Road Locomotion in Relation to Public Health.*
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It is important to distinguish the actual noise made by the bus itself, trout the vibration it causes. The former is generally due either to the engine or the change speed gearing, and in a subsidiary manner to the general rattling of the loose parts. These causes are entirely removable, and it is not too much to say that with the great improvement in the motor itself, the introduction of hydraulic or electric transmission in the place of the toothed gearing, and the increased attention to the adjustment of all the shackles, levers, brakes, and other parts, the omnibus as a piece of machinery is becoming, and is likely to become, as silent as the best types of motorcar. In the matter of vibration, however, there is no motor omnibus or heavy vehicle which can compare at present with the motorcar, and this is simply explained by the fact of their difference in weight, which enables the latter to run upon pneumatic tires, whereas the former runs on the heavy though expensive ones of solid rubber. It is true that the rubber tire is a vast improvement on the iron or steel tire, which is indeed impossible for use on ordinary roads at anything but slow speeds, but even the solid rubber tires allow the heavy vehicle to pound into depressions in the road, and so cause much vibration. When a newly-made road begins to depart from its pristine state and becomes uneven, the action of the wheel tends to intensify this unevenness, and a mass of several tons hammering into the ever-deepening hollows, causes such vibration as to become a subject of even greater complaint than the noise of the machinery itself. There is not at the present time before the public any remedy for this evil, which, to those who dwell along the routes of motorbuses, is a very serious form of annoyance, except to those whose health is quite robust, and who are blest with nerves proof against such disturbing causes, and even they complain of structural damage to their property, if not to their constitutions. As for the fumes emitted by such vehicles, they may in themselves be undoubtedly injurious to health if they were inhaled in a dosed space. There is, however, no evidence whatever to show that anyone has ever suffered in their health, even in a temporary manner, from the smell which is occasionally given off from a motor in the open air. The results of the competitions recently instituted by the Royal Automobile Club, under the title of the Emission of Vapour Trials, have shown that it is possible entirely to prevent emission of smoke from a properlydeigned motor vehicle, even under the most severe circumstances. It is even becoming a rare thing nowadays to see any smoke proceeding from a motor omnibus, or to notice to anything like the same extent as formerly, the well-known smell which used to envelop, "as with a garment," this type of vehicle.
In the Country.
There are few things which cause, more discomfort and irritation to human beings than the presence of dust in any considerable quantities in the air. It can be kept from the eyes by proper spectacles, and from entering the lungs in any quantity by a suitable respirator, and the motorist as a general rule adopts the former, and sometimes the latter, as a method of protection. At the same time, if the evils of dust raising by means of motors became so serious that there was no middle course between the abolition of motors and the wearing of goggles and respirators by every one who wished to use the country roads, or who lived by the side of them, the motor would receive very short shrift. As it is, owing to the fact that spells of dry weather are comparatively rare and not long continued in this country, the outcry raised on the dust question is only intermittent ; but, with the enormous increase in the number of motor vehicles, it is quite possible for the discontent of the general public to grow at some future time to such an extent as to compel drastic legislation on the subject.
This is not a matter in which only a few wealthy pleasure seeking users of motors are concerned. Every day the public themselves are realising more and more how greatly the facilities for moving about are being added to by motor vehicles, both for pleasure in motor chars-a-bancs and motor brakes, which in New York are becoming introduced in great numbers under the title of "Rubber Neck Wagons," "Rubber Neck" being the popular name given on the other side of the water to the sightseeing tourist. Beyond this, it has been proved conclusively that all classes appreciate the motor omnibus and its rapid transit for business purposes, and the railway companies themselves are rapidly becoming large owners of motor omnibuses, as subsidiary to their railway systems. Thus we can no longer consider dust as being raised on the public roads by one small section of the community, as was the case a few years ago, but practically everyone is now becoming more and more a party to raising dust on the roads, so everyone has some responsibility, and is therefore concerned in its prevention.
Amongst many eminent men who have treated the subject of dust in relation to the human system, we are probably indebted more to the late Professor Tyndal than to anyone else, for bringing home to the world at large the relation between dust and disease. He has, in what is probably the most striking of his books, viz., "Floating Matter of the Air," shown what a part dust plays in the carrying of germs of disease. On page 273 of that work, after summing up the results and effects of dust, and referring to the diseases carried by dust, he uses these words : "Consider the woes which these wafted particles, during historic and prehistoric ages, have inflicted on mankind." Now, it would be absurd to contend that the dust raised on the country roads by motorcars is thus disseminating disease wholesale, but it is fair to argue that the raising of dust in large quantities in the neighbourhood of human beings is highly injurious, and must be avoided if possible, because, even if we dismiss the question of dust raised under such circumstances as carrying disease, we cannot dismiss the fact that it causes other evils,
Medical science has given the name of "Pneumoconiosis," or "dusty lung disease," to the effects produced on those engaged in occupations where much dust is inhaled, such as Sheffield grinders, miners, and workers in many kinds of factories; and the absorption of granular inorganic particles into the lungs by workers on the road, where volumes of dust are being continually raised, must produce very serious effects, and in a less degree to those who live by the road side, or even frequent the roads on foot or on vehicles, where much dust is raised. This hind of dust is quite different from the ordinary dust which one breathes in a room, having much more irritative effects, and it may be at once admitted that the excessive dust raised from the roads is a real danger to public health.
I have held a strong belief for many years, that some substitute for the ordinary wheel will be discovered and come into use before long. I have now strong reasons for believing that such a device is quite practicable, and that it is possible to carry heavy loads at a fairly high speed, and economically, upon ordinary roads, without injury to them. With the ordinary wheel I do not believe that this is possible. It is important to remember that there are two factors to deal with in the road question, viz., the road itself, and the moving thing in contact with it. It is the mutual relation of these two to each other that constitutes the real problem with which we have to grapple. We have undoubtedly much to learn, but have we done anything during the last few hundred, or let us say thousand years to improve the wheel, that is as far as its destructive action on the road is concerned? I am, of course, not alluding to the pneumatic tire, although the recent extraordinary increase in the number of steel-studded tires, I think, makes the roaddestroying properties of the pneumatic tire when the studs are new nearly equal to that of the diagonal bar of a heavy traction engine. We ought to look for an early answer to the question— can we really modify the wheel under its ordinary conditions of working, so as to enable it to carry heavy loads at high speeds, in order that it may itself neither be destroyed with undue rapidity, or destroy the road in contact with which it works?
The motorist, whatever his faults may be, does not stand outside the pale of being a member of the public. Thus the motor throat which he suffers from is caused by dust, and it is further the reverse of pleasant to wear goggles to protect the eyes, without which a motorist may suffer for several days, after a few hours' run, and if only for selfish reasons, we may be sure he has every reason to wish for the entire prevention of the dust nuisance. Indeed the indignant interest of the motorist on the dust question, when his car is passed by that of any other motorist, is quite pathetic, and even his greatest enemy would not, if he heard his expressions, suspect him of having any partiality for dust; and this in spite of the fact that his own ear is raising a good deal at the very time. Before I close this inaugural address, let me call your attention to the range and great interest of the papers which are to be read before this section during this and the two following days. Let me also say at once how grateful I am to those authors of most of these papers, who so kindly responded to my personal request to contribute from the stores of experience to the furtherance of our knowledge in this section, and I hope that many useful and instructive discussions will arise on the subjects to be dealt with.