IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND TREATMENT OF WOOD TO PRESERVE THE SAME FROM DECAY
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND TREATMENT
OF WOOD TO PRESERVE THE SAME FROM DECAY."-A communication from
abroad by Archibald B. Tripler, of New Orleans, Louisiana, United
States of America.
ealed the 20th September 1870, and dated the 2nd August 1870.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 2nd August 1870, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake; & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PREPARATION AND TREATMENT OF WOOD TO PRESERVE THE SAME FROM DECAY,"
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,

page_text: administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
and have made solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me
from abroad by Archibald B. Tripler, of New Orleans, Louisiana, United
States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement:
The said Invention relates to preventing wood from decay. I cut the
wood into two or more equal parts or slabs, boring them at equal
distances to receive the tree-nails to unite them, and immersing the said
slabs in a solution of coal tar and powdered charcoal, either hot or cold,
in equal or unequal parts, which not only thoroughly impregnates the
slabs with carbon but coats the surface with an adhesive material, so
that when put together their adjacent sides will adhere to each other
and form interior partitions or walls of antiseptic or preservative agents,
extending from one end of each slab to the other, I then unite these
slabs by trec-nails or dowel pins in such manner as to lock them as
firmly and solidly as if they were of a single piece.
The timber thus prepared is immersed in a solution consisting of
asphaltum or mineral pitch, 80 parts; sulphur, 5 parts; arsenic, 5 parts;
coal tar, 5 parts; powdered charcoal, 5 parts; aggregating one hundred
parts. This solution will cover the surface and fill up the joints and
crevices between the slabs, rendering it impervious to water, and
effectually preventing atmospheric decomposition by insulating it from
the decaying influences of the elements.
The formation of ties, sills, and other articles of separate slabs bound
together, and the intervention of walls of antiseptic agents between
their adjacent sides, renders dry rot impossible, by insulating one section
or slab of the tie or still from the other, and serving as a barrier against
the entrance of worms or insects.
In preparing railroad ties I prefer to cut each tie into four parts or
slabs according to the thickness of the tie to be used, and they may be
of equal or unequal thickness and of parallel or tapering sides, as may
be deemed best. When cut the slabs are fitted together and bored with
a suitable number of holes at right angles to their antiseptic division

page_text: walls, so that if the slabs of the same tic or sill should become separated
they will match indiscriminately with the slabs of other tics..
. The cutting, boring, matching, and tree-nailing the slabs of the tie or
other article may be done with great facility, the union of the slabs or
parts of the tie or timber must be made before the solution which forms
their intervening composition walls becomes hard, in order to obtain the
full benefit of the adhesion of one slab to the other.
The systems heretofore adopted for preserving wood, such as ties for
railroads, sills, and the like; from decay, have required a long time in
order to impregnate their interior, but by reducing the tie or other
article to comparatively thin slabs, it is obvious that their thorough
saturation with the antiseptic agents may be accomplished in a very
short time; moreover, it is well known that the union of several strips or
slabs of wood firmly possesses more strength than that of a single piece,
and greater clasticity, and in this respect a tic made in sections is better
adapted for railroads than those made of a single solid piece, by giving
to the train an casier motion and saving much wear and tear by lessening
their jarring which an unyielding tie produces..
I have described the slabs or sections of the tie as being, separated
by a wall of antiseptic composition, but it is obvious that the central
one or more of the inner slabs of the tie may be perforated with trans-
verse holes, which are to be filled with the antiseptic agents and then
secured together, and between the two outer slabs or sections, so that
the inner sections will in this case become the antiseptic wall or division
between the outside slabs.
Furthermore, I do not confine myself to the compound herein described
for coating and saturating the wood, but may use any other antiseptic
agents which will answer the purpose. The tree-nails by which the
sections or slabs of the tic are secured together must be soaked in the
antiseptic composition.
The said Invention further relates to a method or process of preserving
solid ties or timber, as contradistinguished from ties or timber made in
sections and secured together, and it consists, first, in boring the timber
to be preserved with a central hole in the direction of its length, or a
series of transverse holes at suitable distances, and filling them with
chloride of arsenic or chloride of sodium (common salt) and arsenic,
combined in equal or unequal parts, either in a dry or semi-liquid form,
and then plug up both ends of the holes so as to seal within the timber

