IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COM- MUNICATING BETWEEN THE SHORE AND A VESSEL, OR BETWEEN PLACES ON SHORE BY LINE OR LINES, OR ROPE OR ROPES, AND BY SOUND, PART OF SUCH APPARATUS BEING APPLICABLE FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA, OR FOR TRANSPORT 66 PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left
Year: 1875

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to John Banting Rogers, of Limehouse, in the
County of Middlesex, and of Robertsbridge, in the County of
Sussex, and Sebastian Anderson, of Crutched Friars, in the City
of London, temporarily residing in Paris, in the Republic of
France, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COM-
MUNICATING BETWEEN THE SHORE AND A VESSEL, OR BETWEEN PLACES ON
SHORE BY LINE OR LINES, OR ROPE OR ROPES, AND BY SOUND, PART OF SUCH
APPARATUS BEING APPLICABLE FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA, OR FOR TRANSPORT
66
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Banting Kogers
and Sebastian Anderson at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 4th August 1875.
We, JOHN BANTING ROGERS, of Limehouse, in the County of Middle-
sex, and of Robertsbridge, in the County of Sussex, and SEBASTIAN
ANDERSON, of Crutched Friars, in the City of London, temporarily
residing in Paris, in the Republic of France, do hereby declare the

page_text: nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COM-
MUNICATING BETWEEN THE SHORE AND A VESSEL, OR BETWEEN PLACES ON SHORE BY
LINE OR LINES, OR ROPE OR ROPES, AND BY SOUND, PART OF SUCH APPARATUS
BEING APPLICABLE FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA, OR FOR TRANSPORT OF PROVISIONS OR
LIGHT GOODS TO OR FROM A VESSEL OR ON THE SHORE," to be as follows:
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for communi-
cating between the shore and a vessel or between places on shore by
line or lines, or rope or ropes, and by sound, part of such apparatus
being applicable for saving life at sea, or for transport of provisions or
light goods to or from a vessel or on the shore, and consists mainly in
a combination of a series of detachable appliances, such as recl drums,
peg boards, ropes, tri-fluked or jointed arm anchor, blocks or sabots,
mortars, conoidal or bell-mouthed fittings for same to give different
sounds, travelling guys, hauling and other baskets, all arranged and
suitable for packing into a small compass within a vehicle, which in
itself can be used as a support, with the shafts or pole as an upright or
derrick.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Banting Rogers and Sebastian Anderson in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
BANTING ROGERS, of Limehouse, in the County of Middlesex, and of
Robertsbridge, in the County of Sussex, and SEBASTIAN ANDERSON, of
Crutched Friars, in the City of London, temporarily residing in Paris,
in the Republic of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said John Banting Rogers and
Sebastian Anderson, Her special license, that we, the said John
Banting Rogers and Sebastian Anderson, our exccutors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Banting Rogers and
Sebastian Anderson, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING
BETWEEN THE SHORE AND A VESSEL, OB BETWEEN PLACES ON SHORE BY LINE OR
LINES, OR ROPE OR ROPES, AND BY SOUND, PART OF SUCH APPARATUS BEING
APPLICABLE FOR SAVING LIFE AT SEA OR FOR TRANSPORT OF PROVISIONS OR LIGHT
GOODS TO OR FROM A VESSEL OR ON THE SHORE," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said John Banting Rogers and Sebastian Anderson,
or one of us, our executors, or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, or one of our or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 we, the said John Banting Rogers and
Sebastian Anderson, do hereby declare the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention relates mainly to a combination of a series of
detachable appliances, such as recl drums, peg boards, ropes, tri-fluked
or jointed arm anchor, blocks or sabots, mortars, conoidal or bell-mouthed
fittings for same to give different sounds, travelling guys, hauling and
other baskets, all arranged and suitable for packing into a small compass
within a vehicle, which in itself can be used as a support, with the shafts
or pole as an upright or derrick, and consists,---
Firstly. In a species of cart or conveyance with appliances, whereof
the divers parts have various uses, according to the nature of the
requirement and emergency, as shown by the annexed Drawings and
following description:When the cart is fully arranged and loaded
ready for storage or transit, it will comprise or contain the following
articles, or such of them as may be necessary, according to the require-
ments of each individual case, namely, two guns, whereof the one would
be adapted for propelling and firing the anchor herein-after described,

