IMPROVEMENTS IN BATHING SHOES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BATHING SHOES."
-A communication from abroad by Mr. Louis Desiré Jeandron-
Ferry, of No. 95, Boulevard Beaumarchais, Paris, in the Empire of
France.
Sealed the 25th September 1868, and dated the 6th April 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th April 1868.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BATHING
SHOES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide a covering for the feet of
bathers that will protect them from cuts or bruises, and at the same
time will not by filling with water act as drags to the feet.

page_text: "
The shoe may be made with a leather, felt, or other suitable "upper,'
and may be attached to a leather or other sole in the usual manner;
beneath this sole a thin metallic sole is applied. These two soles are
perforated with holes to allow of the free escape of the water that enters
the shoe. Between the metallic and leather sole a sheet of wire gauze
may be introduced to prevent the admission of pebbles and sand into the
shoe. The shoe may be fitted with an inner cork sole perforated
similarly to the other soles. To prevent the outer sole of the shoe
from touching the ground a rim of leather or other substance runs
round the fore part of the sole; this enables the water to escape more
freely from the shoe than if the whole weight of the bather were
pressing it against the ground.
The improved shoe may be made either with or without heels.
When a heel is used it may be made of wood faced with leather and
fixed to the shoe by rivets passing up to a metallic plate above the
leather sole. In this case the slope of the sole would send all the
water at the heel down to the fore part of the shoe, from whence it
would escape by the perforations. The heel may be strengthened by.
being encased in thin metal.
Where no heels are used the metallic sole and wire gauze may
extend the whole. length of the shoe, and the after part of the sole may
be perforated like the fore part. In this case a semicircular or horse-shoe
shaped rim of leather should go round the underneath of the after part
of the sole, as well as the fore part. to allow the water to escape freely.
through the perforations.
The soles of bathing shoes may also be made entirely of wood and
perforated as above described. In this case the sole should be jointed
in a line with the ball of the foot, and the whole of the centre of the
fore part of the sole should be hollowed out, leaving a rim round
the edges to allow the water to escape freely.
The improved bathing shoe may be attached to the foot of the
bather in any approved manner.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd October 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her
special licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 BATHING SHOES," being a communication to
me from Mr. Louis Desiré Jeandron-Ferry, of No. 95, Boulevard Beau-
marchais, Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say) :-
:-
The improved shoes which form the subject of this Invention are
especially intended for the use of bathers who to avoid walking with

page_text: their naked feet upon sand or shingle are obliged to use porous shoes
made of fibrous materials, which besides being inelegant have the
inconvenience of absorbing water.
The improved manufacture of bathing shoe will allow the water
which has entered to escape immediately by means of holes arranged
for that purpose in the sole or in the upper of the shoe. The sole
is made of leather supported by a thin plate of metal in order that it
may not bend or warp by reason of its immersion in the water. The
shoes may be covered with any suitable fabric which is not susceptible
of being injured by damp. This arrangement allows of an elegant form 1
being given to the shoes at the same time that it is suitable for the
purpose for which it is intended to be worn.
In the accompanying Drawing various arrangements are shewn
which seem the most suitable for the required object, and which
are adapted for ladies', children's, or men's wear, according to the form 1
given to them and the mode of attachment employed.
Fig. 1 represents in side view the improved bathing shoe adapted for
ladies' wear; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the underneath part shewing
various arrangements which may be given to the sole, according to the
nature of the shoe and the use for which it is intended; Fig. 3 is 2
a longitudinal vertical section of the improved sole with heel and
upper attached; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section (also with
upper attached) of a modified form of sole without the heel; and Fig. 5
shews in vertical section a wooden sole adapted according to the
Invention for the use of bathers. Similar letters are marked upon 2
corresponding parts in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
The improved bathing shoe is provided with an ordinary leather sole a,
which at the centre of the tread of the foot is pierced with holes b. This
sole is strengthened by a metallic sole c (also pierced with holes) which
is applied to the outer or it may be the inner face of the leather
sole, and prevents the leather from warping or getting out of shape in
consequence of immersion in the water. These two soles are nailed or
screwed together round their edges and even at certain parts of their
surface near the holes 6, in order to prevent them from separating, and
that the sand or gravel shall not enter the space thus left vacant.
Between the sole a and the sole e a piece of wire cloth, horsehair
cloth, or other fabric is laid (as indicated by the dotted line, Figures 3
and 4) to prevent stones and sand from entering the shoe. The sole a

page_text: is also strengthened by an outside skeleton sole d of leather, which
prevents immediate contact between the metal and the ground, and
which facilitates the escape of the water which has entered the shoc.
The heel e is of wood, and is covered by a leather tip f; these two parts
are united to the sole a by means of pins, which are rivetted to a metal
plate h (Fig. 3) affixed inside the heel. The wooden heel e is enclosed
on all sides by a metal plate i, which completes the solidity of the whole.
The upper part j of the shoe may be made of any suitable fabric, such
as ticking or linen cloth, or it may be made with advantage of any
vegetable fabric, either openwork or not, or of other substance that will
not be injured by exposure to the water. This fabric is nailed, screwed,
or sewn to the sole a by the ordinary processes, and the shoe may be
attached to the foot in any manner, according to whether it be intended
for men's, children's, or ladies' wear.
Fig. 1 represents a bathing shoe for a lady in the form of a buskin
attached to the foot and round the leg by means of a lace k. For men's
shoes a simple strap or any other mode of attachment would suffice to
keep them on the feet of the bather. A cork sole g is also adapted to
the inside of the shoe, the same being pierced with holes opposite to
those which are made in the soles a and c, and which serves to prevent
the foot from being wounded by contact with any inequalities inside
the shoc.
Fig. 4 represents in vertical section a modification of the shoe in
which the heel e of Fig. 3 is done away with. In this arrangement the
metal sole c is prolonged to the rear of the shoe and provided at the rear
(as shewn in dotted lines, Fig. 2) with a leather tip in order to prevent
the metal from coming in contact with the ground. In this arrange-
ment the soles a, c, and g are pierced at the heel part with holes
intended for the escape of the water introduced into the shoe, and wire
cloth is interposed between the metal and the leather sole to prevent
gravel from entering the shoe. These holes are also shewn by dotted
lines in Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 represents a shoe with a sole constructed entirely of wood and
jointed at p so as to facilitate the action of walking of the wearer.
The sole m has a hollow part n at its middle for the purpose of
lightening it, and is pierced with holes o, o, which allow of the escape
of the water; the heel is also similarly hollowed out and perforated for
the same purpose.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in Bathing Shoes," as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
I would observe that I do not confine myself either to the precise forms
of shoes above shewn and described nor to the materials of which they
may be composed, nor to the means for attaching them to the feet of the
wearers; neither do I confine myself to the perforation of the soles and
heels only, as the uppers may also be made with holes in them to
facilitate the escape of the water; but that which I claim as the Inven-
tion secured to me under the above in part recited Letters Patent is,
constructing bathing shoes in the manner and for the purpose above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)