Year: 1887

page_text: 1, CHARLES HUMPHREY THAYER, of Boston in the County of Suffolk and State of
Massachusetts in the United States of America, Theatrical Manager, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements on pyrotechnic displays, particularly adapted
for out door entertainments in public parks or grounds connected with summer hotels
or sea-side resorts and it is carried out as follows: reference being had to the
accompanying drawings where Fig. 1 represents a general view of the invention, and
Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section of one of the movable objects.
In carrying ont my invention I lay in the park or in the space or grounds selected
for the entertainment a suitable railroad track A that may be arranged in a serpentine,
curvelinear, or other regular or irregular form as may be desired according to the
programme of the pyrotechnic display; the track A may be connected to one or more
sidings A each one being provided with a switch by which it may be connected to
the main track A. in the usual manner of rail-roading., B, C and D represent dummy
vessels, steamers or monitors as the case may be, said objects being mounted on the
respective trucks b, c and d as shown and adapted to be moved forward and back on
the track A by men walking on the track within the interior hollow space Cas
shown in Fig. 2. On the interior of the dummy C I make one or more shelves C¹i
on which to lay the fireworks that are to be used by the men in the respective
dummies as shown in Fig. 2; through port-holes made in the sides of the respective
dummies project cylinders, or imitation guns or other fire-arms or ordnance b¹, c', d'
through which are to be fired, roman candles, rockets, bombs or other suitable
fire-works as may be desired. Within the enclosure of the track A, or at a suitable
place or places outside of the same, I locate one or more imitation forts E as shown in
Fig. 1 similarly provided with imitation guns or ordnance e, e by means of which
rockets, roman candles and bombs etc. may be sent off during the entertainment.

page_text: Other objects such as for instance a lighthouse F shown in Fig. 1 may be added to
give a realistic feature to the display. During the progress of the entertainment the
portable vessels, or objects, B, C, D, are propelled along the track A, or moved
forward and back on the same according to the desired programme and fireworks are
set off from such moving objects, as well as from the stationary fort E to represent in
an artistic and faithful manner a naval battle or engagement.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a pyrotechnie display the rail road track A, one or more dummy-vessels or
other portable objects B, C, D mounted on the respective trucks b, c, d, and having
interior hollow spaces as described adapted to contain the operators by which the
dummies are propelled along the said track, and having means as described for
discharging fire-works from the interiors of said portable objects as and for the
purpose set forth.
2. In a pyrotechnic display the rail-road track A, one or more dummy-vessels or
other portable objects B, C, D mounted on their respective trucks b, c, d, and having
the interior hollow spaces as described and cylinders, or imitation ordnance projecting
from such interiors, combined with one or more stationary forts E or other stationary
objects as and for the purpose set forth.
C. H. THAYER.
Pp. Herbert & Co., 67, Strand, W.C.,
Agents to Applicant.