Ontario, Post Office Inspector, IN MAIL BAGS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR FASTENING SUCH BAGS, BOXES, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES OR ARTICLES WHERE THE SECURITY OF A SEAL IS REQUIRED
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Dewe, of the City of Toronto, in the
County of York, in the Provinc
for the Invention of "IMPROVEM
Ontario, Post Office Inspector,
IN MAIL BAGS, AND IN APPARATUS
FOR FASTENING SUCH BAGS, BOXES, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES OR ARTICLES
WHERE THE SECURITY OF A SEAL IS REQUIRED."
Sealed the 18th January 1870, and dated the 24th July 1869.
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
24th July 1869.
I, JOHN DEWE, of the City of Toronto, in the County of York, in the
Province of Ontario, Post Office Inspector, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAIL BAGS, AND IN APPARATUS
FOR FASTENING SUCH BAGS, BOXES, AND OTHER RECEPTACLES OR ARTICLES WHERE
Comme ADA SEAL IS REQUIRED." to be as follows:-

page_text: one place to another, but the apparatus is applicable to boxes and
other receptacles or articles which require to be fastened, and is
intended to prevent any successful attempt at opening the bag without
destroying the seal.
My improvements in mail bags consist in rivetting a strap or band
in the seam of the mouth thereof to prevent the strap or band hereafter
referred to being removed.
The second part of my Invention is intended to obviate the difficulties
and objections of the present mode of fastening the mouths of mail
bags. It is usual to buckle or bind a strap, band, or cord round and
just below the mouth of the bag, and to put a wax seal over the loose
end of the strap or over the knot, which the wax fastens down upon
the bag itself. One great objection to the use of wax is that from
frequently dropping the melted, wax upon the bag it is often burnt into
holes and rendered useless. I secure on the back of a strap, when a strap
is employed, a metal socket or tube with a square or other shaped hole
through it. The socket has wings or lugs projecting from about its centre,
in which spring bolts are held, he chamfered ends of the bolts project
into the tube and take into nos formed in a stem or pin which is
forced into the tube when the mouth of the bag is closed, and a hole
in the strap is passed over the projecting end of the socket and the strap
put round it.
The stem or pin has a head with the name of the town
and the number of the office from which the bag is sent stamped upon
it; it is made in one piece of some soft material, such as lead, and when
the bag has arrived at its destination the head or label is cut off, the
strap drawn over and away from the socket and then entirely removed;
the stem is then free to be pushed out through the other end of the
socket when the strap is again ready for use. The stems and heads can
be collected and re-cast for further employment. 1 propose that a ticket
or some other indicator shall be attached to the strap for indicating the
destination of the bag on one side of it, and the town or place from
which the bag came on the other.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Dewe in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th January 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DEWE, of the City of Toronto, in the County of York, in the Province
of Ontario, Post Office Inspector, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give, and grant unto me, the said John Dewe, Her special licence
that I, the said John Dewe, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Dewe, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 MAIL
BAGS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR FASTENING SUCH BAGS, BOXES, AND OTHER RECIPTACLES
OB ARTICLES WHERE THE SECURITY OF A SEAL IS REQUIRED," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Dewe, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
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 months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Dewe, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say:-
My, improvements refer to mail bags and to an apparatus for securely
fastening the bands or, straps of mails bags during their transit from one
place to another, but the apparatus is applicable to boxes and other
receptacles or articles which require to be fastened, and is intended to