page_text: one or more strata of antiseptic or preservative agents which from a
chemical combination with the tannin and resinous matter, and permeate
the cellular tissues of the wood, rendering them compact and hard.
This interior impregnation in separate and distinct strata of arsenious
acid, or its combination with chloride of sodium, also effectually destroys
worms and insects of any kind which so frequently eat into and destroy
timber. It also effectually prevents interior dry rot by removing its
cause, which is fermentation.
After this interior strata impregnation the timber is immersed in a
mixture of coal tar and powdered charcoal, either hot or cold, prepared
in equal or unequal proportions in a suitable tank, the effect of which is
to impregnate the timber with carbon, one of the best known preserva-
tives of fibrous material, which when combined with the creosote of the
coal tar acts as a conveyant, assists its absorption by the fibre of the
material, and carbon is caused to penetrate the fibre of the wood and
saturate it towards the centre, completely filling up the pores of the
timber and rendering them sufficiently hard to resist and keep out
moisture, whether from the earth or air.
After being submitted to this bath a sufficient length of time to be
saturated, it is then coated with the composition of asphaltum, sulphur,
arsenic, coal tar, and powdered charcoal, before described. This com-
pound is applied in a state of fusion, and will so effectually cover the
surface of the wood as to render it impervious to atmospheric decom-
position or the penetration of water. This coating becomes perfectly
hard, adheres with great tenacity to the surface of the wood, and is not
affected either by the heat or cold, and thus forms a case which insulates
the wood so perfectly from the decaying influences of the elements as
to preserve it for a much greater length of time than by any other mode
heretofore employed.
The chemical action of the several ingredients causes the compound
to penetrate the fibres and pores of the wood, and cause them to run
into concretions and to knit so closely and compactly as to change their
character from a destructible to an almost indestructible condition.
This Invention is especially applicable to the preservation of railroad
timbers, but may be used to preserve other fibrous materials of lighter
texture. Before the last coating becomes hard the timbers are covered
with sand to prevent them from adhering to each other, and to render
the coating more durable.

page_text: In boring the timber to be preserved with a central hole or holes
extending from one end to the other or transversely, and filling them
from both ends with chloride of arsenic or chloride of sodium (common
salt) and chloride of arsenic combined in equal or unequal parts, either
in a dry or semi-liquid form, and then plugging up both ends of the
hole or holes I seal a continuous and uninterrupted strata of pre-
servative agents throughout its length, which permeate the cellular
tissues in longitudinal and transverse lines from one end to the other
and protect every part of the tie from dry rot. The timber thus en-
casing a continuous body or strata of antiseptic agents is then immersed
in a solution of coal tar and powdered charcoal, as before described.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shewn how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,-
First. Ties, bed sills, or other articles to be preserved from decay
made in sections or slabs and secured together, substantially as herein
described.
Second. In a tie or bed sill made in sections or slabs, the intervention
of partition or division walls of antiseptic or preservative agents between
their adjacent sides, substantially as hercin described.
Third. The method of preserving ties and other timber made in
sections and secured together, as described.
Fourth. The impregnation of wood by separate and distinct interior
strata of antiseptic or preservative agents, substantially in the manner
herein shown and described.
Fifth. The use of chloride of arsenic, or arsenic and chloride of sodium
combined in a dry or semi-liquid condition for impregnating wood in.
separate and distinct strata, as herein described.
Sixth. Separate and distinct strata of antiseptic or preservative
materials hermetically sealed in the body of the material to be pre-
served, substantially as herein described.
Seventh. Timber impregnated with separate and distinct strata of
preservative agents submitted to a bath of coal tar and powdered
charcoal, substantially as herein described.
Eight. Carbonizing wood by immersing it in a solution of coal tar
and powdered charcoal, either hot or cold, substantially as described.

page_text: Ninth. Coating wood or other fibrous material with a composition of
asphaltum or mineral pitch, sulphur, arsenic, coal tar, and powdered
charcoal, when compounded in or in about the proportions as herein
described for the purpose of rendering its surface impervious to atmo-
spheric decomposition or the penetration of moisture, substantially as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have herc-
unto set my hand and seal, this Second day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)