The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-07-30
Lieutenant Seabury's Long
Fight in Defence of Ills
BreeCh Patent.
SUSTAINED By THE U. S. COURTS.
The Eminent Inventor a Resident
of Bayome--New Trials
in the Fall.


naval inventors of this inventive age He is
Lieutenant Samuel Seabury and he lives on
West Eighth street, Bayonne. The Lieuten-
ant has been in the United States Navy ever
since he was fifteen years old and graduated
from the Naval Academy in 1871. Inven-
ton has always been his hobby and during
his first year at Annapolis he prepared de-
sign for gun carriage in which the gun was
to furnish its means of returning to battery
by gravity. Rear Admiral Luce, who was
then Lieutenant Commander, was shown
the design at the time and commended it
highly.
After graduating Lieutenant Seabury
tried his hand on gun carriage with breech
mechanism of the wedge block system, the
and model made at the New York Navy
Yard in 1878 by order of Admiral Simpson
Breecn loading guns are divided into two
classes. In one the breech is closed by a
square or wedge-shaped block held against
the breech by some structure sufficiently
strong, through its connection with the gun,
to resist the force of the explosion when the
withdrawn by a sideward or down
ward movement to permit the
loading of the gun and is returned TO its
place by a reversal of tie same movement.
In the other class the breech is closed by
what is known as a screw block. This is a
block provided with an interrupted or mu-
tillated screw, alternate sections of which
are cut away, so that, corresponding sections
of the receiving screw threads in the breech
of the gun being likewise cut away, the
block may be freely pushed into or with
drawn from its place. aud by a revolution
equal to a single section in extent may be
turned SO that the threads in the block ex-
actly engage with those in the hreech, lock-
ing the block firmly and safely for firing, or
may be turned SO as to unlock the block and
permit its free withdrawal after firing.
DESIGNS A VESSEL.
" hile cruising on the Wachpusett on the
Pacific coast in 1879 1881 Lieutenant Seabury
worked out the designs of a vessel and her
batteries, including carriages for guns and
the application to them of a wedge block
mechanism of his own device. These are
still on file the Navy Department at Wash
ington and the invention received fatter-
ing letter of acknowledgement from the
Secretary of the Navy. After this, under
orders from the Navy Department. Lieuten-
ant Seabury made designs for flag ship for
Admiral Temple. A report made by the
Getty Board of Heavy Ordnance and
Projectiles to which Lieutenant Seabury's
device for the side acting wedge block
mechanism was submitted, published in 1882
settled the Eieutenant's ideas in regard to
side mechanism and he dropped it, turning
his attention to the screw block
He already had some peculiar ideas about
the screw threads, and he began to study
the question of simplifying the movements
for handling the seven block. At that time
rapid fire was not known for large guns,
and the screw block was handled by the
three notions generally by lever to turn
ba fn mill ont md hon tf.
swing. There was no device which accom-
plished these three motions in one movement.
FIRST IDEA OF SEVEN BLOCK.
Lieutenant Seabury got his first idea of
device which would accomplish this purpose
in 1858, which was to open the screw block
by the action OF cam. The idea was to
carry pin from the block, and by cam
slot in a lever to turn the block and, pull it
out by opening the lever. The first pull of
the lever was to rotate the block by the ac-
tion of the cam upon the pin, and the con-
tinuation of the pull of the lever was to
draw tue block out of the gun.
At this point. which was about 1883 or
1884 Lieutenant Seabury was ordered to
Admiral Porter's staff for the duty of get
ting up complete designs for a gunboat
under the Admirals directions. This work,
which involved a great deal of labor, en-
CROSSED his time continuously day and night
until 1sS5. when he completed the design
A1teT taxing HuucH uSeueu f0sU ne started
in 1885 for three years cruise, during
which tirne he worked on his idea of the
breech-bloek mechanism. Although much of
his time was taken up with his official duties
he used his spare moments to such advan-
tage that before he landed from this cruise
in 1888 he had made a general plan for his
invention and in 1889 he filed his application
for a patent, which was issued in April,
1890.
COMMODORE FoIGER's PRAISE
In May, 1890. Lieutenant Seabury and
Captain J. Wall Wilson visited the Bureau
of lOrdnance of the Navy at Washington
and laid the model OF the Seabury breech,
together with a set of unfinished drawings,
before Commodore Folger, then Chief of
of that bureau At this interview Com
modore Folger expressed himself as much
interested in the model He opened and
closed it great many times and remarked
that it was very good thing and in many
respects superior to anything in the Navy.
Then after examining it. still further he
asked what the inventor would ask the Gov
erment for the use of the breech. There
was some further conversation relating to a
new gas check. also devised by Lieutenant
Seabury, and arrangements were made for
giving the two inventions trial
On June 3, 1890, the Lieutenant made
finished drawings OF his inventions and
mailed them to Commodore Foiger. In
July he mailed copies OF drawings for the ap-
piication OF his inventions to six-inch guns. 4
Hearing nothing from these letters in Sep
teuber of the same year he wrote to Com
nnodore Folger and received in reply a letter
the receipt of the plans, and
saving that while recognizing the merits of
the inventions, the Bureau had other de-
signs developed by its assistants, which it
superior in some respects to those 4
of Lieutenant Seabury, and it had concluded
not to adopt the Saabury design, but to hold
it AS an alternative plan and a possible
future trial and use.
DAsHIELL;S INFRINGEMENT.
Ensign Dashiell, one of the cleverest
geniuses i'll the Navy, saw the plans of the
Seabury mechanism in the weekly publica
ton of the patent office in May or June,
1880. About week afterward ne bought
copy of the Seabury patent and made him
self familiar with its details He then con-
structed q model of mechanism for closing
the breech on the same lines as s5cabury's,
which he submitted to Commodore Folger.
The Dashiell model was adopted, and in the
fall of 1890 the Bureau began work on a four
inch gun, the same size shown by the Sea
hlry drawings. made at Foger's request.
The Bureau continued the work, and in De-
cernber, 1892, had completed from fifty to
one hundred guns fitted with the Dashiell
mechanism.
Although Seabury made efforts to ascer
tain what was going on, he received no in
formation or explanation. In the report Of
the Bureau for 1880 he first saw Dashiell's
name mentioned in connection with the in
vention. and when he wrote to Commodore
Folqer and asked for copy OF Ensign
DAshieIl's drawings, he received the CURT