page_text: and the other the same for the cone block shot, also herein-after
described; pin boxes or tubs to hold lines coiled or arranged ready for
use or lines balled up for same purpose, namely, to be carried out
by means of the projectiles herein-before mentioned in the manner
herein-after described; likewise a hawser or larger rope and reel, as
herein after described, together with anchors, cone block shots, powder
magazine, medicine chest, breeches buoy, block and tackle for setting
up hawser planks, guys, and pulleys, also conoidal mouth-pieces for
guns to fit on to the mortars, so as to intensify and direct the sound of
its discharge, thus converting it into a distress gun for signals to give
warning to vessels off dangerous coasts; or this said part can be fitted
specially to the guns employed on board ships for use as herein-after
described, particularly as regards the application of our Invention of
parts thercof on ships to be employed in case of danger or otherwise.
The cart so arranged for storage or transit, as shown in Figure 1, is
provided with ropes affixed to the shafts and wheels in such manner
that they have a double use as slings and drag ropes, whereby men may
exert traction (when a horse cannot be obtained), and as guys and stays
when set up in position, as herein-after described. It consists of an
ordinary pair of shafts A and wheels B hooked on to the axle, from which
is suspended the platform C or body of the cart carrying the gear, and
detachable therefrom. On the shafts, forming a scat, is placed a box D
containing tools suitable for use on all occasions of emergency.
For the purpose of detaching the shafts the front suspending ropes or
guys E are loosened, as shown in Figure 2, whereby the platform is
lowered on to the ground, and then the shafts can be tilted and liberated
from the platform or body of the cart by being unhooked from the axle
or suspending bar beneath the windlass or reel F herein-after described,
whereupon the shafts and wheels may be run away from the platform or
body of the cart, so as to be entirely clear thereof, and thus affording
casy access to the means and appliances essential to the effectual
performance of the services required in each case; as, for example, if it
be desired to relieve a wreck on the coast the mortar G and conc block
shot H would be carried to the front from the platform or body of the
cart into the requisite position, as in Figures 3ª and 3b, the same course
being taken for the pin boxes or tubs I, I, containing lines or balls
of line, and they being located in accordance with the position and
emergency of the case, and as surrounding objects may allow. The

page_text: recl J carrying the hawser Q would be carried to the rear similarly ready
for usc, all such gear being cleared away from the platform or body of
the cart, and disposed ready for immediate use, as requisite. The shafts
would then be returned to the body of cart and tilted up, having been
previously fitted with a snatch block K attached to a transverse iron
bar L at the outer end of the shafts, and then set up vertically and
stayed in position securely so as to act as a derrick, as shown in Figure 3,
by means of guy ropes formed of the drag and suspending ropes above
mentioned. So soon as the shot is fired, carrying the rove ropes through
the projectile, as hercin-after described, the two ends of the line are
made fast or knotted together, so as to form an all round messenger or
rove rope communication, one end of the same being previously passed
round the drum or windlass attached to and working in the uprights or
standards M carried by the platform or cart body. Such drum or
windlass is caused to be rotated by means of geared wheels and pinions N
forming a multiplying train operated upon by an ordinary winch handle,
and in this manner facility is given for the rapid running out and in of
the breeches buoy P or other adjunct or appliances, as may be expedient
and necessary; thus, the rope after being made endless can readily be
hauled on in either direction by those on shore, or in the usual manner.
So soon as the connection and communication is thus effected and
established, the cone block shot having been made fast to some part of
the wreck by some person on board, the end of the hawser Q is to be
passed through the snatch block K, and also through the travelling
block R of the breeches buoy, and then made fast to the endless line
or messenger, whereby it can be hauled out by those on shore until it
reaches the wreck, and this operation is effected either by the drum and
winch or by man handling, as the circumstances may require and
warrant; this being done those on shore would haul in the slack, making
the hawser taut through the snatch block at the top of the derrick
formed by the shafts (after those on board had made their end of the
hawser fast), with the object and for the purpose of giving the rope and
breeches buoy as much elevation as possible above the sea and surf, as
shown in Figure 3, so as to prevent suffering or injurious effects on the
person being brought on shore as he approached the beach. The cone
block shot used for the foregoing purpose is shown in Figure 4, and is
an elongated cylindrical ogival headed projectile, and provided with
a sheave or pulley a fitting into the rear or lower end of a suitable
slot, whereof the fore or higher end is as it were bulged out or formed

page_text: bell-mouthed or chamfered at each edge, so as to permit any knots,
kinks, seaweed, or other obstacles that might choke and render useless a
block of ordinary construction with the same sized sheave to pass freely
through.
For the purpose of preventing the frequent breaking of the lines on
the shot being fired we have recourse to a means for thoroughly
mitigating the jerk and relieving any undue strain on the lines at the
moment of discharge, and this is accomplished by what we term a
stopper formed of cork or other suitable material, and inserted in the
slot between the rope and the sheave, thus weakening the tension at the
moment of change from rest to motion. The forward ends of the
projectiles or conc block shot are furnished with a swivele ring bolt
carrying a shot and strong piece of cord or "tail" b, whereby those to
whom it may be sent may be enabled to attach and make fast the block;
or grapnel hooks c, as in Figure 5, or as a grooved bolt, as in Figure 6,
as well as eyes may be used on the heads, according as the circumstances
of the cases may dictate.
Another kind of projectile, the tri-fluked anchor, is represented in
Figure 7, and in section in Figure 8, and is fitted with three pivoted
arms or flukes d, d, d, hinged and fitted to a hollow stock e by means of
knuckle joints and pins, the latter being so arranged mutually as that
cach pin is locked by the adjoining one, and in this manner all possi-
bility of their coming adrift in transit is obviated. Through the hollow
shaft of the stock passes a chain, to which is attached the block y,
which is so constructed with a socket joint as to form part of the anchor,
being in fact the part which forms part of the shot when charged into
the muzzle of the gun. The connection is made between this main
chain and the block by means of a swivelled bolt let into the head of
the latter, and screwed or securely rivetted therein. The forward end
of the chain is affixed to a part which we call the long link h, and this
again for strength and security has a pin or bolt i passing through it
and through the sides of the hollow shank or stock of the anchor.
Attached to this long link and properly adjusted there are three smaller
chains or links j, each of which can if requisite be affixed to each
one of the three flukes of the anchor.
The projectile anchor last described is intended for a different service
and employment from the cone block shot, as, for instance, to be fired

