IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS OF PRIVIES, CLOSETS, AND COMMODES, AND ALSO FOR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR REMOVING, EMPTYING, AND CLEANSING THE SAME
Year: 1870

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Fennell at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
March 1870.
I, JOSEPH FENNELL, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Inspector
of Nuisances, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS OF PRIVIES, CLOSETS, AND COMMODES, AND ALSO FOR
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR REMOVING, EMPTYING, AND CLEANSING THE
SAME," to be as follows:-
The objects of this Invention are the promotion of an improved
O sanitary condition among all classes, especially in large towns, an
increased quantity of more valuable manure than is at present obtained
from any privies now in operation, a great saving of time and money
to corporations by the facilities afforded for the collection of town
excrement, and a perfectly unobjectionable and harmless method of
5 removal instead of the present system of night work, and unavoidable
nuisance caused by emptying ash-pits.
The privy, closet, or commode is moveable, and is constructed of iron,
brass, tin, copper, wood, or any other material impervious to tho
atmosphere, or it may be lined with lead, tin, or any other material

page_text: which will prevent corrosion or adhesion of excrement, and it is to be
made air-tight by placing or fixing india-rubber, elastic cloth, leather, or
any other such like material which will fill up crevices and joints so as to
keep out the air and keep in the smell and gases. The underside of the
lid is also covered with india-rubber or other closing material, so that
when the privy is closed the two surfaces of india-rubber will come
together, and thus prevent any smell from passing between them by
hermetically scaling the opening. The lid is to have a fastening which
will be self-acting and cause a continual pressure thereon. When the
privy is going to be used this pressure may be taken off by moving a
lever and the lid set free for opening. When the privy is to be used by
a number of people of separate families or in low class neighbourhoods
the lid may be made to slide to one side by the person going to use it by
moving a lever, or the process of sitting on the privy may cause the lid
to open, and after use the lid may be made to close by means of the
said lever. There is to be a handle on each end of the privy for the
purpose of lifting or moving the same. There is also to be a moveable
pan placed immediately under and around the hole of the privy, closet.
or commode, which pan is to be inclined inwards in the shape of an
ordinary watercloset basin, leaving about four inches of an opening
at the bottom, thus preventing the contents of the privy from being
exposed to view.
The pan is to be constructed and fitted with a floating ball connected
to it by a lever, which ball will rise as the contents of the privy get
higher and close up the said pan, thus preventing the privy being again
used after it gets to a certain fulness. The pan will also be made to
close fast for the purpose of preventing any escape or splashing of the
contents of the privy against the seat or lid during the process of
removing, and the privy can be made of any size to suit either adults or
children. There is to be a pipe which will connect the privy with the
nearest sewer or drain, which pipe is to be placed near the top of the
privy above the height to which the contents may at any time rise.
There is to be a valve to this pipe which will give exit to the atmosphere
that may accumulate in the privy during the time of use; this valve
is to be fitted with a spring which will keep it hermetically closed,
except when the privy is quickly closed down and forces in air, and two
sections of the pipe may be connected or disconnected in the usual way
hy a screw.

page_text: Having described the construction of the privy, closet, or commode,
I now come to the mode of removing, emptying, and cleansing the
same. First, a low lurry or float is to be provided, which lurry is to
have a crank axle and four wheels, the front wheels being low and the
axle turning on a pivot. The raised front of this lurry or float is to
extend over the front wheels with the driver's seat in front. This float
or lurry is to measure about seven feet in breadth by about ten feet in
length, and at each side there are to be shelves for holding or receiving
two tiers of privies one over the other, and leaving a passage between for
men to walk or work in. The space behind the driver's seat is also to
be filled with privies, and a one horse lurry or float of this description
will be capable of holding about thirty privics. There is to be a step at
the passage before mentioned which can be made to project outwards so
as to form with a truck, which will be hereafter described, a short
gangway, thus preventing stepping up and down from the lurry or
float to the ground, and this description of vehicle is to be used in
conveying the privics through the streets to the manure manufactory.
I now describe a machine for removing the privics, closets, or
commodes from the houses through courts and other passages to the
lurry or float. It is formed as a truck on three or four wheels, and
having a floor of the same height as the floor of the lurry or float. The
truck is to be about two feet in width and three feet six inches in length,
and is made to carry four or more privies, two over two, with a shelf for a
division between. This truck is to be used for fetching empty privics
from the lurry or float to the place of setting down where it can be
reloaded with full ones. It is to have four upright standards, one on
cach corner, to which may be attached four movable handles, so as to
lengthen or shorten as required in passing through narrow passages or
rounding short corners, and this truck will be made to hook on to the
Olurry or float when in motion. The privies are now supposed to be
moved to the towns yard or manure depot, and the next process is that
of emptying, which is performed as follows:-The end of the lurry or
float is placed opposite a low platform, and the step before mentioned is
formed into a gangway connecting the two. The privies are then
6 removed one at a time and placed on a low stage about two feet high,
the lid of the privy is then opened and turned back where it becomes
fastened by a self-acting catch. The pan of the privy is then taken out
and passed along an inclined plane to the far end of the machinery

page_text: which will be hereafter described, and enters a cistern of water, from
whence it is taken out and replaced in the privy. I now return to the
privy which is ready to be tipped over, and which is done as follows:-
There is a funnel or flue turned down on it, having a flat surface which
covers all the seat except the hole, the privy is then clipped and made
fast to this funnel, and the whole is turned over by means of a revolving
handle, and the contents enter the manufacturer's vat or manure depot.
The next process is that of cleansing, which is performed as follows:-
The privy is moved forwards from the place last described along an
inclined plane, the seat still downwards, and in its progress it touches a
lever which turns on a strong jet of water which enters the privy from
beneath, and of course runs out again. A portion of the jet pipe is to
be clastic tube, which the action of the water will cause to move about,
thus shooting the water into all parts of the privy. The privy being
galvanized and quite smooth inside very little of the contents will stick
to it, but any that may happen to do so will pass with the water into a
pond, where it will undergo the process of precipitation and be afterwards
collected when the water is drained off.
At farmhouses and in small villages the privy may be carried to the
dung heap, a hole made and the contents emptied therein, which
contents should be covered over so as to preserve the strength of the
manure. In these cases the privy may be rinsed like any ordinary
vessel.