SMOKE IN THE CITY

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21244, 16 August 1934, Page 11

SMOKE IN THE CITY

| ♦ i j NEED FOR ABATEMENT i EMPHASISED | . i DANGER TO HEALTH ANI> r\ BUILDINGS I 1 J The seriousness of the smoke t nuisance in Christchurch and the , need for its abatement were em--5 phasised by speakers from the Sun- " light League who waited on a meet- [ ing of the Christchurch branch of the Town Planning Institute of I New Zealand last evening. A sub--3 committee was appointed to go into ' details and form a plan of campaign. ' Dr. C. Coleridge Farr said the '. league was most concerned with the i smoke in the atmosphere. The Smoke Abatement League had ' established dirt collectors on the f roofs of buildings in the city, one I on Hay's building and the other : near the Hereford street bridge. | While the records were not typical of Christchurch, the results were t rather surprising. Christchurch was ■ bad in this respect, but not as bad as the records showed. At Hay's the ? fall of soot, dirt, and general muck from the atmosphere was 200 tons a ■ square mile per annum, and at ; Hereford street the fall was 400 tons. ' This was not much better than some ! places in England. In parts of Lon- . don the fall was 474 tons, but in i other parts it was only 193. In one • street in Liverpool the fall, was 600 ' tons. ' "You have only to poke your eye '. outside to see what is doing this." ; said Dr. Farr. "Tl.; chimneys arss ' self-accusing." There was no doubt, he said, that the amount of smoke [ helped to form the winter fogs of Christchurch. The smoke would not ; let the violet and ultra-violet rays : of the sun through, but scattered them about. The clearer the atmo--1 sphere, the better it would be for the people, he said. : Professor S. Steele said he did not 1 think there was any question that smoke was a nuisance and that it was possible to prevent it. If owners l of plants were approached and asked to spend a lot of money, it would be hard to persuade them that they would save money, although the smoke would be reduced. He 1 thought that a lot could be done in Christchurch by making plants more efficient from the point of view of reducing smoke. In some towns in America smoke was controlled by municipal regulations. Much of the work there seemed to be in making suggestions to the owners of plants. lii England and Scotland there were classes "for stokers. A Difficult Problem ) In Christchurch the problem was rather difficult. In Cleveland there was a record of a fall of 3000 tons a square mile per annum. Because ' of the electric power used in Christ - ■ church, not much steam for power ■ was used. Most of the smoke in 1 Christchurch seemed to come from domestic chimneys. It was fortu--1 nate that most of the central heating systems were modern. Dr. D. E. Currie said there was no by-law in Christchurch governing the smoke nuisance. He read a draft by-law which the Sunlight League was asking the City Council to adopt. The ideal, of course, was for houses to use gas and electricity and so produce no smoke at all, but the open fireplace in the sitting room was the problem. He showed a combined gas and coke grate, which, he said, was not expensive in operation. The league wished to advocate a grate of that type for Government subsidised "houses. The main thing was to educate the public. It was unfortunate that the railway system came right into the city, but a great improvement could be made if the stokers realised the value of the ultra-violet rays. He believed it was possible to fire a railway engine without making great clouds of smoke. People were fastidious about the cleanliness of the food they ate, but were careless about the air they breathed. Dust and Soot Dr. T. Fletcher Telford said there was no doubt that there could be an improvement in manufacturing concerns. However, dust as well as soot went into the collectors established by Dr. Farr, which might give a misleading result. He could not say that he had seen any children in New Zealand suffering from lack of sunshine. He agreed, however, that the atmosphere should not be more contaminated than was absolutely necessary. Dr. Farr said Dr. Telford's suggestion about the dust was quite correct, and he wished to emphasise that the figures were not typical, but had been obtained in the best circumstances possible. Mr V. Hean mentioned the deterioration of stone caused by impurities in the atmosphere. In 1861 a committee was set up to consider the British Houses of Parliament, and it was found that £ 1,000,000 was needed to repair the defects in the stone caused by the atmospheric impurities. Mr E. H. Andrews admitted that Dr. Currie's remark about the bylaw was essentially correct, but the council had many by-laws dealing with nuisances and the construction of factory chimneys. He could see the need for something more definite. The City Council recognised the necessity for the abatement of smoke and the difficulties in the way of the campaign. Mr Galbraith said that shunting engines could be fitted with smoke eliminators. He suggested that a small sub-committee of both bodies j should be set up to go into details and decide on a plan of campaign. (He was satisfied that if the commit i tee could go to the public and show (that they could reduce smoke, and j make a saving at the same tunc. I they would meet, with a speedv response. I This suggestion was adopted and j the following sub-commiUof w;r (appointed: Dr. D. V.. Currie. Pre lessor S. Steele, Professor .1 K I, I Cull, Mr A. R. Galbraith. and M. IV. Hean. Dr. Telford said, lie woo id J join the sub-committee in ids cfiicial capacity. Professor" Cull : uggesied that the speakers had not proved their case that there was a smoke nuisance. |ln London, he said, ii was p.eei.s----i s.ary to wear gloves h> keep the hands clean, hut thai was ml so 1:1 Christchurch.