- VESSELS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1867

page_text: -
VESSELS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES."
A communication from abroad by Baron Oscar de Mesnil, of Brussels, in
the Kingdom of Belgium, Gentleman, and Max Eyth, of Stuttgart,
Wurtemberg, Civil Engineer.
Sealed the 12th June 1868, and dated the 18th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hunter Henry Murdoch
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th December 1867.
I, HUNTER HENRY MURDOCH, of No. 7, Staple Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING CANAL BOATS AND
OTHER VESSELS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a new or improved mode of propelling canal boats:
and other vessels with steam as a motor, and it consists in a peculiar appli-;
cation of the power to a wire rope or chain and in various means or appliances.
connected therewith whereby all the difficulties hitherto attending the use of,

page_text: steam as a motor on canals, rivers, and streams are successfully obviated.
A suitable steam engine in a tug boat is made to give rotary motion to a drum
mounted loosely on a fixed shaft, and a wire rope or chain passing over the
said drum is kept in contact with a sufficient portion of the periphery thereof
to insure the requisite degree of friction necessary for the propulsion of the
tug and boats connected therewith, this end being attained by suitable guide
rollers. The wire rope or chain is submerged in the canal or stream and is
secured at both ends, and as the said drum is rotated the friction of the rope
on the drum causes the boat to be propelled along. If necessary however the
said drum may be provided with clips or clamps at its periphery so arranged
as to grasp or "bite" the rope and insure the propulsion of the boat. The
propelling drum may be either horizontal or vertical; when horizontal the
guide rollers are placed on the top or deck of the boat instead of at its side,
thus obviating the necessity of having a recess or chamber formed in the side
of the tug or boat to receive the said guide rollers. When the wire rope
or chain passes through the locks of a canal in order to prevent its being
caught between the bottoms of the gates and the sill pieces thereof horizontal
grooves are made in the outer edges of the gates near the lower ends thereof,
one groove in each gate to receive and catch the rope or chain as the gates
are being closed, and the rope or chain rests upon two segments secured to
the bottom of the lock, which segments prevent the rope or chain from sagging
and passing underneath the gates, the said segments being portions of circles
of which the axes of the gates are centres and so placed that the outer edges
of the gates on being opened and closed will just clear them. By this
arrangement as the gates are closed the wire rope will be pressed towards the
centre of the sill piece and will remain between the edges of the two gates
while the same remain in a closed state. One end of the rope or chain is
connected to a windlass operated by a screw and worm wheel in order that
the rope or chain may be kept at a proper degree of tension at all times, and
this is important in a practical point of view as the said rope or chain requires
to be let out when there are many tugs or boats applied to or connected with
it, for a considerable length of rope is taken up by its passage around the
propelling drums. As tugs or boats are detached from the rope or chain the
latter will require to be tightened to take up the slack caused thereby.
t. In order to cast the rope or chain off from the propelling drum, which is often
required to allow one tug or boat to pass another and also for other purposes,
the following apparatus is used:-On the outer end of the fixed shaft on
which the driving drum rotates is fitted loosely a lever one arm of which is
curved inwards and provided at its end with two. prongs, the outer ends of

