which
seem to be most influenced by soot, and upon the seed-
lings of the hardier plants.
Investigations made elsewhere have indicated that
the factors in air pollution which prejudicially affect veg-
etation are:—the smoke clouds limiting the available sun-
light; the tarry matter coating over the leaves and chok-
ing the stomata; the presence of free acids in the air,
tending generally to lower the vitality of the plant; the
effect of the free acids falling upon the soil and limiting
the activity of the soil organisms, principally those of ni-
trification. The measurement of these forms of effective
damage to vegetation by smoke, with particular reference
to Pittsburgh, will prove of convincing interest to those
who are interested in the defoliation and ruin of gardens,
trees, flower-beds, and public and private pleasure-
grounds.
THE CHEMISTRY OF SMOKE AND SOOT
What is the nature of soot ? In view of the agita-
tion against smoke and soot, begun in England as early
as 1819, when Parliament appointed the first Special Com-
mission on Smoke Prevention, it would seem that we
ought now to know a great deal about the precise com-
position of soot. This, however, is not altogether true,
for comparatively few scientific investigations have been
made into this phase of the subject. Moreover, the analy-
ses of soot which have been made from time to time by
different experimenters show great variations in composi-
tion. When one considers the very different conditions
under which coal is burnt it is obvious that the character
of the soot must vary. For soot is a product of incomplete
combustion, and is formed partly by the mechanical re-
4
moval of ash by the chimney draught, and partly by the
decomposition of the volatile portion of the fuel which
is formed by the process of destructive distillation. Hence
there are noteworthy differences in the relative amounts
of ash and tar contained in soot. Again, the character of
the soot varies with the distance, from the grate, at
which it has been deposited as well as the temperature
of the furnace, amount of air, method of firing, etc.
For these reasons, the different varieties of soot pro-
duced in Pittsburgh are being subjected to careful chem-
ical analysis, under the direction of Dr. Raymond C.
Benner.
THE PHYSICAL PROBLEMS OF SMOKE
It is important to know not only how much carbon,
tar, oil, water, etc., exists in collection of smoke, but also
the shape and size of the smoke particles; how the proper-
ties of the different particles vary; what constituents are
in the solid, the liquid, or the occluded gaseous conditions;
whether the smoke particles are electrically charged; what
effect temperatures have upon the nature of the smoke
particles; and how these particles form nuclei for the con-
densation of fog and rain.
The combustion of coal consists of the union of the
combustible portions of the coal with the oxygen of the
air. The smoke particles are born, so to speak, wherever
incomplete combustion takes place. These smoke part-
icles are usually electrified and subjected to intense forces
that result in their aggregation into larger particles. There
are three main periods in the life of the products of com-
bustion. The formative and adolescent period of the
smoke particles is followed by a comparatively quiescent
period of maturity, during which they float in the air or
unite with mist particles or rain drops. Finally, in their
next stage, they are deposited on our clothes, on buildings,
on plants and animals, or on the ground.
The nature of these processes is being investigated
by Dr. W. W. Strong, who will determine, by the use of
the ultra-microscope, and by the photometric and elec-
trical methods, the physical properties of the smoke in
furnaces and flues, in the air, and on the ground. The
facts thus ascertained will be of value to those in charge
of other phases of the investigation. They will, more-
5
over, furnish a basis for certain preventive devices to
which reference will be made later on. -
DETERIORATION OF BUILDINGS AND BUILD-
ING MATERIALS.
The acids contained in soot attack mortar, masonry,
wood-work, metal-work and building materials genera-
ally. In many European cities it has been specifically
charged that soot causes the rapid disintegration of stat-
uary and public monuments. The damage done to inside
decorations appears to be no less important than the ef-
fect upon the exterior of buildings.
The numerous and varied aspects of this branch of
the inquiry are being studied by a group of five architects
and experts in building materials, Messrs. E. B. Lee,
Richard Hooker, C. T. Ingham, Richard Kiehnel and
Carlton Strong. With particular reference to Pittsburgh,
these gentlemen are engaged in the preparation of reports
on the following topics: The effect of smoke and soot on
sandstone, limestone, marble, terra cotta and other build-
ing materials; the effect on outside and inside painting,
on wall paper and on interior decorations; the effect on
sheet metals, copper, galvanized iron, etc.; modifications
in electrical work and in the distribution and maintenance
of light because of smoky and sooty atmospheric condi-
tions; the effect on cleaning and on the costs of mainten-
ance of buildings; skylights, their use and arrangement as
affected by smoke and soot; the influence of the above
factors on architectural design in exterior and interior
work.
