COAL BLACK LUNGS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 18 June 1907, Page 4

COAL BLACK LUNGS.

THOUSANDS KILLED BY FOG - AND SMOKE. . Sir Frederick" Treves, the King's sur"geori, ill addressing an"audienc© of the Coal SmbKe Abatement "Society at the Hay market Theatre yesterday, made the astonishing statements that the air of London in one of its cleanest parts contains six tons of smuts to the equ£.;.e mile, and that the lungs of the Londoner are either thunder-cloud blue or coal black from the dirt absorbed in breathing. Many arguments and illustrations have ..been used to try and rouse Londoners from their pathetic disregard of the fact that the smoke atmosphere of I London might bo made almost as prare j and bright as that of the countryside i if only Londoners insisted on its being done. Sir Frederick Treves put the ' matter in a n6Vt~ light. First he showed that the atmosphere of Chelsea is as bad as that of Manchester, In Manchester a test proved that the air- contained l£cwt. of sulyhuric acid and 13cwt. of smuts to the spuare mile. In Chelsea a test showed that the amount of solid matter irt the i air per square mile was six tons. Then Sir Frederick' .showed how this affects the lungs of the people 1 who breathe it: "Tile lung of the young child is ft dainty pink/he said: "The lung of . the adult especially if he lives in a city, is inky blue— thunder-cloud blue, marked by patches and stripes of black. This is due absolutely. and entirely to .. dirt, and chiefly to soot. "The soot blocks up the interstices flf the lungs and chokes the bronchial glands, so that the bronchial gland of the town dweller has a coal black surface. It is packed solid with soot. I have seen lungs in London that have been absolutely black from the surface to thek very depths. "14 may be said, that we do not Wear oiifr lungs in a visible place, and that the color can. give .offence to no one. Bttf £hls change in the color, of the lungs very much lessens tfieir power i of .resistance to disease." ' Speaking of the disastrous effects of fog on the lungs, Sir Frederick said : — "The London tog would not admit of killing people by hundreds. It kills them by thousands. . . , "The Sun- is the cheapest, simplest, most, effective germ killer we know. Surely, if any place on earth needs a getm-killer it is in the crowded streets of Lolidon," he added, urging the need for less fog afid more sniishirie. "If no plant can live* or flourish in a London back garden, how can it be supposed that a human being can go through a London winter unharmed?" he asked. The wretchedness of a London winter is that of being weeks and months without, light. ■ , " ■ "It is not ail 1 we breathe, but something with a sediment in it, 'something you can lean up against," as I was told in Wflitechapel," he said. H<6 thought that the, only people at ■ that moment who. had enough energy to tackle siich a question were the Suffragettes. (Laughter.) v They would be heard. If they could change their mdtie from "Votes {of Women" to "Fresh -Alt for Women" their programme might be carried out. He admitter that there was a difficulty in keeping out the fog, and the only ilace that was exempt from it— he did not mean fog— was, the House of Commons. (Laughter.) It should be remembered that thee» ■. waS 8 great deal of carbon in the , air. There waS ft -g6gltiy« <Mal ; mine floating in the air of Lottddfl, Wirst of all let that-be reaped. •/ They, were supposed to be ; living ny an age a£ isle's and. . taxes. ■ Might he suggest to the L<«i- | don County Council that a tax oil- the j Sufl .would swell up their revenue to a considerable degree, for as a matter of fact, there was hardly a ratepayer in Lcfidbii who would not pay a penny rate fof d bit of and then. ■■■> • ; . . Sir William Richmofl'J, R.A., who presided, said that one firm ftwfie had saved £25,000 a year in coal by installing a smokeless furnace system. Tfos Bishop of London made an eloquent pTe'S for pinet air, and described j t,h° present stafe of the London atmosnhere as "most tcrtibfey wasteful, and ' fatal.'* , ■ . t , ■■■ He declared that in one fog his two j I hot&ts nearly went down some o area j jteps. v On another occasion he sent, a ffiotman to iiiid the way, and never saw him again. In another fog a lady who was^trying to find _Fulhaifl Place rammetl her head against it before she discovered where she was." ' " "People describe the London fog as. ?.n 'act of C4oJ' he said, "but it was : slic?f cowardliness and sloth to sit down ' -nd saY SUcH things were the acts of , Gioi ■'• ' '"-'■'. .-\ "If we chose to live heco and create ; stums, and take money for houses which ar3 -riot fit for a dog to live in, '. and have an atmdspßefd^ that chokes our young children; it is not God's fault; it is our fault," ho cried passionafely* . "What has it do with a. Bishop? It has everything . to- do with a .Bishop' 1 , wbp cares for the bodies and souls of his people." . ." *