AN IMPROVED GUARD FOR BOOTS, SHOES, AND CLOGS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED GUARD FOR BOOTS, SHOES, AND
CLOGS." A communication from abroad by William Andrew Harris, of
Providence, Rhode Island, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 18th January 1861, and dated the 20th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th August 1860.
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 "AN IMPROVED GUARD FOR BOOTS, SHOES, AND
CLOGS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the application to the back of boots, shoes, and
clogs of a guard, made of india-rubber, leather, or other suitable material, in
such a manner that it will serve to protect the bottoms of ladies' skirts or
gentlemen's trowsers in wet and muddy weather from becoming soiled by
rubbing against the muddy boot or receiving the mud thrown up in walking.
The guard may be applied to the boot, shoe, or overshoe, in any convenient
manner, either by sewing or by cementing it on; it may be made removeable
from the boot, and readily applied when required. The guard consists simply
of a curved piece applied to the back of the boot, shoe, or clog, and set at an
inclination outwards, so as to lap round it and overhang the heel at about the
distance of the thickness of the heel from the ground. Any mud, therefore,
that is thrown up in walking will be caught on the inner face of the guard,

page_text: and thus the clothes of the wearer will be effectually protected from the dirt.
The guard may be made of stiff or flexible material, of any shape or size
found best adapted to remedy the splashing of mud on the clothes in
walking.
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 20th February 1861.
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 Twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight lundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license 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 Íslands, and Isle of Man, än Invention
for "AN IMPROVED GUARD FOR BOOTS, SHOES, AND CLoGs," being a commu-
nication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 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 Drawings hereunto annexed;
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me from abroad, consists in applying
to the backs of boots, shoes, and clogs, a guard, made of india-rubber, leather,"
or other suitable material, in such a manner that it will serve to protect the

page_text: bottoms of ladies' skirts or gentlemen's trowsers in wet and muddy weather
from becoming soiled by rubbing against the muddy boot or receiving the mud
thrown up in walking. The guard may be applied to the boot, shoe, or
overshoe, in any convenient manner, either by sewing or by cementing it on;
it may be made so that it can be removed from the boot in dry weather, and
readily applied when required; it may either be made of stiff or flexible
material, and of any shape or size found best adapted to remedy the splashing
of mud on the clothes in walking.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1
represents a perspective.view of this improvement in use, and Fig. 2 is a
section, taken through the guard as applied to the heel of a boot. A is the
guard, extending partially around the sides of the heel; this guard is placed
pretty well up on the heel, and extends down sufficiently near to the sole of
the boot to protect the clothing, but yet to keep clear of the ground, and
present no inconvenience in walking. The guard resembles a hood very much
when attached in the above manner to a boot; its lower edge projects out
some distance from the heel of the boot, as clearly shewn in the Drawings.
This guard, in the case of pantaloons, prevents them from slipping down over
the sides and heel of the boot, the guard thus holding them away from that
part of the boot which would soil them. The mud which is usually thrown up
by the heel on the trowsers or on the inside of ladies' under skirts is received
by the guard on its under surface. The advantages of such an application to
a boot or shoe in wet or muddy weather will therefore be obvious.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Guard
for Boots, Shoes, and Clogs," as communicated to me from abroad, I wish it
to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim
affixing to the heel part of boots, shoes, and clogs, mud guards, in the manner
and for the purpose herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)