AN APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING ELECTRICITY IN THE SEA, AND FOR TELEGRAPHING AND SOUNDING IN DEEP WATER
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Richard Drake, of No. 46, Parliament
Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the
Invention of "AN APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING ELECTRICITY IN THE SEA, AND
FOR TELEGRAPHING AND SOUNDING IN DEEP WATER."A conimunication
from abroad by Emile Schneider, of Ecole de Droit, Saint Petersburgh,
in the Empire of Russia.
Sealed the 27th October 1859, and dated the 6th August 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Richard Drake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th August 1859.
I, WILLIAM RICHARD DRAKE, of No. 46, Parliament Street, Westminster,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "AN APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING ELECTRICITY IN THE SEA, AND
FOR TELEGRAPHING AND SOUNDING IN DEEP WATER," to be as follows:-
The apparatus is constructed in such a manner that its capacity of bearing
does not depend upon the conducting wires, but upon the covering tube
(gutta percha, iron wires, or similar materials), and is as shewn in the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings therein referred
to :-
Table I.-Figures 1 and 2, electric telegraphic cables. a, external covering
of iron wire, consisting in Fig. 1 of long drawn spirals, and in Fig. 2 of

page_text: straight iron wires, which are held together by spiral wires. b, black oakum,
to prevent the iron wires from cutting the gutta percha; c, gutta percha;
d, black oakum, to prevent the gutta percha from interposing itself between
the spirals of the copper wires; e, 6 or 7 copper wires in narrow spirals,
turning round about a linen thread; f, linen thread.
Table II. Lines for deep sca soundings machines. a, gutta percha;
b, cover to increase the capacity of bearing of the line without increasing the
weight of it considerably, it is made of twisted linen yarn; c, c, insulating
cover of cotton yarn; d, d, three and three copper wires, which turn in spirals
about a linen yarn e, e. In order to prevent the line from becoming too
heavy, the spirals of the copper wires do not cover entirely the inner linen
varne linen varn.

page_text: especially by the change of temperature in the water), then the electric
conduction at first is weakened, and must afterwards cease wholly. This has
been proved by a series of trials made with cables constructed after the model
of the Transatlantic cable.
The above-mentioned disadvantage is totally avoided by a cable constructed
as I described before, and represented in Table I., for the tension will act in
the first place upon the exterior, and protecting iron wires laid parallel to the
axle, or in spirals very long drawn, and not damage the inner conducting
copper wires, which turn in narrow spirals about a linen thread.
II. For deep sea soundings.-Lines made after the same above-explained
principle, and modified as in Tab. II., can serve for deep sea soundings. For
this purpose the one end of the line, as shewn in Tab. II., is fastened to
Brooke's deep sea soundings machine, whereas the other end is wound on a
roller or a wheel, and is combined with an electro-magnet and a galvanic
battery. In this way the moment of the lead's touching the ground of the sea
will be ascertained with the utmost exactitude.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Richard Drake in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
RICHARD DRAKE, of No. 46, Parliament Street, Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of August, 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 me, the said
William Richard Drake, Her special licence that I, the said Williamı Riebard
Drake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I;
the said William Richard Drake, 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 law-
fully 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 APPARATUS FOR CONDUCTING ELECTRICITY IN THE SEA, AND
TELEGRAPHING AND SOUNDING IN DEEP WATER," upon the condition (amongst
others) that 1, the said William Richard Drake, by an instrument in

page_text: writing under my hand and seal, 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 Richard Drake, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 apparatus hitherto usually employed for conducting or transmitting
electricity in deep water for telegraphic purposes has proved defective and
uncertain in the transmission of the current. For this various causes have
been assigned, as the effect of the pressure at great depths, the unequal and
varying tension of the conducting wires, concealed imperfections in the manu-
facture, and protusion of the ends of broken wires in the bending, to which the
cable is subject.
The object of this Invention is to construct the cable or line apparatus in
such manner that different degrees of tension or the varying movements will
not cause the conducting wires to pierce the gutta percha or interrupt the
transmission of the electricity, so long as the wires are unbroken, and this is
effected by relieving the conducting wires as much as possible of tension, and
causing the tension to act only on the envelope, so that the power of the
apparatus for bearing tension will depend not on the conducting wires, but
on a covering or envelope shorter than the conducting wires even under
tension.
Figure 1 and 2 in the accompanying Drawings shew a cable apparatus, in
which a is the external covering of iron wire or cord, consisting of long drawn
spirals, or of straight iron wires or cords held together by spiral wires or cords;
beneath the external wires or cords is a covering 6 of black oakum or similar
material, to prevent the gutta percha or insulating material c being cut.
Next the insulating material is a coating d of black oakum or similar material,
to prevent the gutta percha or insulating material from interposing itself
between the spirals of the upper wire c, which are 6 or 7, in narrow spirals
about a linen thread f. Should the straight iron wire, Figure 3, in the
accompanying Drawing represent a line for deep sea soundings, in which a is
the gutta percha; b, a cover of hemp plait or twisted linen yarn, for increasing
the strength without materially adding to the weight; c, c, is an insulating
cover of cotton yarn surrounding three and three copper wires d, d, spirally
wound about a linen yarn e, e, which in order to prevent the line from

page_text: becoming too heavy, is not entirely covered by the copper wires. The tele-
graphic cable as it is being laid in deep water from the stern of a vessel
sustains from its own weight considerable tension, which, acting on the
conducting wires, has a tendency to tear the wires asunder. The injurious
consequences of the tension due to this and other causes are avoided in a cable
constructed as above described. The tension will act in the first place upon
the exterior and protecting iron wires, and not damage the inner conducting
wires laid in narrow spirals about a linen thread, and longer than the covering
or protecting envelope. Lines made as lastly above described may be used for
deep sea soundings. For this purpose one end is fastened to Brook's " deep
sea sounding apparatus, and the other end is wound on a roller or wheel in
combination with an electro-magnet and a galvanic battery. By this means
the contact of the lead with the bottom of the sea can be ascertained the
instant such contact takes place.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner-
the same is to be performed, I hereby declare the Invention intended to be
claimed in and by the said Letters Patent to consist in the construction of
cables and lines suitable for telegraphing and sounding in deep water with the
conducting wires laid spirally around a cord, and protected from injury by an
envelope or covering shorter than the conducting wires, as above described
and represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Richard Drake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
W. R. DRAKE. (L.S.)