page_text: prevent any successful attempt at opening the bag without destroying
the seal..
My improvements in mail bags consist in rivetting a strap or band in
the seam of the mouth thereof to prevent the strap or band hereafter
referred to being removed.
The first part of my Invention, namely, that which refers to an
improvement in mail bags, is represented in Figure 1 of the accom-
panying Drawings. A is the bag, which may be composed of canvas,
leather, or other flexible material, so that the top edge can be turned
over to form a seam, not only to give additional strength to that part, but
also to increase its bulk at the mouth, and thus prevent any tie or other
fastening that may be applied from becoming loose and slipping off.
And for the purpose of giving greater strength to the mouth or opening
of the bag I secure a strap of leather or other stout flexible material in
the seam, preferably by means of rivets a, as seen in the Figure, and to
enable the bag. to be suspended on a nail or hook I fasten a ring or
eyelet b. to the strap, so that the bag may hang with its mouth open
ready to receive letters or papers that are to be placed in it.
I do not confine myself to the above-described mode of strengthening
the mouths of mail bags, as the Invention is equally applicable to bags
used for other purposes, and what I desire to claim under this head of
my Specification is, fitting a strap or band of leather or other flexible
material in the seam of the mouths of bags for the purposes hercin-
before described and as shewn in the Drawing.
The second part of my Invention is intended to obviate the difficulties
and objections of the present mode of fastening the mouths of mail bags.
It is usual to buckle or bind a strap, band, or cord round and just below
the mouth of the bag, and to put a wax seal over the loose end of the
strap or over the knot, which the wax fastens down upon the bag itself.
One great objection to the use of wax is that from frequently dropping
the melted wax upon the bag it is often burnt into holes and rendered
useless, and that in the event of any injury to the seal by an attempt to
tamper with it all evidence in the matter is lost so soon as the bag has
been opened. I secure on the bag a strap and a metal socket or tube
with a square or other shaped hole through it. The socket has wings or
lugs projecting from about its centre, in which spring bolts are held. The
chamfered ends of the bolts project into the tube and take into notches
formed in a stem or pin, which is forced into the tube when the mouth

page_text: of the bag is closed, and a hole in the strap which has previously been
tightened round the mouth of the bag is passed over the projecting.end
of the socket. The stem or pin has a head, with the name of the town
and the number of the office from which the bag is sent stamped upon
it; it is made in one piece of some soft material, such as lead, and when
the bag has arrived at its destination the head or label is twisted, jerked,
or cut off, the strap drawn over and away from the socket, and then
entirely removed; the stem is then free to be pushed out through the
other end of the socket, when the strap is again ready for use. The stems
and heads can be collected and re-cast and re-stamped for further employ-
I attach a leather label, ticket, or some other indicator to the
strap for indicating the destination of the bag on one side of it, and the
town or place from which the bag came on the other.
ment.
This part of my Invention is represented in Figures 2, 3, 6, 9, and 10
of the accompanying Drawings. c, Figure 2, is a strap securely attached
to a bag, through which is passed a metal, socket or frame d, likewise
attached to the bag by rivets e, e, or by some other easy fixable
appliance. This socket or frame has the two ends f, g, of a tube pro-
jecting from it, one of which ƒ passes through the strap, and stands up
a little above the level of it for the purpose hereafter explained, while
the other end g is passed through a hole in two round leather back
pieces h covering the entire lock, one on the outside of the bag, the other
on the inside of the bag, the whole being rivetted to the strap and bag to
keep the socket in position. The two wings i, i, of the socket or frame
are hollow, and in the hollows or spaces I fit spring bolts j, j, and close
up the outer ends of the spaces by plates soldered in or by screw pins,
which are finished off flush with the end of each wing. These plates or
pins form abutments for the back coils of the springs to rest against,
while the front coils press against shoulders formed upon the four ends
of the bolts to keep the teeth or catches projecting into the tube, except
when pushed inwards by the stem of a pin or seal stud on its being
inserted into the tube. This seal pin or stud is made of a soft metal, such
as lead or an alloy of lead and tin, so that the head of it can be broken,
twisted off, or cut from the stem (if cut by a cutting instrument, such as
that shewn at Figure 5) when it is desired to remove the seal from the
tube, and as would happen when the bag, if a mail bag, has arrived at
its destination. I have shewn a detached view of the seal stud at
Figure 6, and in that view it will be observed that the stem k is provided
with two chamfers or notches 1, 1, for the teeth of the spring bolts j, j, to

