IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR TAKING OR CATCHING OF FISH, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO PROPELLING, AND_TO_ARRESTING THE PROGRESS OF SHIPS AND BOATS, AND TO THE FORMING OF COMMUNICATION THEREFROM TO THE SHORE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry James, of the Old Kent Road, in
the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR TAKING OR CATCHING OF FISH, PARTS OF
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO PROPELLING, AND_TO_ARRESTING THE
PROGRESS OF SHIPS AND BOATS, AND TO THE FORMING OF COMMUNICATION
THEREFROM TO THE SHORE."
Sealed the 22nd August 1861, and dated the 26th February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry James at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th February 1861.
I, WILLIAM HENRY JAMES, of the Old Kent Road, in the County of Surrey,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR TAKING OR CATCHING OF FISH,
PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO PROPELLING, AND TO ARRESTING
THE PROGRESS OF SHIPS AND BOATS, AND TO THE FORMING OF COMMUNICATION THERE-
FROM TO THE SHORE," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in the employment of bags or balloons inflated
with air by any suitable air-forcing apparatus, and made of strong materials,
and of a spherical, cylindrical, or any other desirable shape, containing or
partly filled with water to serve as ballast, for the purpose of being acted upon
by the wind or tide, for dragging, pulling, trailing or trawling nets or ropes
furnished with lines, hooks, floats, or other appropriate.contrivances for taking
רנס'מ

page_text: or catching fish; also in the employment in connection therewith,if necessary,
of suitable reels, upon which such ropes or other apparatus are wound; and
also in having inconnection with such inflated bags or balloonsself-acting spring
valves, which shall open and liberate a portion of the contained air in case the
wind or sea should be very rough, so as to diminish the resistance in such
case and prevent the apparatus from bursting, or the ropes, lines, or other
appliances from breaking or snapping asunder.
Secondly, in the employment, under certain circumstances, of windlasses
fixed on shore for the dragging of nets, or fishing ropes or lines, to and fro
between the shore and mooring blocks, anchors, or other suitable apparatus
placed and firmly imbedded in the sand or mud, or fixed to rocks or other
substances forming the bottom of the sea or other waters at any convenient
distances from the shore; and I effect the necessary movements of such
apparatus by means of pulleys attached to buoys or other floating bodies or
vessels formed of leather, metal, or any other suitable materials, which buoys
or other floating apparatus are attached by ropes or lines to chains or cables
connected with such mooring blocks or other fixtures, so that fish may be so
caught or taken at sea, or in other waters, and conveyed on shore without the
danger and delay incident to the employment of fishing boats.
Thirdly, parts of my Invention are also applicable in cases of shipwreck or
the stranding of vessels on lee shores, and which consist in the use of inflated
bags or air balloons, as before mentioned, with the spring valves attached
thereto, or any numbers thereof that may be deemed necessary for dragging a
rope or ropes, coiled or otherwise, to the shore, so as to form a communication
and mode of conveyance from one to the other, in order to save life and
property, by the aid of and in conjunction therewith of other contrivances
applicable to such cases and well understood.
Fourthly, parts of my Invention are also applicable, during great storms
and tempests, to the saving from destruction both ships and their crews, by
arresting their progress by the use of such mooring blocks, chains, cables, and
buoys, as before described, and as forming a necessary portion of the means
I sometimes employ, as already stated, for the taking or catching of fish, and
which, when forming a part thereof, may be so placed in lines at various
points around the coasts of the United Kingdom as to form the means of safe
anchorage for vessels as well as of arresting the otherwise onward course to
destruction of vessels when drifting towards the shore by the force ofthe wind
and tide. This I effect by forming a line or series of mooring blocks at
short distances apart, and extending parallel with the shore, or nearly so, to
the distance of a mile, more or less, and at about the same distance therefrom

