AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sigismund Cornely, of Lime Street, in the City of
London, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PERMANENT WAY
OF RAILWAYS."-A communication from abroad by Messrs. Lezaire and
Pauwels, of Valenciennes, France.
Sealed the 21st February 1860, and dated the 9th September 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sigismund Cornely at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
September 1859.
I, SIGISMUND CORNELY, of Line Street, in the City of London, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PERMANENT
WAY OF RAILWAYS," to be as follows:-
According to this Invention in constructing the permanent way of railways
transverse sleepers are employed, and these are each formed of a bar or sheet
of iron having a chair formed at each end by bending the bar or sheet. The
outer jaws of the chairs are formed by bending the ends of the bar or sheet
upwards to a right angle or nearly so, and the inner jaws are formed by
making three bends in the bar or sheet thus ; sleepers and chairs
thus constructed may be used in conjunction with ordinary double-headed
rails which may be secured in the chairs by wooden keys.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Sigismund Cornely in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SIGISMUND
CORNELY, of Lime Street, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the,
said Sigismund Cornely, Her special licence that I, the said Sigismund Cornely,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Sigismund
Cornely, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE
PERMANENT WAY OF RAILWAYS," a communication from abroad by Messrs.
Lezaire and Pauwels, of Valenciennes, France, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Sigismund Cornely, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 Sigismund Cornely, 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:-
According to this Invention in constructing the permanent way of railways,
transverse sleepers are employed, and these are each formed of a bar or sheet of
iron having a chair formed at each end by bending the bar or sheet. The
outer jaws of the chairs are formed by bending the ends of the bar or sheet
upwards to a right angle or nearly so, and the inner jaws are formed by making
three bends in the bar or sheet thus
; sleepers and chairs thus
constructed may be used in conjunction with ordinary double-headed rails which
three bends in the bar or sheet thus

page_text: And in order that the said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto
annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
a, Figure 1, is a side view of a portion of a bar or sheet of iron bent to form
a chair at one end thereof as above described; b is a section of a double-
headed rail laying in the chair, and c is a key or wedge of wood to hold it
securely in its place. Figure 2 shows a similar arrangement in which, how-
ever, the form of the bends at the ends of the plate or bar are slightly modified
to allow of a key or wedge of smaller size being employed, the rail being at
the same time more firmly held.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sigismund Cornely, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
SIGISMUND CORNELY. (L.S.)