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the premises but their use that must be considered, and he was of
opinion that using them as a club was not using them as a private
dwelling-house. The case must therefore be sent back to the magistrate
with a direction to convict.*
"Lawrance and Kennedy, J.J., concurred."
The only other case in which proceedings were taken was the Cafe
Royal, 68, Regent Street. Fined £10 and 2s. costs.
Smoke Nuisance from Railway Locomotives.—A considerable amount
of nuisance is caused by the smoke from engines on Hungerford and
Victoria Bridges. The London County Council has authority to enforce
the provisions of the Railway Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, Section
114, which requires that every locomotive shall be constructed on the
principle of consuming its own smoke, and of the Regulation of Railways
Act, 1868, which enacts that if a locomotive is constructed to
consume its own smoke, but fails to do so as far as practicable at the
time charged in the complaint, the railway company using such locomotive
shall be deemed guilty of an offence.
The Public Control Committee of the London County Council, in a
report submitted during 1903, stated that:—
"Considerable difficulty has been experienced in obtaining the
necessary evidence to secure convictions. Until 1902 legal proceedings
were usually taken only when a locomotive was seen smoking for
several minutes, as when standing in sidings, at platforms, or on the
line waiting for the signal to proceed. This meant, of course, that in
only a small proportion of the cases reported were proceedings taken,
as in most instances the nuisance arises from locomotives in motion.
Proceedings are now taken with regard to locomotives in motion
when the nuisance is believed to have continued for some time."
It way be well to recall the fact that serious nuisance from railway
locomotives is of quite recent date. Prior to the year 1898 most of the
railway companies supplied smokeless coal for the use of their locomotives
employed in the London and suburban traffic, but when the
strike of the "Welsh colliers in that year forced the companies to use
bituminous coal, such a reduction in the coal bill was effected that the
companies were reluctant to return to smokeless coal.
The majority of the railway companies now endeavour to comply with
the law, but the nuisance caused by the engines of the London, Brighton,
and South Coast Company and the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway
Company continues to be serious. Both these companies have reported at
recent half-yearly meetings large savings in their coal bill during the year
1902. The South-Eastern Railway Company stated that £43,000 was
* Tbe magistrate subsequently imposed a fine.