This part of the inquiry involves numerous experi-
mental features. Various kinds of stone and building ma-
terials have been exposed to smoky atmosphere, after
being examined and photographed. After a year's ex-
posure, they will be again examined and photographed
to discover the amount of soot and dirt taken up by the
different materials, and the effect of this soot and dirt
upon them. The samples will then be cleaned by various
recognized methods, for the purpose of revealing the cost,
difficulties, and effects of different cleaning methods.
An expert in paints, Mr. Karl K. Stevens, is engaged
in gathering comparative data regarding the effect of
smoke and soot upon different colors and compositions of
6 .
paints, and regarding the durability of paints in Pitts-
burgh and certain other cities having a less Smoky at-
mosphere.
A number of different metals, including copper, gal-
vanized iron, plain iron, aluminum, brass, lead and tin
plate, have been exposed to the weather in different parts
of Pittsburgh in order to determine the corrosion due to
the acid gases occluded in the Soot.
SMORE AND DISEASE
The effect of smoke and soot on human morbidity
and mortality has perhaps received more attention than
any other phase of the subject. To determine as accurate-
ly as may be possible, and with especial reference to Pitts-
burgh, the influences that these kinds of air-pollution act-
ually have upon certain forms of disease and upon the death-
rate of the population, the Department has secured the
co-operation of the following Pittsburgh physicians: Os-
kar Klotz, W. L. Holman, S. R. Haythorn, E. W. Day,
W. W. Blair, B. A. Cohoe, W. C. White and R. T. Miller.
No matter how much one may be convinced of the
deleterious effects on health produced by breathing a smoke-
laden atmosphere, ordinary medical statistics afford little
definite information. Inasmuch, however, as many cities
have for years collected and published statistics of mortal-
ity, a careful analysis of these figures will be made, in the
hope that they may throw some light upon the relation-
ship, first, between the death-rate and air-pollution, and,
secondly, between air-pollution and smoke. Although the
testimony of specialists is somewhat divergent on this
subject, it is noteworthy that an over-whelming majority
of investigators both in this country and abroad have
reached the conclusion that smoke and soot are injurious
to the respiratory organs, injurious to the eyes, and re-
sponsible for a lowering of human vitality and an increase
in the death-rate.
The available information will be interpreted from two
points of view, Dr. C. W. White giving his attention to
the effect of smoky and sooty air on tuberculosis and its
treatment, and Dr. W. A. Cohoe devoting himself partic-
ularly to the effect on acute respiratory diseases, including
pneumonia.
By means of experimentation upon animals a study
will be made of the extent to which living in a smoky
atmosphere predisposes to infection by consumption and
pneumonia. It is also planned to determine experiment-
ally the effect to which persons living in a smoky air are
predisposed to conjunctivitis.
A psychiatrist will investigate the relations between
smoke-induced fogs and certain forms of mental depres-
sion.
WHAT THE SMO KE NUISANCE COSTS
Whether it is more profitable for a manufacturing
establishment to produce smoke or to so modify its in-
stallation as to cease producing smoke, may, in a few in-
stances at least, be a debatable question. There can be
no doubt, however, that the widespread practice of filling
the air with soft-coal smoke results in increasing the cost
of operating certain business enterprises and in damaging
certain kinds of merchandise. Nor is it improbable that
certain branches of manufacturing and commerce are car-
ried on in Pittsburgh with greater difficulties than would
be the case if the city were smoke-free.
In the case of certain manufacturing establishments,
the necessity for clean air and abundant light involve ex-
tra expenditure for purifying the air, for ventilating de-
vices, and for artificial illumination. In the case of re-
tail and wholesale stores, the cost of outside and inside
cleaning, the losses through soiled merchandise, the fre-
quent need of re-painting and re-decorating, the labor and
precautions required to keep stores and goods clean,—all
these are noticeably increased by the soot-laden atmos-
phere of smoky cities. Certain trades such as textile man-
ufactures, millinery, stationery and art goods, vegetable
gardening, -can be carried on in such cities at greater cost
and inconvenience than elsewhere.
