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58
the chimneys of the Electricity Power Station. An expensive plant
has been installed to intercept the fumes and grit, but these accidents
have occurred when the flues are cleaned or repairs are being
carried out.
In some industrial processes, the dust derived from the
materials being treated, may be of sufficent value in itself to make
the trapping of it an economic as well as a considerate proposition ;
—dyers, roasting kilns and metallurgical processes, but in the case
of boiler furnaces, there is no such inducement, and the elimination of
boiler flue gases is an expensive process, involving extra capital and
maintenance. Some of the larger firms have installed apparatus
for the trapping of the fumes, but a breakdown involves damage to
neighbouring property.
The amount and nature of the dust vary, not only with the
type and design of the furnace, and the draught and load conditions,
but also with the character of the coal burnt. It is claimed that the
emission of dust from boiler stacks is to some extent preventable
by the use of cleansed coals. In addition to reducing the amount
of ash, the cleansing of coal effects a considerable reduction of the
sulphur content. Naturally, the use of cleansed coals involves
a more immediate expense, and the users do not as rule take a long
view of the question. A short while ago, an officer of one of the railway
companies, stated that a day's fog involved them in an expense
of hundreds of thousands of pounds, in addition to the inconvenience
caused to the company as well as to the public. When one observes
the smoke which so frequently belches forth from some of the
engines, one wonders if this expense caused by the fogs could not
have been avoided if more care and money had been expended on
the fuel, and on the stoking of the engines.
In the southern part of the district complaints are frequently
received of black smoke from the boiler shafts. These factories are old
and have been adapted and not specially erected for the purposes
which they now serve. Most of the old hand-laundries have been
turned into power laundries, and the boilers installed have not been
the most efficient as far as smoke and grit emission is concerned.
The fuel used is often cheap bituminous coal, and the stoking leaves
much to be desired. Mechanical stokers are seldom installed, the
stoker has other duties to perform, piles on the fuel, and black smoke
emerges, at intervals during the day.
In Acton, as a result of constant vigilance on the part of the
officers, together, of course, with the erection of up-to-date plants
in the newer factory area, an improvement has taken place as far as