IMPROVEMENTS IN EXPELLING SOLID AND LIQUID REPUSE MATTER PROM STEAM AND SAILING SHIPS BELOW THE WATER LINE, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR DISCHARGING CANNON BELOW WATER FROM SHIPS AND FORTS, AND IN PART FOR CHARGING GAS RETORTS AND IRON FURNACES, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Augustus Soul, of No. 3, Leadenhall
Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN EXPELLING SOLID AND LIQUID REPUSE MATTER PROM
STEAM AND SAILING SHIPS BELOW THE WATER LINE, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR
DISCHARGING CANNON BELOW WATER FROM SHIPS AND FORTS, AND IN PART FOR
CHARGING GAS RETORTS AND IRON FURNACES, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR USEFUL
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by John Palmer, of Ferrol,
in Spain, Engineer.
-
Sealed the 15th January 1864, and dated the 23rd July 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Augustus Soul
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd July 1868.
Sout,
I, MATTHEW AUGUSTUS SOUL, of No. 3, Leadenhall Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN EXPELLING SOLID AND LIQUID REFUSE MATTER FROM STEAM AND
SAILING SHIPS BELOW THE WATER LINE, APPLICABLE ALSO FOR DISCHARGING CANNON
BELOW WATER FROM SHIPS AND FORTS, AND IN PART FOR CHARGING GAS RETORTS
AND IRON FURNACES, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
The first of my said improvements has for its object the getting rid of the
ashes, clinkers, and other refuse of the furnaces of a steam ship without the

page_text: necessity of hoisting them out of the stoke bole, and consists in attaching
within the bottom or any other convenient part of the ship's hold in the
vicinity of the furnaces, and sufficiently below the water line, a water-tight
tube, box, channel, or receptacle provived with two suitable covers or valves,
one of them opening toward or within the stoke hole for the reception of the
substances required to be got rid of, and the other or external valve is for the
purpose of opening the external communication through which the matters to
be rejected are passed out from the ship, at the same time the aforesaid
receptacle is to be supplied with air forced in by means of a pneumatic pump
worked by the steam engine or otherwise, which air depresses the surface of
the water and allows the substances deposited within the receptacle to fall by
their own weight into the sea so soon as the external valve is opened. Thus
by opening and shutting the valves alternately and the intervention of the air
at proper times between the two valves, the expulsion of the contents of the
said submarine receptacle or apparatus may be easily and safely effected.
2. The second of my said improvements has for its object the application
of the aforesaid submarine receptacle or apparatus to the discharging of
the contents of sinks and waterclosets, when such sinks and waterclosets are
fixed either below the water level or in any other part of the ship. In this
case in addition to the pneumatic pump or other air forcing apparatus I use a
packing of gum clastic, india-rubber, gutta percha, or other similar substance,
which I place within a suitable recess or groove to be turned in the top and
bottom edges of the receptacle, and against which the valves or covers may
rest, being screwed up thereto by strong cross bars and properly arranged
pinch bolts, or by any other convenient means, by which the accidental leakage
of any offensive effluvia within the ship will be totally prevented. The valvular
arrangement and modus operandi for this improvement are precisely the same
as in the last.
8. The third of my said improvements consists in the adaptation of the afore
said or similar submarine or submerged apparatus acting on the same principle
for the purpose of loading and firing ordnance below the water level. In this
case, besides the submarine receptacle already described, I use a smalle
receptacle, tube, or gun case, on which the gun to be loaded and fired is to be
placed, together with a rod to be worked through a stuffing box in the cover of
the case, by which the gun can be pushed forward towards the port hole, and
when necessary may be returned again by the same means. The interior of
the gun case is made very little larger than the breech of the gun, and a smal
quantity of water is admitted, by which means the too rapid recoil of the gun
is prevented. The gun and its case may be fixed at any angle for throwing

