IMPROVEMENTS IN SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Maynard, of Brooklyn, in the County of
Kings, and State of New York, United States of America, for the
Sealed the 19th April 1859, and dated the 1st November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Maynard at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1858.
I, EDWARD MAYNARD, of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings, and State of
New York, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in the use of parallel cords or strings of flax, hemp,
silk, or other non-conducting fibrous material, in connection with one or more
twisted metallic conductors, whereby the strain in laying said cable is taken
by said parallel cords or strings, and the wire is free from tension. To accom-
plish this object I use a strong cord of fibrous material, and wind around the
same a conductor consisting of one or more wires. I then surround the same
with parallel strands or cords, and bind the same firmly around the outside of
the conductor by a serving wound around said strands; two or more surrounding
layers may be thus formed, and if a second conductor is to be used, the same
is to be wound around the outside of the aforesaid layers of non-conducting

page_text: fibrous material, and then similar outer layers applied outside of these fibrous
layers; iron, or other wires, are to be applied, either parallel or twisted. I
prefer two layers composed of fifty or sixty wires, more or less, twisted around
said cable, and then served or wound over with suitable material. Care should
be taken that the cords composing the alternate layers, the wire of the con-
ductors, and the wire coverings, be twisted in opposite directions, so as to
avoid any liability to twist or kink. A saturation of wax is also to be used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Maynard in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
MAYNARD, of Brooklyn, in the County of Kings, and State of New York,
United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Maynard, Her special license that I, the said Edward Maynard, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Maynard, 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 SUBMARINE
TELEGRAPH CABLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edward Maynard, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my 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 J, the said Edward Maynard, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment (that is to say) :-
In the annexed Drawing, Figs. 1 & 2 shew a side view and section of my
said cable with one conductor; Fig. 3 is a cross section of a cable with two

page_text: conductors; and Fig. 4 is a side view of the cable complete, and in the various
stages of manufacture. Similar marks of reference denote the same parts.
The nature of my said Invention consists in the use of parallel cords or
strings of hemp, flax, silk, or other fibrous materials, in connection with a
twisted conductor or conductors whereby all strain in laying said cable into the
water is taken on the said strands of fibrous material, and the conductor
entirely relieved from strain or liability to break, and beside this the insulation
is far more perfect than with those materials, such as gutta percha, that are
liable to break open under strain and destroy the insulation.
I take a strand or cord a of fibrous material, and wind around the same the
conductor b, composed of one or more wires of a suitable size. I then
surround the same with longitudinal parallel cords or strands of fibrous
non-conducting material c, and wind around the same a serving of strings or
thread, and during the operation of laying up, I saturate this fibrous material
(c), and all that is used surrounding the same, with wax or similar non-con-
ducting waterproof material by the application of heat to liquify the same, or
by the use of suitable materials in solution; d is a serving around the cords c;
e is a second layer of parallel cords; and f is the serving to the same. If
only one conductor is to be used, a covering of iron wire is to be applied, as
hereafter set forth, to complete the cable, as in Fig. 1; but if two conductors
are to be used, I apply the second as at g, the same being composed of one or
more wires wound around the previous fibrous material (e, f); h and k
are the parallel cords of fibrous materials, and i, 1, are the windings or
servings of thread or twine.
The alternate layers of the strands being composed of cords twisted in
opposite directions and coated or saturated successively with wax, there is no
liability for the cable to twist or kink, and at the same time a perfect insulation
is effected; m is a layer of wires twisted around the cable (outside the serving
1 or f.) with a gradual curvature, and served over as at n, and o is another
layer of wires rather finer than the wires m, and twisted in the opposite direc-
tion; and p is tho serving to the same.
By this manner of constructing telegraph cables for submarine use, a very
strong article is produced, and one that is not liable to twist or kink, and is
thoroughly insulated, and all strain is taken on the cords and wire coverings,
which are parallel or only slightly twisted, and the intervening servings prevent
the layers of fibrous materials separating longitudinally of the cable; and the
conductor or conductors having a twist in them are almost entirely relieved
from strain.
I do not claim a telegraph cable in which strands of fibrous material or

page_text: wires are used, neither do I claim a serving wound around the same; but
there is no previous instance with which I am acquainted in which a con-
ductor in a twisted or more or less helical form has been enclosed in layers
formed by parallel strands of cord, string, or other fibrous material served or
wound around over the successive layers, at the same time that wax or other
non-conducting waterproof material is used to saturate said cable, and thereby
produce a durable waterproof cable, in which the conductor is relieved from
strain, and perfectly insulated, as specified; what I claim as my Invention and
desire to secure by Letters Patent is, constructing submarine telegraph cables
of metallic conductors twisted in a helical form in combination with layers of
cords or strings parallel or nearly so with the axis of the cable, that are con-
fined together by a serving or winding, and are saturated with waterproof
non-conducting material, as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Maynard, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Eighth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witnesses,
LEMUEL W. SERRELL,
289, Broadway,
New York.
THOMAS G. HAROLD,
289, Broadway,
New York.
E. MAYNARD. (L.S.)