IMPROVEMENTS IN NIGHT LIGHTS, AND IN APPARATUS USED THEREWITH
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
MILLER CLARKE, of Albany Street, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex,
Tallow Chandler, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Thirtieth day of January, in the seventh year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said George
Miller Clarke, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said George Miller Clarke, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Miller Clarke, my exors, admiors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN NIGHT LIGHTS, AND
IN APPARATUS USED THEREWITH;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, that I, the said George Miller Clarke, shall cause a particular descrip-
tion of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Miller Clarke, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described

page_text: and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
bad to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
It is well known that, within a few years, a new manufacture of night lights
has been extensively introduced, and used in substitution of rushlights and such
other small lights as had been previously employed. These night lights are
called "mortars," and each consists of a very thin wick in a cylindrical block
(of large diameter when compared with its length) of tallow, wax, sperm,
composition, or other suitable matter, such as has been used in the manufacture
of candles, the interior surface of each such mortar being covered with paper,
which, when a mortar is being consumed, prevents the tallow, wax, or other
matter (of which the mortar may be composed) as it becomes melted from
flowing over at the edges; and it is well known, that owing to the circumstance
of the flame produced by the wick being unable to consume the matter as fast
as it becomes melted, it has heretofore been absolutely required to affix an
external covering of paper by means of gum or other adhesive matter, in order
to hold the melted matter whilst it is being consumed, and all mortars hereto-
fore used have been so manufactured; and it is well known that, owing to
the difficulty in supporting the wick, after the matter of which a mortar may
be composed has become melted, the wick is liable to fall and set fire to the
surrounding case of paper, thus rendering them (unless great care be taken
in the placing of the same) very dangerous instruments; and in order to pre-
vent the falling of the wicks in "mortars" various devices have been resorted
to for upholding the same by metal holders cast in the mortars; and it has also
been proposed to form mortars in circular boxes of paper of such thickness as
to be opaque, or nearly so, in which paper case there was a thick paper bottom
with a hole through it to receive the wick, the bottom of the box being
recommended to be place in water, so that the same might not take fire when
the wick was consumed to the bottom. Now, according to my Invention, I
am enabled to burn mortars, when suitably made, without any paper either at
the sides or bottom, in apparatus or holders not capable of being set on fire, by
which means not only is the manufacture of "mortars" reduced in cost, but
the same rendered more safe and useful.
And my Invention consists, first, in manufacturing that description of night
lights called "mortars" by dispensing with the external coating of paper, so
that they may be placed in and burned in apparatus not capable of being
ignited; secondly, my Invention consists in an improved construction of mortar
whereby several may be made at one time, the upper surface of each being
rendered level by scraping or cutting in place of filling each mould separately

page_text: the consumer and for transport; and it is important that when using boxes
that they should be of exact sizes, and any irregularity of lengths in excess
would give much trouble and cause additional expence in filling the boxes,
which it is important to avoid in articles of this description, where a large
number is to be made and packed at small cost. Figure 4 shews an elevation
and plan of one of the moulds used by me; Figure 5 shews the plunger sepa-
rately. Figure 6 shews part of a mould frame, with one mould separately, in
section. 6 is the mould, which will be of such a length and diameter as will be
suitable for burning the required number of hours, the mould shewn being for
what I consider the larger size, and is intended for producing mortars for
burning about ten hours, though it may be made to burn faster or slower by
slightly increasing or reducing the size of wick used therewith; but I prefer
using wicks such as have heretofore been used for mortars, and when making
mertars to burn for a shorter time, I prefer to make them in moulds of the
same diameter but shorter in length, by which means they are equally suitable
for burning in the same lamps or holders. A series of the moulds 6 are fixed
in a frame c, which consists of a trough of wood or other suitable material, the
upper edges of the moulds being set flush with the bottom of the trough, as is
shewn at Figure 6. A plan of a frame of moulds is shewn at Figure 7; a
side view at Figure 8; and an end view at Figure 9. d the plungers of the
mould, the stem of each of which is hollow to receive the wire rod e, by which
the hole is formed through the mortars produced in the moulds; and the appa-
ratus is so arranged that all the rods or wires e, e, are affixed to the bars f, and
those bars are fixed in the frame at g, g, at the proper height, so that the
wires e just come level with the top of the moulds, by which means, when
delivering the mortars out of the moulds by raising the plungers, the mortars
will be moved off the wires or rods e. In some cases, in place of having the
rods or wires separate from the plungers, I affix the wires to the upper parts
of the plungers, as is shewn at Figure 10, where there is a mould and plunger
with wire, shewn separately in section with part of a mould frame; Figure 11
shewing an elevation and plan of the mould separately, with its plunger;
Figure 12 being the plunger and wire e separately; and Figure 13 is a side
view of a mould frame with several such moulds and plungers with wires. In
using these moulds, the mortars, when raised up by the plungers, would be
moved by hand from the wires. In using either of these mould frames, the
melted tallow, sperm, composition, or other suitable material is to be run into
the mould frame as when making mould candles, so that the moulds are filled
and completely covered; and when the matter is cooled, the excess of the
same is to be scraped off and removed from the treugh of the mould frame, as