page_text: shot or shell into a fortress or town. The arrangement of the valves may be
the same as in the ash apparatus, or the outer valve or cover may be a
common sluice valve.
4. The fourth of my said improvements is in the application of my aforesaid
Invention to the firing of ordnance in a submarine fort built into the side of a
hill at the narrow entrance of a harbour. The piece to be fired by some one on
the shore or side of the hill having at his command a galvanic battery in
connection with the guns of the fort, in order that he may see the object to be
fired at in passing the fort, which could not be done from the interior.
5. I propose to apply the same valvular arrangement and apparatus to the
charging of gas retorts and iron furnaces on land. In these cases the pneu-
matic pump will not be required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthew Augustus Soul in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd January 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
AUGUSTUS SOUL, of No. 8, Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant untu
me, the said Matthew Augustus Soul, Her special licence that I, the said
Matthew Augustus Soul, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Matthew Augustus Soul, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from timo 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 EXPELLING SOLID AND LIQUID REFUSE
MATTER FROM STEAM AND SAILING SHIPS BELOW THE WATER LINE, APPLICABLE ALSO
FOR DISCHARGING CANNON BELOW WATER FROM SHIPS AND FORTS, AND IN PART FOR
CHARGING GAS RETORTS AND IRON FURNACES, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR USEFUL
PURPOSES," a communication to me from abroad by John Palmer, of Ferrol, in
Spain, Engineer, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: Matthew Augustus Soul, 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 Matthew Augustus Soul, 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 :-
The nature of the comprehensive principle, the application of which in
various forms constitutes my Invention, consists in the depositing any material
or matter to be disposed of under unequal pressure of water, air, gas, or other
agents, into a bariel or raceptacle, which barrel or receptacle, by means of the
mechanism to be berein-after described, can be put alternately into operation
by means of the aforesaid unequal pressures, so that communication with the
greater pressure being cut off, the matter can be placed under the ordinary
lower pressure in the receptacle or barrel, which, upon being hermetically
closed by a lid or cover, is put into communication with the greater pressure
by opening a valve, sluice, or other partition, whereupon the aforesaid matter
is ejected or falls into the fluid or gas of greater pressure by means of pneu-
matic or any other elastic fluid pressure externally applied. This pneumatic
or other pressure is likewise applied before opening the cover communicating
with the lower pressure in order to expel the fluid or gas of greater pressure
from out the box or receptacle which receives the matter to be disposed of.
The first of my said improvements has for its object the getting rid of
the ashes, clinkers, and other refuse of the furnaces of a steam ship without
the necessity of hoisting them out of the stoke hole, and consists in attaching
to the bottom or. any other convenient part of the ship's hold in the vicinity of
the furnaces and sufficiently below the water line a water-tight tube, barrel, or
channel, or receptacle, provided with two suitable covers or any number of
valves, one of them opening towards or within the stoke hole for the reception
of the substances required to be got rid of, and another or external valve is for
the purpose of opening the external communication through which the matters
to be rejected are passed out of the ship. At the same time the aforesaid
receptacle is to be supplied with suitable pressure, as, by example, air forced
in by means of a pneumatic pump worked by the steam engine or otherwise
which air or other pressure depresses the water and allows the substances
deposited within the receptacle to fall by their own weight into the sea so soon

page_text: as the external valve is opened. Thus by opening and shutting the valves
alternately and the intervention of the air or other pressure at proper times
between the valves, the expulsion of the contents of the said submarine
receptacle or apparatus may be easily and safely effected.
2. The second of my said improvements has for its object the application
of the aforesaid submarine receptacle or apparatus to the discharging of the
contents of sinks and waterclosets when such sinks and waterclosets are fixed
below the water level in any part of the ship. In this case in addition to the
pneumatic pump or other air-forcing apparatus I use a packing of gum elastic,
india-rubber, gutta percha, or other similar substance, which I place within a
suitable recess or groove to be turned in the top cover and bottom edges of the
receptacle, and against which the valves or covers may rest, being screwed
up thereto by strong cross bars and properly arranged pinch bolts, hinges,
and clasps, or by any other convenient means by which the accidental leakage
of any offensive effluvia within the ship will be totally prevented. The
valvular arrangement, although not precisely the sanic, the modus operandi for
this improvement is the same as herein-before (1) described.
3. The third of my said improvements consists in the adaptation of the
aforesaid or similar submarine or submerged apparatus acting on the same
principle for the purpose of firing ordnance below the water level. In this
case, besides the submarine receptacle already described, I use a smaller
receptacle, tube, or gun case, in which the gun to be fired is to be placed together
with a rod to be worked through a stuffing box in the cover of the case by
which the gun can be pushed forward towards the port hole, and, when neces-
sary, may be returned again by the same means. The interior of the gun
case is made very little larger in diameter than the breech of the gun, and the
small space about the breech of the gun causes it to cushion upon the water, by
which means the too rapid recoil of the gun is prevented. The gun and its
case may be fixed at any angle for throwing shot or shell into a fortress or
town.
The arrangement of the valves may be the same as in the ash appa-
ratus, or the outer valve or cover may be a common sluice valve.
4. The fourth of my said improvements is in the application of my aforesaid
Invention to the firing of ordnance in a submarine fort built into the side of a
hill at the narrow entrance of a harbour. The piece to be fired by some one
on the shore or side of the hill having at his command a galvanic battery in
connection with the guns of the fort in order that he may see the object to be
fired at in passing the fort, which could not be done from the interior; or the
gun may be fired by a common fusee communicating with the charge through
the breech, the rod being made hollow.

