Experiments were made with a shower of water in Mr. Cubitt’s descending flue. It will be seen by inspecting the figures 1 to 8 that these flues could easily be formed into one, and taken into the drain; the experiment did not succeed, as none will, that brings heavy smoke in opposition to a water-fall. The smoke must go with the current or water-shower, and not against it.
The flue pedestal, with its water-spray, is the whole of the contrivance by which the author believes the smoke of the domestic hearth could be got rid of, or rendered inoffensive. What the action of the water would be on the gases that escape from the fuel he cannot say, but he presumes it could not be other than beneficial.
He experimented on the subject a few years ago, and had a stove and flue erected about ten feet in height; the lower part of the stove was of brick, the upper part with the cistern of zinc. The coal fire was lighted, and as soon as black smoke appeared at the chimney-top, the water-valve was lifted and about 16 fine jets of water were sprayed against a piece of loose perforated zinc, suspended in the flue; this zinc is shown in fig. 25; in the second flue e (it should have been marked f, but by a mistake in the cutting it is made d), the smoke had to pass through under this perforated zinc to get to the chimney above. On the instant the water was applied, the smoke appeared at the chimney-top of a light colour, and it came out of the soot receptacle, placed a little height above the ground, nearly as much as it did at top, and of a similar light vapourish character,[H] a sure sign that it was drawn down by the current of water. Soot in large quantities was soon seen in the receptacle; the author has not ascertained the quantity of soot which would be obtained by this process from a ton of coals, but he believes it would be very considerable, possibly two sacks or more. As clean unmixed soot is worth in London 2s. 6d. per sack, if this soot were retained it would pay for the extra expense of the water, and the retaining of it, and to carry off the water would be an easy operation.
The “blacks” are good things at present in their wrong place; they could in the way proposed be very easily got rid of, and if it were possible to cut into all the chimneys of London and apply the remedy, the whole of the soot, which at present escapes into the atmosphere, might be caught and passed into the drains; it would there probably fully deodorize them. It is certainly not possible, from the herculean nature of the task, to disturb the whole of the chimneys of London, but the worst only might be operated upon, such as the chief kitchen flues of the great establishments, which are continually sending out black smoke.
Among the chief offenders are our bakers, nearly twenty of them being fined weekly for this by the magistrates, and for fires occurring in their chimneys. It appears that the Smoke Nuisance Act bears hardly upon them; the smoke-consuming apparatus forced upon them by the Act has utterly failed in its purpose, and it is impossible for them to comply with the requirements of the Act, and carry on their business in a satisfactory manner either to themselves or the public. They have applied to the Home Secretary for relief, and a bill to repeal so much of the Act 16 and 17 Vict. that relates to bakehouses has been in contemplation.
There would be no difficulty in placing a flue pedestal in their flues at any height above their oven fires; it would not only relieve their neighbours from the annoyance of black smoke from their chimneys, but it would secure the chimneys themselves from taking fire. The water need only be turned on when required, when black smoke was being made, and if they chose to collect the soot the expense of the operation would be trifling, if anything, beyond the first expense of the flue pedestal, in the end.
In large country houses the flue pedestal would warm the upper rooms or passages, and cause a more equal temperature in the building; this, together with the practicability of collecting the soot for agricultural purposes, might be an inducement to its introduction. Water could be lifted to the roof of a country mansion by that ingenious contrivance the hydraulic ram, and passed off to its original source when done with, the soot being left behind.
The beautiful self-acting machine, known as Gwynne and Co.’s improved hydraulic ram, is peculiarly adapted for raising or lifting water to any required elevation. It is necessary to have a fall of water to work it, and the greater the height of the fall, the more effective will be the machine. In favourable cases it will raise water thirty times higher than the fall working it. The greater the height of the lift, of course the less will be the quantity raised in a given time. This machine can be made to deliver comparatively large quantities of water, either in tanks on the roofs of houses, or in farmyards for filling ponds. It will work day and night without any attendance or expense after it is once fixed. Two or more rams may be used to force through the same pipe, or rising main. Where a continuous stream of water to work the machine cannot be obtained, a spring, or even rainfall, or drainage may be stored up in a reservoir or dam, and made to work the ram.
The expense of these machines is not excessive, as the following table will show:—
| Diameter of Feed Pipe. | Diameter of Delivery Pipe. | Approximate Number of Gallons of Water raised in a day of 24 hours. | Price of Ram, complete, with all the accessories, but exclusive of Pipes. |
| Inches. | Inches. | £ | |
| 2 | 1 | 800 to 1150 | 12 |
| 3 | 2 | 3000 to 4000 | 24 |
| 4 | 2 | 4000 to 5000 | 34 |