IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING TIDINGS OF THE LOSS OR DISTRESS OF VESSELS AT SEA, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR CONVEYING LINES ON SHORE FROM STRANDED. VESSELS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Randle, of No. 125, Vauxhall Walk,
Lambeth, in the. County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING TIDINGS OF THE LOSS OR DISTRESS OF VESSELS
AT SEA, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR CONVEYING LINES ON SHORE FROM STRANDED.
VESSELS."
Sealed the 4th September 1866, and dated the 7th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Randle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
March 1866.
I, GEORGE RANDLE, of No. 125, Vauxhall Walk, Lambeth, in the County
of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING TIDINGS OF THE LOSS OR DISTRESS OF VESSELS
AT SEA, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR CONVEYING LINES ON SHORE FROM STRANDED VESSELS,"
to be as follows:-
When a vessel is lost or in distress at sea it is customary to enclose in a
bottle some record of the disaster, which bottle being thrown into the sea may
by chance be washed on shore or be picked up by another vessel at sea.
My Invention has for its object to construct an apparatus for the above
purpose, to be called the "Mariner's last Indicator," which shall be less
fragile than the bottle generally employed, and at the same time be of a much
more conspicuous nature, so as to be readily discernable when floating at sea,
while it is so constructed as to be ready at any emergency to receive the
required documents, aud to be closed in a water-tight manner. For this
purpose I construct a hollow vessel by preference of a spherical form and of a
somewhat tough and flexible material, such as gutta percba, at one part of

page_text: which vessel I form an opening capable of being closed in a water-tight
manner by means of a metal cap screwed on to a rim surrounding the opening
and made to press against a leather or india-rubber washer. Upon the top of
the cap is formed a socket, into which is fixed a light staff by preference of
bamboo cane, to the end of which is attached a small flag of a bright color.
This flag is by preference not fixed directly to its staff, but to a metal rod or
wire, the ends of which are bent at right angles and formed into loops, the
lower one of which fits loosely upon the staff itself, while the upper one fits
on a pin in the end of the staff, by which arrangement the flag is prevented
from becoming furled. In order to maintain the flagstaff in an upright
position when the apparatus is floating I fix at the bottom of the vessel, inside
the same, a counterpoise of metal sufficient for that purpose. The external.
surface of the vessel is painted of a bright color, by preference red with a
white belt, so as to be easily discernable, and it may bear the name of the
ship to which it belongs in a conspicuous place. In place of attaching a flag
to the vessel as described a cut glass prism may be fixed to the staff, which
prism would be readily discernable by the flashes of light reflected therefrom.
Or, the vessel being conspicuous of itself, it may even be employed without
any other conspicuous mark attached thereto. When this apparatus is to be
made use of the cap is unscrewed, the documents are inserted, and the cap is
screwed on again, so as to be perfectly water-tight, and the apparatus is-
thrown into the sea. Although I have stated that I prefer to construct the
vessel of a spherical form and of gutta percha, it may also be made of any
other suitable form or material.
This apparatus may also be conveniently made use of when a vessel is
stranded near a coast, in order to convey a rope from the vessel to the shore,
or vice versa. For this purpose, when it is found that the tide is setting
in towards the shore, a light line may be attached to the flagstaff of the
apparatus, which is then floated on shore by the tide, and a rope is then
conveyed to or from the vessel by means of the line.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Randle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
RANDLE, of No. 125, Vauxhall Walk, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, 3
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Randle, Her special licence that I, the said George Randle, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Randle, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONVEYING TIDINGS OF THE LOSS OR DISTRESS OF VESSELS
AT SEA, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR CONVEYING LINES ON SHORE FROM STRANDED
VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Randle,
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 George Randle, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
When a vessel is lost or in distress at sea it is customaay to enclose in a
bottle some record of the disaster, which bottle being thrown into the sea may
by chance be washed on shore or be picked up by another vessel at sea.
My Invention has for its object to construct an apparatus for the above
purpose, to be called the "Mariner's last Indicator," which shall be less fragile
than the bottle generally employed, and at the same time be of a much more
conspicuous nature, so as to be readily discernable when floating at sea, while
it is so constructed as to be ready at any emergency to receive the required
documents, and to be closed in a water-tight manner. For this purpose [
construct a hollow vessel, by preference of a spherical form and of a somewhat
tough and flexible material, such as gutta percha, at one part of which vessel
I form an opening capable of being closed in a water-tight manner by means
of a metal cap screwed on to a rim surrounding the opening and made to press
against a leather or india-rubber washer. Upon the top of the cap is formed