Already considerable evidence has been accumulated
to show that the cost of operating office buildings, hos-
pitals, libraries, schools and public buildings generally in
Pittsburgh, is increased in noteworthy and fairly measur-
able proportions by the smoky and sooty atmosphere of
the city. It will be more difficult, however, to determine
the economic damage done to the clothing of the people
and to their homes and home furnishings. But these
9
features of the problem affect every man, woman and
child in the community, in the guise of larger laundry
bills and bills for dry-cleaning clothes, in the form of great-
er wear and tear on clothing, curtains, carpets, wall-paper,
rugs, and other household goods, and, in the additional
labor required to maintain even a moderate standard of
domestic cleanliness. -
To determine, as nearly as may be possible, the econ-
omic significance of all of the above items, expressed in
dollars and cents, and of elements that make the smoke
nuisance an economic burden to Pittsburgh, is the task
that has been assigned to Dr. C. W. A. Veditz and Mr.
J. J. O’Conner, Jr.
They will also seek to interpret in economic terms
the loss of fuel and of power involved in the present meth-
ods of power-production used in Pittsburgh, as revealed
by the inquiries made by the engineers of the staff into the
mechanical conditions of smoke-production. The econ-
omic inquiry will necessarily be comparative throughout
its entire scope. For it will be necessary to obtain data
not only from Pittsburgh but also from other cities that
have less or no smoke, in order that a more correct ap-
praisal may be made of the several items under consider-
ation.
It has been estimated that the smoke nuisance costs
Cleveland $6,000,000, Cincinnati $8,000,000, and Chicago
$50,000,000 per annum. Herbert W. Wilson, of the United
States Geological Survey is authority for the statement
that the country as a whole suffers a loss of over $500,-
OOO,OOO each year, in damage done to merchandise, de-
facement of buildings, tarnishing of metals, injury to hu-
man life and to plant life, the greatly increased labor and
cost of housekeeping, and the losses of manufacturers due
to imperfect combustion of coal. The economists of the
Pittsburgh investigating staff are endeavoring, by means
of more accurate methods than have been employed else-
where, to determine the total loss suffered by Pittsburgh
on this score.
WHO MAKES THE SMOKE?
The relation of mechanical engineering to the problem
of smoke abatement is in some respects the most im-
portant branch of the entire inquiry, for the question
IO
whether smoke is industrially necessary or not is after all
a question of mechanical engineering. Therefore, the
plans for this branch of the investigation are somewhat
elaborate, both as regards the study of causes and the
study of remedies. The plans for this part of the work
now being carried out by Mr. A. B. Bellows and Mr. O. R.
McBride, include the following main lines of study: A
geographical and topographical survey of Pittsburgh and
the “Pittsburgh District”; an account of its principal in-
dustries, their nature and relative importance; a classi-
fication of the fuels employed, together with a statement
of the amounts used and the cost of each; an inventory
of the industrial establishments producing smoke; a study
of the nature and extent of locomotive and steamboat
smoke; the determination in detail of the causes of smoke
production by the principal offenders; a careful inquiry
into the installation, operation, fuel economy and power
production of plants that have ceased to produce smoke
or that have succeeded in the noteworthy abatement of
smoke-production; and a brief treatise on the subject of
combustion and a descriptive discussion of smokeless fuels
and of various fuel-burning devices now in use, with par-
ticular reference to smokeless combustion in boiler, metal-
lurgical, and other furnaces using bituminous coal.
In ascertaining the sources of smoke, the engineering
inquiry distinguishes (a) the business section of the city,
(b) manufacturing plants, (c) railroads, (d) river steam-
boats, (e) residences, and (f) miscellaneous plants, such
as contractors’ hoisting engines and steam rollers, which
make smoke in the streets and discharge it at low levels
near doors and windows.
The plants investigated will be graded as follows:—
(a) Those producing no smoke; (b) those which produce
smoke in quantities within the limits permitted by the
present city smoke ordinance, or which can be brought
within the city ordinance by proper operation; and (c)
those producing smoke, but which cannot be brought with-
in the city ordinance without alterations or new installa-
tions. In the case of the smoke-producing plants, a study
is being made of the precise causes in each case, of the
changes in equipment or operation that will remedy the
evil, and of the cost of these changes.
II
In connection with the engineering investigation
(and of such other phases of the whole inquiry as admit
of it) photographs and charts are being made to give
definiteness and convincing character to the observations
made and to the conclusions reached.
LAWS AND ORDINANCES CONCERNING SMOKE
The law took cognizance of the smoke nuisance in
England as early as I273, when the use of coal was pro-
hibited in London as prejudicial to the public health. Since
that time numberless proclamations, laws and ordinances
have given attention to the smoke nuisance in one form
or another. Most of the larger cities of all industrial nations
now have ordinances dealing with the subject. These
ordinances, however, vary greatly in purpose, scope, char-
acter, and stringency. They are, moreover, enforced with
degrees of vigor that range all the way from zero to com-
parative efficiency.
