Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 February 1894 — THE SMOKE PROBLEM. [ARTICLE]

THE SMOKE PROBLEM.

How the People of Butte, Mont., Abated a Nuisance. “The smoke nuisance, of which many cities are at present complaining, was summarily settled by the people of Butte, Mont., so far as it affected that place,” says a writer. “Butte is built on the side of a long hill which is surmounted by a busy hive of copper and silver mines and mills. Just below the town is a suburb called Meadville, where the copper smelters are located. The ore is first of all roasted in great heaps outside the smelting furnaces in order to remove the sulphur. When the atmosphere is all cool the smoke rises and settles gradually over the town. It is very much worse than soft coal smoke, because it is full of sulphur, which is not only had smelling out dangerous. After an hour or so in this air one’s throat becomes irritated and the air passages become clogged. These conditions make the way easy for pneumonia, a disease viewed in the past by Butte people with greater alarm than cholera. Often this sulphurous smoke became so dense that it was impossible to see across the narrowest street, and the people were forced to go about - with lanterns. “The people of Butte tried every way to get rid of this dangerous nuisance. They held meetings, passed resolutions and petitioned mining companies city councils and Legislatures. They made pleas and threatened boycotts, but all without avail, for, once started, a smoke nuisance grows like a green bay tree, and is as hard to kill as pigweed. Each winter tho pneumonia swept through the camp like a scourge, and the spring brought hundreds of now graves to bear evidence of the cold avarice of mining corporations. “One day last year, when the smoko was bad, several old-timers were standing on the corner of Main street discussing the situation. Among them was Gen. Charles S. Warren, widely known for his ability to make an afterdinner speech and hold an ace full. “ ‘ln the old days the boys would have cleaned out those roast heaps mighty quick,’ said one. “ ‘What’s the matter with doing it now?’ said tho General. “‘Nothing,’ cried tho others in a chorus. “The news quickly spread that the citizens were going to solve the smoko problem, and in ten minutes the street in front of the court-house was packed with crowds of cheering people. The General made a'short speech and a great procession was started for Meadeville. It grew as it passed along, until nearly all of Butte was on the march. At Meadville a few superintendents and owners were flying about with threats of injunctions, but they were silenced when the General cried; “ ‘To h—ll with you people whose families live East. We have got wives and children here.’ “And then the work of destruction commenced. Big dynamite cartridges were dropped in the roast heaps, and up went the ore with the costly plants for treatment. When heaps worth more than ICO,OOO had been spoiled the crowd returned home and awdke next morning to find an entire freedom from sulphurous fumes. This practically settled / the smoke problem, and how the companies are building stacks on the hill to carry away the amoke or are moving their smelters.”