page_text: which prongs fit in the groove in the periphery of the drum, the space between
the said prongs forming an eye to catch the rope. This forked end of the said
lever arm when not in use is in contact with the lower part of the drum owing
to the superior gravity of that end of the arm and in consequence of the arm
being fitted loosely on the shaft. The other arm of the said lever has a pin
passing through it, which said pin may be driven also into the driving drum so
as to secure the said arm thereto and cause the lever to rotate with the drum.
When the rope or chain is to be cast off from the drum the lever is secured
to the said drum and will then rotate, when the prongs on the end of the arm
passing under the rope or chain will cast it off from the druin; or when the
drum is horizontal the casting-off apparatus may consist of a bent lever
attached to the said drum, the upper arm extending beyond the periphery of
the drum and curved downwards and the lower arm extending downwards
into an annular groove in a fixed plate underneath the drum. The said
groove does not form a continuous circle, a break being in it to allow of a
curvature on a pivoted bar being adjusted with the groove, said curvature.
when thus adjusted causing the inner arm to be forced inwards or backwards
and the upper arm consequently forced downwards so as to catch underneath;
the rope or chain and cast the same off from the drum; or the casting-off
apparatus may consist of a hinged bar adjusted over the drum so as to cast
off the rope or be turned outwards or backwards out of the way of the rope.
In order to avoid any difficulty in applying the rope on to the propelling
drum an apparatus is employed for forming a slack in the rope. This apparatus
consists of two clamps attached to the tug or boat one on each side of the
propelling drum and at a certain distance from it. To each of the said clamps
is attached a supplemental rope or chain connected also to the opposite sides.
of a pulley fitted on the drum shaft outside the drum and connected therewith.
The said clamps are each composed of two parts, the outer part or shell being:
of a V shape at its lower end and having a taper groove in the inner surface
of each side to receive cleats of corresponding shape at each side of the inner
part in which the ends of the supplemental ropes or chains are secured. The
lower edges of the inner parts are grooved or hollowed out in a semicircular
form, and the outside part or shell of each clamp is fitted on the rope or chain
and the inner parts are fitted in the outer shell and the cleats fit into suitable
grooves, and in consequence of the grooves and cleats being of a taper or
wedge form or shape the pull of the supplemental ropes or chains on the inner
parts of the clamps caused by the winding up of the said supplemental ropes
r chains will cause the lower edges of the inner part of the clamps to bind or
lutch the rope firmly and form a slack in the same, which will admit of its.

page_text: being readily adjusted on the propelling drum. The said pulley or pulley
drum of the supplemental ropes or chains may also be used for hauling boats
through the locks and also for hauling boats of a train or series together, a
suitable rope or chain being attached to the said pulley drum for the purpose.
In attaching boats to the tug and to one another a rope or chain connection
may be used, the said rope or chain passing round hooks or pins on the boat
and attached on the tug at one end to a hook and at the other end to a
windlass. The bow of the boat is fitted into a recess formed at the end of the
tug corresponding in shape to the bow of the boat and having pivoted plates
attached to its ends to serve as bearings for the said boat. Other joints may
be used on the bearing parts of the said tug to make them adjustable to suit
the varying levels of the boats. For connecting a series of canal boats together
lines are employed, the said lines being attached to the ends of swivel bars
pivoted centrally to bars fitted transversely on the boats at some distance
from their bows. By this arrangement the boats are allowed to turn freely
and conform to the sinuosities of the canal without getting out of line as would
be the case were they connected by a single rope or chain. If preferred the
propelling rope or chain may be made to pass over the deck of the tug instead
of its being on one side of the same. In such cases suitable guide rollers are
used, and when desired the propelling drum may be placed in the hold of the
tug, when the rope will be entirely out of the way.
This Invention is applicable not only for propelling canal boats but also for
ferry boats on streams capable of having a submerged or partially submerged
rope or chain stretched across them, and the Invention will also be serviceable
in streams where there are rapids, as a wire rope may be submerged in the
rapids and boats enabled to pass through and over them.
It will be readily understood that some of these improvements, are also
applicable to locomotive or traction engines for conveying loads on railways
or common roads, and they may also be applied advantageously to the laying
and raising of submarine electric cables.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Hunter Henry Murdoch in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HUNTER
HENRY MURDOCH, of No. 7, Staple Inn, in the County of Middlesex, Patent 3
Agent, send greeting..

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Hunter Henry Murdoch, Her special licence that I, the said
Hunter Henry Murdoch, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Hunter Henry Murdoch, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING CANAL
BOATS AND OTHER VESSELS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO
OTHER PURPOSES," a communication to me from abroad by Baron Oscar de
Mesnil, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Gentleman, and Max Eyth,
of Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, Civil Engineer, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Hunter Henry Murdoch, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hunter Henry Murdoch, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention relates to a new or improved mode of propelling canal
boats and other vessels with steam as a motor, and it consists in a peculiar
application of the power to a wire rope or chain and in various means or
appliances connected therewith whereby all the difficulties hitherto attending
the use of steam as a motor on canals, rivers, and streams are successfully
obviated. A suitable steam engine in a tug boat is made to give rotary
motion to a drum mounted loosely on a fixed shaft, and a wire rope or chain
passing over the said drum is kept in contact with a sufficient portion of the
periphery thereof to insure the requisite degree of friction necessary for the
propulsion of the tug and boats connected therewith, this end being attained
by suitable guide rollers. The wire rope or chain is submerged in the canal
or stream and is secured at both ends, and as the said drum is rotated the
friction of the rope on the drum causes the boat to be propelled along. If