page_text: 5. I propose to apply the same valvular arrangement and apparatus to the
charging of gas retorts and iron furnaces on land. In theso cases the pneu-
matic pump will not be required.
In order that the nature of my Invention and the means by which I carry
the same into effect may be thoroughly understood I append to this Specifi-
cation a Sheet of Drawings, having figures and letters of reference marked
thereupon. In these Drawings, although various forms or modifications of my
Invention are shewn, I have in the ash apparatus shewn more particularly the
details of my said Invention, the principle being the same in its various
applications. I would likewise have it to be understood that the forms and
dimensions of the vessels, receptacles, valves, levers, and such like parts, as
well as their arrangement, can be altered and modified according to the peculiar
adaptation of my Invention to the object which it is desired to effect.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
(I.) Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, represent the ash apparatus, in which a, a, is the
barrel or receptacle in which the ashes, clinkers, or other refuse matter to bo
disposed of are to be placed; 6 is the pipe or tube through which the pneu-
matic or other pressure is communicated to the receptacle a, a, and valve
box d; d shews the valve box with the valve c; the former in the Drawings is
shewn of a D-shape in order that the valve may hang down flat against its
side, thereby offering no obstacle to the ashes passing through the valve box
into the sea; e is an external lever attached to the valve spindle so that the
valve may be always under the control of the attendant; f is the cover consti-
tuting the communication between the ash barrel or receptacle and the hold
of the ship; the lid f is hermetically closed by means of the cross bar g and
the screw h. In order to ensure a water-tight fit of this lid or cover I propose
to interpose between the joint faces a ring i of india-rubber or other material
of a similar nature. The Drawing shews the manner in which the cover or
lid is hinged to the barrel, by means of which its opening can be effected
without detachment. In order to prevent large pieces of clinker or other
stuff from getting into the valve passage c and choking the same, I propose
to fit the barrel a with a funnel-shaped strainer k, the passage through which
is somewhat smaller in diameter than the valve passage. This strainer can be
omitted at discretion. To provide against casualties with regard to the
blocking up of the valve passage, I have shewn attached to the apparatus a
clearing rod , by means of which the said passage can be perfectly cleared.
At m is shewn a kind of fingers which open when the clearing rod / to
which they are attached is drawn back, and close when it is pushed forward,

page_text: thereby greatly facilitating the clearing operation. Tho pneumatic pressure
may be supplied either by a pump or other apparatus worked either by hand
or by connection with the engines of the vessel, and communicating by the
tube 6 to the ash apparatus, when the stop valve n will be opened, thereby estab-
lishing the communication of the pneumatic or other pressure with the interior
of the barrel. The ash apparatus is shown in these 5 Figures drawn to a
scale of one inch to a foot, but the actual dimensions of the said apparatus will
be varied according to situation and especial requirements.
The modo of operating and action of the apparatus is as follows :-The
pressure supplied to the apparatus being sufficient to overcome the pressure of
the water upon the bottom of the ship, it descends below the valve c, then
close the air valve by the valve spindle n, then close the valve c by the lever e,
turn to the left the wheel h until the cover f is raised clear from the top edge
of the barrel or receptacle a, swing the cover f open; fill the barrel a with
ashes, replace the cover, turn the wheel h to the right hand until the cover is
firmly set to its place; next open the air valve by the valve spindle n, thus the
pressure becomes equal in the barrel a, and its contents by their own gravity
opening the valve c, fall through into the sea, the lighter particles that would
otherwise float being forced by the pressure into the sea.
(11.) Figure 6 shews the application of my Invention to a ship's sink or
watercloset. In this Drawing a is the vessel or receptacle of first deposit ;
6, the lid or cover to the same, which can be closed hermetically by the clasp c;
d is the valve communicating with the secondary vessel e (under higher
pressure), which secondary vessel is in direct communication with the sea.
The valve d is opened by a lever attached externally to the spindle f, and kept
closed by the counterweight g. h, h, are packing rings to ensure a water-tight
closing of the cover and valves; k, k, are the openings communicating with
the pneumatic apparatus. The mode of operating the arrangement is in
substance the same as herein-before described with respect to the ash apparatus.
The scale of this Figure is one quarter size.
(III. and IV.) Figures 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, shew the application of my
Invention to the firing of guns under water; Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, shew
the arrangements of this application more in detail. Figure 9 shews a gun in
a position ready for firing; Figure 10, a gun withdrawn by the rod a and the
hook 6 passing through the lid of the firing tube c, so that the sluice or port d
shutting off communication with the water can be closed. The rod a may be
made hollow and attached to the breech of the gun. A common fuse may
be put into communication with the charge, and the gun fired thereby.
Figure 11 shews a gun in a position ready for loading in the loading trough c,

