A NEW OR IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF CABINET FOR THE ARRANGING AND PRESERVING OF WAY BILLS OR OTHER DOCUMENTS IN RAILWAY OR OTHER PARCEL FORWARDING OFFICES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John McGill, of the Town and County of Ayr, North
Britain, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF CABINET
FOR THE ARRANGING AND PRESERVING OF WAY BILLS OR OTHER DOCUMENTS
IN RAILWAY OR OTHER PARCEL FORWARDING OFFICES."
Sealed the 28th March 1877, and dated the 10th October 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John McGill at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th October 1876.
JOHN MCGILL, of the Town and County of Ayr, North Britain. "A NEW OR
IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF CABINET FOR THE ARRANGING AND PRESERVING OF
WAY BILLS OR OTHER DOCUMENTS IN RAILWAY OR OTHER PARCEL FORWARDING
OFFICES."
This Invention relates to the construction and arrangement of cabinet for the
assortment and safe keeping of way bills and other similar documents in the parcel
forwarding and receiving offices of railway clearing house stations, whereby such
bills and documents may be disposed and arranged in a more systematic, accurate,
and expeditious manner than hitherto.
And the Invention consists in constructing the cabinet of an ordinary rectan-
gular framing, preferably of from three to four feet high, two and a half feet long,
and from six to twelve inches in depth from back to front, the special feature of
novelty being the arrangement of the upper portion of the cabinet into compart-
ments divided in the form of pigeon holes consisting of a series of three longitudinal
rows and five vertical rows, which are found to be the necessary complement of
compartments for carrying out the said Invention into practice.
The upper longitudinal row. of five compartments is for the arrangement of the
way bills for the inwards through traffic, the first compartment for containing
the way bills of the first week of the month, the sequential compartments of the
same row being for the sequential weeks of the month, and the fifth compartment
for the extra days of the calendar month; the whole row thus admits of a weekly
and monthly arrangement of way bills.
The second longitudinal row of compartments is for containing the way bills of
the outwards through traffic for arrangement in a precisely similar manner to those
of the inwards through traffic.

page_text: The third or lowest longitudinal row of compartments, which are also five in
number, are for the following uses, namely:-In the first compartment are placed
as they are received all the way bills of the inwards locoal and through traffic not
entered in the delivery or warehouse books. It often happens that one or more
way bills come into the office at a time when the clerks are so busy with other
work that they have not time to enter them into the delivery or warehouse books,
and it is found most advantageous and convenient to have a special place where
they can be safely and systematically kept until the clerks are ready to enter them.
The way bills are then taken from the first compartment and entered in the
delivery or warehouse books, and are then placed in the second, third, fourth, or
fifth compartment of the row, according to the particular section of the traffic to
which they belong, the second compartment being for outwards local traffic, the
third for inwards local traffic, the fourth for outwards through, and the fifth for
inwards through traffic respectively.
The way bills of the second and third compartments, namely, for outwards local
and inwards local are preferred to be entered daily into the way bill abstract book of
the clearing house, and then disposed in sequence in any convenient permanent
receptacle or safe.
The way bills in the fourth and fifth compartments however, namely, belonging to
the outwards through and inwards through traffic need not be entered into the
abstract book oftener than once a week, and after entry they are disposed or
placed into the sequential week compartments of the upper and middle longi-
tudinal rows, namely, for inwards through and outwards through traffic respectively
to which they belong, and from which they are transferred to their permanent
place of deposit once a month. Thus the way bills of the parcel office of railway
clearing house stations can never get into confusion, and the time and attention of
the clerks are thus very materially economised.
It is preferred to hinge a flap or hanging lid or door along each longitudinal row
of compartments, and which is readily lifted up by a thumb and finger knob, a
ring or other convenient device; and the names of the respective compartments
may be indicated in words or letters on the outer face of the flap, lid, or door.
The extreme bottom part of the cabinet may have a longitudinal drawer or a
series of drawers for holding writing papers or other such materials, and between
the drawers and the pigeon holes in the upper part of the cabinet it is preferred to
form a series of vertical divisions (either open in front or closed in by a door) for
holding books and similar articles; but it is to be understood that the arrangement
of these drawers or the intermediate vertical spaces for books may be modified at
pleasure, as they form no essential part of my said Invention. It is also to be
understood that the order of the longitudinal rows of compartments may be
reversed, and the third row transferred to the place or position of the first row.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said John McGill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th April 1877.
JOHM MCGILL, of the Town and County of Ayr, North Britain. "A NEW OR
IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF CABINET FOR THE ARRANGING AND PRESERVING OF
WAY BILLS OR OTHER DOCUMENTS IN RAILWAY OR OTHER PARCEL FORWARDING
OFFICES."
My said Invention relates to the construction and arrangement of
cabinet for
the assortment and safe keeping of way bills and other similar documents in the
parcel forwarding and receiving offices of railway clearing house stations, whereby
such bills and documents may be disposed and arranged in a more systematic,
accurate, and expeditious manner than hitherto, thereby avoiding confusion and
considerably economising the labour of the clearing house clerks,