page_text: necessary however the said drum may be provided with clips or clamps at
its periphery so arranged as to grasp or "bite" the rope and insure the pro-
pulsion of the boat. The propelling drum may be either horizontal or
vertical; when horizontal the guide rollers are placed on the top or deck of
the boat instead of at its side, thus obviating the necessity of having a recess
or chamber formed in the side of the tug or boat to receive the said guide
rollers. When the wire rope or chain passes through the locks of a canal in
order to prevent its being caught between the bottom of the gates and the
sill pieces thereof horizontal grooves are made in the outer edges of the gates
near the lower ends thereof, one groove in each gate to receive and catch the
rope or chain as the gates are being closed, and the rope or chain rests upon
two segments secured to the bottom of the lock, which segments prevent the
rope or chain from sagging and passing underneath the gates, the said
segments being portions of circles of which the axes of the gates are centres
and so placed that the outer edges of the gates on being opened and closed
will just clear them. By this arrangement as the gates are closed the wire
rope will be pressed towards the centre of the sill piece and will remain
between the edges of the two gates while the same remain in a closed
state. One end of the rope or chain is connected to a windlass operated by a
screw and worm wheel in order that the rope or chain may be kept at a
proper degree of tension at all times, and this is important in a practical
point of view as the said rope or chain requires to be let out when there are
many tugs or boats applied to or connected with it, for a considerable length
As tugs or
of rope is taken up by its passage around the propelling drums.
boats are detached from the rope or chain the latter will require to be
tightened to take up the slack caused thereby.
In order to cast the rope or chain off from the propelling drum, which is
often required to allow one tug or boat to pass another and also for other
purposes, the following apparatus is used:-On the outer end of the fixed
shaft on which the driving drum rotates is fitted loosely a lever, one arm of
which is curved inwards and provided at its end with two prongs, the outer
ends of which prongs fit in the groove in the periphery of the drum, the space
between the said prongs forming an eye to catch the rope. This forked end
of the said lever arm when not in use is in contact with the lower part of the
drum owing to the superior gravity of that end of the arm and in consequence
of the arm being fitted loosely on the shaft. The other arm of the said lever
has a pin passing through it, which said pin may be driven also into the
driving drum so as to secure the said arm thereto and cause the lever to
rotate with the drum. When the rope or chain is to be cast off from the

page_text: drum the lever is secured to the said drum and will then rotate, when the
prongs on the end of the arm passing under the rope or chain will cast it off
from the drum; or when the drum is horizontal the casting-off apparatus may
consist of a bent lever attached to the said drum, the upper arm extending
beyond the periphery of the drum and curved downwards and the lower arm
extending downwards into an annular groove in a fixed plate underneath the
drum. The said groove does not form a continuous circle, a break being in
it to allow of a curvature on a pivotted bar being adjusted with the groove,
said curvature when thus adjusted causing the inner arm to be forced inwards
or backwards, and the upper arm consequently forced downwards so as to
catch underneath the rope or chain and cast the same off from the drum;
or the casting-off apparatus may consist of a hinged bar adjusted over the
drum so as to cast off the rope, or be turned outwards or backwards out of
the way of the rope.
In order to avoid any difficulty in applying the rope on to the. propelling
drum an apparatus is employed for forming a slack in the rope. This
apparatus consists of two clamps attached to the tug or boat one on each side
of the propelling drum and at a certain distance from it. To each of the said
clamps is attached a supplemental rope or chain connected also to the opposite
sides of a pulley fitted on the drum shaft outside the drum and connected
therewith. The said clamps are each composed of two parts, the outer
part or shell being of a V shape at its lower end and having a taper groove in
the inner surface of each side to receive cleats of corresponding shape at each
side of the inner part in which the ends of the supplemental ropes or chains
are secured. The lower edges of the inner parts are grooved or hollowed out
in a semicircular form, and the outside part or shell of each clamp is fitted on
the rope or chain and the inner parts are fitted in the outer shell and the
cleats fit into suitable grooves, and in consequence of the grooves and cleats
being of a taper or wedge form or shape the pull of the supplemental ropes or
chains on the inner parts of the clamps caused by the winding up of the said
supplemental ropes or chains will cause the lower edges of the inner part of the
clamps to bind or clutch the rope firmly and form a slack in the same, which
will admit of its being readily adjusted on the propelling drum. The said
pulley or pulley drum of the supplemental ropes or chains may also be used
for hauling boats through the locks and also for hauling boats of a train
or series together, a suitable rope or chain being attached to the said pulley
drum for the purpose. In attaching boats to the tug and to one another a
rope or chain connection may be used, the said rope or chain passing round
hooks or pins.on the boat and attached on the tug at one end to a hook and at

