CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES AND CANDLESTICKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EARNSHAW COOPER, of Mottram, in the County of Chester, Tallow Chandler,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, and bearing
date at Westminster, the Second day of April, in the fifteenth year of Her
reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Earnshaw Cooper, my exors, adñors, and assigns, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William
Earnshaw Cooper, my exors, admors, or assigns, or such others as I, the said
Willian Earnshaw Cooper, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed (to wit, fourteen years from the date thereof),
should and might lawfully make, use, exercise, and vend, within Her most
Excellent Majesty's Kingdom of England, Her Dominion of Wales, the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, and also in all and every Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations*
abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CANDLES AND CANDLESTICKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN;" in which said Royal Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said William Earnshaw Cooper, shall cause a particular description of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and carried
into practical effect, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said

page_text: herein in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
had thereto, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Earnshaw Cooper, do hereby declare that the nature and particulars
of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed
and carried into practical effect, are particularly set forth, described, and ascer-
tained in and by the following description or Specification thereof.
The improvements for which the herein in part recited Letters Patent were
obtained as aforesaid consist chiefly in an alteration or improvement in the
make or treatment of the candle wick, and a consequent improvement ensuring
a more steady illuminating power by the candle. Much of this improvement
has been attempted by various modes of treatment of the wick, as also the
obviation of the use of snuffers or the act of snuffing the candle wick, which,
when allowed to burn in an upright position, becomes foul, decreasing the
illuminating property of the candle, and offensive to the sight and smell, and
some of these modes have been partially successful, but generally expensive,
and otherwise deficient. My improved candle wick is easily made by a very
simple process. I run a portion of the strands of which the wick is intended
to be composed through a solution made from bismuth and oil, or from such
other suitable solution or mixture, which will have the effect of rendering the
strand or strands so saturated more susceptible of combustion than the other
remaining strand or strands forming the candle wick. I then proceed to
twist the whole of the strands forming the said wick together in the usual or
ordinary manner of twisting cord, twine, or other similar articles. The
number of strands to be so saturated, as aforesaid, with bismuth and oil, or
such other suitable solution or mixture as aforesaid, is usually one third.
Therefore, if a wick be composed of three strands, the third strand should be
the only one treated as aforesaid, and so on, however numerous the strands
used, so that in a wick of twelve strands four strands would usually be used
saturated with the solution, and eight not so treated. When the candle is
(as it is usually termed) lighted, in consequence of the treatment to which the
prepared strand or strands has or have been subjected, and by such treatment
having acquired an increased aptitude for combustion, it or they will be pre-
sently exhausted, and so cause the wick to lean over on one side. The car-
bonized portion of the wick. is thus given off imperceptibly, and the candle, or
rather the wick, requires no snuffing, and the illuminating power of the candle
is always as great as the composition thereof will permit..
As an improvement in that portion of the operation of making candles
(termed holding the wicks) prior to their immersion in the liquid grease, I use
a differently shaped holding rod. Those hitherto used are common round

page_text: rods, similar to the drapers' yard measure, while that now first used by me is
of an angular shape, and would, as seen at the end view thereof, present nearly
the form of a common triangle A, thus. On one of the three sides of this rod any
requisite number of notches or indentations are made, such notches or inden-
tations being cut thereon for the purpose of catching or fixing the loops of the
wicks. It is evident that no direction can be given as to the precise number
of notches or indentations to be cut on or in a given length of rod, as they
will vary according to the various sorts or description of candles to be manu-
factured in a candle manufactory. By the use of these sticks or rods manual
labor may be dispensed with in the particular operation herein-before men-
tioned, and a considerably increased number of candles can be made at one
time.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of "Certain Improve-
ments in the Manufacture of Candles and Candle Wicks, and in the
Machinery or Apparatus employed therein," according to the said proviso, I
wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not claim the exclusive use of the
solution of bismuth and oil, or any other solutions referred to, when applied to
other objects or substances than that herein described. But I do claim,-
Firstly, the "wick" prepared, made, or manufactured as herein-before
described.
Secondly, the rod or stick, as made and used in the form and manner
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Earnshaw Cooper, have here-
unto affixed my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of September, in
T
WILLIAM EARNSHAW COOPER. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid William Earnshaw Cooper came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and speci-
fied, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the First day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-two.