page_text: when there is sufficent depth of water to allow of any sized vessels riding in
safety over or contiguous to them at any state of the tide and in any weather;
to which mooring blocks I attach strong chains, capable of reaching to within
(say) twenty-five feet, more or less, of the surface, the upper ends of which
chains are firmly united to very strong chains or cables, which I always keep
within the twenty-five feet, more or less, of the surface (as may be deemed
expedient) in a state of horizontal suspension, or nearly so, by means of ropes,
rods, or other contrivances attached to a series of buoys or other floating
bodies or vessels, as before mentioned, to which buoys or horizontally suspended
chains or cables 1 attach my pulleys when employed in connection with ropes
and windlasses for fishing purposes, these buoys being placed at a sufficient
distance apart from each other to allow of vessels sailing or otherwise passing
between them (under ordinary circumstances) and over the suspended cables
without coming in contact with them. Then, by means of strong hooks or
multi-fluked anchors, suspended by short chains from their sterns or otherwise
to a sufficient depth below the suspended cables, so as to come in contact with
them when drifting towards the shore, and so linked and made fast thereto,
I not only cause such vessels to be retained, but likewise enable them to ride
out any storm with safety, with the great convenience of possessing a communi-
cation with the shore by means of the fishing cords and lines before mentioned,
which safe anchorge for vessels will, I believe, serve all the purposes of
harbours of refuge, and consequently the enormous outlay necessary for
their construction.
Fifthly, parts of my Invention are also applicable for the dragging of small
vessels, boats, rafts, or other vehicles off the sands, rocks, or through the
surf, or from other perilous positions when need exists or opportunity offers,
as well as for dragging vessels of any kind on or through the water, and thus
propelling them by means of the inflated bags or balloons and ropes and
lines before mentioned, in lieu of or in conjunction with sails or other
means of propulsion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry James in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY JAMES, of the Old Kent Road, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry James, Her special licence that I, the said William
Henry James, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Henry James, 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 Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR TAKING OR CATCHING OF FISH,
PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO PROPELLING, AND TO ARRESTING
THE PROGRESS OF SHIPS AND BOATS, AND TO THE FORMING OF COMMUNICATION THERE-
FROM TO THE SHORE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Henry James, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry James, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
My improvements in the means or apparatus for taking or catching of fish,
parts of which improvements are applicable to propelling and arresting the
progress of ships and boats, and to the forming of communication therefrom
to the shore, will be understood by reference to the accompanying Draw-
ings, and consist, firstly, in using bags or balloons A, A, A, A, Figures
1, 2, 5, 6, Drawing No. 1. These bags or balloons being inflated with air by
any suitable air-forcing apparatus, and made of strong materials and of a
spherical, cylindrical, or any other desirable shape, each containing a sufficient
quantity of water to serve as ballast to enable them to rest upon the water
when being acted upon by the wind, as shown at Figures 1, 2, 5, 6, Drawing
No. 1, or wholly filled with water, and supported by a float or buoy, as
shewn at A, Figure 4, Drawing 1, when propelled by the tide or carried out to
sea by the receding tide, which bags or balloons so inflated and propelled I

page_text: employ for dragging, pulling, trailing or trawling of nets, as shewn at d, d,
Figure 2, Drawing 1, or of ropes e, e, e, e, Figures 1, 4, 5, 6, furnished with
lines, hooks, floats, or other appropriate contrivances for the taking or catching
of fish, which several appliances may, if desired, be attached by means of
small hooks and eyes to the ropes when so employed or detached at pleasure
as may be found necessary to allow of such ropes being wound or otherwise
upon large reels or windlasses ffff, Figures 1, 4, 5, 6, Drawing 1,
each of such inflated bags or balloons being supplied with properly adjusted
spring valves to open and liberate a portion of the contained air in case the
wind or sea should be very rough so as to diminish the resistance in such case,
and to prevent the apparatus from twisting, or the ropes, lines, or other
appliances from breaking or snapping asunder. These valves may also be
employed for discharging the whole or any portion of the air as desired at any
time by means of strings or wires attached thereto, and made to unwind from
reels attached to such inflated bags or balloons, as shewn at h, Figure 1,
which strings or wires, when perfectly uncoiled either by the progress of these
bags or balloons when driven before the wind, or when brought into that con-
dition purposely by hand, shall at that period, and not before, have the effect
of opening such valves, and of allowing the air to escape so as to admit of
their being drawn back ashore without any material resistance from the
opposing wind.
Secondly, I also employ, under certain circumstances, windlasses i, i, i,
fixed on shore for the dragging of nets or of fishing ropes or lines to and fro
between the shore and mooring blocks, anchors, or other suitable apparatus
placed and firmly embedded in the sand or mud, as shewn at j,j, Figure 3,
or fixed to rocks or other substances forming the bottom of the sea or other
waters at any convenient distances from the shore; and I effect the necessary
movements of such apparatus by means of pulleys attached to buoys or other
floating bodies or vessels & formed of leather, metal, or any other suitable
materials, which buoys or other floating apparatus are attached by ropes or
lines to chains or cables connected with such mooring blocks or other fixtures,
so that fish may be so caught or taken at sea, or in other waters, and conveyed
on shore without the danger and delay incident to the employment of fishing
boats. These inflated bags or air balloons might in many cases be very
advantageously employed for the conveyance of barrels ashore from vessels
lying off the coast for obtaining supplies of water, provisions, &c., during rough
and stormy weather, instead of risking the lives of seamen in
open boats.
Old hulks of vessels might be used when at anchor as fishing stations to allow
of advantage being taken of the wind for such purposes when blowing in any

