A SMOKE NUISANCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23045, 23 November 1936, Page 7

A SMOKE NUISANCE

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—From time to time you publish with pride pictures of some of the more outstanding architectural features of Dunedin. I wish now to describe in detail one feature which is not only .the object of loathing to several thousands of people, but a menace in the community where it stands. This is the smoke stack of the Hospital Board's laundry in the grounds of the Talboys Home, Caversham, I am appalled—this word is not half strong enough—at the apathy, the incredible apathy, of the residents of the district, of the school authorities, even of the local member of Parliament, who is usually so active in this particular direction, that they tolerate and spinelessly continue to tolerate, a state of affairs which makes life in the vicinity unbearable. For several hours a day vile smoke pours from this chimney over a residential area, and directly into classrooms where hundreds of children have no alternative but to breathe an increasingly polluted atmosphere. Adequate ventilation of rooms containing fifty or sixty people is impossible in such circumstances, and the definitely detrimental effect of such a doubly charged atmosphere must be patent even to the casual observer, not to mention the inconvenience and discomfort. , . ~ And what of the old people in the home? Surely they must also be breathing this smoke, even if not in such devastating quantities. I hope this letter will have the effect of rousing the Hospital Board authorities to the need of installing apparatus which will make this nuisance a thing of the past. In the interest of public health, I am, etc., Pro Bono.