The legal specialist of the staff, Joseph A. Beck, Esq.,
is making a collection of the laws of the several states
of the United States, of Great Britain, Germany and
France, relating to this subject, and of the ordinances of
cities of the United States. These laws and ordinances
will be analyzed, classified, and criticized, and an investi-
gation made of the interpretation placed upon them by
the courts, and of the constitutional questions involved.
A study also will be made of the rights of individuals un-
der the common law (irrespective of the statute law) to
secure the abatement of a smoke nuisance or to recover
damages for the injury suffered. A systematic inquiry
into means and methods of enforcing the laws and ordi-
nances concerning smoke, into the rights, duties and ac-
tivities of smoke inspectors, and into the nature, fre-
quency and effects of the penalties imposed for violation
of the smoke ordinances, is already well under way.
GENERAL, EXPERIMENTAL WORK
It has already been pointed out that a number of
Pittsburgh establishments burning soft coal are operated
almost smokelessly, and that a considerable number of
the others could be operated without producing more
smoke than the law permits, if proper care were always
I2
taken by trained Stokers. To aid in bringing this about,
experiments have been made for the purpose of devising
a cheap automatic apparatus, -a “smoke monitor and re-
corder,”—that will give smoke signal, such as ringing
a bell, whenever the furnace is making more smoke than
the laws allows, and that will keep a record of the fre-
quency and duration of the transgression.
With the aid of such a device,—several of which have
already been constructed and found satisfactory, it will
be possible for the superintendent of a plant to know
which of his furnaces and which of his employees is re-
sponsible for illegal smoke-production, and which of his
men have exercised sufficient care and intelligence to pro-
duce no objectionable smoke. Such an appliance, more-
over, might conceivably be made a valuable and trust-
worthy ally of the city smoke inspectors, who can cover
only a limited area and who can make hardly any “smoke
observation” at night or under adverse weather conditions.
Experimental work is also being done for the pur-
pose of constructing a simple device for recording the
density of smoke, a “smoke meter” that will substitute
definiteness for the present inaccurate terms used to dis-
tinguish various grades or degrees of smoke. Further-
more, the experimental staff, consisting of Dr. R. C. Ben-
ner, Dr. W. W. Strong and Mr. P. F. Shuey, is working upon
the problem of precipitating smoke electrically or other-
wise before it leaves the chimney or flues.
SMOKE MEANS WASTE AND IN EFFICIENCY
In the scientific literature on combustion there is a
surprising unanimity of opinion to the effect that smoke
is unnecessary and positively wasteful in an overwhelming
majority of establishments burning soft coal. It is a con-
sequent and visible proof of imperfect combusiton of
fuel, and therefore evidence of a waste of part of the fuel.
This waste, however, is not nearly so important to the
owner of the establishment as the losses of heat and of
power that are its inevitable concomitants.
Few manufacturers who have taken the trouble care-
fully to investigate the subject, and certainly no expert
mechanical engineers, would deny this. But it is quite
a different matter to persuade the owners of smoke-pro-
ducing plants to adopt an effective system of burning fuel
I3
without smoke, unless it offers a substantial monetary
saving more than sufficient to cover the initial outlay.
Nevertheless, reputable mechanical engineers, both in
this country and abroad, now contend that in at least a
large number of instances the introduction of smoke- con-
suming devices and more scientific methods of stoking
would result in a saving of fuel and a more economical
production of heat and power, sufficient to equal in a rela-
tively short time the entire original cost of these changes.
Abundant and convincing practical demonstration of this
contention is furnished by the achievements of the Ham-
burg Manufacturers' Smoke Abatement Society and the
London Coal Smoke Abatement Society.
The abolition of the smoke nuisance, therefore, un-
like many other social nuisances against which an outcry
has been made,-would result in direct and immediate
gain both to the public at large and to those chiefly re-
sponsible for the nuisance. For this reason, it may be said
that the mechanical engineers of the staff are engaged in
a most important constructive task. This task will in-
volve the careful and detailed study of Pittsburgh plants
to which reference has already been made. It will aiso
involve a study of fuel economy and fuel-efficiency in
these plants, as a basis for an appeal to business instinct
as well as to civic pride.
Equipped with a thorough knowledge of the numer-
our devices for smoke-prevention that are now on the
market, and with an understanding of the needs and prob-
lems of each plant, the engineers of the staff should be
able to do the work of veritable “smoke doctors,” pointing
out the precise remedy suited to each individual case of
smoke-production.
THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC
Experience has shown that even manufacturers,
though presumably on the alert for every improvement,
however slight, in the economical operation of their plants,
are creatures of habit and tradition. If their plants have
already produced smoke in the past, it is in some instances
necessary to bring pressure to bear before the change is
apt to result in more economical as well as smokeless oper-
ation.
I4
In these cases an active and intelligent public opinion,
that subjects the offending parties to public opprobrium,
may help to accomplish the desired end. At all events,
the formation of an enlightened public opinion upon the
smoke problem is one of the principal objects of the whole
investigation. Should it be found, for example, that cer-
tain diseases are less frequent and more easily cured in a
smoky atmosphere than in a clear atmosphere, that fact
will be made public property. Again, should it be dis-
covered after careful inquiry that no way has yet been
devised to prevent the emission of black smoke from cer-
tain classes of metallurgical furnaces, save at an expendi-
ture that would greatly increase the costs of production,
this fact will likewise be made known. But if, on the
other hand, both of these supposed conclusions are un-
founded, it will be none the less necessary to publish the
facts. Too often a public demand for certain reforms has
been based upon imperfect knowledge or upon a mistaken
notion of the factors involved.
Should the work and conclusions of the staff be known
to the investigators themselves, they will prove of little
practical avail. It has therefore been decided (a) to make
a systematic effort to enlighten civic and business organ-
izations on this subject, and to arouse them to combined
action; (b)* to organize a staff of lecturers prepared to
address these organizations in Pittsburgh and elsewhere;
(c) to secure the co-operation of the public press; and (d)
to publish in book form the results of the entire inquiry.
THE QUESTION OF LEGAL REGULATION
Should the intelligent self-interest of manufacturers,
combined with an insistent public demand for smoke abate-
ment, fail to result in an adequate improvement in condi-
tions, then the public authorities have not only the right
but a positive duty to interfere and to enforce more drastic
measures. But the legal appeal should be the last appeal.
If, however, such an appeal is made it should be made
effectively. The mere enactment of a smoke ordinance is
not sufficient. Such an ordinance must be both enforce-
able and enforced. Based upon the information obtained
from other cities and countries, the legal expert of the
*A leaflet concerning these lectures will be sent on request.
I5
staff will draw up a model ordinance. Under such an
ordinance, provision should be made for an adequate corps
of qualified inspectors. It should provide, moreover, for
a system of co-operation between private and public agen-
cies of enforcement, with proper regard for the industrial
interests and the industrial development of the city of
Pittsburgh.
I6
Attention has been called in this connection to the
practice of house-keepers in having the windows shut for
fear of the soot that floats in when they are open; and it
has been asserted that this also contributes “to the ment-
'ally and physically depressing effect of the pall that shuts
out the life-giving and germ-destroying air and sunshine.”
Indeed, English official investigators have declared it
“more than proable that living in a foul atmosphere which
diminishes vitality increases the desire for stimulants, in-
duces drunkenness and its concomitants of brutality, im-
morality and crime.”
Whether such statements are scientifically warranted
as regards Pittsburgh, and, if so, to what extent these
consequences of Smoke and soot are noticeable here,
are questions which physicians of the staff have under-
taken to answer. -
Particular attention is being given to diseases of the
respiratory organs. Post-mortem examinations have been
made and will continue to be made by Dr. Klotz for the
purpose of determining the amount and distribution of
Soot deposited in the organs of Pittsburgh residents en-
gaged in different occupations.
Dr. Holman and Dr. Klotz are making a bacterio-
logical survey of the air of Pittsburgh. Dr. Haythorn is
engaged in the work of determining the manner in which
carbon is deposited in the lungs and the nature of the re-
sultant lesions.
The effect of a smoky atmosphere upon eye-strain,
diseases of the eye, and allied physical disorders, is being
investigated by Dr. W. W. Blair. Data regarding the in-
fluence of fogs, poor light, and artificial light, upon the
work and conduct of school children, are being collected
through the courtesy of the Superintendent of Pittsburgh
Schools, Mr. S. L. Heeter.
Are residents of smoky cities predisposed to diseases
of the nose and throat, or may smoke and soot be re-
garded as causing those ailments? What effect has smoke
and soot on the time and difficulties involved in effecting
a cure? These are questions to which a scientific answer
is being sought by Dr. E. W. Day.
It is recognized that successful surgery depends to a great
extent upon operative technique and cleanliness. How either
of these is affected by a smoky atmosphere, if at all
affected,—will be investigated by Dr. R. T. Miller.
8

| "3"Sół5"óżºłóż"365;