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86
Smoke Prevention.
The Council decided to take energetic measures to deal with
this nuisance, and 1,370 observations have been made by the
two Inspectors appointed for this purpose. Eight prosecutions
resulted, and penalties were inflicted to the amount of £63 on
offenders, with £9 costs. In one case an appeal was taken to the
High Court, and was heard by the Lord Chief Justice, Mr. Justice
Darling, and Mr. Justice Channell, sitting as a Divisional Court
(November 11th, 1901):—
Queen Anne Residential Mansions and Hotel Company v. Mayor, &C.,
of Westminster.
" There were three summonses for separate alleged violations of
the Act. The building consists of 300 sets of residential chambers
or flats, none of which is provided with a chimney, there being
a general kitchen in which all the cooking is done for the residents.
There is a general dining-room in which the residents may have
their meals instead of in their own rooms. In the basement there
are five boilers, used for generating steam, for cooking in the
kitchen, for warming the building, for generating electricity for
lighting, and also for the laundry. The boilers are connected with
a chimney, 168 feet high. On behalf of the appellants, it was contended
that no offence had been committed under Section 24 of the
Act, the chimney being the chimney of a private dwelling-house.
Every reasonable precaution had been taken to prevent any black
smoke being emitted, but this, the respondent said, formed no
defence to their action. The Magistrate held, as a mixed question
of law and fact, that the chimney was not a chimney of a private
dwelling, and he ordered the appellants to pay a fine of £5 and
£5 5s. costs on the first summons, and a fine of 10s. on each of the
other two summonses, and the question for the Court was whether
this decision was correct in law.
" The Court dismissed the appeal with costs, looking at the fact
that there were 300 flats with five boilers in the basement for
electric lighting, cooking, warming, and other purposes for the
benefit of the residents in these flats, and that, in truth, a large
trade establishment was carried on, the decision of the Magistrate
was right."
Water Supply.
Applications were received for certificates that the water supply
of new buildings was sufficient, and were granted in each instance :
340 notices of the withdrawal of water supply were received from
the water companies, and in 116 instances it was reinstated; in the