page_text: the other end to a.windlass. The bow of the boat is fitted into a recess
formed at the end of the tug corresponding in shape to the bow of the
boat and having pivoted plates attached to its ends to serve as bearings
for the said boat. .Other joints may be used on the bearing parts of the said
tug to make them adjustable to suit the varying levels of the boats. For
connecting a series of canal boats together lines are employed, the said lines
being attached to the ends of swivel bars pivoted centrally to bars fitted
transversely on the boats at some distance from their bows. By this arrange-
ment the boats are allowed to turn freely and conform to the sinuosities of the
canal without getting out of line as would be the case were they connected by
a single rope or chain. If preferred the propelling rope or chain may be made
to pass over the deck of the tug instead of its being at one side of the same.
In such cases suitable guide rollers are used, and when desired the propelling
drum may be placed in the hold of the tug, when the rope will be entirely out
of the way..
..
:. This Invention is applicable not only for propelling canal boats but also for
ferry boats on streams capable of having a submerged or partially submerged
rope or chain stretched across them, and the Invention will also be serviceable
in streams where there are rapids, as a wire rope may be submerged in the
rapids and boats enabled to pass through and over them.
It will readily be understood that some of these improvements are also
applicable to locomotive or traction engines for conveying loads on railways or
common roads, and they may also be applied advantageously to the laying and
raising of submarine electric cables.
But in order that the Invention as communicated to me may be better
understood I will proceed to describe the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is a side view of a steam tug and a portion of a canal boat in tow and
having this Invention applied thereto; Figure 2 is a plan or top view of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is an enlarged view of the drum on the tug, over. which drum the
wire rope or chain passes; Figure 4 is a section of the same taken in the
lines a, a, Figures 2 and 3; Figure 5 is a plan or top view of a modification
of the arrangement shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4; Figure 6 is a side view
of Figure 5; Figure 7 is an enlarged view of the drum shewn in Figures 5
and 6; Figure 8, a section of the same taken in the line y, y, Figure 7;
Figure 9 is a view of the apparatus for forming the slack in the rope or
chain in order to facilitate the adjustment of the same over the drum; Figure 10
is an enlarged detached side view of the gripe or clutch employed with the
apparatus for forming the slack in the rope or chain; Figure 11, an end view
of Figure 10; Figure 12 is a plan or top view of a series of boats.connected

page_text: together by an improved plan; Figure 18, a transverse section of Figure 12,
taken in the line z, z; Figure 14 is a side view of a tug shewing the operation
of the mechanism employed for casting the wire rope or chain from the pro-
pelling drum when required; Figure 15 is a view showing a modification in
the arrangement or application of the propelling drum; Figure 16 is a view
showing another modification in the application of the propelling drum ;
Figure 17 is a view shewing the means whereby the wire rope or chain is
strained or has its tension regulated to suit circumstances; Figures 18 and
19 represent a modification of the means for throwing the rope or chain off
from the propelling drum. Similar letters of reference are used to indicate
like parts wherever they occur in the different Figures.
A (see Figures 1, 2, 3, 4) represents a steam-tug provided with a steam
engine of any proper or suitable construction and having a drum B placed
loosely on a fixed shaft C, over which is a wire rope or chain D, the said rope
or chain being made to "hug" the periphery of the drum, that is to say, kept
in contact with a sufficient portion of its periphery to ensure the requisite degree
of friction necessary for the propulsion of the tugs and beats connected there-
with. This end is obtained by guide rollers a, a, as shewn clearly in Figures.
1 and 3*. The wire rope is submerged in the canal or stream and secured at
both ends, and as the drum B is rotated the friction of the rope on the drum is
designed to be sufficient to cause the boat to be propelled along. If necessary
however the drum B may be provided with clips or clamps at its periphery so
arranged as to grasp or bite the rope and ensure the propulsion of the boat.
A modification of the application of the drum B is shown in Figures 5, 6, 7,
and 8. In this arrangement the drum has a horizontal position, and the guide
rollers a are placed on the top or deck of the boat instead of at the side, as
shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4. The former application involves the necessity of
a recess or chamber 6 being formed in the side of the tug or boat to receive
the guide rollers a, and this is attended with considerable trouble and expense in
the building of the tug or boat and precludes the application of the vertical
drum to tugs or boats not built expressly for its use. The modification ex-
hibited in Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 obviates this difficulty as will be readily seen.
The rope D is designed to pass through the locks E of a canal and underneath
the gates F of the locks, as.shewn in Figure 6; and in order to prevent the
rope or chain being caught between the bottoms of the gates and the sill piece
G thereof the outer edges of the gates have horizontal grooves c made in them
near their lower ends, one in each gate, to receive and catch the rope or chain
as the gates are being closed, two segments d, d, being secured to the bottom

