AN ALARM GUN OR REPORTER, AND DETECTOR
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ISAAC
NAYLOR, of Stainbrough, near Barnsley, in the County of York, Game-
keeper, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at.
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of November, in the seventh year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Isaac Naylor, His especial licence, that I, the said Isaac Naylor, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Isaac Naylor, my
exors, adiñors, 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,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN ALARM
GUN OR REPORTER, AND DETECTOR;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said Isaac Naylor, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be enrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within two calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Isaac Naylor, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to
consist in an alarm gun holding several charges, which are discharged one
after the other by means of a fuse, which communicates with the whole, such
fuse being first ignited as herein-after is set forth. And in further compliance
with the said proviso, I, the said Isaac Naylor, do hereby describe the manner
in which my said Invention is to be performed by the following statement
thereof, (reference being had to the Drawing annexed, and to the Figures
and letters marked thereon, (that is to say :-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of my alarm guns. A, A, A, is a
block of cast iron; a, a, a, a, a, a, are six bores made in the same to receive
six separate charges, and which I therefore call the charge bores. These
bores may be of any suitable dimensions, and at any distance from each other,
according to the loudness of the report and the interval of time between each
report which may be required, one object of my Invention being by a succession
of loud reports to wake persons out of sleep, and to draw their attention
to the place where those reports arise; for, when a person is suddenly awoke
by one report of a gun, or any loud noise, he seldom knows by what means
or cause he is so awoke, whereas by a succession of reports he becomes
thoroughly awoke and alarmed, and his attention is more effectually called to
the place where a thief, depredator, or trespasser, who unintentionally lets off
the alarm gun, may be. F is a small bore from end to end of the iron block, to
contain the fuse, and which therefore I call the fuse bore; it is made at right
angles with, and at the back of the charge bores, as better shewn in section at
Figure 2, where N, N, N, N, N, N, are six small bores, which I call the
inner touch-holes, leading on from each charge bore into the fuse bore F,
which fuse bore must be stopped at each end, when the gun is charged, with
the plug screws P, P, which should be air-tight. R in Figure 1 is another
small bore for holding the priming, and which I therefore call the priming
bore; it is made directly downwards, through the end of the block of iron, at
right angles with the fuse bore F, and communicating with it by passing
through it. At the upper end of this priming bore is fixed the nipple T, for
receiving an ordinary copper detonating cap, and at the lower end a screw
plug, with a vent hole bored through it; S is a strong steel spring, lying close
down upon the top of the block, except when the gun is set, and then that
end which lies exactly over the nipple is pulled up and placed upon a ledge
or notch in the small upright loose pin or trigger, for such I call it; W the

page_text: lower end of this pin, W, is pointed, and rests in a little conical socket made
to receive it, and is furnished with a small lever L, to which a catch string or
wire is attached, as herein-after explained. Figure 3 shews the shape of this
loose trigger better, being drawn to a larger scale; e, e, are two screws, by
which the spring S is fastened down upon the iron block; H is merely a hole
bored through the iron block, through which a chain or screw bolt may be
passed to fasten it to any free post or other fixed object; M is merely a small
wire guard chain to attach the trigger to the block to prevent its being lost
when withdrawn from the spring.
Figure 4 is another view of my said alarm gun, shewing the spring S with
the trigger removed, and with its end therefore lying on and over the nipple.
In order to facilitate the operations of priming and putting on the copper cap,
the spring S is made to turn on one of the screws as on a centre, while &
notch, where the second screw is placed, enables the tail of the spring to pass
under the head of that second screw, which thus holds it down firmly, while it
allows of the side action of the spring shewn in dotted lines in this Figure,
which removes it from the nipple, and thus exposes the nipple conveniently
to receive the priming and the copper cap.
I will now proceed to describe the method of charging my said alarm gun.
First, I put a little tow into the bottom of each of the said charge bores, in
order to stop up the inner touch-holes and prevent the fuse composition from
escaping through the same while I am filling the said fuse bore. Next I take
out the screw from one of the ends of the said fuse bore and fill the bore with
a fuse composed of gunpowder, saltpetre, charcoal, and brimstone, in or about
the following proportions :-Ten ounces of gunpowder, ten ounces of saltpetre,
eight ounces of charcoal, and three ounces of brimstone; which ingredients I
knead together with a little water, and after forming the same into long pieces
to suit the calibre of the fuse bore, I dry the same in a moderately heated
oven; but these exact proportions and the manner of making the same are not
material, as the fuse may be made of any combustible composition, such as
gunpowder and any matter that will ignite gradually, and not cause all the
charge bores which are charged to go off together, as would be if the fuse bore
were filled with gunpowder only. The bore being filled, I replace the screw in
the end of it, putting it in and covering it with a little melted wax or tallow to
keep out damp, in which manner in fact all the screws must be treated;
and for the same purpose I next take the tow out of the said charge bores and
charge them all with gunpowder and wadding in the usual mode of charging a
gun, but putting above such wadding a little pitch, tallow, or wax, or any
other substance which will keep out damp. I next put my priming of plain

page_text: gunpowder into the priming bore by removing the vent screw, and having done
so, screw the vent screw up again, stopping the vent hole in such screw with a
little cork, wax, or tallow, and putting the screw in with a little melted wax or
tallow, as before described. I then place the said alarm gun in its intended
situation, and raise the end of the spring S, placing under it the loose trigger,
as shewn at Figure 1. I then connect a small wire or string, which I call the
catch string or catch wire, with the curved trigger lever L, and my alarm gun
is then ready to be let off by any one catching his foot against the catch string,
and thus displacing the trigger, whereby the spring S falls down smartly on the
copper cap and explodes it. I extend the wire or wires, string or strings, or
connect other wire or wires, string or strings, to the main wire or string, and
fix the other end of such wire or wires, string or strings, to any door post or
other fixed point, having first extended them across the room or grounds, so
that whenever any thief, depredator, or trespasser comes in contact with any of
the said wires or strings, the said loose trigger will be turned on the pivot at
its lower end, and the spring S will slip from the notch in such trigger and strike
the detonating cap, and in about from two to seven seconds (which depends
upon the distance of the charge bores from cach other and the strength or
nature of the fuse composition) cause the first report and the rest in succession,
so that the thief or depredator not hearing the report at the time he feels the
wire or string will not be aware that he has let off the gun till he has got past
the wire.
Now whereas it is evident that my said alarm gun may be made of brass,
malleable iron, or any other metal or substance, and may be cast with the said
bores, or some of them, as well as bored, and that my said alarm gun may be
formed of barrels of iron or metal fixed in blocks of wood or metal, and the
bores or barrels of my alarm gun may be of any number, and either placed in
one row horizontally or in rows one above another, provided the fuse bore bo
so contrived as to ignite the charges in the several bores or barrels gradually
and one after the other, for I claim as my Invention an alarm gun or
reporter, and detector, such as is herein-before described, whereby I am enabled
to cause a succession of reports or discharges with proper intervals between
each, by only once pulling the trigger, and with a considerable interval between
the said pulling of the trigger and the first report or discharge; and such my
Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never
before used within that part of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland called England, His said Dominion of Wales, or Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the
same, and that I do verily believe this, my said Specification, doth comply in all

page_text: respects, fully and without reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby
claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seals, this Seventh
day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-seven.