The Village Board of Health Overrules the Health Officer

New York, 1895

The board of health of the village of Jamaica held its first meeting Thursday evening. Charles Doran was elected president, W. Augustus Shipley, secretary, and Dr. T. J. Flynn, Health Officer.

It was ordered that a sign against dumping refuse at Alsop and Grove streets be erected.

Complaint was made that the dumping ground owned by William B. Case was in bad condition, refuse being scattered over the entire ground instead of being put in trenches.

Mr. Case said that Mr. Lockwood, president of the water company, was behind the complaint. The board had passed a resolution prohibiting Mr. Case from dumping or burning garbage within 300 feet of the wells of the water company.

Secretary Shipley said he did not think the board should fight Mr. Lockwood's battles. The water company could buy the land as a means of controlling it. The water company were under contract to supply the village with pure and wholesome water. If they failed to do so, the remedy of terminating the contract could be applied.

Mr. Woolley moved that the resolution prohibiting Mr. Case from dumping or burning garbage within 300 feet of the water company's wells be rescinded. Dr. Flynn advised the board that it would be unwise to remove such a restriction. If the resolution was rescinded, Mr. Case could do just as he pleased about dumping garbage,

The resolution, however, was rescinded.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, May 17, 1895, p. 8.

Stench Factories Get Notice

New York, 1895

Gov. Morton's precept in relation to the abatement of the Newtown Creek stench factories was served on Mayor Sanford, of Long Island City, on Monday. The order directs that the business conducted by Hilderbrandt's factory for fat rendering be discontinued forthwith, and that the business conducted at the factories of Preston, Peter Van Iderstine, Jr., F. A. Van Iderstine's and Fred Hoffner's be discontinued within ninety days from Jan. 1, 1895.

The order requires that all offensive matter from manufacturing establishments be discharged into a sewer flowing directly into the East River, and that Brooklyn and Long Island City be prohibited from discharging sewer's directly or indirectly into Newtown creek.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, April 19, 1895, p. 1.

Berlin Smoke Free

1902

The German Capital Has Demonstrated that Smoke Nuisance is Curable

One of the cleanest cities in the world, so far as soot and smoke are concerned, is Berlin, Germany. Although a busy manufacturing city, it is of the cleanest and best kept in Europe.

The smokeless condition of Berlin is ascribed to three facts. The preponderant use of coke and briquette, which are practically smokeless; the skillful scientific construction of boiler furnaces and chimneys, and, finally, the high standard of skill that is taught and enforced among firemen who stoke furnaces with coal for steam and manufacturing purposes.

Before a man can assume such a charge he must be taught the theory and practice of economical, scientific firing by which the coal is distributed in such a manner and quantity over the grate surface as to secure the most perfect combustion of its volatile elements.

The Silesian coal used in Berlin in most large steam plants and factories is rich in bitumen and would rank below many of the bituminous coals of the United States, and yet the long, dense, trailing clouds of smoke from mill and factory chimneys which are so familiar a sight in many American cities are rarely seen in that section of Germany, where the indiscriminate shoveling of a raw bituminous coal into the steam and other furnaces is considered an ignorant and wasteful proceeding.

Atmospheric Phenomenon Startles Jersey Folks

1922

Asbury Park, N. J., April 23. — Gaseous odors flashed through space to the south of this place at 9 o'clock tonight, disappearing in a thunderous roar and frightening residents of many coast towns.

Window panes in residences at Toms river were shattered by the explosion and the gas, polluting the atmosphere for more than a quarter of an hour, compelled the residents to hold dampened handkerchiefs to their nostrils.

In Lakehurst, many of the buildings were shaken, as if by an earthquake, but the gas was not noticed.

A party led by two town officials has set out for the spot at which the meteor fell. It is believed the spot is near Brown's-Mill-in-the-Pines, a village 30 miles from here.

The atmospheric phenomenon, according to many of the persons who witnessed it, lasted for about a minute. But a tiny streak of light at first, it became beautifully colored as it neared earth and at times it seemed to halt momentarily in space, adopted a new course, and then zig-zagged back again, witnesses declared.

The meteor fell in the sea, about a mile off shore at Seaside Park, 35 miles south of here, it is reported.

The celestial mass, as it struck the water, caused an explosion that shook the residences of the village and threw spray to a great height, residents say. Volumes of steam then arose and, drifting ashore, nauseated many.

Members of two coast guard companies say they believe the phenomenon was caused by a large explosive rocket. No trace of a giant rocket could be found, however.

—Oneonta Daily Star, Oneonta, New York, April 24, 1922, page 1.