IMPROVEMENTS IN GULLIES OR STENCH TRAPS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Hunt, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GULLIES OR STENCH TRAPS."-A communication from abroad by Joseph
Gordon, residing at Frankfort-on-Maine.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Hunt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th May 1871.
I, EDMUND HUNT, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GULLIES OR STENCH TRAPS," (which Invention has been communi-
cated to me from abroad by Joseph Gordon, residing at Frankfort-on-
Maine,) to be as follows, that is to say :—
This Invention has for its object the constructing of gullies or
stench traps for draining streets or other surfaces so as to combine
advantages hitherto unattained and meet difficulties and objections
hitherto unsurmounted, particularly when applying gullies in continental

page_text: The improved gullies prevent the escape at all times and seasons of
noxious effluvia from drains and sewers, and they also prevent sand
and other solid matter, excepting in the most diluted form, from
passing into the drains or sewers; whilst they are especially adapted
to avoid the freezing of the hydraulic seal in severely cold climates.
Simplified modifications of the gullies are advantageously applicable
in mild climates.
A gully or stench trap constructed with the improvements comprises,
first, an iron grating with hopper attached thereto, through which the
street drainage passes into the gully. The hopper is of such depth
only as to render the grating sufficiently heavy to prevent its being too
easily removed, and children or mischievously disposed persons tampering
with it. It answers at same time the purpose of reducing the evapo-
ration from the contents of the gully box below; but it is proposed
that the size of the opening shall be sufficiently large to prevent its
choking up with leaves, straw, or the like. The grating and hopper
rests on lugs or notches cast on the side of the gully box, which gully
box may be cast in one or two parts. Attached to the gully box and
cast thereto or therewith, at the side or end, as circumstances may
require, is a chamber in which is formed the permanent trap or hydraulic
seal, at a depth below the surface sufficient to prevent its freezing in
winter, and thus insure by means of the free overflow from the main
box into this chamber, even though the contents of the main gully box
should freeze, a constant and free outlet to the drain for all drainage
passing into the gully, which is especially important for the prevention
of flooding of whole streets and localities where a sudden thaw sets in
after long and continued frosts accompanied by heavy falls of snow.
The placing of the hydraulic trap considerably below the surface of the
water in the main box insures at same time, by means of the depth of
the overfall, a flushing power sufficient to insure the constant action
of the trap, and freedom from possibility of choking. The side or end
chamber is provided with an opening towards the road at top, round
which it is proposed to continue the chamber by means of brickwork
or other suitable material to the surface of the road or surface channel,
at which level it will be covered with hard basalt, granite, or other
suitable stone, on the removal of which the trap chamber can be duly
inspected.

page_text: If made in two parts, the lower part of the gully may be constructed
of stoneware, cement, or asphalte, in which case it will not be necessary
to cast the trap chamber to or as a part of the main box. A nosel
overflow cast on this part of the gully suitable to receive an ordinary
stoneware junction pipe will be sufficient. A junction pipe with inverted
siphon pipe at its lower end fitted into this nosel overflow will form the
trap chamber answering to that of cast iron already described. From
the top of this junction pipe the chamber will be carried up to the
road or channel level in brickwork or other material, in precisely the
same manner as for the upper casing of the cast-iron trap chamber.
In casting the gully in two pieces, and whether the lower part be of
iron or stoneware or other, material, the upper part will form a capping
piece or frame, which may be made to slide into or over the lower box
with a sufficient play to allow of the upper part of the gully sinking
with the paving or channel of the road where a settlement takes place,
without in any way interfering with or disturbing the lower part of the
gully or its overflow. This is highly important in general but especially
in new streets, which are so often raised or filled up above the original
surface of the ground, and invariably settle or sink, leaving the newly.
set gullies where cast in one piece or built of brickwork high and dry.
Where it is preferred that the upper cap or telescopic piece should.
slide over the under part of the gully, the flange which forms its
foundation may be cast on the bottom thereof, in which case no.
other protection of the joining of the two parts of the gully is necessary..
Where this cap is made to slide into the lower part of the gully the
flange must be cast sufficiently above the lower box to allow of settling,.
and will in that case be supported by a ring of brickwork or stone-
work.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edmund Hunt in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
HUNT, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edmund Hunt, Her special licence that
I, the said Edmund Hunt, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Edmund Hunt, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 GULLIES
OR STENCH TRAPS," (a communication to me from abroad by Joseph
Gordon, residing at Frankfort-on-Maine,) upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edmund Hunt, 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

