AN IMPROVE- MENT IN BOXES FOR RECEIVING THE FARES OF PASSENGERS IN PUBLIC CONVEYANCES; FOR THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD ON THE PART OF THE PERSONS AUTHORIZED TO ATTEND TO THE RECEIVING OF THE FARES, AS WELL AS ON THE PART OF THE PASSENGERS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John B. Slawson, of New Orleans, in the State of
Louisiana, United States of America, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN BOXES FOR RECEIVING THE FARES OF PASSENGERS IN PUBLIC
CONVEYANCES; FOR THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD ON THE PART OF THE PERSONS
AUTHORIZED TO ATTEND TO THE RECEIVING OF THE FARES, AS WELL AS ON THE
PART OF THE PASSENGERS." -A communication:
Sealed the 16th February 1858, and dated the 21st October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. left by the said John B. Slawson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
.. 21st October 1857.
I, JOHN B. SLAWSON, of New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana, United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN BOXES FOR RECEIVING THE FARES OF PASSENGERS IN
PUBLIC CONVEYANCES, FOR THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD. ON THE PART OF THE PERSONS
AUTHORIZED TO ATTEND TO THE RECEIVING OF THE FARES, AS WELL AS ON THE PART
OF THE PASSENGERS," to be as follows:-) :
This Invention relates to a novel construction of safety box for receiving
fares or tolls. The box is most conveniently made a fixture when in use, and
it is provided with a channel (the sides of which are made of glass) leading to
a drawer, which is securely locked, and, if necessary, sealed by the proprietors.
Down this channel it is intended the passengers shall drop their fare, in order

page_text: that it may be deposited in the drawer below. The money in its descent is
arrested by a sliding board or apron, which is caused by a spring to close the
bottom of the channel and sustain the coin between the glass surfaces. The
person authorized to collect the fare is thereby enabled to satisfy himself by
inspection that the amount deposited is correct; if it proves to be correct, the
collector pulls back the slide, and the coin drops into the drawer or other
receptacle arranged below for its reception; he then lets go the sliding board
or apron, when it returns to its original position to reclose the passage to
the box.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John B. Slawson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
B. SLAWSON, of 'the City & County of New Orleans, State of Louisiana, in the
United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, A.D. 1857, in the
twenty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me,, the said John B. Slawson, Her special license that I,
the said John B. Slawson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John B. Slawson, 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 "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN BOXES FOR RECEIVING THE FARES OF PASSENGERS IN PUBLIC
CONVEYANCES, FOR THE PREVENTION OF FRAUD ON THE PART OF THE PERSONS
AUTHORIZED TO ATTEND TO THE RECEIVING OF THE FARES, AS WELL AS ON THE
PART OF THE PASSENGERS," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said
John B. Slawson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John B. Slawson, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: 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 object of my Invention is. to prevent stage & omnibus drivers, railroad
conductors, and steamboat clerks from defrauding their employers by appro
priating the fares of the passengers to their own use; and also to prevent
fraud on the part of the passengers on the drivers, &c., &c.
The Invention consists in the use of a box securely locked, and, if necessary,
sealed by the employers, into which it is imperative that the passengers shall
drop their fare. This box is so constructed, that the money deposited by the
passenger shall be arrested by a sliding board or apron until the person
authorised to collect the fare shall satisfy himself that the amount deposited is
correct, which he is enabled to do by means of glass lights inserted in the
front of the box, between which the money lies for that purpose, after which,
if correct, he causes it to drop into a box arranged underneath for its reception
by pulling or jerking back the sliding board or apron to permit the money to
pass into the box, when a suitable mechanical arrangement causes the sliding
board or apron to return to its original position to reclose the passage to
the box.
In the accompanying Drawing, Figure 1 represents a view in perspective of
my receiving box; Figure 2, a front elevation, and Figure 3, a transverse
vertical section of the same.
The drawer (A) used for the reception of the fare is encased between the
sides (a) and the end (a') of the apparatus or box, and is covered by a solid
block (B), which is also securely attached to the sides and end of the box by
screws or otherwise, there being a space (a) left between its front end and the
inside of the lower front connecting piece (b) of a width sufficient to give free
passage to the fare as it drops into the receiving drawer beneath. The under-
side of this block lies in a horizontal plane or in a line parallel with the upper
edges of the drawer, whilst its upper side is so shaped as to present an inclined
plane, upon which is fitted a sliding board or apron (C), above the upper edge of
which strips or ribs are secured to the sides of the box, so as to form suitable
guide ways for the slide (C), between which it is made to play. To the under
side of the slide (C) is secured one end of a spiral spring (D), its other end being
attached to the block (B,) in the face of which is formed a suitable groove (c) for
its reception, to permit the slide (C) to play smoothly and evenly over its
surface; this spring is so arranged as to force or draw the inner end of the
slide over the passage (a) that leads to the drawer, so as to close it and prevent
the eutrance or passage of the fare into the drawer (A) beneath. The slide is

