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72
Some interesting figures are found in the Report of the Royal Commission
on the Coal Industry published a few weeks ago. The work of the
Departmental Committee who reported in 1921 is quoted. " The gross
wastefulness of present methods of consuming coal in domestic grates is
commented upon, and also the ill-effects on health from pollution of the
air. There is 20 per cent. more sunlight in the country than in towns
because of their smokiness. Two and a half million tons of potential
fuel from domestic fireplaces and half a million tons from industrial
furnaces escape annually into the air. In terms of money this annual
waste is computed at £6,000,000. Smoke makes things dirty. It has
been estimated that in Manchester the increased cost of household
washing alone on account of smoke is over £290,000 a year."
The following table shows the extent to which smoke has been a cause
of complaint to the sanitary authority during the past five years, and
also a summary of the measures taken in mitigation :—

It has not been found necessary during the year to serve any statutory
notices, and it is satisfactory to record that in every instance the party
responsible for the nuisance has been anxious to do everything possible
to prevent a recurrence of it.
Occupations and Workshops.
In this report previous comment has been made on the fact that the
City of Westminster is a great administrative, business and shopping
centre, and that by far the greater proportion of those whose occupations
are in the City live in other districts. The following table extracted from
the data supplied by the Registrar-General in his report on the 1921
Census, and reproduced from the report of the late Medical Officer of Health
for the year 1923, may. be of interest in this survey report of the previous
five years:—