page_text: direction, as shewn at 7, Figure 5. Numerous islands which exist around
the coast of Great Britain and Ireland might be used also very advantageously
for similar purposes, as shewn at M, Figure 6.
Thirdly, parts of my Invention are also applicable in cases of shipwreck or
the stranding of vessels on sea shores, as shewn at Figures 1 & 2, Drawing 2,
and which consist in the use of inflated bags or air balloons A, A, as before
mentioned, with the spring valves attached thereto, or any numbers thereof
that may be deemed necessary for dragging or unwinding a rope or ropes
coiled upon reels B, B, Figures 1 & 2, or otherwise to the shore, so as to form
a communication and mode of conveyance from one to the other in order to
save life and property by the aid of and in conjunction therewith of other
contrivances applicable in such cases, and well understood.
Fourthly, parts of my Invention are also applicable, during great storms
and tempests to the saving from destruction both ships and their crews by the
use of such mooring blocks, chains, cables, and buoys as before.described, and
as forming a necessary portion of the means I sometimes employ, as already
stated, for the taking or catching of fish, and which, when forming a part
thereof, may be so placed in lines at various points around the coast as to
form the means of safe anchorage for vessels, as well as arresting the other-
wise onward course to destruction of vessels when driving or drifting towards
the shore by the force of wind or tide in consequence of the breakage of
cables, breaking or dragging of anchors, or other untoward circumstances.
This I effect by forming a linear series of mooring blocks at short distances
apart (as shewn at c, c, c, c, Figure 4, Drawing 2), and extending parallel
with the shore, or nearly so, to the distance of a mile, more or less, and at
about the same distance therefrom so as in every case to allow of sufficient
depth of water for any sized vessels to ride in safety over or contiguous to them
át any state of tide, and in any weather, to which mooring blocks I attach
strong chains d, d, d, capable of reaching to within, say twenty-five feet more
or less of the surface, the upper ends of which chains are firmly united to
other very strong chains or cables, as shewn at e, e, e, e, which may be formed
of any suitable materials; these I always keep within the twenty-five feet more
or less of the surface (as may be deemed expeditious) in a state of horizontal
suspension, or nearly so, by means of ropes, rods, or other contrivances
attached to a series of buoys or other floating bodies or vessels f,f,f,f, (as
before mentioned) to which buoys or horizontally suspended chains or cables
I attach my pullies (as shewn by a single one g)when employed in connection
with ropes
and windlasses for fishing purposes. These buoys being generally
placed at sufficient distances apart from each other to allow of vessels sailing

page_text: or otherwise passing between them (under ordinary circumstances) and over
the suspended cables without coming in contact with them, but when drifting
towards the shore during storms, I propose that such vessels should-be pro-
vided with short chains or cables of great strength,to the ends of which should
be attached a series of strong hooks or multiflutical anchors, which being
suspended from the sterns or otherwise of such vessels to a sufficient depth
below the horizontally suspended cables, before described, to come in contact
with them when driven or drifting towards the shore by force of wind or tide
so as to become linked and made fast thereto, and so enabled to ride out any
storm in safety, with the great convenience of possessing at the same time a
commuuication with the shore by means of the fishing cords or lines before
mentioned, and which safe anchorage for vessels will, I believe, be found to
serve all the purposes of harbours of refuge, and might be constructed at a
very trifling comparative outlay.
Fifthly, parts of my Invention are also applicable for the propelling or
dragging of small vessels, boats, rafts, or other vehicles off the sands, rocks,
through the surf,or from other perilous positions, and with very great velocity
if desired when need exists or opportunity offers, as well as for dragging
vessels of any kind on or through the water by means of the inflated bags or
air balloons, and ropes and lines before mentioned, see letters h, i, Figure 3,
Drawing 2, in lieu of or in conjunction with sails or other means of pro-
pulsion.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improvements
in the means or apparatus for taking or catching fish, parts of which improve-
ments are applicable to propelling and to arresting the progress of ships and
boats,and to the forming of communicationtherefromtotheshore, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry James, have hereunto
set my hand and seal,this Twenty-fourth day of August One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
W. H. JAMES. (L.s.)