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34
From the 1st January until the 31st December the amount of the impurity at
noon has varied from half a milligramme to three milligrammes per cubic metre of
air ; this latter figure includes times when there has been a fog.
It is interesting to compare the results of similar observations made at other
places, as for example, Malvern and Sheffield, where results are widely divergent.
The value of the work being carried on in connection with the examination of the
atmosphere in the City is evident, and the details recorded indicate the necessity
of its continuation.
For many years past it has been increasingly obvious that the use of electricity
and gas for heating and cooking purposes is contributing to the diminution of the
nuisance from smoke. The cost of electricity is still far too great for its general use,
but I believe the substitution of gas for coal and coke in restaurants and business
premises is practicable and might be more generally adopted if the gas companies
encouraged its greater use, possibly to their own profit and certainly to the advantage
of the populace, by arranging a special rate for the supply to premises of the
class indicated.
London, on the authority of Dr. Owens, in an interview granted to the Daily
Express, receives now nearly 30 per cent. more sunshine than in 1881—were such
special terms for gas as those suggested arranged, I am of opinion that the
increased purity of our atmosphere, as would be observed by City workers, would
be so marked than an agitation against the unnecessary use of common coal would
result and public opinion might even extend to statutory prohibition being enforced.