page_text: of the lock on which the rope or chain rests, which said segments prevent the
said rope or chain from sagging and passing underneath the gates, the said
segments being portions of circles of which the axes e of the gates are centres
and so placed that the outer edges of the gates in being opened and closed
will just clear them. By this arrangement as the gates are closed the wire
rope will be pressed towards the centre of the sill piece G and will remain
between the edges of the two gates while the same remain in a closed state
see Figure 5. It is designed to have one end of the rope D connected to a
windlass operated by a screw and worm wheel, as shown in Figure 17 at a*.
By this simple arrangement the rope may be kept at a proper degree of
tension at all times, and this is an important feature in a practical point of
view as the rope requires to be let out when there are many tugs or boats
applied to or connected with it, for a considerable length of rope is taken up
by its passage around the propelling drums. As tugs or boats are detached
from the rope the latter will require to be tightened to take up the slack
caused thereby.
In order to cast the rope or chain off from the propelling drums, which is
often required to allow one tug or boat to pass another and also for other
purposes, the following apparatus is employed:-On the outer end of the shaft
C, Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, there is fitted loosely an arm H, one end of which
is curved inwards and provided with two prongs f, f, the outer ends of which
fit in the groove in the periphery of the drum, in which groove the rope works.
The space between the prongs f,f, forms an eye g to catch the rope. This
forked end of the arm when not in use is in contact with the lower part of the
drum owing to the superior gravity of that end of the arm and in consequence
of the arm being fitted loosely on the shaft and not turning with the drum, see
Figures 1, 3, and 4. When the rope is to be cast off the end of the arm
opposite to that provided with the prongs f has a pin h, Figure 4, passed
through it, said pin extending into the drum and securing the arm to the latter
so that the arm will rotate with the drum, and the pronged end of the arm will
pass underneath the rope or chain so as to cast the latter from the drum, see
Figure 14. In Figures 5, 6, 7, and 8 a modification of this casting-off
apparatus is shown, a bent lever or arm H¹ being attached to the horizontal
drum B the upper arm extending beyond the periphery of the drum and curved
downwards, as shewn clearly in Figure 8, and the inner arm extending down-
wards into an annular groove i in a fixed plate j underneath the drum. This
.groove
i is not continuous or does not form a complete circle, a break k being
in it to allow a curvature on a pivoted bar m being adjusted with the groove,