page_text: And the Invention consists in constructing the cabinet of an ordinary rectan-
gular framing, preferably from three to four feet high, two and a half feet long, and
from six to twelve inches in depth from back to front, the special feature of novelty
being the arrangement of the upper portion of the cabinet into compartments
divided in the form of pigeon holes, consisting of a series of three longitudinal
rows and five vertical rows, which are found to be the necessary complement of
compartments for carrying out this said Invention into practice.
And in order that the nature and novelty of my said Invention may be more
fully understood, I will now proceed to describe the two Figures on the accom-
panying Drawing, which I have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing the
best mode and means I am at present aware of for putting the same into effect or.
practice, reference being had to the words and figures marked thereon, that is to
say, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my new or improved cabinet with the respec-
tive divisions or way bills compartments closed in by their respective labelled.
hinged flap doors with vertical lines corresponding to the closed-in divisions; and
Figure 2 is a corresponding front elevation of the same with the flap doors in their
raised open position.
Referring to these Figures the upper longitudinal row of five compartments is
for the arrangement of the way bills for the outwards through traffic, the first
compartment for containing the way bills of the first week of the month, the
sequential compartments of the same row being for the sequential weeks of the
month, and the fifth compartment for the extra days of the calendar month, all as
labelled and figured in the Drawing. The whole row thus admits of a weekly and
monthly arrangement of way bills for the outward through traffic.
The second longitudinal row of compartments is for containing the way bills of
the inwards through traffic for arrangement in a precisely similar manner to those
of the outwards through traffic, and the divisions or compartment are labelled and
figured accordingly.
The third or lowest longitudinal row of compartiments, which are also five in
number, are for the following uses, as labelled, namely:-In the central compartment.
are placed as they are received all the way bills of the inwards local and through
traffic not entered in the delivery or warehouse books. It often happens that one
or inore way bills come into the office at a time when the clerks are so busy with
other work that they have not time to enter them into the delivery or warehouse
books, and it is found most advantageous and convenient to have a special place
where they can be safely and systematically kept until the clerks are ready to
enter them. The way bills are then taken from the central compartment of the
third longitudinal row, and entered in the delivery or warehouse books, after which
they are placed in the compartments to the right or left of the central one of the
row, according to the particular section of the traffic to which they belong, the two
compartments on the left being for outwards through and inwards through traffic
respectively, and the two compartments to the right of the central one being for
inwards local and outwards local traffic respectively.
The way bills of the two compartments on the right, namely, for inwards local
and outwards local are preferred to be entered daily into the way bill abstract book
of the clearing house, and the abstract returns disposed in their respective tem-
porary drawers or divisions in the central part of the lower half of the cabinet
(with flap doors or lids) labelled to correspond until it is convenient to remove
them to their permanent receptacle or safe in the clearing house.
The way bills in the two left-hand compartments however, namely, belonging to
the outwards through and inwards through traffic need not be entered into the
abstract book oftener than once a week, and after entry they are disposed or placed
into the sequential week compartments of the upper and middle longitudinal rows,
namely, for outwards through and inwards through traffic respectively to which
they belong, and from which they are transferred once a month to their permanent
place of deposit in the audit office or clearing house, the respective temporary
drawers or divisions in the central part of the lower half of the cabinet being

page_text: labelled to contain the returns or abstracts until it is convenient to remove them to
their permanent place of deposit or safe in the audit office or clearing house. Thus
the way bills of the parcel office of railway clearing house stations can never get
into confusion, and the time and attention of the clerks are thus very materially
economised.
It is preferred to hinge a flap or hanging lid or door along each longitudinal row
of five compartments, as shown in Figure 1, and which is readily lifted up by a
thumb and finger knob, a ring or other convenient device; and the names of the
respective compartments being indicated in words or letters on the outer face of
the flap lid or door the clerk can see at a glance the correct compartment wanted at
any time.
The extreme bottom part of the cabinet may have a longitudinal drawer or a series
of drawers (two only A, A', are shown in the Drawings) for holding writing papers
or other such materials, and in the lower half of the cabinet above the two bottom
drawers it is preferred to form a series of vertical divisions (either open in front or
closed in by a door) for holding books and similar articles with the four longitudinal or
divisions B, B¹, B, B, with flap lids between them, as shown in the Drawing, and for
the purposes specified; but it is to be understood that the arrangement of the lower
longitudinal divisions or the intermediate vertical spaces for books may be modified
at pleasure, as they form no essential part of my said Invention. It is also to be
understood that the order of the longitudinal rows of compartments may be reversed,
and the third row transferred to the place or position of the first row, and the first
transferred to the position of the second or third as preferred.
The order of the divisions in each longitudinal row may also be modified at
pleasure, but the whole arrangement or order shown in the Drawing is that which
I prefer, and have found in practice to be most convenient and systematic.
In some cases it may be preferred to have a special series of compartments for
the monthly arrangement of the local outwards and local inwards traffic, and to
provide for this the cabinet may be constructed with an additional vertical row of
compartments on each side forming wings, having also hinged flap doors, each wing
having five compartments, one for each week, the fifth one being for the extra days
of the calendar month, and labelled from the top. downwards or from the bottom
upwards as desired; and the extreme bottom part of each wing may have one or
more drawers if necessary for other purposes than the arrangement of way bills.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to the precise details
bercin described or delineated, but what I consider novel and original and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the general construction and arrangement of cabinets for the systematic
and regular arrangement and preservation of way bills and other documents in
railway clearing house stations or other parcel forwarding offices, substantially as
herein described in reference to and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any
mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John McGill, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
JOHN BROWN,
Patent Agent,
96, Buchanan Street,
Glasgow.
JNO. MOGILL. (L.S.)