AN IMPROVED CLOTH FOR SAILS OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1832

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WILKINSON TAYLOR, of Bow, in the County of Middlesex, Felt Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Eighth day of November, in the third year of His reigu,
did, fór Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Wilkinson Taylor, His especial licence, full power, 'sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said William Wilkinson Taylor, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Wilkinson Taylor, my
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED
CLOTH FOR SAILS OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said William Wilkinson Taylor, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the
said William Wilkinson Taylor, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully

page_text: described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, that is
to say:-
My Invention consists in the application of sail cloth made of hair for sails
of ships and other vessels by this means:-The sails will be composed of a
material not subject to mildew, nor to decay from damp or variations of
temperature, which are so destructive to sail cloth made from hemp or cotton.
But in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and carried into
effect, I will describe the means which I have pursued in preparing the material,
and for weaving the same into sail cloth. The description of hair I. com-
monly use is that which is invoiced in trade by the names of ox and cow hair,
and which has been heretofore used for.making felt, and in mixing it in mortar;
but in other respects it has been of little use. In addition to ox and cow hair
the hair of the elk, the calf, and the short staple hair of the horse, and any
similar hair, will be more or less useful, though I generally confine myself to
the use of the first-mentioned hair, as being the most plentiful in the market,
and easily fabricated into sail cloth. The hair is to be carded and combed, in
order to clean and lay the staple lengthwise as much as possible, and the same
is to be formed into slivers, in a similar manner to the preparing of wool for
spinning, and this I have usually done by the machinery commonly in use for
that purpose. The slivers are to be twisted and spun into close, hard threads,
which I have performed by hand spinning, and the same may be done with
great facility after a little practice. These threads are to form the warp and
weft in weaving the same into sail cloth. In making the best description of
sail cloth from hair I prefer that each warp thread should consist of two
threads twisted together. By this means very good work is produced, and
much stronger than can be produced by single threads; and I prefer that the
weft should also consist of two threads twisted. The weaving I have performed
by an ordinary hand loom. The sail cloth thus produced is next submitted
to the process of fulling or felting, similarly to woollen fabrics. By this means
the interstices become filled up, and the fabric is made to have a more close
texture, and consequently more capable of holding the wind. The sail cloth
is to be formed in the various shaped sails required, and I prefer the parts or
lengths of sail cloth should be sewed together by a strong thread made of the
same material which the sail cloth is composed, and thus the whole will consist
of materials not subject to mildew, or to be quickly destroyed by damp and
variations of temperature. It will be evident, that although I have here
described the various operations to be carried on by hand labour, this being
the means I have used and find to answer, yet I do not confine myself to that
means of production, as it will be evident that my Invention does not consist

page_text: in any new means of carding, spinning, or weaving, those processes being
carried on in the usual manner. But what I claim as my Invention is, the
application of cloth made of hair for the sails of ships and other vessels, as
above described, such cloth not being liable to mildew, or to be destroyed by
damp or variations of temperature, which are so prejudicial to sail cloth made
of flax or cotton. -
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1833, the aforesaid William Wilkinson Taylor came.
before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and speci-
fied, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.