page_text: from the shore into the water, so as to aid in launching life and other
boats, and hauling them through the breakers and surf, so as to get an
offing. This can be effected by persons on the shore by the aid of this
projectile without aid from those forming the crews in the boats. Or as
part of the equipments of ships to be used, in the case of wreck near the
shore, to throw a rove rope and establish communication independent,
as in the absence of persons on the land, or in other cases where such
appliances as the cone block shots or anchors would be serviceable.
The prevention of disaster is oft times a possibility when the means
are at hand, for which reason we supply as a part of our apparatus, and
as an accessory or adjunct to our gun, Figure 9, an appliance for con-
centrating and propagating sound, namely, a conoidal mouth-picce k, as
seen on the gun shown in Figure 10, made to fit on the exterior of the
muzzle of guns or mortars. By this means when used on shore a timely
notice may be given, so as to duly warn the mariner of the dangers
besetting him; or when used on shipboard it may be employed as a
signal gun, conveying sound to great distances for distress and other
signals. This would not only be applicable to such guns as we should
supply, together with certain parts of our apparatus and appliances for
use on board ships in case of danger, but could also be made to fit any
other sized gun.
The guns or mortars which we propose as part of our apparatus are
constructed on a special principle, having a powder chamber of
peculiar form, as shown in Figure 8, such that on the ignition and
explosion of the charge the impact is perfectly central on the base of
the projectile. The cascable is formed with an eye or clongated ring,
through which a screwed bolt m passes, whereby the mortar is attached
to the bed, but in the event of any difficulty arising in transport it is
perfectly easy to detach the mortar from the bed, so that the two parts
may be separately conveyed to any position where they may be required
for service.
The beds or carriages for the guns used and made by us are con-
structed to suit the various positions they may be required for, as on a
sandy beech the bed may be formed of three bags filled on the spot with
sand, as in Figure 10, or even on uneven rocky coasts. Again for long
low shores we construct the bed in the form of a tripod, as repre-
sented in Figure 12, to mount the gun on, thus gaining distance. For

page_text: ships' decks we place india-rubber n between the two blocks of wood p
composing the bed to prevent jar to the deck.
In charging the powder and the projectile into the gun we employ a
sabot, Figure 12 (in addition to the wad), of suitable size to keep the
projectile near the muzzle, and we prefer to strengthen that part of the
line which passes through the sheave and slot by forming what we term
the connection with a short length of line laid up or spliced for the
purpose.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim,—
Firstly. The appliances, as herein-before set forth and shown, by
which effectual communication between the shore and a wreck or other
places can be established for the purpose of saving life, or as the use
may require, by means of a double line thrown by and with our cone
block shot projectiles.
Secondly. The combination of a projectile fitted with a sheave or
pulley and a rove rope or double line, as described.
Thirdly. The thorough prevention of rupture of the lines by means
of connections specially laid and prepared and stoppers inserted in the
slot of the projectile, as set forth.
Fourthly. The special construction of the projectile or cone block
shot, and combination of the shot with pulleys and stoppers, and fitted
with swivelling edge bolts for tail, and spikes for making the attach-
ment secure after the manner of a grapnel, as described and shown in
the Drawings.
Fifthly. The formation of the anchor shot by the cone block forming
part thereof, and fitting into the rear end thereof with a swivel joint,
in lieu of the expanding block being inserted in the body of the
projectile.
Sixthly. The special form and proportion of the guns and chambers
giving the best effects for such purpose, with a shifting trunnion bolt
for diminishing recoil and portability in transit, as described.
Seventhly. The particular form of mortar beds adapted to suit the
various uses of the guns, such as a double bed (with india-rubber
inserted) to prevent recoil on ships' decks, and the tripod stand for use a

page_text: in surf and shallow waters on coasts, or sand bags for beach work, as
set forth.
Eighthly. The combination of shafts and platform with cross bar and
snatch block, forming a perfect derrick for the purpose described.
Ninthly. The reel to carry hawser, preventing all fouling when in use,
as set forth.
Tenthly. The reel, winch, and multiplying gear for the rapid action of
hauling to and fro on the whip or messenger line, as described.
Eleventhly. The form and making of the conoidal mouth-piece to be
fitted to guns for the purpose of transmitting a concentrated and in-
tensified sound or report as a signal of distress or otherwise.
Twelfthly. The whole of these we claim the right of making and
using for their separate purposes, as well as in combination.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Banting Rogers and
Sebastian Anderson, have hercunto set our hands and scals,
this Thirty-first day of January, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-six.
JOHN BANTING ROGERS. (L.S.)
S. ANDERSON.
(L.S.)