page_text: take into when the stem is forced into the tube. The notches are
inclined towards the upper part of the stem to facilitate its being pushed
through and out of the tube at the opposite end to which it entered, for
it is impossible for the stem to be pushed through in the reverse
direction, as the teeth of the spring bolts take against an abrupt face of
the notch and prevent it. The rivet can be made in two ways, the one
as shown in Figure 6, a and b, the neck. of the rivet being smaller than
the shank, so that the seal being first turned upwards by a pressure of
the leather strap against it can be easily twisted or cut off; the other as
shewn in Figure 6, c and d, by making that part of the seal where it is
attached to the shank so thin that it can be readily jerked off by the
strap leaving a hole in the seal, which would thus be effectually
destroyed. The head of the seal is impressed with the name of the office
or station from which the bag is sent, and from the soft nature of the
stud should any attempt have been made to open it, it would indicate
(to the official whose duty it would open it) by being broken or out of
shape that an attempt to open it has been made before he received it.
When the official has twisted, jerked, or cut off the head of the seal, and
removed the contents from the bag, the stem still remains in the tube,
and has to be forced out as before mentioned before a fresh one can be
inserted; for this purpose I provide a tool or instrument of the form
shewn at Figure 7, the part m of which is of such a size and shape as to
pass freely into the tube without injuring it. The sharp end of this
instrument is driven into a table or side of a door post, so that any person
taking hold of the two sides of the lock on the bag can firmly press
against the top of the part m that part of the shank of the rivet where it
has been detached from the head. The shank will then pass through
the lock and come out of it inside the bag.
"
In Figures 2, 9, and 10 I have shewn a label with the words "New
York stamped upon it to indicate that the bag is intended for the New
York General Past Office, while the head of the seal is stamped with the
word "Toronto upon it to indicate the post town from which the bag
was sent; the reverse side of the label is marked with the word
"Toronto," and can be used for labelling the bag on its return with the
mail from New York to Toronto. Of course it will be understood that I
do not confine myself to the exact words as above referred to as the only
ones that can be impressed upon either the label or the seal, as any other
words or signs; figures or indications can be employed as found requisite,

page_text: There are many ways of attaching the label to the strap which closes the
mouth of the bag, but I have found the most expeditious way is to rivet
a button on the inside of the strap, to which when the strap is unfastened
the label can be readily attached, or from which it can be readily
removed, reversed, and reattached. By this means the label can if
required always be kept attached to the bag, and in proper position for
the name to be easily read. When the bag is ready to be closed I
gather together the mouth and pass the neck strap round it. I then
put the end through the shackle or metal loop p and draw it back over
itself with sufficient force to bring one of the holes q, q, to the projecting
end of the tube; I then force that portion of the strap over the tube
and make it lie down upon it, and insert the free end of the strap under
a slip or bridler to hold it in place. I then force the stem of one of the
soft metal seal studs into the tube until the back of the seal rests upon
the top edge of the tube, and so that the spring bolts enter the notches
formed in the stem, which is quickly ascertained by the "click" or noise
made by the sudden releasing of the bolts. The operation of securely
closing the bag is now complete, and when this is effected the fastening
will have the appearance of the Figure shewn on the Drawings at
Figure 8.
It will be gathered from the foregoing description how the bag is to be
opened and need not be repeated here.
Although I have only referred to the fastening as being applied to
mail bags, my fastening is equally applicable with certain modifications
to all kinds of bags, to boxes or other receptacles or articles where the
security of a seal is required, as well as to ordinary padlocks, to which
it can be made to furnish additional security.
It will be evident to any person that many advantages are obtained by
my Invention over the present mode of securing the mouths of mail and
other bags, and not the least important one is that there is no sealing
wax employed, which is always a dangerous material from its inflammable
nature under heat, as it drops about while alight and runs in a liquid
state, and unless more than ordinary care is exercised during the sealing
the chances are that holes will be burnt in the bag, and more par-
ticularly so if the bag be a canvas one. Rapidity of closing mails
is also a very important advantage that the use of the fastening will
secure.

page_text: JOHN DEWE. (L.S.)