IMPROVED MEANS OF CHECKING THE RECEIPTS OF RAILWAY CLERKS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Roy, of Upper Woburn Place,
Euston Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVED MEANS OF CHECKING THE RECEIPTS OF RAILWAY CLERKS."
Sealed the 4th July 1865, and dated the 4th January 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Roy
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th January 1865.
I, WILLIAM HENRY ROY, of Upper Woburn Place, Euston Square, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF CHECKING THE RECEIPTS OF RAILWAY
CLERKS," to be as follows:-
The chief object of this Invention is to enable railway companies to retain
a counterpart of all excess luggage and fare tickets issued, and thereby to
give them a check upon their servants who are empowered to receive
monies on this class of traffic. This I effect by printing numbered tickets in
duplicate, and by preference on paper of two different colours, and binding
them up, so that the original and counterpart sheets of tickets will alternate
throughout the book; that is to say, all the sheets of original tickets which
are intended to remain in the book and be filled up by the station clerk or by
the ticket taker, shall have a counterpart on the leaf at the back thereof,
which counterpart tickets shall correspond in position to or underlie the
original tickets bearing the corresponding numbers. Between the leaves of
the book thus arranged a sheet of carbonized or transfer paper prepared on

page_text: both sides is to be placed before the book is used. When, therefore, the clerk
with a pencil or its equivalent fills in the original luggage or fare ticket, he
will obtain an impression from the carbonized paper on the counterpart ticket
beneath that on which he is writing, which counterpart ticket is to be given
up to the passenger in receipt for his money payment, and an impression is
also taken in reverse on the back of the original ticket which he has filled up.
The leaves constituting the passengers' counterpart tickets are to be pierced to
facilitate their detachment from the book, and the remaining leaves will give
a faithful record of all the money transactions for which receipts have been
rendered.
This Invention anulies also to the delivery of goods carried by or belonging
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Roy in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY ROY, of Upper Woburn Place, Euston Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Henry Roy, Her special licence that I, the said
William Henry Roy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Henry Roy, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF CHECKING THE RECEIPTS OF RAILWAY
CLERKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry
Roy, 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 Patent. .

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Roy, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):
The chief object of this Invention is to enable railway companies to retain
a counterpart of all excess luggage and fare vouchers or receipt tickets issued
to passengers by ticket collectors and clerks, and thereby to give to such com-
panies a complete check upon all their servants who are empowered to receive
monies on this class of traffic. To attain this result I print in duplicate blank
forms of tickets on paper of two different colours to make a marked contrast
between the one to be delivered when filled up to the passenger, and the
other (the original) to be retained by the company. These tickets I bind up
together, so that the original and counterpart tickets will alternate throughout
the book; that is to say, all the sheets of original tickets which are intended
to remain in the book and be filled up by the station clerk or ticket taker, as the
case may be, shall have a counterpart on the leaf following it, and these
counterpart tickets shall correspond in position to or underlie the original tickets
bearing the corresponding numbers. The original ticket or that which is to
be retained by the company I propose to print on white paper, and the
counterpart on orange or such other color as will contrast well with the white.
This marked distinction in color will enable any casual looker on to assure
himself that the collector or clerk is following his instructions by filling up
the white ticket (to be retained) and thus preparing simultaneously the receipt
or voucher for payment of excess charged for delivery to the passenger. The
kind of blank form which I have found convenient to adopt is shewn by
the following example:-

page_text: When the book composed of numbered duplicate forms, arranged as above
described, is required to be used, I apply between the leaves a sheet of
ordinary carbonized or transfer paper, either prepared on both sides or folded
with the prepared face outwards. Thus, when it is required to fill up a
form, the carbonized paper is laid under the form to be written upon, and
between it and its duplicate. The clerk then with a hard pencil or its
equivalent fills in the original fare or luggage ticket in the following
manner :-
In doing this the clerk will obtain an impression from the carbonized paper
on the counterpart ticket beneath that on which he is writing, which counter-
part ticket is to be given up to the passenger in receipt for his money
payment, and an indelible impression is also taken in reverse on the back of
the original ticket which he has filled up, thus preventing the possibility of
the pencil figures on the face of the ticket being successfully tampered with.
The leaves constituting the passengers' counterpart tickets I prefer to pierce
at the butts to facilitate their detachment from the books, and the remaining
leaves will give a faithful record of all the money transactions for which
receipts have been rendered.
This Invention applies, also, with slight and obvious modifications of the
blank forms used to the delivery of goods carried by or belonging to railway
companies.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "improved means of
checking the receipts of railway clerks, and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent I claim preparing vouchers of receipts for

page_text: money paid to railway clerks in the manner and for the purpose above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Roy, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. H. ROY. (L.S.)