page_text: said curvature when thus adjusted causing the inner arm to be forced inwards
or backwards, and the upper arm consequently forced downwards so that
it will catch underneath the rope, see Figure 8, and cast the same off from
the drum.
Another modification of this casting-off apparatus is shown in Figures 18
and 19, the latter consisting simply of a hinged bar H" which may be adjusted
over the drum B, as shewn in Figure 18, so as to cast off the rope, or be
turned outwards or backwards so that it cannot come in contact with the rope.
In order to avoid any difficulty in applying the rope to the propelling drum
an apparatus is employed for forming a slack in the rope. This apparatus (see
Figures 9, 10, and 11) consists of two clamps I, I, to which supplemental ropes
or chains n, n, are attached, the latter being connected to opposite sides of a
pulley J'fitted on the shaft C outside of the drum B and connected therewith,
see Figure 9. The clamps I, I, are each composed of two parts o, p, the
part o being what may be termed a shell, being of V shape at its lower part (see
Figure 11) and having a taper groove 9 in the inner surface of each side to
receive cleats r of corresponding shape at each side of the part p in which
the ends of the ropes or chains n, n, are secured. The lower edges of the
parts p are grooved or hollowed out in semicircular form, and the parts or
shells o of the clamps are fitted on the rope D, and the parts p fitted in the
parts o, the cleats r of p fitting in the grooves 9 of o, and in consequence of
the grooves and cleats being of taper or wedge form or shape the pull of the
supplemental ropes or chains n, n, on the parts p, caused by the winding up
of said ropes or chains on the pulley J will cause the lower edges of p to bind
or clutch the rope D firmly and form a slack in the same, which will admit of
its being readily adjusted on the drum B. This pulley or pulley drum is also
advantageously used for hauling boats through locks and also for hauling
boats of a train or series together, a suitable rope or chain, being attached to
the pulley drum for that purpose. In attaching boats to the tug and to one
another a rope or chain connection may be used, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2,
K representing the rope or chain passing around hooks or pins S on the
boat L and attached to a hook t on the tug, the opposite end of the rope or
chain being connected to a windlass M on the tug. The bow of the boat is
fitted in a recess u corresponding in shape to the bow of the boat and having
pivoted plates v, v, attached to its ends, which serve as bearings for the
boat L (see Figures 1 and 2). For connecting a series of canal boats together
the lines w, w, are employed, as shown in Figure 12. These line are attached
to the ends of swivel bars N which are pivoted centrally to bars O, the latter

page_text: being fitted transversely on the boats at some distance from their bows, see
Figure 13. By this arrangement the boats are allowed to turn freely and
conform to the sinuosities of the canal without getting out of line as would
be the case were they connected by a single rope, chain, or line. In certain
cases it might be preferable to have the rope D' pass over the deck of the tug
instead of having it at one side of the same. And in this instance the rope
may pass over guide rollers on the tug, as shown in Figure 16; and in certain
cases the propelling drum B may be placed in the hold of the tug, as shown
in Figure 15, in which case the rope D will be entirely out of the way.
It will be seen from the above description that the Invention is applicable
not only for propelling canal. boats but also for ferry boats on streams capable
of having a submerged rope or chain stretched across them, and the Invention
may also be serviceable in streams when there are rapids, as a wire rope may
be submerged in the rapids and boats enabled to pass through or over them
without any difficulty whatever.
Having now described the nature of this Invention, as communicated to
me, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I would have it. under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise details shown and described,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of the
Invention; but what I claim as the Invention is,―
Firstly. The application of a submerged fixed rope or chain when used in
connection with a drum or other suitable apparatus for grasping the same on
a boat or vessel, and all arranged in such a manner that by the revolutions of
the drum or apparatus the boat or vessel will be propelled along, substantially
as shown and described.
Secondly. The casting-off apparatus consisting of an arm H, H', or H",
attached to or connected with the propelling drum B or its equivalent, and
arranged substantially as shown and described, so that by a simple adjustment
the arm may be thrown in contact with the rope or chain, and by the
revolution of the drum cast off the said rope or chain from the said drum.
Thirdly. The clamps I, I, constructed and applied to the rope or chain D
in connection with the pulley J and supplemental ropes or chains n, n, or an
equivalent means for the purpose of forming or producing when required a
slack in the said rope or chain D to facilitate the placing of the said rope or
chain on the drum.
Fourthly. The two segments d, d, at the bottom of the lock E in connection
with the grooves c in the edges of the gates F, all arranged substantially as
and for the purpose specified.

page_text: Fifthly. The windlass M and rope or chain K arranged in connection with
the hooks or pins S, S, and t, as shown, for the purpose of attaching boats to
the tug, substantially as shown and described.
Sixthly. The swivel bars N in combination with the lines w, w, all arranged
and applied substantially in the manner as and for the purpose set forth.
Seventhly. The pulley drum J for hauling subsequent boats of a train
through locks direct by the machinery on the tug.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hunter Henry Murdoch, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
B. WILCOX,
His Clerk.
H. H. MURDOCH. (L.S.)