Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Oct., 1887
Specification Accepted, 22nd June, 1888
1, GEORGE PIRNIE, of 123 West 1.22 Street, New York City, County and State of New
York, United States of America, Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My Invention relates to the manufacture of carriage whips and other whips having
a covered stalk or handle. The object of my invention is to produce a whip which
shall be stronger, more durable, easier of manufacture, and neater in workmanship,
than any now in use. To this end I employ eel-skin as a wrapping or middle lining
of the whip.
My Invention is shown by the accompanying drawings which are hereby made a
part of this specification and in which similar letters refer to similar parts.
Figure 1 shows the various parts of a "straight whip" embodying my invention;
A is the core or central portion, B is a wrapping or middle lining of eelskin, C is a
woven or plaited outer covering, D is a loop to which the snapper is attached. This
loop may be constructed in any suitable way. E is the snapper which may be attached
to the loop D in any suitable manner.
In its preferred form, I carry out my invention as follows; The eelskin when first
removed from the eel, is stretched in such a way that it will stiffen and dry flat.
Then, without any tanning or other treatment, the dry skin is cut into long and.
narrow strips or ribbons about an inch wide. These strips of skin are soaked in water
for several hours until they become quite soft and flexible. They are then wound
spirally upon the central portion of the stalk in the usual way and by the usual means,
and are held in place until dry, by the common expedient of winding twine about
them. In drying, the eelskin shrinks strongly and clings snugly to the central piece,
and when the eelskin has thoroughly dried on, the twine may be removed and the
skin will remain in place without the use of cement or other adhesive agent. Finally
the outer covering is plaited on and the whip is finished up in the usual manner.
In the application of eelskin to whips, I have done much more than simply change
the material of which the wrapping or lining is composed; I have discovered and
brought into play, qualities which so far as I am aware, have not hitherto been known
in eelskin; have simplified the process of manufacture; and I have produced new
and important results in the finished whip. Heretofore, it has been necessary to

page_text: 1
employ for the middle lining of whips, only skins which have been tanned. The
tanning has of course, added to the cost of the skin. Owing to the thinness of eel-
skin and its flexibility when wet, I am enabled to dispense entirely with the process
of tanning.
Again, in experimenting with the use of eelskin for whips, I have
discovered that the power of shrinkage resident in eelskin is very great as compared
with that of other skins. Now, skin linings have heretofore been fastened about the
core or central piece by cement or some other adhesive agent. By taking advantage
of the shrinking power of celskin, I dispense with this adhesive agent entirely, thus
reducing both the cost and trouble of manufacture. Being wound while wet, upon
the core, the eelskin in drying, shrinks so much as to cling very tightly to the core
and when thoroughly dried, the eelskin will be held in its place about the core simply
by its own shrinkage. Again, all materials heretofore employed for the middle lining
of whips have been too thick and have made the finished whip too bulky. Eelskin
being very thin, it rolls around the centre more smoothly and thus makes the diameter
of the stalk less. The great shrinkage of the celskin reduces the diameter of the
whip still more, and at the same time produces a harder, firmer, and smoother surface
on the stalk. All these effects make the general workmanship of the whip neater.
In the case of straight whips, the intense shrinkage of the eelskin has the further
effect of strengthening the top of the stalk, so that the whip bends over less than any
whip heretofore made. By the application of eelskin to whips, I have developed still
another valuable quality in eelskin not hitherto known, as 1 believe. This is its
extreme oiliness. The amount of oil contained in eelskin is much greater than that
contained in any other skin hitherto used for the lining of whips, and its oiliness is
still further increased by using the skin untanned. The oily qualities of the eelskin
act in a very striking manner, both upon the core of the whip and upon its outer
covering, at once rendering them flexible and less brittle, and preserving them from
the effects of dampness. The oiliness of the eelskin and its very close texture also
preserve the whale-bone core from the action of frost, a most important result.
Nothing is more common than for whips to break in cold weather. An eelskin lining
will largely prevent this. Finally, all these results, coupled with the extreme
toughness of celskin render the whip vastly more durable than those formerly made.
I may make the entire lining or inner wrapper B of eelskin, or I may cover the
core with eelskin for part of the length of the core only, and may use a middle lining
of some other material for the balance of the length.
23
My Invention may be applied to what are known as "drop top whips, one of
which is shewn in figure 2, in which the central portion A terminates some distance
from the smaller end of the stalk, the remaining portion of the stalk being usually
composed only of the lining B prolonged and rolling like a cord, and with the
covering C tightly plaited around it, thus being flexible enough to fall or "drop" over.
I may make the drop part of the whip simply of the celskin lining and the covering,
or I may use a cloth or other flexible central portion within the eelskin lining. In
either casc
most of the advantages will exist which are found in using eelskin in
straight" whips; indeed, my invention may be advantageously applied to any whip
having a covered stalk. In these drop top whips also, I may employ an eelskin lining
for only a part of the length of the whip.
"
I do not limit my invention to the use of eelskin as a lining or inner wrapping of
whips but I desire to cover and include any use of eelskin as a wrapping or covering
for whips.
I do not limit myself to any of the methods of manufacture hereinbefore
described, but I desire to cover all methods of employing eclskin for the lining or
covering of whips.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is ;-
1. A whip, one of whose wrappings or coverings is composed of eelskin, substantially
as and for the purposes set forth,

page_text: 2. In a whip, the combination of the core or central portion A, the wrapping or
middle lining B wholly or parily composed of eelskin, and the outer covering C,
substantially as shewn and described.
3. In a whip, the combination of a hard core of ratian or other suitable material,
with a wrapping or middle lining wholly or partly composed of untanned celskin, and
an outer covering; the eelskin being held in place merely by its own shrinkage,
substantially as shewn and described.
G. PIRNIE.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agents.