page_text: when making mould candles; by this means not only will improved mortars be
produced all of uniform lengths, but at the same time the making will
be cheapened as the trouble will be much less than when pouring into sepa-
rate moulds one at a time, when care is required not to overfill them. The
matter in the moulds being cooled down, the mortars are next to be removed
from the moulds. This I do by means of the apparatus shewn at Figures 14
and 15, which Figures shew part of a longitudinal section of the apparatus,
with a mould frame in position for having the mortars removed from the
moulds, and an end view of the apparatus and mould frame. h, h, are two
elevated rails, supported suitable framing; i, i, are two plates of iron,
fixed so as to rise above the rails h, and these plates act as rails on which the
mould frames are slided, there being turned metal plates at j, j, at the ends of
the mould frames, which rest on the plates or rails i, i, and the mould frames
may be readily slided into a position to have the plungers raised, and the
mortars removed, and then the frames may be slided away to be again used;
k is a platform carried by the bar 1, the platform being supported by the
uprights m affixed thereto, and to the bar 1; the bar is affixed to the two
plates n, n, which have slots formed therein at o, o, through which square-
headed guide pins pass, such pins being fixed to the uprights p, p; these
plates n, n, receive motion upwards by means of the arms q, q, affixed to tho
axis r, which turns in bearings at s, s, the arms 9 being attached to the
plates n by means of connecting links or rods t, as shewn; v is a lever affixed
on the axis r, by means of which the workman raises the platform k, which
coming against the forked ends of the stems of the plungers, raises them all at
the same time, the mould frame being prevented rising by means of the
stops u, u, there being a spring catch x, which acts upon the lever v, and retains
the platform in its raised position during the time the mortars are being
removed from the tops of the plungers; all which will readily be understood on
examining the Drawings.
Having thus described the nature of the first and second parts of my Inven-
tion, and the means of carrying the same into effect, I would wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein described,
so long as the peculiar character of either of the improvements be retained;
and I would remark that I am aware that hollow candles have been made
5 many years ago, each made in such manner as to receive an instrument through
them carrying a wick, and I mention this circumstance in order to state that I
make no claim to the same, the first and second parts of my Invention being
confined to the making of that description of night lights called mortars
wherein is used a wick throughout the length of the same, and of such small

page_text: diameter in respect to the diameter of the mortar that the wick by its flame is
not enabled to consume the matter as fast as it melts.
I will now proceed to describe the third part of my Invention. Figure 16
shews a section of a lamp or holder for burning mortars; Figure 17 shews a
plan and elevation of a glass, which receives the unpapered and uncovered
mortar; Figure 18, a plan of the apparatus, and Figure 19 is an under side
view. The objects of this part of the Invention are, that the apparatus should
be such as to be capable of receiving a mortar, and, as the matter of which it
is composed becomes melted, that it should be retained from running away,
and that the material of which the same apparatus is composed should not be
capable of ignition; also, that there should be a hole or other suitable holder
for the wick, by which the wick shall be upheld when the matter of the
mortar is melted, and that such hole or other holder of the wick should be in
or applied to the instrument used for receiving the mortar, so that the holder
of the wick, as well as the instrument, being separate from the mortars, and
being incombustible, may be used for receiving a succession of mortars, to be
burned therein; also, in carrying out this part of my Invention, I employ
glass or other transparent matter not combustible for the receivers of the
mortars, or when it is not desired to have the rays of light to pass through the
holder, then the same may be of metal or other matter not combustible.
A, A, is the frame of the lamp, with a candle B, the nature and shape of which
are clearly shewn; at the same time, it will be evident that the shape and
construction of the holder may be varied according to the taste. C is a concave
receiver, suitable for the cylinder of glass or other non-combustible matter D
for receiving a mortar. In the bottom of the instrument at C* is a hole
formed for receiving the lower end of the wick,
mortar E. By this arrangement the wick of the
when it burns down to the lowest point it comes to matter which will not
under any circumstances take fire. It will be evident that the parts should fit
well in order that there be no flowing away of the melted matter of the mortar.
For this reason I apply a ring F around the glass, fitting the concave part
C, the glass being cemented into the ring. In using this apparatus, the
wick is introduced into the hole at the centre of the part C. The mortar is
then passed on to the wick, and the glass or other incombustible matter is then
put in its place, by which arrangement the mortar will be surrounded by
incombustible matter, and by preference transparent matter, and the bottom
of the mortar will be received into an incombustible holder, such holder having
either a hole or other convenient holder for the wick, in order to retain the
wick upright when the mortar has become melted; and these properties
which protrudes below the
mortar will be upheld, and

page_text: and advantages have not heretofore been possessed by any other means here-
tofore resorted to for burning mortars. At the same time, I would remark
that I do not claim the use of a non-combustible matter for simply receiving
the bottom of a mortar when it is being consumed, but it does form part of
my Invention to have combined with a non-combustible matter a hole or other
suitable holder for a wick, so as to support the wick of a mortar upright when
being consumed, such hole or holder for the wick being separate from the
mortar, and forming a proper surface to receive a mortar thereon, to be con-
sumed in a similar manner to that described in respect to the part C. The
portion of the unconsumed wick is removed by the pin G, which is mounted
on the spring H, which is retained in its place by the parts I.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,
First, the mode of manufacturing and burning that description of night
lights called mortars, whereby the outer covering of paper heretofore used is
dispensed with.
Secondly, I claim the mode of manufacturing that description of night
lights called mortars by cutting or scraping away the upper surface from the
several moulds, and thus making them more exact, as herein described.
And, thirdly, I claim the mode of constructing apparatus herein described
for burning mortars or night lights, whereby mortars are surrounded by glass
or other non-combustible matter, and also the wick is supported by a holder
separate from the mortar.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Miller Clarke, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
CM (10) CLARKE