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Che Conservative 13
The Smoke Nuisance.
In nil our largo cities and towns , east
and west , where manufacturing is con
ducted to any considerable extent the
use of bituminous coal is increasing.
The limitation of the output of anthra
cite has forced this in a measure , but in
any case the cheaper coal would for.3
its way. The dim buod atmosphere , the
begrimed buildings , a certain indescrib
able sootiuess of aspect , marks the phys
iognomy of cities where the main de
pendence is on soft coal. Even in New
York , where one of the greatest charms
of the ensemble has always been noted
in a crystalline beauty of the air and
sky , the smoke nuisance is casting its
shadow. It may be said that the in
creasing application pf electricity to
motor purposes , whereby the economical
and effective combustion of coal and
utilization of its heat units can be ac
complished on a largo scale , will tend
ultimately to lessen the smoke volume
from factory chimneys. It is true also
that in eastern cities where anthracite
coal will always bo used for domestic
purposes smoke will not be so much in
evidence as in western cities. But there
is no need in any case that there should
bo nearly the same amount of annoyance
from this cause as actually exists.
In London there has been a percepti
ble diminution of the effects of smoke ,
according to the testimony of those in a
position to inako a continuous compari
son. An ordinance exists in that great
city compelling all manufacturing con
cerns which use coal in largo quantities
to consume the gases of incomplete com
bustion for that is the philosophy of
smoke by specially devised apparatus.
It is approximately successful , but it
can never , of course , fully satisfy the
fullness of the ideal. A million or so ot
households burning soft coal will have
their effect , whatever restriction may be
placed on the workshops and factories ,
But something very perceptible has been
accomplished , it is alleged. If all large
users of soft coal in the United States
were obliged by law to adopt the smoke
consuming apparatus , it would bo found
an economy to the user and a blessing
to the health and msthetio taste of the
public. The experiment is well worth
the trial , specially in many of the big
cities of the west , where the smoke nui
sauce transforms even clear sunshine
into a kind of yellow pallor , which is
at times almost ghastly to the uuaccus
tomed eye.
The German bureaucrats have lately
been stunned to learn officially , what ov
ary one in business circles has known
for a long time , that American pork ,
igainst which there has been an official
war , has had easy access to the German
uarket all along. Prohibition went into
jffeot in 1892 under the law providing
; hat no form of American pork should
DO admissible unless an official inspect-
jr'a certificate accompanied it vouching
uat ic naci been examined under the
Microscope aud found free from tri-
hiuce. Of course that for many reasons
s for the most part impracticable. The
working rule has been , however , that
jo prescribed articles have beeu con-
iuually smuggled through the custom
ouses aud that English dealers buying
lie American hog meat have put it on
be German market as English ham aud
aeon , which always command higher
Drices.
Nonsense , mere airy folly , is often
nero amusing than the brightest wit ,
ud it takes a more gifted mind to
) low the soap bubbles of clover uou-
enso than to strike off sparks of wit
with the clash of flint aud steel. Any'
ociul observer has constant occasion !
o observe the difference.
Human courage is a curious compound
u most cases of vanity , shame aud tern- \
jorameut , and were it not for its nega- ;
ivo side , fear , its highest positive in j
ieeds of heroism would not exist. To i
lare is to bo very conscious of some-
hing to be dared.
The terrible annual destruction of
forests by fire has lately been resumed
in Wisconsin. In the five northern pine
counties the devastation has been gen
eral. A furious cataclysm of flume has
reduced 600,000,000 feet of standing
pine to ashes , in addition to immense
tracts of hardwood timber. These year
ly inflictions appear for the most pait
to have been started by the carelessness
of hunters. There is no means of pro
viding against the almost certain con
tingency except by remodeling human
nature. A magazine writer recently
estimated that during the last score of
years § 50,000,000 worth of lumber had
been burned up by forest fires in the
United States.
The most omnivorous readers are not
always the most penetrating and lumi
nous minds. The process of digestion and
assimilation is often injured by the
habit of gross feeding. This is well il
lustrated by the joke of the old Quaker
Indy at the expense of Mucaulay , who
was boasting of the number of books
which engaged his attention every day ,
"Why , friend Thomas , when does theo
get time to think ? "
The American authorities in Manila ,
like those in Santiago and Porto Rico ,
have opened the schools on as liberal a
basis as possible. Paper missiles are
sometimes more effective in the long
run than iron and lead.
An amusing item in The Straits
Budget describes a masquerade ball giv
en by a Chinese club in Malacca. It
goes to prove that John Chinaman is
not always such a fossil as ho is sup
posed to be. This society item was as
follows : "Li Ohin Hi appeared as a
oonrtierof Queen Elizabeth ; Chi Kang
Uheug as Henry n , with a pigtail ; Koii
Tioug Siew as a barrister ; Chan Kooii
Cheng wore a dress entirely covered
with stamps , as a Liverpool indigo
merchant ; Pan Chay Yan wore the kilt
of a highlauder ; Leo Chim Giang was
EL fourteenth century gentleman ; Leo
Ohing Bong went as George III , and Oh
Song Giap as the queen's coachman.
But the most pathetic figure in the list
is Chee Wang Cheng , who was absent.
Ho was to have appeared as Napoleon
Bouaparto. " One marvels how the rov-
slers managed the sacred pigtail on
such an occasion.
A strong movement in England is
stirring the question of decimal coinage
to replace the very complicated and
3ifficult measure of sterling money.
That has outworn its usefulness. Mer
chants are beginning to see in their an
tiquated coinage one reason why British
foreign trade has stood still while that
af the United States and Germany has
made such tremendous strides. The nb
surdity of using the metric system of
weights and measures in international
trade while still clinging to the anti
quated figuring in pounds , shillings and
pence is evident at a glance.
An order has been issued by the Prus
sian home minister complaining of the
leniency of the police and soldiery in
dealing with the election mobs. They
are to use the edge of the sword and
ball cartridge hereafter. This is in
ootable contrast with the mildness of
England and the United States in deal
ing with election disturbances.
It is man only that ever laughs , all
the other animals living very seriously.
Devotees of science are never so amia-
Die as when they are at table. Most of
Shorn are somewhat gastronomic in their
mstes unless they have bad digestions.
Eyndall and Huxley were wont to smile
with great gusto when the butler en
tered with the magic words , "Dinner
is served. "
A mob stoned a member of the British
.egation the other day in Peking. It
ana not been figured out yet just bow
uany square miles of territory the apol-
jgy will needs cover.
A Stone That Grows.
A West Gouldsboro ( Me. ) man tolls
a queer story about a stone that grows.
It is an egg shaped , flinty looking rock ,
which he picked up in a cove near his
homo over 80 years ago. Then it
weighed about 12 pounds and from its
odd bbapo was kept in the house and on
the doorstop as a curiosity. As the
years passed the stone increased in size.
Six years ago it weighed 40 pounds ,
and now it tips the scale at G5 pounds.
The owner swears it is the same stone ,
and tells a likely story , with numer
ous witnesses to back him up. Ex
change.
