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273
[1911
One can say with some certainty that the amount of black smoke now
given off by factory and workshop chimneys in Islington, and indeed in London
as a whole, is not nearly so great as formerly, owing to the more firm
administration of the smoke clauses of the London Public Health Act; and
were it not for the apparently lax administration of the law in some of the
boroughs on the borders of the County this great nuisance would not be as
great as it is.
The abatement of smoke nuisances is of vital importance to London, not
only on account of their effect on health and vegetation, but also because of
the very material injury which they cause to our ancient buildings. Recent
experimenters (Drs. H. A. des Vceuex and J. S. Owens) reported their
observations on the London soot-fall in the Lanctt of January G, 1912. They
collected rain water in soot-gauges (large rectangular hoppers of 4 square feet
area connected with large bottles), from June 1910 to June 1911, and analysed
the contents at intervals of a month, and they found in the 192 litres of rain
collected at Old Street the following matters:—
Total deposit 92.81 grams. Ammonia (NH3) 7.54 grams.
Insoluble (soot) 60-92 „ Chlorine (CI.) 4.05 „
Dissolved Solids 31.89 „ Lime (Ca O) 1.26 „
Sulphate (SO4) 10.04 „
They also found that the total deposit per square mile was 650 tons, and
for London 76,050 tons. These figures afford some indication as to the
amount of scot and noxious gases deposited annually in London, but perhaps
they will be better understood if summarised:—Of the 76,050 tons total
deposit which fell on the 117 square miles of the London area 6,000 tons
were present as Ammonia, 800 tons as sulphates, and 3,000 tons as chlorides.
The greatest amount of insoluble deposit (soot) fell in the City during
October, on days when fog was prevalent; an 1 in the S.W. district during
January and February; the minimum deposit fell in the City in September
and October, and in the S.W. district in September and October.
From September 1st, 1902, to March 31st, 1903, 39 fogs occurred in
London, of which 27 were radiation and contact fogs, 4 were cloud fogs, and
8 were smoke fogs, that is 20 per cent, of London fogs were artificially
induced and preventable (Cohen and Ruston's " Smoke: A Study of Town
Air," page 62). There seems little hope of ridding London of fogs until the
enormous amount of smoke that is now sent forth by the chimneys of private
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