page_text: a socket, into which is fixed a light staff by preference of bamboo cane, to the
end of which is attached a small flag of a bright color; this flag is by pre-
ference not fixed-directly to its staff, but to a metal rod or wire, the ends of
which are bent at right angles and formed into loops, the lower one of which
fits loosely upon the staff itself, while the upper one fits on a pin on the end of
the staff, by which arrangement the flag is prevented from becoming furled.
In order to maintain the flag staff in an upright position when the apparatus
is floating I fix at the bottom of the vessel inside the same a counterpoise of
metal sufficient for that purpose. The external surface of the vessel is painted
of a bright color, by preference red with a white belt, so as to be easily dis-
cernable, and it may bear the name of the ship to which it belongs in a con-
spicuous place. In place of attaching a flag to the vessel as described, a cut
glass prism may be fixed to the staff, which prism would be readily discernable
by the flashes of light reflected therefrom; or the vessel being conspicuous
itself, it may even be employed without any other conspicuous mark attached
thereto. When this. apparatus is to be made use of the cap is unscrewed,
the documents are inserted, and the cap is screwed on again, so as to be
perfectly water-tight, and the apparatus is thrown into the sea. Although
I have stated that I prefer to construct the vessel of a spherical form and
of gutta percha it may also be made of any other suitable form or material.
This apparatus may also be conveniently made use of when a vessel is
stranded near a coast, in order to convey a rope from the vessel to the shore,
or vice versa. For this purpose, when it is found that the tide is setting in
towards the shore a light line may be attached to the flag staff of the
apparatus, which is then floated on shore by the tide, and a rope is then
conveyed to or from the vessel by means of the line.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Drawing shows the form of my improved
apparatus which I prefer to employ; and Figure 2 shows a section of the
same provided with a glass prism in place of a flag.
A is a vessel by preference of a spherical form and made of gutta percha,
which vessel is formed with an aperture at top, into which is fixed in a water-
tight manner a metal rim B; this rim is made to project somewhat above the
surface of the sphere, as shown, and has a screw thread formed upon it, upon
which is screwed a metal cap C, made to close the aperture in a water-tight
manner by means of a leather or india-rubber washer D; this cap is provided
with a socket D¹, in which is fixed a light but strong rod or staff E, by
preference of bamboo cane, to which staff is attached either a flag F, as at
Figure 1, or a cut-glass prism G, as at Figure 2. The flag F is not attached
directly to the staff E, but to a.metal rod or wire H, the ends of which are

page_text: bent into loops, of which the lower one fits loosely round the staff, while the
upper one is held by a pin or stud I fixed to the end of the staff. By this
arrangement the flag is prevented from becoming furled. For fixing on the
glass prism G, a pin, passing céntrally through the same, is provided at bottom
with a collar and a socket J, which is fixed on to the end of the staff. In order
to keep the staff E in an upright position when the apparatus is floating in
the water a metal counterpoise K is fixed at the bottom of the vessel. When
the apparatus is to be made use of the cap C is unscrewed, the documents L
are introduced through the aperture, and the cap is then screwed on again, so
as to press tightly against the washer D.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the precise form and proportions of the apparatus, as shown on the accom-
panying Drawing, as these may be variously modified without departing from
the nature of my Invention; but what I claim is,-
First, constructing apparatus for conveying tidings of the loss or distress of
vessels at sea, consisting of a hollow receptacle of any suitable material,
having an opening closed in a water-tight manner by means of a cap, and
carrying a staff or rod, with a flag, glass prism, or other distinguishing mark
attached thereto, a counterpoise being attached to the bottom of the vessel for
maintaining the said staff in an upright position, substantially as berein-before
described with reference to the accompanying Drawing.
Second, constructing apparatus for conveying tidings of the loss or distress
of vessels at sea, consisting of a hollow receptacle of a spherical or spheroidal
form, and made of gutta percha or other similar waterproof and tough material
or compound of materials, which receptacle may or may not be provided with
a flag staff or other distinguishing mark, and has an aperture for the intro-
duction of documents capable of being closed in a water-tight manner by
means of a cap, substantially as herein-before described.
Third, the application of the before-described apparatus to the conveying of
lines to or from stranded vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Randle, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
GEORGE RANDLE. (L.s.)