page_text: the cover or lid c being opened; f is a set screen for setting the gun in its
proper position, from which, however, it will recoil when fired, on account of
the gun being made slightly conical or taper. In order to prevent a violent
recoil of the gun, the breech nearly fills out the firing tube g, by means of
which the water will have to be forced through the space so left by the recoil
of the gun, thereby obviating any violence or shock. In order to prevent the
gun running too far out of the port, the firing tube is provided with a shoulder,
as shewn at h. k shews the communication of the firing tube g with the
tube k, through which the water is forced by means of pneumatic or other
pressure after the firing or withdrawal of the gun, and after closing the port
or sluice d; although not shewn in the detail diagrams, the tube k is provided
with a cock to shut off communication with the same, while the gun is being
loaded. The pneumatic tube may be attached to the firing cylinder g at any
convenient place. Figure 12 shews a transverse section of the firing cylinder g;
at m is shewn a groove or slot cut in the collar of the gun, and working
into a corresponding rib attached to the sides or bottom of the firing tube g in
order to prevent the turning of the gun; Figure 13 shews a transverse section
of the firing trough. The mode of firing the guns under water is as follows:-
After the gun is charged in the loading trough e, it is projected into the firing
cylinder, upon which the cover c is closed, which is done in the manner
as herein-before described with respect to the ash apparatus (I.); the sluice
or port d is then opened, and the gun put into its proper position, and set
therein by the set screw f. The gun can then be fired by means of an electric
battery or other contrivance. Upon the gun having been fired and recoiled,
the sluice or port d is closed, the cock of the tube k is opened, and com-
munication with the apparatus supplying the pressure being thus established,
the water is expelled through the tube k; the cock is then closed, and the lid
or cover c opened, and the gun drawn into the loading trough to be recharged.
Figure 7 shews the application of my Invention for the purpose of firing guns
under water from a ship. At A is shown a gun in the loading trough ready
for loading, at B a gun in the firing tube ready for firing, at C in such a position
as to throw shell from under water into a town or fort. In the Drawings
Figures 7 and 8 are to a scale of one quarter of an inch to a foot, and
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, are three-quarters of an inch to a foot.
[Figure 8 shews the application of my Invention for firing guns under water
to a submarine fort, the details of these applications being similar to those
described as illustrated by Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 18.
Figure 14 shews the application of my Invention to the feeding of a cupola
or melting furnace of which the hot gases are appropriated to other useful

page_text: purposes, such, for example, as the beating of steam boilers; Figure 15
shews the application of the same principle to the feeding of gas retorts. In
both these Figures a, a, is the first receptacle for the charging material; b, b.
the valve communicating with the furnace or the retort; c, c, is the external
cover shutting off' communication when the charged material is ejected or let
fall into the furnace or retort. Figures 14 and 15 are drawn to a scale of one
quarter of an inch to a foot.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be effected, what I claim as the Invention to be protected
is, the construction and arrangement of apparatus for the purposes herein (in
the title and opening part of this Specification) alluded to, and their actuation
by the means or in the manner in this Specification described, or in the
Drawings appended thereto shewn.
I claim also (in connection with my arrangements for the firing of guns
under water) the prevention of excessive recoil in the gun by the action of
water in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Augustus Soul, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
MATTHEW AUGUSTUS SOUL. (LS.)
Witness,
CHARLES POLLARD,
3, Leadenhall Street, E.C.