AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR TRAINS OR SAFETY FUSEES AND SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Gomez and William Mills, of the City and
State of New York, United States of America, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR TRAINS OR SAFETY FUSEES AND SIMILAR
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 28th May 1858, and dated the 29th December 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Gomez and
William Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 29th December 1857.
We, EDWIN GOMEZ and WILLIAM MILLS, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR TRAINS OR SAFETY FUSEES AND
SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
We take equal parts of chlorate of potash in fine powder and ferrocyanide
of lead (which latter is formed by precipitating a solution of nitrate of lead
with an equivalent quantity of ferrocyanide of potash), and mix them with
alcohol to about the consistence of paint, and apply with a camel's hair pencil
or similar device to a strip of paper or equivalent material, which may be
enclosed with any suitable winding of fibrous material or attached to a tape.
Our composition may also be used for other purposes than forming fusee or
explosive trains. Our composition, among other properties, possesses the
following:-It will not detonate when in the form of a fusee; it is very rapid
in its explosion, travelling several yards in a second; it will not smoulder, and
bence for blasting it immediately ignites the powder, or is entirely out and

page_text: harmless; it is not injured by being wetted and then dried; it will blast
under water; it can be used for giving signals at a distance, firing cannons,
mortars, rockets, &c.; and, lastly, it is very safe in its manufacture, as the
ingredients are harmless when separated, and the composition is very cheap.
We intend to apply our said composition to any purpose for which it may
be available, although especially adapted to the manufacture of train or safety
fusees.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Gomez and William Mills in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWIN
GOMEZ and WILLIAM MILLS, of the City and State of New York, United
States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
'unto us, the said Edwin Gomez and William Mills, Her special license
that we, the said Edwin Gomez and William Mills, our executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the 'said Edwin Gomez and
William Mills, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to times and at all times there-
after 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 COMPOSITION FOR TRAINS OR SAFETY FUSEES AND SIMILAR PURPOSES,"
upon condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edwin Gomez and
William Mills, by an instrument in writing under our 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 nionths next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Edwin Gomez and William Mills,
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):-

page_text: Safety fusees used for blasting, firing cannon, mortars, and other purposes
are generally costly and comparatively slow in their operation, and henco
many accidents have occurred from the attendants supposing the fusee had
ceased to burn, and upon going to examine, the explosion has taken place;
besides this, many accidents have occurred in consequence of the case sur-
rounding the fusee becoming ignited, and sometimes setting fire to the articles
with which it comes in contact, or causing an explosion by coming in contact
with powder.
The nature of our said Invention consists of a particular explosive com-
pound, which, when enclosed in a suitable casing, forms a train that will
ignite and burn or explode with the greatest possible speed. Our safety train
or fusee is perfectly safe in use, as it will not detonate except under a 'very
heavy blow, and will not communicate fire to its enclosing case or to any
article 'except gunpowder or similar materials; hence the fire will travel with
enormous speed to the end of the train in all cases if the fusee be.properly
made, and if said fusee does not instantly explode to the end of the train, it
is known that the same is entirely out, having been defective at one point,
and there is no danger from going immediately and connecting another piece
of fuse.
The composition of which we make our fusee is prepared as follows:-
Take equal parts of chlorate of potash in fine powder and ferrocyanide of
lead (which latter is formed by precipitating a solution of nitrate of lead with
an equivalent quantity of solution of ferrocyanide of potash). Ferrocyanide
of tin or zinc, &c., might be used in place of lead, although said lead is
preferable. These two substances in about equal proportions we mix with
alcohol to the consistence of a paint, and apply with a camel's hair pencil-or
any similar device to a strip of paper or equivalent material, which is to be
encased'in a winding of fibrous material, tape, or similar substance that will
keep the powder in its place when dry, and we prefer that the winding should
be coated with shellac or other varnish to resist moisture, although the train
or fuse thus formed will explode when slightly damp, and will not be injured
in its explosive qualities by being wetted if it be dried before using. The
fusee formed of the aforesaid composition, enclosed in a strip of paper, or
winding of fibrous material, may be rendered waterproof by immersion in tar,
pitch, gutta percha, or equivalent material. The line painted or formed of
this compound need not be over 1' of an inch in width, and about two grains
to the foot will be found sufficient. The safety train or fusee thus formed
will be found to be exceedingly rapid in its ignition and cheap in its manu-,
facture; can be used for giving signals to great distances by night or by day;
"

page_text: as a substitute for electricity for blasting, for cannons and mortars; for
setting-off fireworks, and for a great variety of other purposes. The powder
formed as above, specified might be used in place of gunpowder or other
explosive compounds, although specially adapted to the manufacture of trains
or fuses, and said powder will not detonate except between hard surfaces
and under a very heavy blow; and we have found practically that fusees or
trains thus made will not fire loose gunpowder on account of the rapidity of
the explosion scattering said powder, hence its safety under many circum-.
stances; but when the gunpowder is the least confined it explodes..
What we claim as our Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,
the explosive compound for safety trains, fusees, and similar purposes, formed.
of the ingredients and substantially in the manner specified.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edwin Gomez and William Mills,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witnesses,
LEMUEL W. SERRELL,
289, Broadway,
New York.
THOMAS G. HAROLD,
Brooklyn,
Long Island, N. Y.
UMEZ (L.S.)
WILLIAM MILLS. (L.S.)