IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING AND REPAIRING HIGHWAYS, ROADS, OR WALKS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO BEDDING AND ADJUSTING RAILWAY SLEEPERS AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Reilly, of the New Globe Mahogany Chair
and Cabinet Works, Barrack Street, Hulme, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, for tho Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING AND
REPAIRING HIGHWAYS, ROADS, OR WALKS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO BEDDING AND ADJUSTING RAILWAY SLEEPERS AND OTHER
SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Sealed the 12th July 1867, and dated the 14th January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Reilly at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th January
1867.
I, JAMES REILLY, of the New Globe Mahogany Chair and Cabinet Works,
Barrack Street, Hulme, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING AND
REPAIRING HIGHWAYS, ROADS, OR WALKS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLI-
CABLE TO BEDDING AND ADJUSTING RAILWAY SLEEPERS AND OTHER SIMILAR
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
For the main bulk or body of the surface of a highway or road I employ
the ordinary broken stones, but previous to using them I lay on the main
foundation an intermediate foundation of wood turnings or borings or other
similar vegetable matters, either in their natural state or after they have been
subjected to the processes usually employed for preserving timber. On the

page_text: intermediate foundation I lay the broken stones, and then sprinkle over and
brush between them a quantity of the vegetable matter in order to bind or
lock them together before the sharp or binding points are worn off, and thus
prevent the friction caused by the stones grinding against each other, and the
great wear and tear which is usual on the present highways and roads; and
for walks and pathways I employ a similar system of laying an intermediate
foundation of wood turnings, borings, or other vegetable matter beneath the
pebbles, small stones, or gravel, and afterwards filling up the interstices with
the vegetable matter. The proportion between the stones and vegetable
matter may be varied to an indefinite extent, but I prefer to use about one
hundredweight of vegetable matter to one ton of stones, placing a bed under
the stones of about one inch in thickness, and using the remainder for filling
the crevices, similar proportions being used for walks and pathways, and the
same system or process may also be used in the formation of the ordinary
roads paved with sets or boulders. For bedding and adjusting railway
sleepers I take wood turnings or borings in their natural or preserved state,
and then place a thick bed of the turnings or borings beneath the sleepers,
and thus prevent the ordinary unpleasant jár and at the same time give
additional elasticity to the sleepers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Reilly in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
REILLY, of the New Globe Mahogany Chair and Cabinet Works, Barrack
Street, Hulme, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Reilly, Her special license that I, the said James Reilly, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Reilly, 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

page_text: MAKING AND REPAIRING HIGHWAYS, ROADS, OR WALKS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE
ALSO APPLICABLE TO BEDDING AND ADJUSTING RAILWAY SLEEPERS AND OTHER
SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Reilly, 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 James Reilly, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the sanie is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
.statement (that is to say) :-
:-
For the main bulk or body of the surface of a highway or road I employ
broken stones, but previous to using them I lay on the foundation a stratum
or intermediate foundation of wood turnings, borings, or wooden blocks varying
in shape and size from a quarter of an inch to any dimensions that may be
found most advisable in practice, or other similar vegetable matters, either in
their natural state or after they have been covered with tar or subjected to
the processes usually employed for preserving timber; and I prefer the
stones to be broken much smaller than is usually required for the ordinary
macadamized roads. On the intermediate stratum or foundation of vegetable
matter, which I prefer to be tarred, I lay the broken stones, and then sprinkle
over and brush between them a quantity of the vegetable matter in order to
bind or lock the stones together, and if the upper surface of the road is sub.
jected to the action of heavy rollers the stones and vegetable matter will be
more firmly bound together; this method of making roads prevents the stones
from grinding against each other, and therefore the friction and great wear
and tear which is usual on the present bighways and roads are avoided. For
walks and pathways I employ a similar system of laying an intermediate
foundation of tarred wood borings, turnings, or other vegetable matter beneath
the pebbles, small stones, or gravel, and afterwards fill up the interstices
with similar vegetable matter. For roads or highways I employ coarse
turnings or small blocks or pieces of wood of any angular shape, but for walks
pathways the wood may be as fine as sawdust, and though the proportion
between the stony and vegetable matters may be varied to an indefinite extent
I prefer to use about one hundredweight of vegetable matter to one ton of
stony matter, placing a bed under the stones, pebbles, or gravel of about one
inch in thickness, and using the remainder for filling the crevices; and the sanie
ΟΓ

page_text: system or process may also be used in the formation of the ordinary roads paved
with sets or boulders. For bedding railway sleepers I take wood turnings
or borings in their natural or preserved or tarred state, and then place a thick
bed of the turnings or borings in the hole or trench beneath the sleeper,
reserving to myself the right of lining the said hole or trench with any suitable
metal or material, either longitudinally or transversely, and if found necessary
make a trench longitudinally, and then make transverse trenches to rest on
the said longitudinal trenches, or vice versa, make the longitudinal trenches
or sleepers rest on the transverse ones, and thus prevent the ordinary un-
pleasant jar, and at the same time give additional elasticity to the sleepers,
-and to a very great extent prevent decay.
Having now described the nature and particulars of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that I claim the improvements in making roads or walks and bedding
railway sleepers, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Reilly, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the said James Reilly, in the
presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
JAMES REILLY. (L.S.)