IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR RAPIDLY AND EFFECTIVELY DESTROYING SNOW AND ICE IN THE STREETS, PUBLIC PLACES, COURTYARDS, AND OTHER LOCALITIES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes
and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR RAPIDLY AND EFFECTIVELY
DESTROYING SNOW AND ICE IN THE STREETS, PUBLIC PLACES, COURTYARDS,
AND OTHER LOCALITIES."—A communication from abroad by Dr. Jacob
Folkmann and Ferdinand Kölgen, of Vienna, in the Empire of
Austria
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th February 1872.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for " IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR RAPIDLY AND
EFFECTIVELY DESTROYING SNOW AND ICE IN THE STREETS, PUBLIC PLACES,
COURTYARDS, AND OTHER LOCALITIES," (a communication to him from abroad

page_text: by Dr. Jacob Folkmann and Ferdinand Kölgen, of Vienna, in the
Empire of Austria), to be as follows:-
On the main conduit of gas and at convenient distances, according to
the situation and locality, I apply branch or service pipes on which we
screw hoses of india-rubber, leather, or any convenient elastic material.
The supply of these hoses should not be higher than a foot above the
level of the street, and must be either close to the houses or in places
where they do not hinder the communication.
For cleaning a length of three hundred feet and a breadth of one
hundred and eighty feet, I employ a hose about one hundred and eighty
feet long, which is to be wound upon a suitable hose cart, one end of the
hose having a screw in order to be screwed upon the branch pipe, and
at the upper end of the hose their is a metal tube about three feet long
and furnished with a valve. This metal tube serves as a handle to the
workman for directing the jet of gas as well as for augmenting and
reducing the pressure of gas, and for instance by stopping the jet, and a
perforated cylinder forming the gas burner is screwed on the mouth of
the said metal tube, the dimensions of the burner varying from six
inches to two feet.
When the hose pipes are connected and the gas ignited, the
operation begins in the centre of each section, the length of which is
about three hundred feet, and the snow and ice covering the half
breadth of the street are transformed to water which flows easily off
into the gutters and sewers. For each section I employ a man for
directing the gas, another for the service of the hose and hose cart, and
two men with brooms for preventing any swell of water, and for clearing
away other obstacles, it being understood that one side of the street
must always be left free for the passage of carriages and pedestrians.
When arrived at the end of the section the workmen returns and
passes the hot jet of gas over the pathway in order to evaporate the
remaining water and make the path dry. When the same kind of work
has been done in the opposite direction, the hose is to be unscrewed, the
opening in the branch pipe closed, and similar operation performed on
the other side of the street.
An experienced workman can clean at least one thousand two
hundred square feet in an hour, and consequently can destroy nine

page_text: thousand six hundred square feet of compact snow from ten o'clock in
the evening to six in the morning.
When this work begins at the same time at so many points as must be
chosen for destroying the snow and ice in one night, the largest town
can be delivered in eight hours from this trouble so prejudicial to the
passage and to the health of populations.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th August 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special
licence that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Thomas
Hughes, 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
"IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR RAPIDLY AND EFFECTIVELY DESTROYING SNOW
AND ICE IN THE STREETS, PUBLIC PLACES, COURTYARDS, AND OTHER LOCALITIES,"
a communication to me from abroad by Dr. Jacob Folkmann and
Ferdinand Kölgen, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes,
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

page_text: 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 (that is to say) :-
On the main conduit of gas and at convenient distances, according to
the situation and locality, is applied branch or service pipes on which
are screwed hoses of india-rubber, leather, or any convenient elastic
material. The supply of these hoses should not be higher than a foot
above the level of the street, and must be either close to the houses
or in places where they do not hinder the communication.
For cleaning a length of three hundred feet and a breadth of one
hundred and eighty feet, a hose is employed about one hundred and
eighty feet long which is to be wound upon a small hose cart, the nozzle
end having a screw in order to be screwed upon the branch pipe, and at
the upper end of the hose there is a metal tube about three feet long
and furnished with a valve. This metal tube serves as a handle to the
workman for directing [the jet of gas as well as for augmenting and
reducing the pressure of gas, as well as for instantly stopping the jet,
and a perforated cylinder forming the gas burner is screwed on the
mouth of the said metal tube, the dimensions of the burner varying
from six inches to two feet.
•
When the hose pipes are connected and the gas ignited, the operator
begins in the centre of each section, the length of which is about three
hundred feet, and the snow and ice covering the half breadth of the
street are transformed to water which flows easily off into the gutters
and sewers. For each section is employed a man for directing the jet of
gas, another for the service of the hose and hose cart, and two men with
brooms for preventing any swell of water and for clearing away other
obstacles, it being understood that one side of the street must always be
left free for the passage of carriages and pedestrians.
When arrived at the end of the section the workman returns and
passes the hot jet of gas over the pathway in order to evaporate the
remaining water and make the path dry. When the same kind of work
has been done in the opposite direction the hose is to be unscrewed, the

page_text: opening to the branch pipe closed, and similar operations are performed
on the other side of the street.
An experienced workman can clean at least twelve hundred square
feet in an hour, and consequently can destroy nine thousand six
hundred square feet of compact snow from ten o'clock in the evening to
six in the morning.
When this work begins at the same time at so many points which
must be chosen for destroying the snow and ice in one night, the largest
town can be delivered in eight hours from this trouble so prejudicial to
the passage and to the health of populations.
The gas may also be furnished by any transportable gas apparatus
and the same apparatus may be fixed or applied to the said hose cart or
to locomotive engines, in order to remove snow and ice from the rails of
railways.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood that
I claim,-
First. The use of gas for the production of heat in order to destroy
snow and ice in the streets, public places, courtyards, and other localities,
substantially as herein described.
And, secondly. The arrangements and dispositions for conducting the
gas from the main conduit into the elastic hose, and spreading the
hot gas over surfaces covered with snow and ice, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of August
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
to