page_text: And in order that the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append a sheet of
explanatory Drawings, representing four examples of gullies or stench
traps as made with my improvements. The same reference numerals
are used to mark the same or corresponding parts wherever repeated.
Figure 1 is a vertical section, and Figures 2 and 3 are horizontal
sections, as at the lines A-A, B-B, and C-C, respectively, and repre-
sent example No. 1. There is at the top a grating, 1, through which
water from the street channels or other surfaces passes into the gully,
and thence into the drains and sewers. This grating has a hopper, 2,
fixed to its under side, to increase with a useful purpose the weight
of the grating to such extent as to prevent its being too easily removed
or tampered with by children or mischievously disposed persons. It
at the same time reduces the opening for evaporation from the con-
tents of the gully box below, as far as experience has shown it to be
safe to contract the opening, which is preserved sufficiently large to
prevent its choking with leaves, straw, or the like, and it serves also
the chief purpose of directing the drainage towards the middle of the
gully, and thus insure all sedimentary matter being passed into a
sludge box, 3. The grating 1, and hopper 2, are supported by lugs
or notches cast on the sides of an iron telescopic upper body, 4,
formed with external ribs and flanges to rest on brickwork, 5, and
having its lower part cylindrical, and small enough to enter the gully
box, 6, below. The top of the gully box, 6, is within the brickwork, 5,
the latter resting on filled-in earth; and with this arrangement any
subsidence affecting the pavement is fully provided for, as the cylindrical
part of the body, 4, can move telescopically within the gully box, 6,
to the extent in the example shown of about six inches, which it is
considered will be sufficient except in cases of actual alterations in
the levels; whilst even such alterations, if not excessive, may be pro-
vided for by increasing or diminishing the height of the brickwork 5,
and without moving the gully box 6. The gully box 6 is in this
example of stoneware or glazed fire-clay, and is formed with an overflow
nozzle 7, which is protected from damage in transit and otherwise
by an outer ring or flange 8. This outer ring 8 is of great importance,
as any damage happening to the nozzle 7 renders the gully box entirely
useless, whilst damage to the outer ring only will not matter. The
nozzle 7 is made so that an ordinary junction pipe, 9, may be fitted
to it. The bottom of the gully box 6 is made with rounded corners, but

page_text: with sufficient flat surface for the sludge box 3 to rest on.
The gully
box 6 may also be made in two parts, either the lower or upper part
being made with a faucet to fit on the other part, as indicated by dotted
lines at 10, 11. The junction pipe 9 has an ordinary trap-bend pipe,
sometimes termed "siphon pipe" or cesspool pipe," 12, jointed to its
lower end, and forming the permanent hydraulic seal or trap, so pro-
tected by its depth and position from atmospheric influence as to be
secure against evaporation and freezing, whilst it effectually prevents the
escape of sewer gases into the streets, and remains free for the passage
of surface drainage into the drains at all times, even in the case of
the freezing of the contents of the gully box 6. The depth of the
trap below the overflow nozzle 7 also gives sufficient head to insure
the thorough flushing of the trap. A vertical inspection shaft is
formed by the addition of a straight pipe length, 13, to the top of
the junction pipe 9, and over this there is fixed a locked iron covering,
14, the keyhole of which is provided with an iron stopper attached
to a spring, allowing it to be pushed down when the key is inserted.
Where preferred the upper part of the inspection shaft may be com-
pleted in brickwork and be covered with a stone, as shown in the
Figures herein-after described, as illustrating examples No. 2, 3, and 4, 1
or it may be completed in any other convenient way. The use of the
sludge box 3 very much facilitates the cleansing of the gully, as it
can be removed, emptied directly into a wagon, and replaced in a
few minutes. The box 3 should be made as light as possible, as, for
example, of galvanised sheet iron, and a few holes should be made 2
at or near its bottom to admit of its being sunk in water after being
emptied.
Figure 4 is a vertical section, and Figures 5 and 6 are horisontal
sections, as at D-D, E-E, and F-F, respectively of example No. 2.
In this example a single iron casting is made to comprise the upper 3
body 4, the gully box 6, the overflow outlet 7, and the hydraulic trap 12.

page_text: however, believed to be sufficiently protected and deep enough to be
free from evaporation or freezing even in a severe climate, when it
is borne in mind that the surface of the water in the trap most directly
exposed to atmospheric influence is balanced by a larger surface upon
which the warmer temperature of the sewers acts, and so counteracts
to a certain extent the cooling tendency.
Figures 7 and 8 are vertical sections, and Figures 9 and 10 are
horizontal sections, as at G-G, H—H, J—J, and K-K, respectively
of example No. 3, which differs from No. 2 in having the upper body 4
made in a separate piece and arranged telescopically as regards the
gully box 6. The telescopic part is also oblong instead of circular.
In some cases the brickwork 5 may be dispensed with and the
telescopic upper body 4 be made large enough to go over the gully
box 6, the flange being cast on the bottom of the part 4 as indicated
by dotted lines in Figures 1 and 7, and resting directly on the filled-in
earth. It is, however, preferable for the upper body 4 to be arranged
to slide inside and not outside of the gully box 6 as the top edge of
the latter when inside would form a ledge for the lodgement of sludge,
and as an external upper body 4 would be a more expensive casting.
Figure 11 is a vertical section of example No. 4 which generally
resembles No. 2, but is of a size and form suitable for the drainage of
yards, private courts, and the like. The trap 12 is carried deeper than
the bottom of the gully box 6, partly for economy and partly to lower
the trap sufficiently without making a deeper gully box 6 than is
desirable for private situations, or where they are not attended to by
the specially appointed and skilled workmen who take charge of the
public gullies. The smaller size of sludge box 3 for this example may
be cheaply made of cast iron without being too heavy.
Having thus particularly described the said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated, but
that what I believe to be novel and original and claim as secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1. The combining of the parts of gullies or stench traps substantially
in the improved modes herein described and delineated.
2. The combining of a permanent hydraulic trap (12) with the lower
part of a gully box (6) in the improved modes herein described and
delineated.

page_text: 3. The constructing of the gully with an upper body (4) and a lower
box (6) combined together telescopically as herein-before described.
4. The protecting of the overflow outlet (7) with an outer ring or
flange (8) as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Hunt, have hereunto set 5
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.