page_text: operated by means of a strap (d), of leather or other 'suitable material, attached
to its end. It for this purpose is passed through a slot formed in the rear end
of the box, & which, when drawn back by hand-or otherwise, draws back the
slide, thus uncovering the entrance or passage to the drawer. The upper part
of the end of the box is provided with a heavy glass plate (E) framed into the
sides (a) of the box and cross beams (b & 6). On the upper side and in the
middle of the upper connecting piece (6) is formed a mouth or orifice (y), through
which the passengers drop their fare, which passes down between the glass
plate (E) above described, and another glass plate (E!) arranged in its rear, and
framed into the sides of the box at a sufficient distance from the first one to
allow a free passage to the money between them. The inner upper edge of
the second plate is made to fit close against the rear side of the upper con-
necting beam (6¹), and its lower end is made to fit closely over the sliding board,
so as to prevent the money sliding. from beneath it without.interfering with
the play of the slide.
:
The box or apparatus above described is one intended to be applied to
stages or omnibuses, for which purpose it is affixed to the end of the omnibus
next the driver and close, by the strap hole. In the use of this apparatus thé
passenger is required to drop his fare into the orifice or mouth (y) of the box
(the driver or collector not being permitted to receive it), when it falls and
rests upon the top of the slide (C) between the two glass plates (E & E¹) until the
collector has examined whether the amount is correct and in genuine coin,
when, if so, he jerks the strap to withdraw the slide from over the passage (x)
that leads into the drawer (A) beneath, into which the money drops; the
moment this has been done he relaxes his hold on the strap, when the slide (C)
is forced or drawn over the passage again by means of the spring (D), ready to
receive another fare. Should the coin be bad or the amount deficient, instead
of dropping it into the box, he calls the attention of the passenger to it to
rectify the mistake, when the whole is then dropped into the drawer, as before,
and so on with each passenger. From the foregoing it will be apparent that
the precise amount of the fare alone must be dropped into the box, otherwise
there could be no protection against fraud, but as it will frequently happen
that the passenger, has not got the precise amount, the collector, whoever he
may be, is provided with a given number of tickets and a certain amount of
money in small change, which, is charged to him, by means of which he is
enabled to make change for the passengers, they then dropping into the box
the amount of the fare, which he is not permitted to receive; should he sell
tickets to the passengers, he places the amount into his own box, so that at
the end of his route, notwithstanding that he has been making, change and

page_text: selling tickets, he will still have but the exact amount with which he was
charged when he started. When he arrives at the end of his route, the person
authorized to take the fares from the box enters the stage and unlocks the
drawer (A) for that purpose. This drawer, for the purpose of greater security,
is first locked, and then the keyhole covered over with a metallic plate (F),
through which project two lugs (e), secured to the inner lock, through which
holes are formed for the reception of the bolt of a permutation lock (G), the
word or number for opening which is known to the proprietor or his deputy
alone.
From the foregoing it will be apparent that the box may be made portable
or stationary as may be deemed advisable, whether for collecting the fares in
steamboats, railroad cars, omnibuses, stages, &c., or the devices themselves
may be variously modified without affecting the principle of this Invention,
as, for instance, a receiving apron may be used in lieu of the slide (C) for the
purpose of arresting the money until it has passed the inspection of the
collector, after which it can be depressed in the drawer by mounting the apron
upon an oscillating shaft, upon which is mounted a weighted lever, by
depressing which the deflection or elevation of the apron is effected, the lever
being so adjusted as that when at rest the apron shall lie in a horizontal plane
ready to arrest any that may be deposited in the box.
What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is a sliding
board (C) or its equivalent, operated in the manner substantially as described,
in combination with the glass plates (E & E') and draw (A) for the purposes
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John B. Slawson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twentieth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
J. B. SLAWSON. (L.S.)