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Show Wm A GOOD ORDINANCE. bH A dity may t&ko & just prld In the ' jWp dumber of chimneyB it possesses emit- i 8BHB . ting done black smoke, bocause such i Dw Bn RTTay vorT forcibly calls to tho at- H tcntion of the visitor that there are a I Hot 'ark' number of plants in. operation, US but it also indicates to tho intelligent lllii observer that those plants are either . poorly designed or are being operated IWfe In an ignorant or carolcss manner, and m that the mass of the people of tho city BB' are being made to sniffer ot tho slna I if ' of the few. If it is desired to have I M molting chimneyB for advertising of- I M : fleets lot us start a campaign for that I n purpose and offer prizes to the firomon I W responsible for producing the best bco- MSi nie effects. 8uch action on the part of fmB tho city authorities wonld have a vory flnj beneficial effoct in that it w oald mato HB, the plant owners and managers, as well Hft v bs tho admiring visitora, ait up and talco Hn! ' notice, and after the plant ownors had HK spent a little time contemplating their Hh -coal billR thcro would bo something do- i KM Tlie emission of smoke from a boilor Mgi furnace stacl; invariably indicates poor Hi economy of operation and conversely, Sft " a boiler plant that is economically de-signed de-signed and skilfully oporated is never HH r an offender in the matter of smoke HH production and docs its useful work at HJKo a loss cost to the owner than its of- HHj '' fending neighbor. Therefore, quite B t apart from the effocts on tho mass of H people it is to the advantage of plant H owners to improvo the conditions of U operation, thereby reducing their costs H , ai the Fame time that thoy eliminate H i tin; excessive production- of smoke. H . The smoke bureau ordinance proposed iU .V ConiniiFsioncr Wells is a stop to- jffl ward irogrcss, as it will placo at the frB disposal of ovcry plant inanngcr or 9 i owner the services of a competent mc- H ehanical ougincer to assist him in burn- H I ing hip coal to produco power or- heat Hk with the maximum economy and, thore- 2& "fore, deserves the hearty support of nil WBf. good citizens. Hp; The proposed ordinance is modeled jBR 'afler the ordinance now in effoct in Hf: '"6 city of Chicago, where, perhaps, QHb more attention lias been given to the HK sniolco nuisance than in any other city. Bjfl The proposed urdinnnco is less drastic Hfl than tho Chicago ordinance in that it Hil places a penalty on the refusal or fail- IH1B tiro of the offender to co-operate with HH tho smoko department in attempting to jHH abato the smoking chimney rather than HNj for the actual offending of that chiin- Hl ncy. The mere fact that a chimney Hm smokes for longer periods of time than HB ' permitted by the ordinance docs not jHf necessarily make a property owner amenable to a fine. It is only when u tho property owner refuses to co-oper- HH ate with (he smoke inspector in cor- HH recting tho primary causes which go j HV to make an excess production of smoke Hg that he is amenable to a penalty in the form of a fine. HH The great objection to an ordinance HE which fines the man in charge when- QjHi ever a chimney smokes is that in cer- Hl ' - tain cases it is not possible for the man H in charge to avoid an excess produc- Jf tion of Rinoke. The causes of the pro- duction of smoko are many and various HI and it is only when the' can bo nar- H rowed down to simple ignorance, lazi- Hj ncs8 or carelessness on the part of tho HQ fireman that a fino for each offense is Ha a satisfactory method of bringing about a reform. H , Tf the cause lies still dcepor and a H modification in the construction of the HI furnace is necessary to remedy the Ml trouble it is of little use to fine the jH fireman. Tho proposed ordinance, by SHn requiring the offender to co-operato Hm "with tho smoko inspector in seeking HB the cause and then doing whatever is IgHf nccesEarj' to romoIy the situation Is in- HIH tended to bring about actual co-opera' jHB tion on the part of the tmoko depart- nB5 ment with each and every plant owner jjHjl and tk"s do awaJ' with the s)irit of Hfl antagonism which always develops H Trhcro an ordinance calls for a fine as- wBk eessed for each smoke offense. Hjl Tho old ordinance, under which the MUl emoko nuisance is being handled, con- BBff tains three fections; ml The first defines what constitutes a Haf smoke nubanco and says that tho cmis- IWy eion of dense or thick black or gray . 1 smoke or cinders from any .,taik or 41 chimney shall constitute juch an Of fense, giring no limit to duration of such emission. Tho second section dofinos the party to bo held gnilty, limiting the guilt to the owner, agent, lessee or occupant of tho bnilding which the smokestack serves. Tho third section provides a fine not to exceod $0 or imprisonment in the 'city jail for a period not to excood thirty days. Tho old ordinance is therefore much more drastic than tho proposed new one, but experience demonstrates that tho public will not staud back of a too drastic ordinance and, therefore, tho less drastic and more logical new ordi' imnco should produce much more bene-fieinl bene-fieinl results. Under tho proposed ordinance tho oporalions of tho smoko bureau1 would bo about as follows: Deputy Gmolte inspectors would periodically pe-riodically koep accurato records of all tho stacks in different sections of tho city, taking tlmo records whenever smoko is emitted. Based on tho data thus gathered: a tabulation would be made of all tho planta in tho city, showing show-ing to what extent they aro offenders. The smoke inspector or his assistant ould then make a careful study of the const ruction and operation of the furnaces, fur-naces, boiler, settings, chimney, breaching breach-ing connection B, etc, of each of the offending of-fending plants, and after such, careful study and further inspection of tho plant in quostlon tho smoke inspector would make a report to tho property owner with recommendations ae to tho rcmedj'. Tho study of tho plaut by the inspector in-spector and his assistant might roquire Eevoral weeks and might further in-volvo in-volvo much actual t03t work before tho plant could bo intelligently prescribed for. This much, oxperienco has taught in Chicago, St. Louis and several of the largo cities. If tho owner of tho plant, refuses to co-operato after the inspector has made definite recommendations, thon and only then will he be subject to fines. Ab changes made In boiler sotting sot-ting or firing conditions to abato the smoke production invariablj' increase tho economy of operation of tho plant such assistance from the smoko inspector inspec-tor should bo of bonofit to tho plant owner as woll as to the public. Tho clauso in the proposed ordinance which provides for tho inspection of all planB for now plants or proposed enlargements en-largements or changes in old plants "will likewise bo of direct boncfit to property prop-erty owners. At a nominal price it gives them un opportunity of obtaining advice ad-vice which not only would keep them out of tho smoke offending class, but also would assist them in tho economical economi-cal operation of tho plant. |