IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' JACKSTAYS FOR MASTS AND GAFFS FOR FORE AND AFT SAILS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Louis Stocks, of Limehouse. Hole,
Poplar, in the County of Middlesex, Ship Chandler, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' JACKSTAYS FOR MASTS AND
GAFFS FOR FORE AND AFT SAILS."
ed the 18th April 1854, and dated the 18th October 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Louis
Stocks at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,, with his.
Petition, on the 18th October 1853.
I, GEORGE LOUIS STOCKS, of Limehouse Hole, Poplar, in the County
of Middlesex, Ship Chandler, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIPS' JACKSTAYS FOR MASTS AND GAFFS
FOR FORE AND AFT SAILS" to be as follows:--
A grove is made perpendicularly in the after part of the mast. Jn
lieu of hoops or jackstays now in. use for the purpose of holding the
sail, a number of fastenings or hanks, in the shape of Figure 1, are
made to slide in the grove made in the mast, and the luff of the sail
is attached through the eyelet holes to such fastenings or hanks. For
built masts, in lieu of the grove before mentioned, a piece of metal

page_text: similar to iron rails for railways, containing a grove on each side, is
fastened to the after part of the mast; and in lieu of hoops or jack
stays now in use for holding the sail, a number of fastenings or hanks, in
the shape of Figure 2, are made to slide on the piece of metal, and the
luff of the sail is attached through the eyelet holes to such fastenings or
hanks; a piece of metal similar to the rails for railways, containing a
grove on each side, is fastened to the lower side of the gaff. In lieu of
hooks or jack stays now in use for holding the sail, a number of fasten-
ings or hanks, in the shape of Figure 2, are made to slide on the piece
of metal fastened to the lower side of the gaff, and the head of the
sail is attached through the eyelet holes to such fastenings or banks.
With the built mast the gaft may work on a goose neck in lieu of
jaws, and the goose neck is attached to a fastening or hank which
works in the grove in the mast, on the same principle as the fastenings
or hanks in the shape of, Figure 1.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions. of the Letter's Patent,
filed by the said George Louis Stocks in the Great.: Séal Patent
Office on the 18th April 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,- I,
GEORGE LOUIS STOCKS, of Limehouse Hole, Poplar, in the County of
Middlesex, Ship Chandler, send greeting
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria," by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October;- in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said George Louis Stocks, Her
special licence that I, the said George Louis Stocks, my executors,

page_text: administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Louis
Stocks, 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 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 SHIPS' JACKSTAYS FOR MASTS AND GAFFS FOR FORE
AND AFT SAILS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George Louis Stocks, by an instrument in writing, under my hand
and seal, 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 I, the said George Louis Stocks, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, and Drawings annexed (that is to say):
The nature of -my: Invention consists in the manufacture and use of
metal fastenings or hanks in place of the hoops or jackstays now em-
ployed to attach fore and aft sails to the masts and gaffs of ships, and
to enable them to slide thereon; and iny Invention may be carried
into effect in the following manner:-A groove is to be made in the
after part of a mast, as shewn in Figure 1, and a piece of I iron is
to be fixed to the lower side of a gaff, as shown in Figure 4. In this
groove and iron respectively, a number of fastenings or hanks, one
of which is shown in Figure 2, and the other in Figure 5, are made to
slide easily, the sail being fastened to these hanks by the eyelet holes,
as shown in Figure 2, and Figure 5. The gaff is fastened to a saddle
shown in Figure 3, by a goose-neck which slides both in the groove
just mentioned, and in two metal grooves a, a, fixed to the mast, as
shown in Figure 1. There is a ring on the top of the saddle through
which the throat halyards are attached, for the purpose of heightening
or lowering the gaff. In case a mast be built, and therefore cannot be
grooved as just described, I fasten a length of I iron to its after part,

page_text: as shown in Figure 4. In this application of my Invention the hanks
and the saddle to carry the gaff differ slightly from those already de-
scribed, and are shown in Figures 5, and 6, respectively. Figure 7;
shows my Invention applied to a top mast. The yard is attached to
the double I iron by means of a peculiar form of parral represented
in Figure 8. The advantages and the essential features of my In-
vention consists in the substitution of the hanks and saddles just
described in the place of the ordinary hoops or jackstays now em-
ployed, whereby the facility with which a sail may be shifted or made
to travel is greatly increased, and the necessity of greasing and leaving
the masts and gaffs of ships unpainted is avoided; and I do not con-
fine myself to the precise details herein-before stated, provided these
peculiar characteristics of my Invention be maintained.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Louis Stocks, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
GEORGE LOUIS STOCKS.
(L.S.)