AN IMPROVED COOKING APPARATUS. PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR MILITARY
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Prosser and John Hogg, both of Witton
Park, Darlington, in the County of Durham, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED COOKING APPARATUS. PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR MILITARY
Sealed the 5th June 1860, and dated the 8th December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Prosser and John
Hogg, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Peti-
tion, on the 8th December 1859.
We, WILLIAM PROSSER and JOHN HOGG, both of Witton Park, Darlington,
in the County of Durham, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
of "AN IMPROVED COOKING APPARATUS, PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR MILITARY
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to combine the various operations of roasting,
baking, and boiling in one machine, and rendering it portable, so as to provide
for an army either in camp or on the march.
We propose arranging a suitable boiler for the quantity of meat or soup
required, this boiler being provided with an inner bottom or lifter, so that the
meat may be raised from the interior by means of a portable crane or derrick,
and swing round upon a platform for the more easy distribution. A steamer
or cullender is added, in which potatoes may be cooked at the same time.

page_text: A commodious oven or ovens is in close proximity to the boiler, for baking
meat, bread, or pastry, also a steam chest for cooking any kind of vegetables,
puddings, rice, fish, or other articles to which steam is applicable. A second
boiler is added, in which to make coffee, cocoa, &c. The whole of these
various operations may be performed at the same time by one fire, if necessary.
The apparatus may be made of any suitable size, and mounted on wheels and
springs, so that when an army is upon the march the cooking operations can
be proceeded with. It is to be supplied with a funnel or smoke pipe upon
the locomotive principle, and is adapted to burn either coal, wood, or other
dry fuel, as emergency may require.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Prosser and John Hogg in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th June 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
PROSSER and JOHN HOGG, both of Witton Park, Darlington, in the County
of Durham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said William Prosser and John Hogg, Her special licence that we, the
said William Prosser and John Hogg, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said William Prosser and John Hogg,
our 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 "AN IMPROVED COOKING APPARATUS,
PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR MILITARY PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said William Prosser and John Hogg, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said William Prosser and John Hogg, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to combine the various operations of roasting,
baking, and boiling in one machine, and rendering it portable, so as to provide
for an army either in camp or on the march.
In order to explain our said Invention as completely as possible, we now
proceed to describe the best means we are acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, as follows:-
A suitable boiler is arranged for the desired quantity of meat or soup
required. This boiler is provided with an inner bottom or lifter, so that the
meat may be raised from the interior by means of a portable crane or derrick,
and swung round upon a platform for the more easy distribution thereof. A
steamer or cullender is added, in which potatoes may be cooked at the same
time. A commodious oven or ovens are in close proximity to the boiler, for
baking meat, bread, or pastry, over which are perforations for stew kettles,
frying, gravy pans, and the like, also a steam chest for cooking any kind of
vegetables, puddings, rice, fish, or other articles to which steam is applicable.
A second boiler is added, in which to make coffee, cocoa, &c., together with a
reserve boiler for making tea, grog, &c., or to supply the other boilers.
Recesses or hot-air chambers are arranged beneath the apparatus, for the
purposes of drying fuel or other drying purpose, also lockers or store boxes for
various purposes. The whole of the various operations of cooking may be
performed at the same time by one fire by the arrangement before described,
or, when only one or two cooking operations are required, the fire may be
lessened by metal slides, which act as partitions, and confine the fire to the
place where such operation is desired. The apparatus is to be made of any
suitable size, according to number intended to supply, and mounted on wheels
and springs (which may be detached when necessary), so that, when an army
is upon the march, the cooking operations can be proceeded with as easily as
when in camp. A funnel or smoke pipe is arranged upon the locomotive
engine principle, and made to rise or fall as necessity may require, the fire-
place or furnace being adapted to burn either coal, coke, wood, turf, or any
other kind of dry fuel, as cases of emergency may require.
Having now described the nature and object of our said Invention of "An
Improved Cooking Apparatus, particularly suitable for Military Purposes,"
together with the manner in which the same is to be performed, we would
remark in conclusion, that we do not confine or restrict ourselves to the

page_text: precise details herein described, as various modifications and arrangements
may be made therein without in any way departing from the principle of our
Invention; but what we claim as our Invention, intended to be secured to us
by the herein in part recited Letters Patent, is, the combining the various
operations of cooking in one machine, and rendering the same portable,
when required, in the manner and for the purposes herein described and set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Prosser, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
EDMUND THOMPSON,
Witton Park,
Darlington.
WILLIAM PROSSER. (L.s.)